Cafeography
Terrasses · Paris

Café terraces in Paris

Sidewalk tables from Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine to Place Saint-Germain des Prés, with summer terraces until 22:00.

Photo: Zak H, Pexels License

A terrasse is the part of a Paris café set out on the street, and the street belongs to the city. After the first lockdown in 2020, Paris let cafés and restaurants spread onto sidewalks and parking spaces free of charge, and 9,800 terrace extensions were declared that summer.1 In June 2021 the city kept the idea for good by revising its règlement des étalages et terrasses (RET, the rulebook for terraces and shop displays).12

Since then two regimes have run side by side: the year-round terrace in front of the café, and the terrasse estivale (summer terrace), allowed from 1 April to 31 October on sidewalks, small squares and parking spaces fitted with a platform and side barriers.1 Bookshops, record shops and hotels may apply as well as cafés.1 Permits are not automatic: in 2025 the city received 1,704 new requests for summer terraces and granted 584.3

Local tip: Check which kind of terrace you are sitting on: tables on a parking-space platform are a summer terrace and must be cleared at 22:00 (23:00 from 21 June to 30 August in 2026), while the café's permanent terrace can stay out until 02:00.13

Where these cafés are: Le Marais (3e & 4e) (94), Oberkampf & Bastille (11e) (77), Latin Quarter (5e) (51), Canal Saint-Martin (10e) (48), Louvre & Les Halles (1er) (48), Gare de Lyon & Bercy (12e) (43), Place d'Italie & Butte-aux-Cailles (13e) (41), Belleville & Ménilmontant (20e) (36), Vaugirard & Grenelle (15e) (35), Batignolles (17e) (35), Buttes-Chaumont & La Villette (19e) (34), Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6e) (34), Opéra & SoPi (9e) (34), Montmartre (18e) (33), Bourse & Sentier (2e) (29), Champs-Élysées (8e) (28), Montparnasse (14e) (21), Eiffel Tower & Invalides (7e) (20), Passy & Trocadéro (16e) (14).

At a glance

755Cafés listed
372With opening hours
00:00Earliest opening
04:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Au Cœur Couronné, from 00:00 (Mon–Thu 11:00–00:00 · Fri 00:00–02:00, 11:00–00:00 · Sat–Sun 00:00–02:00, 10:00–00:00).
  • Closes latest: Le Miami, until 04:00 (Mon–Thu 18:00–02:00 · Fri–Sun 15:00–04:00).
  • Most listed streets: Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine (13), Rue Saint-Martin (11), Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis (7).
  • Most common features: indoor seating (68%), open late (29%), smoke-free indoors (26%).
Buttes-Chaumont & La Villette (19e)

À la folie

  • 26 Avenue Corentin Cariou
  • Mon–Tue Closed · Wed 16:00–00:00 · Thu 17:00–00:00 · Fri 17:00–02:00 · Sat 12:00–02:00 · Sun 12:00–00:00
  • +33776797066
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Louvre & Les Halles (1er)

Au Cœur Couronné

  • 5 Rue des Innocents
  • Mon–Thu 11:00–00:00 · Fri 00:00–02:00, 11:00–00:00 · Sat–Sun 00:00–02:00, 10:00–00:00
  • +33 9 74 64 02 37
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Closing times: 22:00 on the summer terrace

The two regimes close at different hours. When the rules were announced in 2021, summer terraces were limited to 22:00, against 02:00 for other terraces, whose hours follow the café's own closing time set by the Préfecture de police.1 In 2026 the city again allowed summer terraces to stay open until 23:00 from 21 June to 30 August, and staff may ask guests to leave before the cutoff.3

Noise brings an on-the-spot fine of €68, and a badly kept or irregular terrace €135; repeat problems can lead to a €500 fine and the loss of the permit for up to three years.3 Le Pick Clops on Rue Vieille du Temple and Café des Phares at Bastille, both with outdoor tables, serve until 02:00 every night.

