French school holiday dates September 2025 to July 2026

The dates of the Christmas break are the same for all children, but other holidays may vary

France’s system of scheduling the holidays differently in various regions is designed to ensure that not all families try to book into the same holiday spots at the same time
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France schedules time off differently in various regions to ensure that not all families try to book into holiday spots at the same time.

The dates of school holidays in France depend on the academic zone in which the school is located, but they are the same for all during the Christmas break.

This system extends the holiday season for the tourism sector and helps keep the roads less busy at peak times.

The academic zones are as follows (note: each can cover several departments):

Zone A : Besançon, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, Grenoble, Limoges, Lyon, Poitiers. 

Zone B : Aix-Marseille, Amiens, Caen, Lille, Nancy-Metz, Nantes, Nice, Orléans-Tours, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg. 

Zone C : Paris, Créteil, Versailles, Montpellier, Toulouse.

You can find the full calendar for each zone on the dedicated school holidays page of Service-Public.fr.

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