How Paris Moves: Dispatches from France on the Eve of the Olympics

France's rail network has been thrown into chaos today following a series of arson attacks, just hours before the nation officially opens the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Jul 25, 2024 • 4 min read

Paris is expected to welcome 11.3 million visitors during the Olympic Games, significantly increasing its population density. This surge in visitors is spurring travel demand to international destinations, such as Italy and the United States, that harness this desire to leave crowds behind, also benefiting United Kingdom, Spain, and Greece, as well as farther destinations, such as Thailand or Japan.

Over the coming weeks, some 15 million visitors will descend upon Paris for the 2024 Olympics. And many will linger longer, hitting the country’s hotspots such as the much-loved Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, which already teems with travelers. So if you’ve been eyeing a hotel nestled in the quaint town of Gordes, or dreaming about a dip off the coast of Antibes or Saint-Tropez, you might want to think again. But that doesn’t mean you have to rule out a sojourn to the South of France altogether–other sunny locations including lesser-trafficked Marseille and the Luberon Valley, sans Masseratis and glitzy Gucci slides, are indeed worthwhile for a quiet city break.

This story about surfing in Tahiti is part of How Paris Moves, a series of dispatches about communities and social change in France through the lens of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Read more here.

Eco river tourism continues to grow fast in France – and a new four-river network brand in the Atlantic Loire Valley, Les Rivières de l’Ouest (‘The Rivers of Western France’) is launching to the UK market this year. Located in France’s largest basin of navigable rivers, Les Rivières de l’Ouest unites three departments – Mayenne, Sarthe and Anjou – and four rivers – la Mayenne, la Sarthe, L’Oudon and La Maine. Why visit? To experience France’s slow and green ‘tourisme fluvestre’ – a mix of ‘fluviale’ (river-based) and ‘terrestre’ (land-based) activities…

This story about swimming in Paris is part of How Paris Moves, a series of dispatches about communities and social change in France through the lens of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

It was the content update nobody needed. When cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike issued an update to systems throughout the world running Microsoft Windows, scheduled to take place overnight from Thursday to Friday, those systems crashed. The result has been a tangled web of canceled and delayed flights, among numerous other business disruptions.

The Skift Travel Podcast is going all-in on the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris with several interviews lined up. First up is a discussion with Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith, whose company is an official partner for this year’s Games.

Visitors to the upcoming Paris Olympics will soon have an easy way to save money on transportation. Uber, the popular rideshare app, will be offering an automatic 10 percent discount on rides for passengers from Paris airports between July 22 through Sept. 8. The discount applies to arrivals from both Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Orly Airport Aéroport de Paris (ORY). Passengers can also save 30 percent if they use UberX Share within the city, as long as they are matched with another rider during the trip. 

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While athletes from around the world will flock to Paris later this month to go for gold at the Summer Olympics, this doesn't mean travelers are following suit and heading to the City of Light.