Public holidays in France, and other closing times (2024)

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Publicholidays in France, when most things are closed

The following days are public holidays ("joursfériés") in France,when most shops tend to be shut. Many tourist attractionsremain open during Spring and Summer public holidays. OnChristmas, New Year's Day, 1st May and 14th July, virtuallyallshops are closed. On other public holidays, some shops, notably someout-of-town superstores, local foodstores, bakeries and shops in busycity centres, may remain open, at least for part of the day. There isno hard and fast rule.

Normal shopping hours and closing times

The standard shopping day in France, from Monday to Saturday, starts at9 a.m. and finishes at 7 p.m.
Most large stores and shopping malls will remain open all day, withsome outlets in them opening earlier and closing later. Mosttraditional shops, specially in smaller towns, will close for two hoursat lunch time, from 12.00 to 2 p.m.. Some will close for longer,specially those that remain open longer in the evening.
Many small and independent shops are closed on Mondaymorning, some stay closed all day on Mondays, notably those that havebeen open all day on Saturday. Opening patterns may depend on the town,though decisions remain ultimately with individual shops.

Sundaysin France, when most shops are closed

Don't expect to find shops open in France on Sundays. Sunday in Franceis still for most people a day of rest, and most shops are not allowedto open, except in specific locations at at certain times of year.Sunday is a day for window shopping in French towns, for most of theyear. Large shops arenow allowed to open on Sundays intouristresorts (including parts of Paris) in the holiday period (which inParis means all year); elsewhere, in the cities, Sunday openingis only allowed on a limited number of Sundays in the run-up toChristmas
Nonetheless, small corner shops and essentialservices (such asboulangeries, small supermarkets) can open on Sundays if they want to,and indeed Sunday isthe busiest days of the week for many patisseries. So in any town, itis usually now possible to buy fresh bread and groceries on a Sunday,particularly on Sunday morning. More information on the Shopping in Francepage.
In recent years, French shops and shoppers have beenincreasinglydemanding more freedom to open on Sundays. Since 2015, shops have beeengiven more freedom to open on Sundays - notably gardencenters furniture stores and shops in tourist areas.

Sunday shopping in Paris

Paris now has seven "tourist zones" -including the Champs Elysées, the rue de Rivoli, the boulevard SaintGermain, Montmartreand the Marais, where shops can open on Sundays. Inaddition big Paris department storesGaleries Lafayette andBHV leMarais are open Sunday.
On the outskirts of Paris two large shopping centres ("zonescommerciales") are open on Sundays. OneNation Paris at Les Clayes sous bois, near Versailles, isthe largest fashion factory outlet village in France. LaVallée Village Chicis a large factory outlet shopping village near Disneyland.

Other tourist locations

More and more shops are now open in touristresorts -defined as places where tourism is a major activity - during theirtourist season; which means that nowadays, in seaside resorts, Paris,and even in small country towns,essential supermarkets, shops that cater largely fortourists,and and some other shops now open on Sundays. Sunday openinghowever isoften just Sunday morning, so it is best not to plan a shopping tripanywhere in France on a Sunday afternoon, except in the busiest touristhotspots.

Intercitytrain services operate more or less as normal on Sundays; suburban andurban transport operators, including the Paris Metro, run a lighterservice, particularly on Sunday mornings.

Mondaysin France
Particularly in small provincial towns, many shops are closed on Mondaymorning - so don't plan a big shopping trip on a Monday morning if youare on holiday in rural France. A lot of French provincial museums andmonuments are also closed on Mondays. However supermarkets tend to beopen as normal on Mondays, even in small towns.

Tuesdaysin France
This is the day on which a lot of museumsand national monuments areclosed. It is particularly the case with national monuments andmuseums, such as the Louvre and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Summer holidays
Many businesses, administrations and shops will actually shut downcompletely for a week or two in Late July or early August, though shopsare unlikely to close during this period in tourist areas. The closureof public administrations during August can be particularly frustrating.

Otherdisruptions to normal service
Strikesand barricades France has the reputation of being acountry prone to strikes. In actual fact, it is nota country wherestrikes are particularly commonplace; it is just that they tend tooccur in high-profile sectors, in places where they are very visibleand affect the lives of millions of ordinary men and women; i.e. inpublic services and in the transport sector.
Public transport is a sector frequently affected by strikes,that canbring rail services or airports to a halt nationally or regionally; andall kinds of workers in France have a habit of blocking roads, portsand railway lines in defence of their objective. Such events arestrongly mediatized, but actually relatively rare. Foreigntouristsoftenfind it hard to understand why blockades are not quickly dispersed bythe police; but this is part of the French way of life, a legacy of theRevolution and the spirit of the "barricades". Increasingly, police arebrought in to disperse blockades, but generally not until after thestriking workers or students have had time to make their point.

Trafficjams and congestion:

For information about travelling in France, and avoiding problems andtraffic jams, see the Driving inFrance page. Roads are also particularly busy on weekendsthat mark the start of end of schoolholidays, particularly school holidays for the Paris region.

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