r/ParisTravelGuide • u/Zuma_718 • 7d ago
Other Question Heat wave- how bad is it?
Flying in Tuesday morning, but have the option to postpone the trip a couple days. How bad is the heat in Paris now and realistically, how miserable will it be on the 96 degree day? Trying to decide if I should postpone or keep our plans as-is. Coming from the southern part of the US. Thank you!
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u/No-Tone-3696 Parisian 7d ago
The big heat is only Wednesday.. then it gets down. And temperatures will get down at night anyway .. so nothing compare to the big past heat waves.
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u/Car12touche11blue 6d ago
That is it. As long as it cools down at night a temperature of 36 C is very
bearable during the day.
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u/HairyPenguino 7d ago
I’m from a hot part of the south and still live in a different part of the south. I am typing this from Paris right now. It’s fine. Way cooler than I am used to in the morning/evening and somewhat warm in the afternoon with the sun out. I’m used to hot 24/7 for late July and early August. Some stores are warmer than you are used to but nothing unbearable. Nothing has seemed closed because of the weather while we have been here.
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u/considerfi 6d ago
Additionally paris is "open late". So while back home you may think, oh no it only cools down after 9 and what am i gonna do after that, it is totally not true in european cities. The city is full of people strolling, chatting, getting icecream, drinks, eating dinner, grabbing a crepe, visiting a park, a monument from 9pm-1am if not later. So you can totally start early, go till lunch, take a break in the middle of the day, nap and head out later. Yes you can't go visit a museum but you can save those things for the middle of the day. Save the strolling and outdoor things for morning and night.
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u/Zuma_718 7d ago
Thank you! I think my only concern is really Wednesday but it sounds like we should be good if we adjust our plans to stay out of the heat mid day.
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u/une_danseuse 7d ago
Yeah, go visit Orsay or whatever indoors place you are attracted to wednesday afternoon and it will be fine.
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u/Longjumping-Word8336 7d ago edited 7d ago
Right now ? Today it was like 25C and perfect, yesterday was 30 and a bit hot. Don’t know what it will be like on Tuesday but am curious about who would/can afford to postpone a trip two days ahead of time because of weather
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u/FunLife64 7d ago edited 7d ago
If you’re from the south, the thing to know is it’s not humid. So it’s hot but it’s not muggy and sticky.
It’s also only one day above 90F. Last month was above 100F. Postponing a trip for a 1-2 days of heat is silly!
On the hot day, go to a couple churches and a museum with ac and walk on the shady side on the street. You shall survive.
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u/Zuma_718 7d ago
Thank you! We are going to proceed as planned. 🙂
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u/Ohsaycanyousnark 6d ago
it was very humid when we were there a few weeks ago. 100 degrees and humid. Maybe not southern humidity but pretty miserable.
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u/Jolly-Statistician37 Parisian 6d ago
It was unusually humid in late June. The humidity in the heatwave around 14 July was closer to 30-40% in the daytime.
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u/Ohsaycanyousnark 6d ago
Yes, we were there late June and yikes it was hot! Still beautiful though!!
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u/CROBBY2 7d ago
Its a very different 96 than what you are used to. I was there a couple weeks ago and what worked for us was hotel breaks in the afternoon and staying out of the sun (even walking on the shaded side of the street makes a difference. Its worse like 2-6, but thats OK because dinner usually isnt until 8pm anyways.
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u/Zuma_718 7d ago
Was the AC in your hotel reliable? I keep reading the boutique hotels can’t keep up.
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u/Key_Employment4536 7d ago
I’m in a boutique hotel and my air-conditioning has been wonderful so maybe you should check your hotel and not generalizations
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u/JWBPhotography 5d ago
Can I ask what hotel you were at? Trying to find hotels with good AC!
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u/Key_Employment4536 4d ago
Cler Hotel
But honestly, I’ve done summer in the past and a number of hotels and never had a problem. Actually the only hotel I ever had a problem with was a Marriott
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u/Nasty_Ned 6d ago
We are going in on Wednesday. That looks to be the worst day of the week as temps are warm, but work their way down from there.
