Visiting Paris in the heat or in a heatwave is not the ideal way to discover all the treasures the City of Light has to offer. But since high temperatures are a known issue to everyone, here are some suggestions on how to turn these scorching days into great memories.
Enjoying the cool morning air
Breakfast on the rooftop of the Tout-Paris
8 quai du Louvre, 75001 Paris
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From breakfast onwards, enter the heart of the Tout-Paris and enjoy the sunrise over the Seine while having French toast, waffles or crepes.
Open from 7 am.
Going to the market in Saint-Denis
Pl. Jean Jaurès, 93200 Saint-Denis
Why not stroll the aisles of the Saint-Denis market at 8 am?
This busy cosmopolitan market is a hive of vendors from all over the world.
It is a must-see in the Paris region.
Information (in French)
Shopping at Paris flea markets
- Avenue du Professeur André Lemaire, 75020 Paris (Montreuil)
- 124 rue des rosiers, 75018 Paris (Saint-Ouen)
At 7 am on Saturdays and Sundays, you will find in Montreuil, the AliBaba’s cave for the amateurs of bric-a-brac.
Later, the famous Puces de Paris Saint-Ouen opens on Friday at 8 am, and Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays at 10 am
Located at the Porte de Clignancourt, they are home to the largest antique fair in the world. So come and find a rare gem in the cool of the morning!
More information (French website)
Go for a swim
Paris Plages
Sand, sunbeds, water misters, beach activities, restaurants and ice cream vendors, the coast comes to the capital every year from mid-July to mid-August with Paris Plages.
On the banks of the Seine, on the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, at the Trocadero and on the Bassin de la Villette, sports and cultural activities are organized free of charge and swimming pools are set up to cool off.
You can enjoy them from 10 am to 10 pm on weekdays and until midnight on weekends!
Information about Paris Plages
The Parisian swimming-pools
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Outdoor pools are a must when it’s too hot in Paris. The Josephine Baker pool, a floating ship on the Seine on the Quai François Mauriac, has a 25-meter long pool and a 50-square meter paddling pool. During the summer season, the roof is opened for outdoor swimming.
Information about Josephine Baker swimming-pool (French website)
The Georges Hermant swimming pool in the 19th district is also one of the rare pools that can be uncovered in Paris, with its large 50 x 20 meter Olympic pool, it is perfect for a swim under the blue summer sky.
Information about the Georges Hermant swimming pool
For a midnight swim, the Pailleron aquatic centre closes at 10 pm all week except on Sundays.
Pailleron swimming pool (French website)
The Aquaboulevard
4 Rue Louis Armand, 75015 Paris
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The largest water park in Ile de France also welcomes you during the summer.
Wave pool, slides, counter-current river, geysers, there is everything to have fun, splash around and freshen up!
Information & Booking on the Aquaboulevard
Jabline-Annet Leisure Island
This huge leisure park, awarded for its ecological commitment, is ideal for swimming while feeling like you are on holiday across France.
Just a few kilometers from Paris, a multitude of activities are offered: swimming, pedal boats, windsurfing, kayaking, mini-golf, tennis, table tennis, orienteering, mountain biking…
But above all, it is its supervised swimming on a beach of about 400 meters that makes it a haven of peace for hot days.
Information on the Jablines-Annet Leisure Island
Check out our other article on places in which you can bathe a few minutes away from Paris.
Take a walk underneath the shade of the trees
The Vincennes and Boulogne woods
Whether you are on a boat on Lake Daumesnil or Boulogne, or walking along the paths in the shade of the trees, the Bois de Vincennes and Bois de Boulogne, which are accessible through public transport, offer families fun activities, a small zoo (Vincennes), outdoor cafés and a place to cool off.
Two small havens for those who don’t have the chance to leave on holiday.
Take a stroll in a park
You can also have a picnic or lie down in the grass in the shade of the trees in the many Parisian parks such as the Jardin des Plantes (5th), the Parc des Buttes Chaumont (19th) or the Parc Montsouris (14th).
