If you're planning a trip to Paris for the Olympic Games next summer, here's everything you need to know.
Get ready for two weeks of festivities
The games will start on Friday, July 26, 2024 and finish on Sunday, August 11, 2024. Paris has won the role of organizer, following Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020 (and ahead of Los Angeles in 2028).
The Paralympic Games, meanwhile, will take place from Wednesday, August 28 to Sunday September 8, 2024.
The opening ceremony might be the most impressive to this day
Traditionally held in the Olympic Stadium, this ceremony will take place on the Seine. Thousands of athletes will parade aboard boats in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators. Usain Bolt was on the French delegation boat on July 25, 2023, parading down the Seine during the presentation of the Olympic and Paralympic torch for the 2024 Games. He was impressed by the experience as he recalled the thousands of spectators who will be in attendance, a year later. "I think it will be one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful opening ceremony. Imagine all the spectators, on the bridges too, cheering on [the athletes]... It's never been done before."
Iconic venues
If Paris hosts most of the Olympics, some sports will also be showcased in other parts of France. Among the most iconic venues, we can think of the Château de Versailles, the Place de la Concorde or the Alexandre III Bridge, along with the legendary Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in Saint-Etienne, the Marina in Marseille or the latest-generation aquatic center in Saint-Denis... Within Paris limits, there will be 15 Olympic venues for the 2024 Olympics (21 sports) and 11 competition venues for the Paralympics (14 sports). In addition to the existing stadiums - the Parc des Princes (soccer), the Arena Bercy (basketball, artistic gymnastics, trampoline and wheelchair basketball) and the Roland Garros stadium (tennis, boxing and wheelchair tennis) - new facilities are being built, such as the Arena Porte de la Chapelle.
And for the first time, iconic sites in the French capital are transformed into arenas for a sporting spectacle. Fencing in the 1900s setting of the Grand Palais, breakdance battles and BMX freestyle races in the classic setting of Place de la Concorde, the finish of the cycling time trial on Pont Alexandre III, or the start of the legendary marathon in front of the neo-Renaissance façade of the Hôtel de Ville: it's all set to take place!
For equestrian events, the Château de Versailles is THE destination!
Needless to say, for centuries Versailles has been France's showcase to the world. Throughout the games, the gardens of the chateau will host some of the events. "We'll have the main arena with its grandstands facing the Château de Versailles. All those who come to watch the equestrian competitions will be facing the château and the Grand Canal, in an extraordinary setting," sums up Anne Murac, head of the chateau.
How many visitors? The question on everyone's mind in Paris
Many Parisians are already worried that they won't be able to get around the capital at the time of the Olympic Games because of the large number of tourists coming to watch the sporting competitions. Yet, the City Hall assures us that it expects visitor numbers to be "similar to other periods" during the 2024 Olympics, while tourism has recovered in Paris, catching up with pre-Covid levels. 16 million tourists are expected in Paris for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the city is serene about welcoming all these tourists in perfect conditions.