Stand on Boulevard Haussmann as the Windows Switch On
It is early evening on Boulevard Haussmann and the pavement outside number 40 has thickened into a slow-moving river of prams, phones held aloft, and children hoisted onto shoulders. Then the shutters come up. For 2026, Galeries Lafayette's windows — unveiled on 12 November and running through 31 December — have been designed by illustrator Jeanne Detallante, and the scenes behind the glass are peopled with elves, gifts and fantastical creatures. Because the displays face both Boulevard Haussmann and Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, you can walk the length of the building and see the story unfold panel by panel rather than fighting for a single square metre. Crowds are densest around noon and again in the late afternoon and evening; come in the morning or mid-afternoon and you will actually be able to stand still and look.
Getting there is straightforward: the Chaussée d'Antin–La Fayette métro station puts you at the doors of both Galeries Lafayette and Printemps Haussmann, its neighbour along the same boulevard.
Look Up: The Tree Beneath the Stained-Glass Dome
The windows are only half the visit. Inside Galeries Lafayette's Haussmann building, the store's signature attraction is a giant Christmas tree suspended beneath its Art Nouveau stained-glass dome. It rises more than 140 feet, is lit with 20,000 lights, and is paired with a glass walkway that lets you climb to eye level with it, plus a sound-and-light show. Set aside time for this separately from the street-side viewing — it is an interior experience, and the walkway is the reason to linger rather than glance.
Walk the Grands Magasins Circuit in One Afternoon
Paris's department stores have been competing over Christmas windows since Le Bon Marché introduced the tradition to the city in 1909, and by the 1950s the rivalry between retailers had become a full-blown seasonal spectacle. Roughly 10 million spectators view the windows each year, and the most elaborate installations take teams of artists, artisans and decorators up to a year to design and build. You can see several in a single day.
- Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (40 Boulevard Haussmann, 9th) — 12 November to 31 December 2026.
- Printemps Haussmann (64 Boulevard Haussmann, 9th) — from 5 November at 5pm through 31 December (to be confirmed). The 2026 theme is "Printemps Express," a train journey whose passengers wear ecologically aware clothing made from recycled fabrics.
- Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche (24 Rue de Sèvres, 7th) — unveiling 7 November at 4:30pm. Four windows along Rue de Sèvres show colourful creatures and Parisian scenes, with decorations continuing inside the store. This is the oldest department store in Paris and the only one on the Left Bank; the Luxembourg Garden is nearby if you want to extend the walk. Métro: Sèvres Babylone.
- BHV Marais (52 Rue de Rivoli, 4th) — 4 November at 5pm through 31 December, themed "The magical world of Disney." It sits directly across Rue de Rivoli from Hôtel de Ville, where a Christmas market runs across the street. Métro: Hôtel de Ville.
- La Samaritaine (19 Rue de la Monnaie, 1st) — from 6 November at 6pm through 4 January (to be confirmed), with the store transformed into an enchanted winter garden of luminous creatures and gigantic plants.
Pair the Haussmann windows with the lights along Boulevard Haussmann and Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and the Paris Opera House, all within walking distance of the two neighbouring stores.
Time Your Visit and Warm Up Nearby
The displays are typically unveiled in early November, coinciding with the start of Paris's holiday lights, so a mid-November trip catches everything freshly installed and slightly less mobbed than December. Whatever the month, the reliable strategy is the same: mornings and mid-afternoons for the windows themselves.
When the cold drives you inside, the streets around these stores do the work. The Marais, beside BHV, offers boutiques for browsing, and the jazz clubs on Rue des Lombards are a short walk away for an evening set. Treat the Hôtel de Ville Christmas market across from BHV as your standing stop for seasonal food and drink while you work your way along Rue de Rivoli.
Plan Around the Dates That Are Still Firming Up
Only Galeries Lafayette's 12 November to 31 December run is fixed in the published 2026 schedule; Printemps, La Samaritaine and the precise unveiling times elsewhere are still marked to be confirmed, so check the stores' own announcements before you book travel around a single switch-on moment. Build your trip around the window period as a whole rather than one evening, and you will see the full circuit regardless of which date each store settles on.
Start with the métro map: Chaussée d'Antin–La Fayette for the two Haussmann stores, Hôtel de Ville for BHV and the market opposite, Sèvres Babylone for Le Bon Marché. Pick your dates, book a bed nearby, and give yourself one unhurried morning on Boulevard Haussmann before the crowds arrive.