In the case of heatwaves, many parks remain open all night, such as the Parc Monceau (8th), Square Marcel Pagnol (8th), Square Montholon (9th), Square Ferdinand Brunot (14th) or Parc Georges Brassens (15th).
Eat Lebanese ice cream at Bachir’s
58 Rue Rambuteau, 75003 Paris
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Amorino, Bertillon, Une Glace à Paris are all excellent ice cream shops in Paris.
But if you are looking for a change of scenery, come and discover the oriental flavors of Bachir’s Lebanese ice cream.
Located in the heart of Paris, next to the Centre Pompidou, their achta ice cream coated with pistachios takes us to the streets of Beirut at night, where everyone devours this slightly elastic ice cream.
Glace Bachir Website (in French)
Have a drink in the Ice Kube bar
5 Pass. Ruelle, 75018 Paris
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The Ice Kube Paris bar offers a unique experience in the capital.
At the entrance, you’ll be given a fleece parka and gloves before entering the bar at -20°C, which is a temperature worthy of the Siberian desert.
What better way to cool off than to spend 25 minutes in this polar cold?
Get the chills in a horror Escape Game
7 Quai de la Seine, 75019 Paris
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Buried 30 meters underground, Deep Inside Paris offers a mix of immersive theatre and an Escape game with actors.
Enter the palace of horror to experience a unique yet frightening adventure…
Information and booking for the Escape Game
Visit the church of Saint Germain-des-Prés
3 Pl. Saint-Germain des Prés, 75006 Paris
The church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the Latin quarter will put stars in your eyes.
Listed as a historical monument, it is one of the oldest places of worship in Paris and has recently been restored.
It stays cool even in the middle of a heatwave!
More information (in French)
Visit the Catacombs
1 Av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris
Being at 14° C all year round and in a very special atmosphere, the Catacombs of Paris will make you shiver and maybe make you put on a jumper.
Explore this labyrinth 20 meters below the ground in Paris and come across skulls and human bones on your way…
Be careful not to take the youngest or the most sensitive along with you.
Information and bookings to visit the Paris Catacombs
Play at Front de Seine Bowling
15, Rue Gaston de Caillavet 75015 Paris
This bowling alley is one of the few establishments in Paris with an air-conditioned room that guarantees a refreshing game.
You can bring out your best game and throw strikes without breaking a sweat!
More info on that bowling alley (French website)
Check our list of Best Bowling Alleys in Paris Where To Play With Friends or Family.
Water ski
1, allée du bord de l’eau 75016 Paris
for those ranging from 3 to 90 years old, put on your skis not to go down the mountain but to slide on the 3.5 kilometers of skiable water offered by the Paris Water Ski Club.
There’s nothing better to cool off than to speed along behind one of the two boats and then dive into the water once the water-skiing has tired you out!
Information & Booking (French website)
Take a look at the books in the Écume des Pages bookshop
174 Bd Saint-Germain, 75006 Paris
The famous insomniac bookshop of Paris is open from 10 am to midnight and will shelter you from a heatwave, day or night.
Come and enjoy the air conditioning and browse through classics or new literary works.
The Écume des pages Bookshop (French website)
Take off in the free fall simulator with IFly Paris
30 avenue Corentin Cariou, Vill’Up à La Villette, 75019 Paris
What better way to get a breath of fresh air than to skydive at 4000 meters?
The indoor freefall simulator will give you the feeling of flying through the air as if you were in a parachute and will allow you to travel to Dubai or Hawaii with the optional virtual reality headset.
It is definitely refreshing!
Spend a cool evening
Stroll along the Seine by day and by night
Board one of the Vedettes de Paris, which are waiting for you at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, day or night.
The one-hour cruise on the Seine, accompanied by a guide, will reveal the secrets and anecdotes of the Capital in the air-conditioned area during the day or on the roof to enjoy the fresh air in the evening.
Information and booking for a cruise in one of the Vedettes de Paris
Take the night tours of the museums
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A Night at the Museum is not just a book; several major Parisian museums do not close until after 8 pm!
