Paris Christmas Lights 2026: A Self-Guided Walking Route

Every winter, from mid-November to early January, the grand avenues of the Right Bank light up one after another: the Champs-Élysées, Avenue Montaigne, Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Place Vendôme and then Boulevard Haussmann. Rather than a list of addresses, this guide gives you a real walking route of about 5 km, in the order that works best on foot, with the metro stations at the start and finish, the best time to set off and how long to allow for each stage. You will also find a Left Bank alternative, the bus line that runs down the Champs-Élysées and the precautions to take in the crowds. As not all 2026 dates have been published, the 2025 dates are given and clearly marked. Information checked and prices noted in September 2026.

2026 dates: what has been announced and what has not

At the end of September 2026, neither the Comité Champs-Élysées nor the City of Paris had published the switch-on date for the 2026 edition. Last year's dates are a reliable guide, as the calendar changes little from one year to the next:

Champs-Élysées: switched on on Sunday 16 November 2025 at 6:30pm, lights until early January 2026. In 2025, the avenue's 400 trees were lit every evening from 5pm to midnight, until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, and all night on 24 and 31 December.
Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré: lit from 17 November 2025.
Avenue Montaigne: lit from mid-November 2025 to 4 January 2026.
Place Vendôme and nearby streets: from 19 November 2025 to 12 January 2026.
Boulevard Haussmann: lights in place from November to mid-January 2026.

For December 2026, you can therefore count on a fully lit route from late November to the first days of January 2027. The Christmas school holidays for zone C run from Saturday 19 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027: this is when crowds are at their heaviest.

The route at a glance: 5 km from Étoile to the Opéra

Start: Charles de Gaulle-Étoile metro (lines 1, 2, 6 and RER A), Avenue des Champs-Élysées exit.
Finish: Chaussée d'Antin-La Fayette metro (lines 7 and 9), Havre-Caumartin (lines 3 and 9) or RER A Auber.
Distance: about 4.7 km, 5.2 km with the detour to Concorde.
Time: 1h15 of actual walking, 2 to 2.5 hours with stops and photos.
Best time: set off around 5:30pm, on a weekday. In December, the sun sets around 4:55pm and the Champs-Élysées lights come on at 5pm; you will reach Boulevard Haussmann around 7:30-8pm.

The suggested direction walks down the avenue, giving you the lit-up perspective towards Concorde, then turns north to finish in the department store district, which is well served for getting back. A metro ticket costs €2.55 (price noted in September 2026).

Stage 1: the Champs-Élysées, from Étoile to the Rond-Point

As you leave the metro, first turn around to face the Arc de Triomphe, floodlit every evening. Then walk down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées on whichever pavement you prefer as far as the Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, about 1.2 km and 20 to 30 minutes at a stroll.

In 2025, the avenue's trees carried nearly 2 million programmable LEDs, designed by the company Blachère, and replayed a sound and light show lasting a few minutes every evening. The central reservation is not accessible: for photos straight down the avenue, use the pedestrian crossings at Rue de Berri, Avenue George-V or the Rond-Point, and wait for the lights. The lower part of the avenue, between the Rond-Point and Concorde, runs alongside gardens with no shops and is quieter in the evening, so the route leaves it at the Rond-Point.

Stage 2: Avenue Montaigne, the most elegant

Avenue Montaigne with its trees wrapped in white fairy lights, on a December evening in 2024

At the Rond-Point, turn right into Avenue Montaigne, lined with couture houses. The trees are entirely wrapped in white lights and the luxury brands compete with their façade decorations. Walk down and back as far as the Plaza Athénée (25 Avenue Montaigne), about 700 m and 15 minutes; continuing to Place de l'Alma adds 500 m with no notable extra decorations.

If you would rather avoid the there-and-back, you can also make Avenue Montaigne your starting point: get off at Alma-Marceau metro (line 9), walk up the avenue to the Rond-Point, then carry on to stage 3. You will then see only the lower half of the Champs-Élysées.

Stage 3: Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré and a detour to Concorde

Place de la Concorde on a December evening in 2015, with the obelisk, a lit-up tree and the big wheel installed that year

Go back to the Rond-Point and walk up Avenue Matignon (about 400 m) to Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. Turn right: for about 1 km up to Rue Royale, the street of the great fashion houses is decked with lights and festive windows. You pass the Élysée Palace, at no. 55, under permanent police watch: do not linger there with a tripod. Allow 25 minutes.

At the junction with Rue Royale, Place de la Concorde is 250 m to your left. The there-and-back (10 minutes) lets you see the floodlit obelisk and, straight ahead, the whole lit-up perspective of the Champs-Élysées up to the Arc de Triomphe. In 2025, a Christmas market with a funfair and an ice rink occupied the Tuileries Garden, on the Rue de Rivoli side, from mid-November to 4 January 2026; its 2026 dates had not been published at the end of September 2026.

Stage 4: Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix

From Rue Royale, carry straight on along the narrower Rue Saint-Honoré for about 450 m, then turn left into Rue de Castiglione: Place Vendôme opens up 150 m further on. In 2025, eight large decorated fir trees surrounded the column and arches of light adorned the nearby streets, from 19 November 2025 to 12 January 2026. The jewellers' windows, lit in the evening, complete the scene. Allow 20 minutes, including a photo stop.

