3 Days in Paris in Spring

Spring is when Paris looks like the Paris of the films. From the end of March, the cherry trees behind Notre-Dame and along the Seine burst into pink, the chestnuts of the boulevards come into leaf, the tulips fill the Tuileries and the café terraces fill up again at the first warm weekend. By May the days are long, the rose gardens are opening and the city is at its most beautiful, before the summer crowds arrive.

This route follows the blossom and the gardens. Day 1 is the center: the cherry trees of the Square Jean-XXIII behind Notre-Dame, the Jardin des Plantes with its spring borders, its glasshouses and the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, and a cruise on the river in the evening light. Day 2 goes south to the Parc de Sceaux, where Parisians picnic under hundreds of cherry trees at hanami, the Japanese blossom-viewing season, around the start of April. Day 3 is the west: the Bagatelle rose garden in the Bois de Boulogne, the Jardin du Ranelagh and the Eiffel Tower framed by the cherry blossom of the Champ de Mars.

Blossom dates change every year with the weather, so treat the cherry stops as a guide rather than a promise. The arrival day is for a terrace and a walk; the three days begin the next morning and can go in any order, apart from the Grande Galerie, which closes on Tuesdays.

We earn a commission when you book through partner links on this page. It never changes the price you pay. See our affiliate disclosure.

This route at a glance

Tickets to book before you fly

Three bookings; the gardens on this route are free or almost free. Prices start at the figures shown, per person.

Arrival evening: the first terrace

Spring evenings in Paris are made for terraces. Find a café with tables on the pavement, order a glass of rosé and watch the city come out after the winter. On a warm evening the quays of the Seine fill with picnics, and walking along them at sunset is the best introduction to the season.

Check the blossom reports for the city before Day 1: Parisian news sites and social media follow the cherry trees closely, and they tell you whether Notre-Dame or Sceaux is at its peak.

• Spring weather changes fast; carry a light jacket and an umbrella.
• Easter and the May bank holidays are the busiest spring weeks.
• Sunset is around 20:00 in April and 21:30 in late May.

Day 1: Cherry blossom behind Notre-Dame, the Jardin des Plantes and the Seine

Start at the Square Jean-XXIII, the garden behind Notre-Dame, where the cherry trees flower against the flying buttresses of the apse at the end of March or early April. In full bloom, it is one of the most photographed sights of spring in Paris; go before 9:30 for the light and the calm. Notre-Dame itself, free to enter, is a few steps away.

Walk along the river to the Jardin des Plantes, the botanical garden of Paris since the seventeenth century. In spring its long formal borders are planted with tulips and wallflowers, its alpine garden is in flower and the great glasshouses hold tropical forests and desert plants. After lunch, visit the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution, the great zoology hall where elephants, giraffes and a suspended whale skeleton seem to walk beneath the glass ceiling.

In the evening, ride the RER C to the Pont de l'Alma for a cruise on the Seine. In spring the light lasts past 20:00, so a 19:00 departure gives you daylight on the river and the first lights on the bridges at the end.

Stops in order

1. 9:00 · Square Jean-XXIII: cherry blossom behind Notre-Dame
   Quai de l'Archevêché, 75004, Paris
2. 9:45 · Notre-Dame Cathedral: free entry
   6 Parvis Notre-Dame - Place Jean-Paul II, 75004, Paris
3. 11:00 · Jardin des Plantes: spring borders, alpine garden, glasshouses
   Paris
4. 14:00 · Grande Galerie de l'Évolution: the procession of animals
   Cour Censier, 75005, Paris
5. 19:00 · Bateaux-Mouches pier: cruise in the evening light
   Port de la Conférence, 75008, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Photograph the blossom from the Pont de l'Archevêché

The bridge just south of the Square Jean-XXIII gives you the cherry trees, the apse of Notre-Dame and the Seine in one frame. Early morning, before the river traffic starts, the water is often still enough for reflections.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The glasshouses and the Grande Galerie are under cover; the blossom is still beautiful in light rain, and the crowds disappear.

Day 2: Hanami at the Parc de Sceaux

The Parc de Sceaux, a short RER ride south of Paris, is a seventeenth-century estate laid out by André Le Nôtre, the gardener of Versailles, with a château, cascades and a grand canal. In spring it is famous for its two cherry groves, one pink and one white, where hundreds of trees flower together and Parisians come for hanami, picnicking under the blossom in the Japanese tradition.

Bring a picnic from a Paris bakery or the market and spend the middle of the day under the trees. The pink grove, the Bosquet Nord, is the most photographed; the white one is quieter. Walk down to the great canal and the cascades afterwards, and visit the château, which houses a museum of the history of the Île-de-France region.

