Demonstrations, closures, traffic and storms – here’s what to expect if you’re in France on May 1st 2026.
Day off
May 1st is a public holiday — and this year it falls on a Friday, meaning a day off for most workers. That also means that most businesses will close.
READ ALSO What’s open and what’s closed on May 1st in France
Demonstrations
May 1st has, since 1889, been International Workers’ Day and around the world there are demonstrations and marches held on the day as a demonstration of international solidarity.
This is a tradition that France has embraced with enthusiasm and most towns and cities will have a manif (demo). In Paris, the manif departs from Place de la République at 2pm.
These marches are mostly organised by trade unions and are in the main calm and peaceful — families take their kids and there is music and snacks at the departure points.
Expect road closures along the demo route and a heavy police presence, as is common with demos, there may be some trouble or violence towards the end of the march in the bigger French cities.
Public transport
City public transport runs throughout the holiday period, albeit often with a reduced timetable.
In Paris, public transport operator RATP has announced the closure of 11 Metro stations on four lines, from 12 noon on May 1st. Affected lines are:
Ligne 3: Parmentier, Rue Saint-Maur, Temple;
Ligne 5: Bréguet-Sabin, Oberkampf, Richard-Lenoir;
Ligne 8: Filles du Calvaire;
Ligne 9: Charonne, Oberkampf, Rue des Boulets, Saint-Ambroise, Voltaire.
Furthermore, traffic is interrupted until May 1st inclusive on line 4, between Châtelet and Barbès-Rochechouart due to maintenance.
Railways
Paris’ Gare de Lyon — one of the busiest railway stations in France, with some 300 million passengers passing through every year — will be closed to all traffic over the May holiday weekend, for pre-planned engineering works.
This unprecedented closure affects RER, Transilien, and high-speed train services primarily serving south-eastern France, as well as services to Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and the southern suburbs of Paris.
Flights
Airports are open as normal. But public transport services to and from them are likely to be reduced.
Roads
France’s roads watchdog Bison Futé predicts no issues on arterial routes across the country on May 1st — perhaps because a notable cross-section of the population are taking part in demonstrations rather than driving to them.
But travel is expected to be difficult across the country on April 30th, rising to very difficult in the Greater Paris region; and difficult in the north-west of the country on Sunday, April 3rd.
Weather
Thunderstorms are expected to develop over the Pyrenees, Poitou-Charentes, Centre-Val de Loire and Normandy, on May Day, with some possible spillover into the Paris Basin.
However, the weather will remain milder in most regions with plenty of sunshine or partly cloudy skies. In the south-west, the Autan wind will still be strong, and temperatures will rise even further.