Leave the square by Rue de la Paix, to the north: it leads in 500 m to Place de l'Opéra and the Opéra Garnier, whose floodlit façade marks the entrance to the department store district.

Stage 5: Boulevard Haussmann and the department stores

Walk round the left of the Opéra to reach Boulevard Haussmann, 300 m further on. The façades of Galeries Lafayette and Printemps, the animated windows and the boulevard's illuminated trees make up the final stage, and the busiest.

Window unveiling dates, the tree under the dome, opening hours and the best times to avoid the crowds are all covered in our guide to the Christmas windows of the department stores. If you are set on seeing the tree inside, check the store's closing time on the day of your visit, or walk the route in reverse starting from the Opéra in mid-afternoon: you will then finish on the Champs-Élysées, lit until midnight.

Left Bank alternative: Bon Marché and Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The façade of Le Bon Marché lit up for Christmas, Rue de Sèvres, in December 2007

For a shorter, calmer walk of about 2.2 km and 1 to 1.5 hours, start from Sèvres-Babylone metro (lines 10 and 12). Opposite the station, Le Bon Marché (24 Rue de Sèvres, 75007) decorates its façade and its Rue de Sèvres windows: in 2025, they were unveiled on 7 November and stayed on view until 4 January 2026.

Then head to the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, about 900 m away via Rue de Sèvres and Boulevard Saint-Germain. The neighbourhood's cafés and shops put up their decorations from early December and a small market of wooden chalets sets up at the foot of the church (in 2025, from 25 November to 1 January 2026). For addresses and walks in the area, see our Saint-Germain-des-Prés guide.

To carry on, continue towards the Seine to Square René-Viviani (Quai de Montebello, 75005), about 1.3 km away: the Notre-Dame Christmas market is announced there from 26 November to 27 December 2026, with a view of the cathedral. Head back from Saint-Michel metro (line 4) or RER B and C.

Other illuminated neighbourhoods

Montmartre: in 2025, a Christmas village took over Place des Abbesses from 21 November 2025 to 4 January 2026 (Abbesses metro, line 12). It pairs well with a climb to the Sacré-Cœur, described in our Montmartre guide.
Markets and events: the city's other Christmas markets and ideas for the season are gathered in our Christmas in Paris guide.

Doing the route by bus: line 73

If walking is difficult, bus line 73 (La Garenne-Colombes - Musée d'Orsay, terminating at La Défense on Sundays and public holidays) runs the full length of the avenue: stops Charles de Gaulle-Étoile, George V, La Boétie-Champs-Élysées, Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, Champs-Élysées-Clemenceau, then Concorde. Sit by the window, heading towards Musée d'Orsay, for the view down the illuminated trees.

In the evening, expect a bus roughly every 15 to 20 minutes. A journey costs €2.05 with the Bus-Tram ticket, which does not allow a transfer to the metro (price noted in September 2026). To continue to Place Vendôme and the Opéra, get off at Concorde and pick up the walking route at stage 3. How the network works is explained in our guide to buses in Paris.

Route summary table

Stage	What to see	Time	Metro
1. Champs-Élysées (Étoile → Rond-Point)	400 illuminated trees, Arc de Triomphe	20 to 30 min	Charles de Gaulle-Étoile (1, 2, 6, RER A)
2. Avenue Montaigne (there and back)	Trees in white lights, couture house façades	15 min	Franklin D. Roosevelt (1, 9)
3. Faubourg-Saint-Honoré and Concorde	Illuminated street, obelisk, Champs-Élysées perspective	35 min	Concorde (1, 8, 12)
4. Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix	Fir trees around the column, jewellers' windows	20 min	Tuileries (1), Opéra (3, 7, 8)
5. Boulevard Haussmann	Animated windows and department store façades	30 min	Chaussée d'Antin-La Fayette (7, 9), Havre-Caumartin (3, 9)
Left Bank alternative	Bon Marché, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Notre-Dame market	1 to 1.5 hours	Sèvres-Babylone (10, 12), Saint-Michel (4)

Times are approximate and include stops. 2026 switch-on dates not published at the end of September 2026; information checked in September 2026.

Practical tips: crowds, pickpockets and weather

Crowds: avoid Saturdays and Sundays in December, especially the two weekends before Christmas, and the Champs-Élysées switch-on evening, which drew more than 150,000 people in 2024 according to the organisers. A weekday evening in late November or early December offers the best balance.
Pickpockets: the crowds on the Champs-Élysées and Boulevard Haussmann attract pickpockets. Carry your bag in front of you, keep your phone and wallet in a closed pocket and beware of petitions and pushy sellers. Common tricks are described in our guide to scams to avoid in Paris.
Weather: in December, highs hover around 8°C and it rains on about eleven days in the month. Bring closed shoes, a waterproof jacket, a hat and gloves; on a rainy evening, the reflections on the cobbles make for better photos, but stage 2 can be shortened.
Photos: a tripod gets in the way on crowded pavements; rest your phone on a low wall or a bollard instead.
New Year's Eve: the Champs-Élysées are closed to traffic and access is controlled; do not plan this route that evening (see our New Year's Eve in Paris guide).