Time Zones in France
France spans one time zone (UTC+1) among the 3 cities tracked on Live Time Map. All of them observe daylight saving time. See the live local time for each city below, or use the interactive map to compare any of them against your own location.
France facts
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Languages
- French
- Calling code
- +33
- Time zones on this site
- 1
Clock time and solar time in France
A country's clocks are a political choice, not an astronomical one, so they rarely line up with its own sun. Measured against local solar time, the clock in Paris runs 51 minutes ahead of the sun, while in Marseille it runs 39 minutes ahead of the sun.
That is a spread of 12 minutes between the two ends of France's tracked cities, all of it the result of longitude rather than of the clock. The wider that gap, the more one shared office schedule means genuinely different amounts of morning light depending on where you are.
How much daylight changes through the year
Daylight is governed by latitude, not by the clock. Paris, at 48.9° north, gets 16 hours 11 minutes of daylight on the longest day of the year and 8 hours 15 minutes on the shortest.
Marseille, at 43.3° north, gets 15 hours 24 minutes of daylight on the longest day of the year and 8 hours 58 minutes on the shortest. So the annual swing between longest and shortest day is 7 hours 56 minutes in Paris against 6 hours 26 minutes in Marseille, within the same country.
Cities in France
Want to compare a city here against your own location? Open the interactive world time zone map to pin it live.
Frequently asked questions
How many time zones does France have?
France uses a single time zone among the cities tracked here: UTC+1.
Does France observe daylight saving time?
Yes, the cities tracked here all observe daylight saving time.
Do clocks in France match the sun?
Clocks and the sun are not the same thing. In Paris the clock runs 51 minutes ahead of local solar time, so midday on the clock is not the moment the sun is highest.
How much does daylight change through the year in France?
In Paris, the longest day of the year has 16 hours 11 minutes of daylight and the shortest has 8 hours 15 minutes.