Paris is a magical and timeless city, one of my favorites, especially during Christmas. I had a chance to live in France for a year and visited Paris on a few occasions when I was studing French language. I was so happy to come back to France and visit Paris in December, it was so romantic during holidays! All these cute cafes and restaurants, stunning monuments, charming neighbourhoods and great boutiques. everything was amazing, including Christmas decorations and lights. In today’s post I’ll share with you my travel guide to visiting Paris in December, including the best photo locations, things to do and our favorites places to eat.

How to get to Paris, France

Paris has three major airports - Orly, Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais. Charles de Gaulle Airport is the biggest one and the most busy, which serves international flights. Since we live in San Francisco, we flew from SFO to CDG, with United Airlines. When traveling between the States and Europe I always choose United and I highly recommend this airline. If you’re flying internationally, most likely you will come to Charles de Gaulle.

How to get from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Paris?

Public transportation works really well in Paris and Charles de Gaulle Airport is easily accesible. After we landed, we went directly to the railway station at the airport (it was a quite walk, it took us 15 min to get there). Before we went on our train RER B (which goes directly to the city center), we bought a weekly ticket for all the metro, train and bus lines in Paris. Our weekly pass was called Navigo Pass Semaine, and it was valid for one week, until Sunday. We paid 22.80 eur per person (+ 6 eur for document pictures that we needed to provide at the ticket office, but you can also bring them with you). It was a good deal overall! If you plan on traveling a lot with public transport, I highly recommend you purchasing this pass. Here you can find more information regarding this weekly ticket.

Transportation around Paris

If you decide to purchase Navigo weekly pass, you can travel around Paris with no additional tickets. If not, you can buy a pack of 10 single tickets for $19. I really like walking around Paris, it’s really picturesque and walkable. It’s huge but you can walk between most of the spots.

Where to stay in Paris

Paris is a romantic and dreamy city, it obviously has so many great neighbourhoods to stay in. I highly recommend areas near Seine, such as Le Marais, Latin Quater, Saint Germain, there are many good options to eat and they are affordable. If you’re looking for a hotel with the Eiffle Tower view, they are more expensive.

We stayed in Le Senat Hotel 4*in Latin Quarter, and it was a great choice. I booked it on their website (since it was the cheapest option), here is the link. The breakfast was wonderful, so many sweet and savory options, we loved it.

Where to eat and drink in Paris

Pink Mamma is one of the most instagrammable restaurants in Paris thanks to its stunning decor, located in Montmatre neighbourhood. If you like Italian cuisine and fantastic ambiance, you should check this place out. You need a reservation to dine here, and I really recommend sitting at a table on the top floor to have the best exepriece.

Enjoying dinner with Judy (@charmingadventurer)

Patrol Paris is a great spot for breakfast and brunch. We had savory croissants with benedict eggs there, they were so good! The interior is really nice too. The place is located next to Jardin du Luxembourg.

Le Chopinet is our another favorite spot to get dinner and grab drinks. It’s really instagrammable and pretty. Le Choupinet is famous for the cute teddy bears which sit all around the place.

Best things to do in Paris in December

Sunrise at Montmartre, Paris (Basilique Sacre Coeur)

One of the best things about visiting Paris in December is sunrise and sunset time. You don’t need to wait long for the golden hour, because in the winter the daylight ends around 5 pm. Here are my favorite spots to shoot during golden hour in Paris.

Montmartre is a dreamy spot in Paris to watch sunrises. It lays on a large hill in 18th arrondissement and it’s the highest natural spot in the city. Thanks to that it offers stunning views over the city.

After sunrise you can take advantage of empty streets and stroll around streets in Montmartre. Morning is the best time to explore Montmartre, thanks to dreamy light and no people on the streets.

Montmartre

Place du Tertre is located a few steps away from Basilique Sacre Coeur. In the past it was a heart of Montmartre and center of modern art. Many French painters such as Picasso, Utrillo and Renoir were living here. Nowdays, you can still find there many painters and artists, but the place is more touristy and crowded, this is why morning is a perfect time to explore this area.

Place du Tertre is surrounded by cute, French cafes (they are quite expensive because of the tourist spot), which were decorated for Christmas. Au Cadet Cascogne is that one where we had morning tea/coffee and croissants.

La Maison Rose, Montmartre stairs and Le Consulat are some other instagrammable spots which you can visit in Montmartre, Paris.

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe offers stunning views over the city. It was build in XIX century to honours those who fought and died for France in wars. To visit this famous monument you need to purchase a ticket for 13 euro, you can buy it here on their website. We visited Arc de Triomphe around 1 pm, but it’s worth visiting during golden hour, to get beautiful, golden light.

Sunset picnic on the Seine

Travel to Paris is not complete without a romantic, afternoon picnic on the Seine river. We did our picnic in December, it was quite warm and sunny. We bought a champagne, macarons, and a few more things, it was such a special and magical moment.

Christmas spots in Paris

Christmas season is a great time to visit Paris. The city is full of decorations, lights and christmas trees. All the stores and cafes have decorated store facades. Also, you can find some Christmas markets in Paris. Here’s a list of my favorite Christmas spots in Paris that we visited in December.

Le Village Royal

Le Village Royal is a cute street in Paris, where you can find luxury stores. Every year they decorate it for Christmas and it looks amazing! This year you could find there two teddy bears.

Place Maurice-Barres / Rue Saint Honore

This place is one of the best Christmas spots in Paris. Thanks to luxury boutiques such as Dior and Chanel, there is a stunning decoration of a hot air baloon which is illuminated. At Place Maurice-Barres you can find a beautiful, Roman Catholic Polish Church - Eglise Notre Dame de l’Assomption. It’s really breathtaking!

Hotel de Ville

Hotel de Ville (city hall) is beautifully decorated during Christmas. There is a Christmas village, carrousel and lots of christmas trees. This place is absolutely beautiful! At night there is a video snow show on the facade, it looks so beautiful!

Galeries Lafayette

Galeries Lafayatte are located in Boulevard Haussman. This place is full of Christmas decorations, including a huge, sparkling christmas tree hanging under the dome. Every year the look and theme of the tree changes, but they are alwasy stunning! You can also find there other decorations. In the front of Galleries Lafayette, there are also displays and windows, which are decorated and illuminated in Christmas themes. The Christmas tree in Galeries Lafayette as well window displays are one of the best Christmas spots in Paris! Don’t forget to visit the rooftop terrace in Galeries Lafayette for some stunning views (read more below).

Sunset from Galeries Lafayette Terrace

On the top floor in Galeries Lafayette, there is a free terrace which offers stunning views of Paris. It’s one of my favorite places in Paris to watch sunsets. It’s totally free and everyone can access it.

Le Recrutement Cafe / Au Canon des Invalides (Rue St Dominique)

If you’re looking for best photo spots in Paris which offers great views of Tour Eiffel, Rue St Dominique is that place. There are two cute cafes - Le Recrutement and Au Canon des Invalides, which are great instagrammable spots. In December they are nicely decorated for Christmas and they look even more cute!

Follow my adventures & pin this post for later

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and find it helpful! Whether you’re planning your trip to Paris in December or winter, it’s always a great idea! You can follow along my adventures on Instagram (@sarowly) and don’t forget to pin this post if you love it.

Visiting Paris in December