Last verified: October 16, 2026. Every date and closure in this guide to French public holidays was checked against service-public.fr, the French labour code and each museum’s or monument’s own page. Festival dates come from the organisers. I re-check the closures and the pending 1 May law each quarter and update the date above.
In 2027, four of France’s 11 public holidays land on a Saturday or Sunday, and France doesn’t move them to a weekday. May 1, May 8 and Christmas fall on Saturdays and August 15 on a Sunday (service-public.fr, Jours fériés, 2026). That leaves seven weekday holidays, the fewest a year can have.
For a visitor, that’s good news, if you know which seven they are. Most lists of French public holidays online are copies of 2024 or 2025 calendars, and they all say “some museums close” without saying which.
This guide gives you every date to December 2027, what shuts on each one, the two bridge weekends to book around, and the festivals worth bending a trip for. If you want to know why the French guard these days so fiercely, my French culture guide explains it.
Disclosure: Some links in this guide may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend.
Key Takeaways
- France has 11 public holidays. In 2027 four fall on a weekend, so only seven close offices on a weekday (service-public.fr).
- May 1 is the one day almost everything shuts. The Louvre, Orsay and Versailles all close.
- The Arc de Triomphe is the trap: it closes on May 1, May 8, July 14 and the morning of November 11.
- Book around two bridges: Ascension (May 6) and Armistice (November 11).
Table of Contents
What Are the Public Holidays in France in 2027?
France’s labour code lists the 11 French public holidays, and in 2027 they run from Friday January 1 to Saturday December 25 (Code du travail, article L3133-1). Three move with Easter: Easter Monday, Ascension and Whit Monday. The other eight sit on fixed dates. Here’s the full calendar from November 2026, with the Alsace-Moselle extras marked.
The Holiday Calendar, November 2026 to December 2027
| Date | Day | Holiday | What it marks | How much closes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 11, 2026 | Wednesday | Armistice Day (Armistice) | End of the First World War, 1918 | Banks, offices, many shops |
| Dec 25, 2026 | Friday | Christmas Day (Noël) | Christian feast | Most of the country |
| Dec 26, 2026 | Saturday | St Stephen’s Day | Alsace-Moselle only | Lost to the weekend |
| Jan 1, 2027 | Friday | New Year’s Day (Jour de l’an) | Start of the year | Most of the country |
| Mar 26, 2027 | Friday | Good Friday | Alsace-Moselle, most communes | Local shops and offices |
| Mar 29, 2027 | Monday | Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques) | Christian feast | Banks, offices, many shops |
| May 1, 2027 | Saturday | Labour Day (Fête du Travail) | Workers’ day | Almost everything |
| May 6, 2027 | Thursday | Ascension (Ascension) | Christian feast | Banks, offices, many shops; bridge Friday |
| May 8, 2027 | Saturday | Victory in Europe Day (Victoire 1945) | End of the war in Europe, 1945 | Weekend; the Arc de Triomphe closes |
| May 17, 2027 | Monday | Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte) | Christian feast | Mixed: often a working day |
| Jul 14, 2027 | Wednesday | Bastille Day (Fête nationale) | The Revolution, 1789 to 1790 | Banks, offices, many shops |
| Aug 15, 2027 | Sunday | Assumption (Assomption) | Christian feast | Lost to the weekend |
| Nov 1, 2027 | Monday | All Saints’ Day (Toussaint) | Christian feast | Banks, offices, many shops |
| Nov 11, 2027 | Thursday | Armistice Day (Armistice) | End of the First World War | Banks, offices, many shops; bridge Friday |
| Dec 25, 2027 | Saturday | Christmas Day (Noël) | Christian feast | Most of the country |
| Dec 26, 2027 | Sunday | St Stephen’s Day | Alsace-Moselle only | Lost to the weekend |
Source: service-public.fr, Jours fériés, 2026 and 2027 calendars.
Several overseas territories each add one more day, marking the abolition of slavery: May 22 in Martinique, May 27 in Guadeloupe and Saint-Martin, June 10 in French Guiana, December 20 in Réunion, April 27 in Mayotte and October 9 in Saint-Barthélemy (service-public.fr, 2026).
Why Does 2027 Have Fewer Days Off?
