After a Century-Long Ban, Paris Reopens the Seine for Swimming Again
Paris will once again open the Seine to public swimming in summer 2026, with three designated bathing sites on the river, after more than 75,000 people swam there in 2025 — the first time in over a century. Vastly improved wastewater treatment has made this possible, though sites may close after heavy rain.
EnvironmentGNGV Editorial Team4 min readLast reviewed September 28, 2026
For more than a hundred years, swimming in the Seine was banned. So when crowds plunged into its waters in the summer of 2025, it marked the reversal of a century-old prohibition. Now, as The Local France reported on May 11, 2026, the city has confirmed the swimming will return for summer 2026, with three roped-off bathing sites on the Seine itself, plus two sites on the city's canals.
The numbers from the first season tell the story. More than 75,000 people swam in the Seine during the summer of 2025, the first time the river had been open to the public in more than 100 years. The three river sites — at Bercy, Grenelle and Bras Marie in the 4th arrondissement — sit within sight of landmarks like the Bibliothèque nationale and the Eiffel Tower.
Behind the reopening lies a vast improvement in the treatment of Paris's wastewater in recent years.
The clean-up is not perfect. Water quality is tested daily and the bathing sites can close for a day or two after summer rainstorms, because wastewater treatment still struggles to cope after very heavy rain. Swimmers must wear flotation devices and the river runs deep. But the larger truth is striking: a river closed to public swimming for more than a century is now clean enough to swim in.
