If you are looking to plan ahead, we have compiled a list of public holidays in France in 2023.
In total there are 11 public holidays every year, apart from in Alsace-Lorraine where people get 13 days off for historical reasons - that’s explained here.
However all public holidays in France are taken on the day they fall on that year, rather than being moved to the nearest Monday as is the case in some other countries.
If a public holiday falls on a Monday or a Friday, it means a nice long weekend. If it falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday it means that people can faire le pont (do the bridge) or take one day of their annual holiday entitlement to create a nice four-day break. But if the holiday falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, then the holiday is lost.
This creates the concept of 'good years' and 'bad years' for holidays, and we're happy to report that 2023 is a good year.
In 2023, only two of France’s 11 jours fériés fall on weekends – New Year's Day (falling on a Sunday) and Armistice Day (falling on a Saturday). May will be a particularly nice month, with four public holidays this year.
December 25th is the only official holiday day over Christmas in France – December 24th and 26th are normal working days, so that means no extra day off for Christmas unless your bosses are feeling generous.
Only two holidays in 2023 fall on either a Tuesday or a Thursday, so you will not have many opportunities to faire le pont this year. Holidays that can be ‘bridged’ in 2023 are Ascension Day on Thursday, May 18th, and Assumption, on Tuesday, August 15th.
Here is the full list of 2023 holidays in France:
Sunday, January 1st - New Year's Day
Monday, April 10th - Easter Monday
Monday, May 1st - Worker's Day
Monday May 8th - V-E Day
Thursday, May 18th - Ascension Day
Monday May 29th - Whit Monday (Lundi de Pentecôte - for some workers only).
Friday, July 14th - Bastille Day (Fête Nationale)
Tuesday, August 15th - The Assumption (l'Assomption)
Wednesday, November 1st - All Saints' Day (Toussaint)
Saturday, November 11th - Armistice Day
Monday, December 25th - Christmas Day
If you have children in school (or if you want to avoid booking trips during the school holidays) you will also need to know the school holiday calendar.
The school holidays in France for the year of 2023 will break down as follows. For winter half term and spring holidays, schools in France are divided into three zones (shown below) with different dates off from school.
Christmas holidays
Students head back to class on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023 after their Christmas holidays.
Winter half term
Zone A (Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon and Poitiers) winter holidays start on Saturday, February 4th. Students will go back to school on Monday, February 20th.
Zone B (Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, and Strasbourg) winter holidays will start on Saturday, February 11th. Students will go back to school on Monday, February 27th.
Zone C (Paris, Créteil, Versailles, Montpellier, and Toulouse) winter holidays will start on Saturday, February 18th. Students will go back to school on Monday, March 6th.
Spring holiday
Zone A schools (Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon and Poitiers) will break up on Saturday, April 8th and pupils will return back to class on Monday, April 24th.
Zone B schools (Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, and Strasbourg) will break up on Saturday, April 15th and pupils will return back to class on Tuesday, May 2nd.
Zone C schools (Paris, Créteil, Versailles, Montpellier, and Toulouse) will break up on Saturday, April 22nd and pupils will return back to class on Tuesday, May 9th.
Grandes Vacances
The summer holidays will begin for all students in France on Saturday, July 8th.
La rentrée (the start of the new school year)
Students across France will return to school after summer break on Monday, September 4th.
Toussaint Holidays
The Toussaint holidays will run from Saturday, October 21st to Monday, November 6th in 2023.
The Christmas and New Year's holidays
The Christmas and New Year's holidays will run from Saturday, December 23rd to Monday, January 8th.
Unusually, this year the Education Ministry has also published the holiday dates for 2024 and 2025 - you can find those dates here.
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