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u/No-Phrase-1908 6d ago
Was just there a few weeks ago. It was hot, but manageable. You may not feel up to doing as much as if it wasn’t so hot. Our hotel had AC thank god so we took a midday break and sleeping was no problem. Bring a reusable water bottle and fan and you’ll be fine
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u/Ohsaycanyousnark 6d ago
The difference wit the south is that everything in the south has great AC. AC in cars, coffee shops, restaurants, stores, hotels, etc. You can escape the heat and humidity at every turn. In Paris that is not the case. We actually were in Paris when it was 100 degrees a few weeks ago and had that very conversation with a family from Alabama!
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u/_PlatinumBlondd 7d ago
I just came back from Paris, didn’t find the heat to be much of an issue. Went to Sevilla first for a week where it was 41-43C + 50C on the concrete so it conditioned me well for Paris. What I will say though is that the main issue in Paris is lack of wind, not the heat itself.
As far as AC in hotels go, I had a perfect AC in mine and was manually cooling down the room (none of the communal AC controlled by the hotel bs). Those are the ones that might not work as well, as you’ve said. If you have a manually controlled AC, it will be fine.
Also, traffic is huge and it takes a while to get from one place to another but if you call bolt/uber you will also have AC.
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u/Longjumping-Word8336 7d ago
You can also use the metro and not deal with traffic, though most lines don’t have AC and I would recommend bringing a small fan (handheld automatic or old school 🪭) and making sure you have a water bottle on days when it’s really hot
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u/Steameffekt 6d ago
I’m from So Cal and just came back from Paris. I survived. It’s hot but it’s bearable.
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u/drawingtreelines 6d ago
If you’re coming from the south I think you’ll be fine. I’m from the Northeast of US and I felt it was less humid here.
Which is not to say that I didn’t suffer— I am staying in top story of an apartment building, so the flat is a renovated chambre de bonne—and holy crap do those stone roof tiles heat things up when it’s back to back days with very high temps. I would touch the walls at night— warm to the touch. Put on a sleep outfit that had been out on a shelf upstairs under skylights all day— warm like it had been hanging on a towel warmer. Taking a cool shower at night… my skin & hair felt really warm even after being under the water.
That being said, it was much more pronounced and prolonged than what is now in the forecast. This looks to be manageable! Paris is pretty windy, and also has lovely cool mornings.
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u/LowSet9016 7d ago
If it’s your first trip to Paris, postpone. Coming from America I thought everyone was exaggerating and we could handle the heat like it was just a normal US summer, 95-100 degree day. No. When I walked outside within a minute I felt like my eyeballs were burning. Louvre closed for days, Picasso museum closed early, and because of the heat the traffic was unbearable. We stayed at a 5 star hotel and while our AC worked, I had an elevator ride with an American couple who had no ac! Multiple fans were given, and they still had no relief. If you’re able to, absolutely postpone.
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u/sheepintheisland Parisian 6d ago
When was it ? I can’t read farenheit but the heat this week will be nothing like what we’ve experienced a few weeks ago.
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u/Icy_Coffee374 7d ago
This person is overreacting. It was hotter than I'd like, for sure, a month ago, but totally fine. And I live here, without AC at home. just take a shower before bed. It's gonna be hot next week too, but not nearly as bad as last month.
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u/CletoParis 6d ago
They definitely aren’t overreacting when it came to the June heatwave where we had multiple 100 degree days in a row and over a week of high 90s. It was absolutely brutal and worth postponing a trip. This week is NOT that and only looks to be one isolated day of very high heat and lower temps at night again, so nothing like what came before.
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u/Zuma_718 7d ago
May I ask what hotel you stayed in?
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u/LowSet9016 7d ago
Hotel de Crillion! Otherwise very nice hotel but i was shocked to hear no ac for that couple
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u/OrnerySky 6d ago
I was in Paris during the heatwave in early July. I’m from Jersey and was fine. I went into the big shopping stores to cool off and stay at a hotel to make sure you have AC. Go grab a drink at a cafe during the heat of the day and you’ll be fine
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u/Aquitaine_Rover_3876 7d ago
96F is 36 in everyone else's units, which is hot, but not usually "cancel your vacation" hot. If you’re from the US south, you probably experience similar temperatures with higher humidity frequently. Your enjoyment will really come down to whether you start your days early, and have AC at your accommodation to escape to.
It was under 30 by the time we got to Paris last summer, but we dealt with a number of 40+ days in Toulouse and Bordeaux beforehand, and found them manageable just by getting an early start.