New Year’s Eve 2026 in Paris

By the ULTIMATE Paris Editorial Team

Midnight on the Champs-Élysées

Every New Year’s Eve the City of Paris closes the Champs-Élysées to traffic and opens it to the crowd, from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. When we checked, the city had not yet published its programme for 31 December 2026. For the last edition the avenue opened at 7pm, a video mapping lit the Arc de Triomphe at 11.50pm, and fireworks broke over it at midnight; entry was without tickets, through security checks.

The avenue’s Christmas illuminations, switched on from Sunday 22 November 2026 until 4 January 2027, stay lit all night on 31 December. Last year métro stations around the avenue closed from the afternoon and reopened at about 1am, and public transport in the region ran without charge from 5pm on New Year’s Eve until midday on New Year’s Day; check the city’s 2026 arrangements before you set out.

Our advice: arrive early, pack light for the security checks, dress for the cold and walk home along the river; the crowds thin quickly beyond the Concorde.

City of Paris: the Champs-Élysées at Christmas →   City of Paris: New Year’s Eve on the Champs-Élysées →

Palace nights: the Crillon and Le Royal Monceau

On the Place de la Concorde, the Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel, offers three ways to see out 2026. Nonos par Paul Pairet serves a festive dinner of the chef’s signature creations; the Masquerade Ball opens with a cocktail reception and live music until 11pm, then a DJ, dancing and the countdown until 2am; and the bar Les Ambassadeurs pours Champagne with canapés to a DJ, a singer and a saxophonist until 4am.

On the avenue Hoche, a few minutes’ walk from the Arc de Triomphe, Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris spreads its New Year’s Eve dinner across Matsuhisa Paris, Le Bar Long and its salons, with live music, dancing and a Champagne countdown at Le Bar Long, while Il Carpaccio serves its own dinner to gospel music. Rooms facing the Arc look straight onto the fireworks.

Our advice: the Crillon prints no prices and the palaces sell out early; reserve now and ask for the details when you book.

Hôtel de Crillon: the holidays →   Le Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris: festive season →

A revue and a dance floor: the Paradis Latin

The Paradis Latin, the Latin Quarter cabaret, gives its New Year’s Eve to a long party. Guests are received from 7.15pm, dinner with a menu by Guy Savoy and a dessert by Pierre Hermé begins at 8pm, and the revue L’Oiseau Paradis, directed by Kamel Ouali, starts at 10.15pm. After the countdown there is dancing with Champagne until 3am. Platinum, Gold and Silver menus differ in seats and wines.

Our advice: the Platinum menu buys the Carré Or seats and a VIP reception; the cabaret does not print its prices, so ask when you book.

Paradis Latin: Christmas and New Year →

Concerts, ballet and the stage on 31 December

At the Maison de la Radio et de la Musique, the Orchestre National de France and Enrique Mazzola see in the year on Broadway, with Bernstein, Funny Girl and Carousel, at 8pm in the Auditorium (€14–94); the same programme plays on 30 December. At the Salle Gaveau, Victor Julien-Laferrière leads the Orchestre Consuelo in Haydn, Mozart and Strauss at 6pm (€25–180).

At the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera Ballet dances Pulsations, with a new work by Lucinda Childs, Martha Graham’s Lamentation and León and Lightfoot’s Schmetterling, at 7.30pm (€71–265). The Théâtre du Châtelet plays Les Misérables in French with English surtitles at 2.30pm and 8pm (from €15 to €149 in the evening), and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has Cirque Le Roux’s Entre chiens et louves at 7.30pm (€15–110).

Our advice: a 6pm or 7.30pm curtain leaves time for a late dinner and midnight on the river; Garnier’s Grand Foyer at the interval is a sight in itself.

Radio France: Nouvel an à Broadway →   Salle Gaveau: Concert du Nouvel An →   Opéra national de Paris: Pulsations →   Théâtre du Châtelet: Les Misérables →   Théâtre des Champs-Élysées: Cirque Le Roux →

New Year’s Day and the first weekend of 2027

On Friday 1 January 2027 the Salle Gaveau repeats its New Year’s concert, with Victor Julien-Laferrière and the Orchestre Consuelo in Haydn, Mozart and the Strausses, at 2.30pm and 6pm (€25–180). On Saturday 2 January at 8pm and Sunday 3 January at 4pm, Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique and the Chœur de Radio France in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Maison de la Radio (€12–79).

Our advice: Beethoven’s Ninth is the classic way to begin a year; book it early.

Salle Gaveau: Concert du Nouvel An, 1 January →   Radio France: Christmas and New Year concerts →

Still to come, and how to plan

When we checked, the Seine dinner cruises (Bateaux Parisiens, Bateaux-Mouches, Yachts de Paris and Ducasse sur Seine), the Moulin Rouge, the Ritz Paris, Le Meurice, the Plaza Athénée, the Four Seasons Hotel George V and the Mandarin Oriental had not published 2026 details we could read on their own pages; we will add them as they are confirmed.

Our advice: book dinner and a taxi home together, as cars are scarce after midnight; and keep New Year’s Day for a long walk through the Tuileries and the Palais-Royal, when the city is at its quietest.

Christmas in Paris →

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