Paris is on Central European Time (CET), the time zone covering all of France, as well as most of western and central Europe.
At the moment, the time in Paris is:
The CET time zone usually means Paris (and the whole of France) is:
- 1 hour ahead of the UK and Ireland
- 6 hours ahead of the east coast USA
- 9 hours ahead of the west coast USA
- 8-10 hours behind Sydney, Australia
Daylight savings time
France observes daylight savings time, known as ‘CEST’. It starts on the last Sunday of March when clocks spring forward one hour, reverting back on the last Sunday of October. (This is different than North American daylight savings time which starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.)
Sunrise and sunsets
- In July: Sunrise is around 6am and sunset around 10pm.
- In December: Sunrise is around 8:30am and sunset around 5pm.
If you are coming to France for the fireworks around Bastille day in July or New Year’s eve, please note that the shows do not start until after sunset. At Christmas time, the streets are usually lit up with Christmas lights around 5pm after sunset.