Because four of the 11 French public holidays fall on a weekend in 2027, and France doesn’t replace them. Service-public.fr is plain about it: a holiday that lands on a usual rest day gives no extra day off, unless a collective agreement says otherwise (service-public.fr, 2026). France just loses them.
I placed every holiday on its weekday for each year from 2005 to 2040, using the legal list and the Easter date, and checked 2026 and 2027 against the government’s tables. The count of weekday holidays swings between 7 and 10. Seven is the floor, and only ten years in that span hit it. 2027 is one of them, as were 2021 and 2022, and 2032 will be next.
French workers grumble about years like this. For you, a lean year is an easy year. Fewer holidays on weekdays means fewer surprise closures, and only two bridge weekends instead of three. If you’ve got flexible dates, 2027 is about as kind as the French calendar gets.
The list itself isn’t changing either. In July 2025, the then prime minister François Bayrou proposed scrapping Easter Monday and May 8 to save €4.2 billion (Le Temps, 2025).
His successor, Sébastien Lecornu, withdrew the plan on September 13, 2025, in an interview with the regional press: “J’ai décidé de retirer la suppression de deux jours fériés” (La Libre Belgique, September 13, 2025). The 2027 budget bill, tabled on October 1, 2026, contains no holiday measure at all (Assemblée nationale, Projet de loi de finances pour 2027, n° 3210).
What’s Actually Closed on a French Public Holiday?
On ten of the eleven French public holidays, much less than you’d fear. Only May 1 is a compulsory day off for every employee, and staff who must work it are paid double (service-public.fr, Jours fériés, 2026). On the other holidays, closing is each employer’s choice or a matter for collective agreements. That’s why the answer changes from town to town.
Here’s what to expect on an ordinary holiday, such as Easter Monday or All Saints:
- Banks and offices close. Plan any bank errand for the day before.
- Post offices mostly close. La Poste’s office finder shows each office’s hours for the coming days (La Poste, opening hours help page), so check your nearest one there.
- Shops open in city centres and tourist areas, and many close in provincial towns. Supermarkets often open, usually for shorter hours.
- Restaurants in tourist areas open. Village restaurants often take the day off, and the ones that open fill up with families at lunch.
- Big museums and monuments mostly open. The exceptions are the subject of the next section.
- Public transport runs, usually on a Sunday timetable. Check the day’s timetable before you rely on a rural bus.
- Pharmacies close, but one in each area stays open on a rota as the pharmacie de garde. Look for the notice on any pharmacy door, or search 3237.fr. For an emergency, call 15 or 112.
On one Easter Monday in a market town, I needed a pharmacy for a stubborn cold. Every green cross on the high street was dark, but each door carried the same printed notice naming the one pharmacie de garde on duty, ten minutes’ walk away. It was open, and busy.
So what makes May 1 different? The labour code makes it a holiday on which employees don’t work, with exceptions only for activities that can’t stop, such as hospitals and transport (Code du travail, article L3133-4; L3133-6). The rule binds employers, not owners, so a baker or florist working the counter alone or with family can open. Most shops with staff stay shut. Even Paris’s tourist-zone shops, which may open on Sundays, need staff, so they close too.
Then there’s reading the signs. A door marked “fermé les dimanches et jours fériés” means closed on Sundays and public holidays. My guide to basic French for travelers covers the opening-hours vocabulary. My first-time-in-France tips explain why provincial France closes on Sunday afternoons as well. And if you’re eating out on a holiday, my French dining etiquette guide explains why booking lunch matters even more than usual.
Which Museums and Monuments Close on Which Holidays?
Among the French public holidays, three dates do most of the damage. On January 1, May 1 and December 25, the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles and the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey all close, and the Musée d’Orsay closes on May 1 and Christmas Day (Musée du Louvre, Hours and admission; Château de Versailles, Practical information). On the other holidays they’re open, unless the date falls on their weekly closing day.
