updated on March 23rd, 2019
When I was planning one of our trips to Europe, I found myself googling terms:
- “What is Paris like in February?”
- “How cold is Paris in February?”
- “Is Paris miserable in February?”
Even though I found some TripAdvisor forums telling me we might freeze to death, we still went to Paris in February. Here’s what it’s REALLY like.
Average temperatures in Paris are between 4°C to 6°C, which is loosely around 39°F to 43°F. Yeah, that’s cold. And, yes, it was cold in Paris.
Early morning in February, just after it stopped raining. Pretty magical, eh?
Here’s the big kicker, though. We are from Utah, where average winter temperatures are pretty similar, so we’re pretty well-versed in winter weather. If you’re from a really warm area, the weather in Paris might come as a shock. For us, it wasn’t that bad.
There’s just something romantic about Paris in the winter
Paris was fairly rainy for a lot of our trip, and they can also see some snowfall (that rarely sticks for long) so you want to pack footwear that can get you through puddles and slush.
I packed a super-compressible, super-warm jacket from Patagonia, as well as more-expensive-than-I’m-used-to gloves, and a few cute knit hats. I also packed extra socks in case my feet got wet (and should have packed even more), and I was toasty the entire time.
In the end, would we visit again? Absolutely. There were some huge perks to visiting in February, including:
- Hotel prices were cheaper
- Tourist destinations and attractions were less crowded. We had a lot of places almost to ourselves!
- The rainy/cold streets fit in well with the architecture and we were “inspired” by our surroundings
- Airfare is cheaper
- Paris is a great springboard to the rest of Europe- by train, plane, or car
So, if you see some super cheap flights on sale for the upcoming winter months, it might be worth visiting! Paris is beautiful, any time of year.
We had the Louvre nearly to ourselves!
Hardly anyone was going up the steps to Sacre Coeur
We even had the Paris Opera all to ourselves
Paris- gorgeous any time of year
Who wouldn’t want to wander the streets of Paris in the spring? That’s the thing- everyone wants to visit Paris in the spring and summer. If you’re looking to avoid a lot of crowds, visiting Paris in the winter may be cold and it may be rainy, but there are a lot of perks to seeing the City of Lights in off-season. We’d definitely recommend it.