This is the case of the Grand Palais, which offers tours until 10 pm on Wednesday evenings.
As well as the Quai Branly Museum, which is open until 10 pm on Thursdays.
The Musée Jacquemart-André closes at 8.30 pm on Mondays, during exhibitions.
The Louvre opens on Wednesdays and Fridays until 9.45 pm.
Musée Jacquemart-André website
A night out on a roof top (to enjoy the fresh air)
In the evening, once the heat has gone down, the best thing to do is to settle down and order a drink on a rooftop.
The air is cooler than downstairs and the illuminated view of Paris are often breathtaking.
We’ve put together a small list of the most beautiful rooftops in the capital in this article (article in French).
The Great Nights of the Château de Versailles
Each Saturday during the summer, the most famous castle in France opens its doors to you and immerses you in a fairy tale through its night shows.
The time of a stroll out of time you can admire fountains and gardens illuminated to the rhythm of baroque music.
Moreover, a water and fireworks show is awaiting you at the end of the show.
Check out the Wallace Fountains
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You can go on one of the 22 walks dedicated to the famous Wallace fountains.
All fountains are still in working order and provide drinking water. This is the ideal compromise for a visit of Paris under a scorching heat.
Going to the cinema
For movie lovers, these hot days are be a good excuse to sit in an air-conditioned cinema.
Paris is full of cinemas so you can easily go to one.
We have prepared a small list of the most worthwhile cinemas of the capital in this article.
Shopping in the malls of the capital and its suburbs
The best way to escape the heat is to take shelter. Parisian shopping malls are a good way to pass the time when the temperature is too high. You will find a wide choice of stores and restaurants that will allow you to spend a good afternoon in each of these malls.
We have put together a small list of the most worthwhile shopping malls in and around Paris in this article.
Stroll in the garden of delights of the Great Mosque of Paris
2 bis place du Puits de l’Ermite, 75005 Paris
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In the 5th arrondissement of Paris hides a magical place worthy of the tales of a thousand and one nights.
The garden of delights of the Great Mosque of Paris (website in French) will offer you an enchanting and refreshing stop in the middle of the urban jungle.
Few people are aware of the green setting of the mosque. There, you will be able to stroll through many gardens with Andalusian tones, sit by one of its marble basins and enjoy the best mint tea in France while being lulled by the lapping of the water.
Enjoy your Tea Time in the cool
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After a stroll through the Pantheon, you can watch a film in one of the two following cinemas with their quality Art & Essai editorial lines, then relax in their respective majestic tea rooms.
The Cinéma du Panthéon (website in French) was entirely decorated by Catherine Deneuve and Christian Sapet. The atmosphere is ultra chic with its red velvet and brown leather.
As for Studio 28 (website in French), it has a colorful and offbeat atmosphere with access to an outdoor terrace.
Going to the ice rink
16th district
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For those who can’t stand the heat at all and who dream of winter temperatures, the Patinoire Pailleron (website in French) is open all year round.
This sports space is equipped with a water sports area, an ice corner and a fitness and well-being corner.
In short, it is the ideal place to satisfy all the desires of the family.
Having a Cryotherapy session
16th District
So, here is where we reach the height of coolness with cryotherapy (website in French).
This cold treatment technique has existed since antiquity and is often used in sports to treat sprains or other injuries.
In this center you will be welcomed by a team of professionals (physiotherapists and osteopaths) for a cryotherapy session at -90°C.
Don’t worry, you will only be exposed to the cold for 4 minutes and you will have all the necessary protection to avoid burning yourself.
An artistic and Instagrammable exhibition
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Discover one of the most important collections of optical and kinetic art in the world and immerse yourself in a quirky and aesthetic universe.
At the Cherqui Foundation (website in French), the colourful and luminous works become transformable, offering the viewer a new perspective on art.
I aim to share my tips and recommendations for the beautiful country of France. My goal is to help you plan your next adventure, whether it’s a weekend getaway or a once-in-a-lifetime trip. From finding the best hotels and restaurants, to discovering unique activities and sights, I’ve got you covered!