The Closure Matrix
| Sight | Weekly closing day | Holidays it closes | Open on every other holiday? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louvre | Tuesday | Jan 1, May 1, Dec 25 | Yes |
| Musée d’Orsay | Monday | May 1, Dec 25 | Yes, including Jan 1 |
| Palace of Versailles | Monday | Jan 1, May 1, Dec 25 | Yes; the gardens open every day |
| Arc de Triomphe | None | May 1, May 8, Jul 14, Nov 11 (morning) | Yes, including Jan 1 and Dec 25 |
| Mont-Saint-Michel abbey | None | Jan 1, May 1, Dec 25 | Yes |
| Eiffel Tower | None | None as a rule | Open daily; check its calendar around July 14 and on strike days |
| Centre Pompidou | Closed since Sept 22, 2025 | All | Reopening planned for about 2030 |
Sources: each operator’s own page, read on October 16, 2026: Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Versailles, Arc de Triomphe, Mont-Saint-Michel abbey, Centre Pompidou. Eiffel Tower: Eiffel Tower, rates and opening times, whose day-by-day calendar had not yet published December hours; strike closures from CBS News.
The trap is the Arc de Triomphe. It closes on May 1, May 8 and July 14 and on the morning of November 11, because the national ceremonies take place there (Arc de Triomphe, Informations pratiques, 2026). That’s the reverse of the museums: it’s open on New Year’s Day and Christmas Day.
On December 24 and 31, 2026, it closes at 16:00. The operator’s page says the climb has been stairs only, 284 steps, since late July 2026, with the lift due back in 2027.
In 2027 there’s a quiet bonus. Easter Monday, Whit Monday and All Saints all fall on Mondays, when Orsay and Versailles close anyway, so those holidays cost you nothing extra there. The Louvre, closed on Tuesdays, is open on all three. For Louvre tickets and timed entry, see my Louvre tickets guide. To plan the rest of the city, my Paris travel guide has it.
How Does Each French Public Holiday Play Out?
Each of the French public holidays has its own character, and two of them reshape a trip. In 2026, Bastille Day closed the Champs-Élysées and nine metro stations for the parade (Bonjour RATP, Cérémonie du 13 et 14 juillet 2026). May 1 closes almost everything else. This is what each date means on the ground.
New Year’s Day (January 1)
The quietest morning of the year. Many restaurants open late or stay shut after the réveillon, the New Year’s Eve dinner. The Louvre, Versailles and the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey close. Orsay and the Arc de Triomphe open. In 2027 it’s a Friday, so it makes a three-day weekend.
Easter Monday
A family day with church services and long lunches. In 2027 it falls on March 29, before every school zone’s spring break. Zone C goes on holiday April 3 to 19, Zone A April 10 to 26 and Zone B April 17 to May 3 (Ministry of Education, school calendar open data, 2026 to 2027).
So Easter weekend is a short domestic break, not the start of the school exodus. My guide to the best time to visit France maps the zones against the seasons.
Most communes in Alsace and Moselle, those with a Protestant or mixed church, also take Good Friday, March 26 (my French regional cultures guide explains why).
May 1, Labour Day
The one hard closure of the year. Unions march in every city, and people give each other sprigs of lily of the valley, muguet, for luck. About 1.3 million French households bought muguet in 2024, worth €19.4 million to the trade (Valhor, Note d’information 1er mai, April 2025). Street sales by private individuals and associations are tolerated that day, under rules each town sets in a local order (Valhor, 2025).
My most reliable May 1 memory is the same in every town: a family bakery with the owner at the till, a queue out the door, and someone selling muguet from a bucket on the corner. Everything else on the street stayed shuttered until the next morning.
The law around the day is moving, slowly. In April 2026 the government tabled a bill to let artisan bakers and florists employ volunteers on May 1. The Senate passed it on June 16, 2026 (Sénat, Travail le 1er mai des boulangers-pâtissiers artisanaux et artisans fleuristes). It has sat in the Assemblée nationale’s social affairs committee since June 17, with no debate scheduled (Assemblée nationale, legislative file). It isn’t law, so plan May 1 on the old rules.
May 8, Victory in Europe Day
Ceremonies at every war memorial in France, and the Arc de Triomphe closes for the national one. In 2027 it’s a Saturday, so it costs you only the Arc. For the war sites behind these ceremonies, see my guide to WWI and WWII sites in France.
