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TOURISM

IN DETAIL: When do France’s top tourist sites reopen?

Tourism to France is gradually opening up over the next month, but visitors may not be able to visit their favourite spots. Here's a roundup of when some of the country's biggest attractions reopen.

Published: 17 May 2021 17:31 CEST
Updated: 23 May 2021 11:30 CEST
IN DETAIL: When do France's top tourist sites reopen?
Breakdancing when visiting the Eiffel Tower is optional. Photo: Joel Saget/AFP

The French government has laid out a four-step process for reopening, and some bigger venues have already announced their reopening dates.

Louvre – the iconic museum will reopen on Wednesday, May 19th, the first day that museums and cultural spaces are permitted to reopen under the French government’s roadmap out of lockdown. Museums have strict rules on the number of visitors they are allowed per square metre, which will limit the number of tickets available. Entry via pre-booked tickets only.

The Musée d’Orsay will also open on May 19th, again entry is via pre-booked tickets only.

Disneyland Paris – Europe’s largest tourist site, which is about 30km out of the city itself, announced that it will reopen on June 17th. All guests over the age of six will have to wear a face mask and there will be extra health protocols in place to avoid crowding. Entry by pre-booked tickets only.

IN DETAIL France’s calendar for reopening

Eiffel Tower – the tower will reopen on July 16th, with tickets on sale online from June 1st. Only half the normal number of visitors will be allowed in order to comply with rules on spacing, the operators have announced.

Nightclubs in France have been completely closed since March 2020, but the Moulin Rouge has announced its first post-Covid show will be on September 10th. This marks the longest shutdown in the club’s history, even including during World War II. The other renowned centres of Parisian “nude chic” will reopen around the same time: Crazy Horse on September 9th and Le Lido on September 16th.

Paris cafés – the city’s cafés are a tourist attraction in themselves and they will reopen their outdoor terraces on May 19th, followed by indoor dining and drinking spaces on June 9th. There will be strict limits on capacity, however, and groups of no more than six per table.

Monet’s House and gardens in Giverny will again reopen to the public on May 19th.

In Bordeaux the Musée du Vin reopens on May 19th, with limits on the number of visitors. There is no requirement to pre-book tickets but you could be turned away if the museum has reached its maximum capacity under the new rules.

In Lyon the Institut Lumière, which celebrates the life and work of the Lumière brothers, widely regarded as the fathers of cinema, reopens on May 19th for pre-booked guided visits.

In Normandy the spectacular Abbey of Mont Saint Michel reopens on May 19th. Pre-booking is not compulsory but is advised and can be done online.

At the other end of the country but equally spectacular is the Medieval cité of Carcassonne. Currently the castle and walls are closed to the public, with no confirmed reopening date, but the cité itself is open and all shops will reopen on May 19th.

Museums – under the government’s plan all museums can reopen from May 19th, but many have extra health restrictions and booking conditions in place.

Parks and gardens – parks and public gardens did not close during the most recent lockdown measures, so are all currently open. Some parks, especially in Paris, did however ban drinking alcohol.

Churches – all places of worship remained open under the most recent restrictions so France’s historic churches and cathedral are open to visitors (apart from Paris’ Notre-Dame which is still shut for repairs after the devastating fire of 2019).

Shops – all shops can reopen from May 19th, albeit with strict limits on the number of customers allowed per square metre, so don’t be surprised to see queues outside some stores.

Bars, cafés and restaurants – can reopen their outdoor areas from May 19th and indoors from June 9th. Strict limit on customer numbers for the indoor reopening means booking would be advised for popular places.

Health rules – do bear in mind that if you are visiting France you will need to abide by the country’s health rules. Masks – worn so they cover your nose and mouth – are compulsory in all indoor public spaces and on the streets in many of France’s larger towns and cities.

Failure to wear a mask correctly can net you a €135 fine and there is no exemption for people who have a health condition or who are fully vaccinated.

Depending on when you visit, you may also need to abide by the curfew, which will be gradually relaxed over the summer before ending – health situation permitting – on June 30th. 

READ ALSO How France’s curfew will work this summer

And if you would rather steer clear of crowds, check out these 10 more off-the-beaten-track activities.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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