Editorial
New Year's Eve in Paris is either one of the best nights of the year or one of the most overcrowded, depending entirely on where you choose to spend it. The best bars New Year's Eve Paris has to offer are the ones that plan for the occasion rather than simply staying open later — places with proper champagne selections, NYE menus that reflect the significance of the evening, and enough capacity to handle the crowd without losing the atmosphere that makes them worth visiting in the first place. We have been through enough Paris New Year's Eves to know the difference. This is the definitive list. If you are weighing Paris against another European city, our editors also cover the best bars for New Year's Eve in Berlin and Amsterdam's best NYE bars — two cities that approach the night very differently.
Saint-Germain is the most civilised part of Paris for New Year's Eve. The bars here tend to attract a crowd that treats the evening as an occasion for drinking well rather than for maximum noise, which makes them the most reliable option for anyone who wants to actually enjoy themselves.
For those who want a genuine New Year's Eve experience without the hotel bar prices, the Marais and Pigalle offer better options than most Paris visitors discover. These are the bars with the right combination of quality, atmosphere, and accessibility on the most competitive night of the year.
The best Paris bars for New Year's Eve are not necessarily the ones you start in. Some of the most interesting options on 31 December are bars that open properly after midnight, when the organised celebrations are winding down and the people who know how to drink in Paris are just getting started.
The best New Year's Eve in Paris is one you have planned. Every bar worth going to on 31 December has a reservation system, a ticket scheme, or a cover charge that limits capacity — because the ones that do not are the ones that fill with whoever wanders in and become somewhere no one intended to be. Book ahead, decide your neighbourhood, and treat the evening as something worth the planning it requires.
Our recommended approach: a restaurant for dinner before 9pm, Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels or Mary Celeste for the 10pm to midnight window, and Glass or Le Syndicat for the hours that follow. Paris at 3am on New Year's Day, with the right bar and the right company, is genuinely difficult to beat anywhere in Europe.
Sofia has spent New Year's Eve in Paris six times in a professional capacity. She has strong views on which champagne bars are worth the price and stronger views on which ones are not.