Golden hour in Paris in May

Paris lies at 48.86° N, in the upper mid-latitudes, with long, slanted evening light in summer. Its longest measured day falls on Thu 18 June 2026 with 16h 11m of daylight, and its shortest on Fri 18 December 2026 with 8h 15m — a difference of 7h 56m between the two extremes.

Evening golden hour in Paris runs for roughly 50 minutes at the height of summer, 42 minutes around the March equinox and 55 minutes at midwinter. The warm window is actually widest in the colder months, which makes winter evenings unusually forgiving here.

The sun sets toward 308° NW in late June and toward 234° SW in late December, a shift of about 74° in where the last light lands — worth checking before committing to a west-facing viewpoint. In Paris, the sky reaches full darkness between evening and morning twilight year-round.