Back in Paris in the late afternoon, walk the Luxembourg Gardens, where the orchard of old apple and pear varieties and the beds around the palace are in flower, and finish with an aperitif on a terrace in Saint-Germain.

Stops in order

1. 10:30 · Parc de Sceaux: the cherry groves, picnic
   92330, Sceaux
2. 16:30 · Luxembourg Gardens: orchard and flower beds
   Place Edmond Rostand, 75006, Paris
3. 18:30 · Saint-Germain-des-Prés: aperitif on a terrace
   3 Place Saint-Germain des Prés, 75006, Paris
4. 19:00 · Café de Flore: or any terrace on the boulevard
   Rue Saint-Benoît, 75006, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Go to Sceaux on a weekday

At weekends in peak blossom, the cherry groves are as crowded as a beach. On a weekday morning you can spread a blanket under the trees and hear nothing but birds.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Sceaux is an outdoor day; if it rains, swap it with Day 1 or Day 3 and go on the first dry morning.

Day 3: The Bagatelle roses, the Ranelagh and the Eiffel Tower in blossom

The Parc de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne is the most romantic garden in Paris, with a small château built in sixty-four days for a bet, peacocks on the lawns and, from late May, a rose garden of more than a thousand varieties. In April it has tulips and irises; in any season it is a peaceful place for the morning.

Ride back into the city to the Jardin du Ranelagh, a quiet, green park with old chestnut trees where Parisian families picnic on spring weekends. In the afternoon, walk to the Champ de Mars, where cherry trees flower along the avenues around the Eiffel Tower in early April, and to the Trocadéro gardens with their fountains.

Go up the Eiffel Tower in the late afternoon. In spring the light is soft, the chestnuts of the city are bright green from above and the tower lights up around 21:00 in May, so you can come down and watch it from the Champ de Mars after an early dinner.

Stops in order

1. 10:00 · Parc de Bagatelle: roses from late May, tulips in April
   Route de Sèvres à Neuilly, 75016, Paris
2. 12:30 · Jardin du Ranelagh: picnic under the chestnuts
   Avenue Ingres, 75016, Paris
3. 15:00 · Trocadéro Gardens: gardens and fountains
   Paris
4. 15:45 · Champ de Mars: cherry trees around the tower in early April
   Avenue Bosquet, 75007, Paris
5. 16:30 · Eiffel Tower: the green city from above
   5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Time the tower for the first sparkle

In May the tower starts sparkling after 21:30. Book a late-afternoon slot, have dinner nearby and be back on the Champ de Mars for the first sparkle of the evening; it is the best end to a spring day.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Bagatelle and the Ranelagh are outdoors; in rain, swap the morning for the Musée Marmottan Monet near the Ranelagh and keep the tower if the cloud is high.

Departure morning: a last garden

Spend the last spring morning in the garden nearest your hotel: the Tuileries for the tulips, the Palais-Royal for its lime trees and roses, or the Place des Vosges for its fountains. All are free and open early.

Markets are at their best in spring: strawberries, white asparagus and new cheeses appear on the stalls from April.

• Most Paris gardens open around 7:30 or 8:00.
• Spring is the season for strawberries and white asparagus.
• Allow plenty of time for an international flight; Easter and May holidays are busy.

Which day goes where

The three days can run in any order. Use this table to keep every sight off its closing day.

When does it flower? A spring calendar for Paris

Spring in Paris is a sequence of flowering seasons. The dates below are typical and shift by a week or two with the weather; check local blossom reports before you go.

💡 Pro Tip

Follow the blossom, not the calendar

A mild winter brings the blossom forward by two weeks and a cold one holds it back. Keep Day 2 at Sceaux flexible and go on the day the reports say the groves are at their peak.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

Spring in Paris: what else to know

• Weather is mild but changeable, from 10 to 20 °C, with showers; layers are the answer.
• Easter is one of the busiest weeks of the year; book the Eiffel Tower and restaurants early.
• The 1 May holiday closes many museums, including the Louvre, the Orsay and the Sainte-Chapelle.
• Terraces reopen with the first warm days, and Parisians move outdoors as soon as they can.

More 3-day routes

• Paris with Giverny: Monet's garden in tulip and iris season.
• Impressionist Paris: the paintings of the gardens you are walking through.
• Paris in summer: the next season, with river beaches and late sunsets.
• Paris for photographers: the soft light of spring mornings.
• The best time for 3 days in Paris: spring compared with the other seasons.
• 5 days in Paris: more time for gardens and day trips.
• All the 3-day routes, by theme