Paris in the second half of June is on the cusp of the longest day of the year, and this week, 15 to 21 June 2026, the city packs a lot into seven days: a last-chance Nan Goldin retrospective at the Grand Palais, two newly opened photography shows at the Jeu de Paume, the immersive Leandro Erlich installations next door, the Versace fashion retrospective at the Musée Maillol, and on Sunday 21 June, the 45th edition of Fête de la Musique, which turns every street, square and church courtyard into a free concert from 8am to 1am.
We sell tickets to the icons every day, so we have a live read on what is bookable and what it costs this week. Prices below were verified Monday morning on the tickadoo catalogue. We are built by the founders of London Theatre Direct, and we keep this guide tight to what actually pays off across a short visit.
At a glance, week of 15 to 21 June 2026
- Sunday 21 June is Fête de la Musique. Free concerts everywhere in Paris from 8am to 1am, with a Ministry of Culture jazz day in the Palais-Royal gardens (1:15pm to 9:30pm, no booking).
- Nan Goldin: This Will Not End Well closes at the Grand Palais on Sunday 21 June. Last chance.
- Centre Pompidou main building remains closed for renovation through 2030. Plan around it.
- Louvre has flagged that on Monday 15 June it may open later than usual with some rooms closed. Aim for a different day if you can.
- Standard weekly closures: Louvre and Orangerie closed Tuesday 16 June; Orsay, Picasso, Rodin and Marmottan closed Monday 15 June.
- The week is not a free-first-Sunday museum day (the first Sunday was 7 June).
The headline: Fête de la Musique, Sunday 21 June
Sunday is the summer solstice and the 45th Fête de la Musique. The Ville de Paris and the Ministry of Culture have confirmed the full city programme: free, 8am to 1am, every arrondissement, every genre, no ticket required. The Ministry's flagship Paris event is a day of free jazz in the gardens of the Palais-Royal: Anna Stevens and Félix Hunot at 1:15pm, the Paris Conservatory big band, the Dry Bayou fanfare, the Orchestre National de Jazz playing a Carla Bley tribute, and Thomas Dutronc closing at 8:30pm. It marks the centenary of both Miles Davis and John Coltrane, born in 1926, and the 40th anniversary of the ONJ.
If you are visiting and only have one Sunday, this is the one to spend wandering. The 1st and 4th arrondissements give you the official programmes and the Seine; the 11th and 20th give you the neighbourhood bars, courtyards and rooftops where the night really runs late.
The week in art
If you only have time for one ticketed show, make it Nan Goldin's This Will Not End Well at the Grand Palais. It is the first French retrospective devoted to the artist's videos and slideshows, and it closes on the final day of this week, Sunday 21 June. Across the same building, Leandro Erlich's largest European exhibition opened on 2 June and runs through 6 September, with 14 monumental installations across galleries 9.2, 10.1 and 10.2. Both are ticketed.
At the 
Musée d'Orsay, the permanent Impressionist collection is open every day of the week except Monday 15 June. Reserved-access tickets from tickadoo were EUR14 on Monday morning. The Jeu de Paume opened two new shows on 12 June, both running through 27 September: Fragile Beauty, photographs from the collection of Sir Elton John and David Furnish, and Madeleine de Sinety: A Life. The Musée Maillol's Gianni Versace retrospective is in full flow, open daily 10:30am to 6:30pm and Thursdays until 10pm.
For the full week-of breakdown, see our companion piece: Paris art and exhibitions this week.
The icons, with live prices verified this week
The reason most first-time visitors come to Paris does not change week to week. Here is what each big ticket actually costs on the tickadoo catalogue right now.
- Eiffel Tower guided tour with reserved entry to the summit or second floor from EUR27. Closed for no scheduled day this week.
- Louvre reserved-access tickets from EUR39.90. Closed Tuesday 16 June. Check the Louvre's notice for Monday 15 June before you go.
- Palace of Versailles timed entry from EUR15. Closed Mondays, so plan for Tuesday onwards.
- Arc de Triomphe rooftop entry from EUR16.99. Open all week. The rooftop is the best-value serious skyline view in Paris.
- Catacombs reserved access from EUR51.49. Open all week; book a slot.
- Panthéon entry from EUR14. Foucault's pendulum still swings beneath the dome.
The Seine in summer
The river is half the point of June in Paris. A one-hour Seine sightseeing cruise from the Eiffel Tower was EUR17 this morning; the same operator's illuminated evening cruise is the same price and the better photograph. The Batobus hop-on hop-off boat at EUR23 is the choice if you want to use the river as transport between sights.
