Paris Marathon 2026: where to cheer and where to celebrate after

So your friend, partner, sibling or vaguely-distant colleague is running the Paris Marathon on Sunday 12 April 2026. They have trained for months. They have done the carb load. They are nervous in a way you cannot quite empathise with. And your job is to show up, cheer, and then take them somewhere that has a chair and a glass of water.

Here is how to do it well. I have done this five times now — twice as a runner, three times as the person at the side of the road with a stupid sign. The cheering side is honestly more fun, and the after-care side is a real skill.

The route in one paragraph

Start: Champs-Élysées, 8am wave 1. The route runs east through Place de la Concorde, down rue de Rivoli, past the Bastille, through the Bois de Vincennes (a long flat section), back along the Seine, and finishes on Avenue Foch near Porte Dauphine. Roughly 42.2km. The fast runners finish around 10:10. The middle of the pack comes through finish around 12:00-13:00.

Cheering spot 1: Bastille — km 7

Why: huge crowd energy, the runners are still fresh and smiling, and you can get there easily on metro line 1 or 5. The energy at Bastille around 8:45 is properly good — drumming groups, sound systems, the whole thing.

Café tip: get a coffee at Le Bistrot du Peintre on rue Daval before the runners arrive. Open from 8am, will let you use the toilet without judgement.

Cheering spot 2: Bois de Vincennes — km 15

Why: this is the long flat section through the woods, the runners are deep in their head, and a familiar face here is worth ten at the start line. The crowd thins out which means your runner will actually see you. Bring a sign.

Metro: Château de Vincennes, line 1. From the metro it is a 10 minute walk into the park.

Cheering spot 3: Pont d'Iéna — km 28

Why: the runners come along the Seine here and the Eiffel Tower is right there. It is the spot where the photos look good. The runners are starting to hurt at km 28, which means a familiar face is genuinly meaningful, not just a nice extra.

Metro: Trocadéro, line 9 or 6. Get there by 11am to be sure.

Cheering spot 4: Avenue Foch finish — km 42

Why: it is the finish. Obvious but worth saying — your runner wants to see you in the finish funnel, not at the family reunion area 200m later. Pick a side and stick to it. Tell them in advance "I will be on the right, by the lamp post that says 14".

Avenue Foch fills up. Get there by 11am for the elites and stay through.

Where to take them after

This is the actual hard part. They will be cold within ten minutes of finishing. They will be hungry but unable to face anything heavy. They will want to sit down. Here is the running order.

First stop: a café within 10 minutes' walk of Avenue Foch

Café Saint Pierre, on Place Victor Hugo, is the move. Open through Sunday lunch, has heaters on the terrace, will not mind a runner in foil blanket. Order them a Coca-Cola (the sugar and the salt are exactly what they need) and a croque monsieur if they can face it.

Second stop: a proper meal, around 4pm

By 4pm they will be ready to eat properly. Le Petit Vendôme on rue des Capucines does a sandwich that is probably the best sandwich in Paris and is exactly the right size for someone who has just run a marathon and cannot face a tasting menu.

If they want sit-down — Bouillon Pigalle is the right answer. Open all day, no booking, French classics, will absorb a tired marathoner without making them feel out of place. Be aware of the queue, even on a Sunday.

Third stop: somewhere with a chair, a beer and absolutely no stairs

Le Mary Celeste in the 3rd is open Sunday evenings, has a good wine list, and the seats are comfortable in the way most Paris bar seats are not. Walk-ins fine before 7pm. Recieve the runner with a chair already pulled out.

If they want full collapse mode: room service at the hotel, a film, water, sleep. Absolutely no shame in this. The "everyone goes out after the marathon" thing is a myth — most runners are in bed by 9.

Brunch the day after

Sunday post-marathon, Monday morning they will want a real meal. Holybelly in the 10th is the best brunch in Paris, opens at 9am, will accept a stiff-walking runner with sympathy. Pancakes, eggs, the works. Cash card. Expect a queue but it moves.

Practical things

Bring a jacket for them. They will be cold. Bring water and a banana. Charge your phone — you will use it for navigation and for photos. Plan the metro back from the finish in advance: the metro around Porte Dauphine fills up with finishers and supporters and the trains can be sardine-tin level on the way back.

Have a meeting point that is not at the finish line itself. The finish area is chaos. Pick a café 10 minutes away and put it in their bib pocket on a piece of paper before the start.

Other things on around marathon weekend

Marathon weekend in Paris always has parallel events — the expo at Porte de Versailles is open Friday and Saturday, there are pasta dinners on Saturday evening at various Italian spots, and the marathon-aligned brand events at the Adidas Champs-Élysées store are typically open all weekend.

I keep a Paris this-week page on Rifio that pulls in the marathon-adjacent events as well as the normal Sunday programme — exhibition openings, market events, the lot. Worth a look the week before.

One final thing

If your runner did not get the time they wanted, do not say "next year you will smash it" within the first hour. They will. They do not want to hear it yet. Just hand them the Coke and the croque, and let them be quiet for a bit.