Champs-Elysees Christmas Paris 2026: Illuminations and the Returning Market, 22 November to 4 January

The Champs-Elysees switches its Christmas lights on on Sunday 22 November 2026, and this year the avenue gets its Christmas market back as well, for the first time in about a decade. Nearly 400 trees between Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe stay lit every evening until Monday 4 January 2027, and about 200 chalets fill the gardens of the lower avenue.

Both parts are free to walk, and both open the same evening. If you land that weekend, settle in, then walk up from Concorde as the lights come on.

The switch on ceremony is set for Sunday 22 November 2026 at 6:30pm, according to the City of Paris, with actress Cate Blanchett as guest of honour, pressing the button alongside the charity Petits Princes. After that, the City says the lights come on every day from 5pm, go off at midnight on weekdays and at 1am at weekends, and stay on all night on 24 and 31 December. A sound and light show set to music runs four times an hour through the evening.

The display covers nearly 400 trees between Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe, and the lighting is 100 percent LED. The walk is free and no booking is needed to see the lights from the pavements. Walk up from Concorde and the Arc closes the view at the top of the slope, which is the classic direction to do it.

The market is the news. A Champs-Elysees Christmas market returns to the lower avenue gardens, between Place de la Concorde and the Rond-Point, opening on 22 November and running to 4 January, with about 200 chalets. It is the avenue’s own market, back after about ten years away, and it shares the lower avenue with the illuminations, so the lights walk and the market stroll are one outing, not two.

The Champs-Elysees sits on the Right Bank, with metro stations along its length, so any central arrival works. See our CDG to Paris transfer guide for every option, priced and compared. The RoissyBus airport coach was discontinued in March 2026, so the train, a flat fare taxi or a booked transfer are the routes in.

For a Splurge, Hotel Lutetia, at 45 Boulevard Raspail, is the Left Bank grand dame, reborn, with a jazz bar, a spa and rooms over the rooftops of the 6th. For Sweet spot, Hotel Malte Astotel, at 63 Rue de Richelieu, is a cheerful, well run hotel a short walk from the Opera and the Louvre, on the Right Bank side for the avenue. For Budget, Grand Hotel Leveque, at 29 Rue Cler, is a small three star right on the Rue Cler market street, four minutes from the Champ de Mars.

Hotel Malte is the natural base for this one: the lower avenue and Concorde are a walk or one metro ride away. For getting back, the metro runs to about 12:45am, and later on Fridays and Saturdays, which covers the lights hours on most nights. For CDG, reverse the ride in, RER B out or the flat fare taxi back to the rank price you came in on.

Get connected before you fly: the guide names an Airalo eSIM for France, with Saily as a good alternative, so you are online as the plane taxis in. Free Wi-Fi is standard in cafes and most hotels.

Cards work almost everywhere, including the metro gates. Keep €20 to €30 in cash for markets and small boulangeries, use bank ATMs, and always decline the convert to your home currency offer, as paying in euros is cheaper. Paris charges a tourist tax of €5 to €10 per night depending on hotel category, collected at the hotel.

For a first meal, the guide sends you to Bouillon Chartier, at 7 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre, a Belle Epoque dining hall serving escargots, boeuf bourguignon and riz au lait at prices from another century: go early or expect a queue, as it seats 300 and still fills. Book Louvre and Eiffel Tower tickets before you fly, as the guide directs: it is the difference between walking in and queuing for two hours.

One avenue, 400 lit trees and a market that took a decade to come back. Browse the events calendar for what else is on while you are in town, and use plan your trip to line up the days around it.