Paris is the most visited city in the world with 44 million tourists flocking to the French capital in 2022. While we don’t believe you need a reason to visit the City of Lights, 2024 is gearing up to be the year of Paris. Of course, there are the Olympic Games, but this isn’t the only exciting thing happening in Paris this year.
Paris and its most famous attractions need no introduction. From the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre, visitors have an array of must-see attractions to tick off. We’ve compiled many more reasons to get down to Paris in 2024, so if a visit to France is on the card this year, read on.
1. It’s a hop, skip, and train away
Why Paris, you ask? The French capital is literally just a couple of hours away, from the centre of London to the centre of Paris.
Taking just two hours and a half, going to Paris by train is super easy. Board at St Pancras and get off at Gare du Nord, it would probably take you longer to travel through central London during rush hour.
Perfect for a quick getaway, Paris has everything you may want for a weekend abroad: plenty to see and do, and of course, great food.
2. Paris Fashion Week
It’s February, fashion weeks’s month. Paris is welcoming the fashion set at the end of the month, with menswear fall/ winter from the 16th to the 21st, and womenswear from February 26th to March 5th.
While fashion weeks happen all over the world, the big four (New York, Milan, London and Paris) are thought-after events and set the trends for the year ahead.
Paris is often cited as the fashion capital of the world, and while you can certainly spend days shopping everything from high street to high fashion, visiting the city during fashion week adds a little je ne sais quoi.
3. A not-to-be-missed exhibition
The first major retrospective in France of the work of Mark Rothko since 1999 is on at the Louis Vuitton Foundation.
Fans of modern art will want to get to Paris for this major exhibition that explores every phases of the artist’s career, from his earliest figurative paintings to his well-known abstracts.
The Abstract Expressionist painter is well-represented in London, with the Rothko room at Tate, but to be able to see the evolution of the artist in one major exhibition is truly breath-taking.
Get on the train before April, as the Mark Rothko exhibition closes on April 2nd.
4. Last chance to check out the Centre Pompidou before it closes
Whilst we’re on the subject of art, 2024 is your last chance to visit the Centre Pompidou before it closes between 2025 and 2030.
It’s not all bad, however, as the closure is part of an expansion plan, so there are some very exciting things ahead for the modern art institution.
The Centre Pompidou, France’s national museum for modern and contemporary art, will miss its own 50th anniversary (in 2027) with the planned closure.
5. Olympic Games
It would be impossible to write about Paris in 2024 without mentioning the Olympic Games.
The sporting event will take over the city from July 26th to August 11th. It will then be time for the Paralympics, from August 28th to September 8th.
Sport fans will want to be in Paris during the summer to soak up the atmosphere and maybe catch a glimpse of the action.