Ascension and Whit Monday
Both move with Easter: Thursday May 6 and Monday May 17 in 2027. Ascension brings an official bridge, because schools in all three zones close on Friday May 7 (Ministry of Education open data, 2026 to 2027). Whit Monday is murkier. Many employers use it as the journée de solidarité, an unpaid working day that funds care for elderly and disabled people (service-public.fr, 2026). So some offices open and others don’t.
July 14, Bastille Day
The military parade on the Champs-Élysées in the morning and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower at night. In 2026, the fireworks moved to July 13, and RATP closed nine stations around the parade route on the 14th, with line 1 running non-stop between Porte Maillot and Palais Royal (Bonjour RATP, July 2026).
The Louvre opens; the Arc doesn’t. In 2027 it’s a Wednesday, so there’s no bridge. For how a prison break in 1789 became the national day, see my French history primer.
August 15, Assumption
Mid-August is the emptiest stretch of the year in French cities. Many independent restaurants and bakeries close for their annual holiday anyway. In 2027 the day falls on a Sunday, so it changes nothing for closures.
I once spent August 15 in a small town in the southwest. The church bells rang for the procession, the café on the square was full of families, and every other door on the main street was shut. It was the most peaceful afternoon of that trip.
All Saints’ Day and Armistice Day
November 1 is when families visit graves, so cemeteries fill with flowers and roads with traffic. November 11 marks the 1918 armistice, with a ceremony at every war memorial and the Arc closed in the morning. In 2027, All Saints is a Monday and Armistice a Thursday, which makes the second bridge weekend of the year.
Christmas Day
The big museums close and most of the country stays home. In 2027 it’s a Saturday. Alsace and Moselle add December 26, which falls on a weekend in both 2026 and 2027. Strasbourg’s Christmas market opens on November 27, 2026 (Strasbourg, Capitale de Noël). My Alsace Christmas markets guide has the crowd forecast.
What Is a “Pont,” and Which Bridges Should You Book Around?
2027 has two bridge weekends to book around, Ascension and Armistice Day, down from three in 2026. A pont is the working day squeezed between a holiday and a weekend, which many people take off. In 2026, Bison Futé expected the Wednesday before Ascension to be the busiest day on the roads in both directions, and it rated Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes black (Bison Futé, Prévisions Ascension du 13 au 17 mai 2026). Black is its worst rating.
When one of the French public holidays falls on a Thursday, the Friday becomes the bridge, faire le pont. On a Tuesday, it’s the Monday. In 2026 the three were New Year’s Day, Ascension and Bastille Day. In 2027 they are:
- Ascension, Thursday May 6 to Sunday May 9. Schools close on Friday May 7, so families leave on Wednesday evening. Expect full trains and slow motorways out of Paris on Wednesday afternoon, and heavy returns on Sunday.
- Armistice Day, Thursday November 11 to Sunday November 14. A shorter domestic getaway, mostly to the coast and the countryside.
What does that mean for your trip? Travel on the Thursday morning of a bridge rather than the Wednesday, book trains as early as you can, and expect hotels near Paris to be busy. Whit Monday on May 17 adds a second long weekend in May, without a bridge.
For trains, car rental and tolls, see my guide to getting around France. For how the bridges fit the wider seasons, my guide to the best time to visit France has the details.
Which French Festivals Are Worth Planning a Trip Around?
For a trip around the French public holidays, five festivals are worth bending your dates for: Lyon’s Fête des Lumières (December 5 to 8, 2026, per Fête des Lumières, Lyon), Nice Carnival, Menton’s Fête du Citron, the Fête de la Musique and Lorient’s Interceltique. The heritage days drew nearly 7.4 million visits in 2025 (Ministry of Culture, press release, June 2026). Here’s the full dated list, November 2026 to December 2027:
- Beaujolais Nouveau day, nationwide: the third Thursday of November, so November 19, 2026 and November 18, 2027.
- Fête des Lumières, Lyon: December 5 to 8, 2026. Light shows across the old town, free, and very crowded.
- Strasbourg Christmas market: opens November 27, 2026; the closing date isn’t printed yet.
- Nice Carnival: February 9 to 28, 2027, on the theme “Vive l’Amour” (Côte d’Azur France, Carnaval de Nice 2027). My Nice travel guide covers the city.