For lunch on the water, Bateaux Parisiens' Seine lunch cruise with a French menu was EUR79 this morning; their premium dinner cruise is EUR115 and runs late enough on Sunday to be a fitting Fête de la Musique close-out.
Cabaret in a strong year
If you have one evening, Paris's three cabaret rooms are all open across the week. The Moulin Rouge show with Champagne was EUR122.99 on the tickadoo catalogue this morning; the Paradis Latin show with optional Champagne sits at EUR92.99 and is the strongest review-to-price ratio in the segment; the Crazy Horse show is EUR121.99 and the most stylised of the three. Our Paris cabaret guide goes deeper on which room suits which evening.
A suggested week, if you only get a few days
If you arrive on Thursday 18 June and leave Sunday 21 June, this week rewards a Seine-and-art rhythm. Thursday: Orsay in the morning (it stays open until 9:45pm on Thursdays), the Marais and the Picasso Museum in the afternoon, dinner in the 11th. Friday: Louvre at opening, lunch in the Tuileries, the Orangerie's Water Lilies, a sunset Seine cruise. Saturday: Versailles by RER all day, evening on the Right Bank. Sunday 21 June: Fête de la Musique. Start at the Palais-Royal jazz at 1:15pm, drift through the 1st and 4th to the river, and follow the music wherever it pulls you.
For a more conventional itinerary, our three-day first-timer's itinerary is the place to start; for evening meals and food walks, see our Paris food tours guide.
Free things and family days
This week is also strong for free things to do and for families. The Petit Palais opens a free urban-art show, We Are [still] Here, on Saturday 20 June; the Fête de la Musique programme on Sunday is, by definition, free across town. Families have the Cité des Sciences' Jardiner exhibition running through 12 July (recommended age 9 and up), the Aquarium de Paris at EUR22, and Disneyland Paris a 35-minute RER A ride away. For the full breakdown see our free things to do this week and things to do with kids this week.
Eating, drinking, walking
June in Paris is, more than any other month, a city to be walked. The covered passages of the 2nd (Galerie Vivienne, Passage des Panoramas, Passage Jouffroy) are an hour each, free, sheltered if a shower passes through. The Marais covers the 3rd and 4th and rewards an aimless afternoon: place des Vosges, the courtyard of the Hôtel de Sully, a Jewish bakery on rue des Rosiers, the Maison de Victor Hugo (free). The Canal Saint-Martin in the 10th is where the city itself eats out on a warm Friday evening; bring a bottle and find a step. For food walks proper, the rue Mouffetard market in the 5th on a Sunday morning is still the best old-school Paris food street, although Sunday 21 June will be busy because of the Fête de la Musique build-up around the Panthéon.
The Bouillon revival has turned a 19th-century working-class restaurant format into the most reliable EUR20 dinner in Paris: Bouillon Pigalle, Bouillon Chartier and Bouillon République queue early, walk in by 7pm and you'll get a table within twenty minutes. For something slightly more refined, the natural-wine bars in the 11th around Charonne and Oberkampf are where the city's chef community eats on its nights off, and they all stay open late on Fête de la Musique Sunday.
Practicalities for the week
Weather: forecasts for 15 to 21 June 2026 sit in the typical Paris-June pattern of warm afternoons (mid-20s C) with a chance of evening storms by late week. Layer light. Métro: the t+ ticket is EUR2.15 per single journey, the Navigo Easy is the move for anything more than a few rides per day. RER A to Disneyland is included in a day ticket if you buy a Disneyland-bundle, otherwise it is the EUR5 RER zone-1-5 single. For Fête de la Musique Sunday, expect Métro to be busy 7pm to 1am; a few central stations close intermittently to manage crowds, so check the RATP info screens.
What to skip this week
The Centre Pompidou's main building closed in September 2025 for a renovation running through 2030. Tourist trail posts that still recommend it are out of date; the institution is only operating an off-site Constellation programme at partner venues this year. If you are planning a Monday visit, Picasso, Rodin, Orsay and Marmottan are all closed on Monday 15 June, so save those for later in the week. The Louvre's own Monday 15 June notice flags potential late opening and closed rooms, so we would push a first Louvre visit to Wednesday onwards if your schedule allows.
One more thing about value. The most distinctive Paris view of the week is from the Arc de Triomphe roof at sunset (about 9:55pm this Sunday), looking down the Champs-Élysées while Fête de la Musique sound rises out of the side streets. EUR16.99 well spent. For more obscure picks, our secret side of Paris guide covers the covered passages and underground rooms most week-long visitors miss.
For more Paris ideas across the seasons, the tickadoo Paris hub has every attraction, museum, cabaret and day trip we ticket, with live prices.
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