No heaters, roofs or speakers

Heated terraces ended across France on 31 March 2022, when a decree applying the 2021 climate and resilience law banned energy-using heating and cooling outdoors on public land, green-powered systems included.4 The only café exemption is a terrace fully covered and closed on its sides by solid walls joined tightly to the roof, and an individual in breach risks a fine of up to €1,500.4

Paris adds rules on looks. Roofs, tarpaulins, marquees and pallet-wood furniture are banned on summer terraces, which may hold tables, chairs and parasols, with nothing else taller than 1.30 m.23 Sound systems are not allowed either, and when the café closes, furniture on sidewalks and parking spaces is meant to go back inside.13

What a terrace costs the café

Terraces pay droits de voirie (street-use fees), charged by the square meter and graded by the category of the street. The 2021 reform set a flat rate for summer terraces of €64 to €366 per square meter, depending on the street, and the fee covers the whole seven-month season even when the permit comes after 1 April.13

During the pandemic the city waived terrace and display fees for ten months of 2020 and until the end of September 2021, a cost it put at €47 million over the two years.1

Rattan chairs and where to sit

The woven bistro chair has three historic makers: Maison Drucker, founded in 1885, Maison Grock in 1911 and Maison Gatti in 1920, each identifiable by a small plate on the back.5 Most seats are now woven from Rilsan, a bioplastic made from castor oil, over a frame of heat-bent rattan, and Café de Flore still sets out red-and-green Drucker chairs on its terrace.6

Le Marais has the most cafés with outdoor seating, ahead of Oberkampf & Bastille and the Latin Quarter, and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine east of Bastille is lined with them. On the Left Bank, Café de Flore serves until 01:30 and Les Deux Magots on Place Saint-Germain des Prés until 01:00; across the river, Le Café Marly at 93 Rue de Rivoli stays open until 02:00.

Sources

  1. Réforme du règlement des étalages et terrasses de la Ville de Paris (press kit), Ville de Paris (June 7, 2021), accessed October 2026
  2. Réforme des étalages et terrasses à Paris, GHR Paris Île-de-France (June 21, 2021), accessed October 2026
  3. Tout savoir sur les terrasses estivales, Ville de Paris (updated July 22, 2026), accessed October 2026
  4. Cafés, bars, restaurants : les terrasses chauffées ou climatisées désormais interdites, L'info durable / AFP (April 1, 2022), accessed October 2026
  5. Did You Know? The History of Paris' Bistro Chairs (Hazel Smith), France Today (May 28, 2024), accessed October 2026
  6. Pulling up a bistro seat in Paris means you'll be sitting on a piece of Maison Drucker history (Julia Webster Ayuso), Monocle (August 5, 2025), accessed October 2026
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By area: Louvre & Les Halles (1er) Bourse & Sentier (2e) Le Marais (3e & 4e) Latin Quarter (5e) Saint-Germain-des-Prés (6e) Opéra & SoPi (9e) Canal Saint-Martin (10e) Oberkampf & Bastille (11e) Montmartre (18e) Belleville & Ménilmontant (20e)

FAQ

Terrasses in Paris: questions

What time do summer terraces close in Paris?

Summer terraces in Paris, allowed from 1 April to 31 October, close at 22:00 under the 2021 rules. In 2026 the city extended them to 23:00 from 21 June to 30 August. Year-round terraces follow the café's own closing time, which can run to 02:00.

Are heated café terraces allowed in Paris?

No. Since 31 March 2022, French law has banned energy-using heating and air conditioning on terraces on public land, including systems powered by green energy. The only exemption for cafés is a terrace fully enclosed by solid side walls joined tightly to the roof. A breach can cost an individual up to €1,500.

Which Paris café terraces stay open after midnight?

Café de Flore in Saint-Germain serves until 01:30 and Les Deux Magots on Place Saint-Germain des Prés until 01:00. Le Café Marly at 93 Rue de Rivoli, Le Pick Clops on Rue Vieille du Temple and Café des Phares at Bastille all have outdoor tables and serve until 02:00 every night.

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