- Fête du Citron, Menton: February 13 to 28, 2027, with day parades on Sundays and night parades on two Thursdays (Fête du Citron).
- Cannes Film Festival: May 11 to 22, 2027 (Festival de Cannes). It’s for the industry, but it pushes up hotel prices along the coast.
- Roland-Garros, Paris: May 17 to June 6, 2027, including qualifying (Roland-Garros).
- Fête de la Musique: June 21 every year, a Monday in 2027. Free concerts in streets, squares and bars all over the country.
- Tour de France: July 2 to 25, 2027, starting in Edinburgh (Tour de France). The route is unveiled on October 22, 2026.
- Festival d’Avignon: three weeks in July. The 2027 dates aren’t announced yet; 2026 ran July 4 to 25. My Provence itinerary plans around it.
- Festival Interceltique de Lorient: July 30 to August 8, 2027 (Festival Interceltique de Lorient). My Brittany travel guide covers the coast.
- European Heritage Days: the third weekend of September, when ministries and private buildings open for free. The 2027 dates aren’t announced yet.
Notice how the chart bunches up? May stacks Ascension, Whit Monday, Cannes and Roland-Garros into three weeks. July and August run from the Tour’s start through Bastille Day to Lorient. If you want festivals without the holiday crowds, February on the Riviera and early December in Lyon are the sweet spots.
The Extra Holidays in Alsace and Overseas
On top of the national French public holidays, Alsace and Moselle keep two extra days, Good Friday (in communes with a Protestant or mixed church) and December 26, under the local law they kept after their years under German rule (Code du travail, article L3134-13). Several overseas territories add a day marking the abolition of slavery.
Will any of this touch your trip? In the next two years, only Good Friday will. On March 26, 2027, shops and offices in most of Alsace close while the rest of France works normally. Shop staff there can’t work on Christmas Day at all, and no more than five hours on the other holidays (Code du travail, article L3134-4). My guide to French regional cultures explains how the region came to keep its own calendar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is everything closed on May 1 in France?
Nearly. May 1 is the only French public holiday on which employees must not work, except in activities that can’t stop, such as transport and hospitals (service-public.fr). The Louvre, Orsay and Versailles close. Owner-run bakeries and lily-of-the-valley sellers are the exceptions you’ll see.
Does France move a public holiday that falls on a weekend?
No. French public holidays that land on a Saturday or Sunday are simply lost, with no weekday in their place (service-public.fr). That’s why 2027 has only seven weekday holidays: May 1, May 8 and Christmas fall on Saturdays and August 15 on a Sunday.
Is the Louvre open on Bastille Day?
Yes, unless July 14 falls on a Tuesday, its weekly closing day. In 2027 it’s a Wednesday. Its only holiday closures are January 1, May 1 and December 25 (louvre.fr). The Arc de Triomphe is the one that closes on July 14, and in 2026 nine metro stations near the parade shut too.
Are shops open on bank holidays in France?
Outside Alsace and Moselle, on ten of the eleven French public holidays, it’s each shop’s choice. City-centre and tourist-zone shops mostly open, supermarkets often open for shorter hours, and provincial independents often close. On May 1, shops with employees close by law, so only owner-run shops open (Code du travail, L3133-4).
What is the journée de solidarité?
It’s one unpaid working day a year that funds care for elderly and disabled people. Many employers set it on Whit Monday, so on May 17, 2027 some offices and shops will open while others close (service-public.fr). In Alsace and Moselle it can’t fall on Christmas, December 26 or Good Friday.
The Bottom Line
French public holidays are easy to plan around once you know which ones bite:
- 11 holidays, only 7 on weekdays in 2027. Four land on a weekend and aren’t moved.
- May 1 is the only hard closure. Almost everything with staff shuts.
- January 1, May 1 and December 25 close the big museums. The Arc de Triomphe also closes on May 1, May 8, July 14 and the morning of November 11.
- Book around two bridges: Ascension (May 6 to 9) and Armistice (November 11 to 14).
Put your travel dates against the table above, then use my month-by-month guide to the best time to visit France to choose the month. And for the culture behind all those closed shutters, from long lunches to quiet Sundays, read my French culture guide.
