Jet lag plan
London is 1 hour behind Paris. You're traveling west — the easier direction. Your body delays its clock.
About 344 km northwest · approximately 1.4-hour non-stop flight · a short-haul flight.
The route from Paris, France to London, United Kingdom covers roughly 344 kilometres in a northwest direction. At standard jet cruise speed plus a one-hour allowance for taxi, climb, and descent, a non-stop flight takes about 1.4 hours. Both cities sit in the northern hemisphere, so the seasonal direction of daylight (longer days in June, shorter in December) matches between origin and destination.
Paris is in the temperate zone. Day length varies by four to six hours between summer and winter, so the season of your trip materially affects available morning and evening light. London is in the temperate zone. Day length varies by four to six hours between summer and winter, so the season of your trip materially affects available morning and evening light.
Standard 09:00–18:00 working hours at both ends of this route overlap by approximately 8 hours. In Paris that window runs 10:00 to 18:00; in London it is 09:00 to 17:00. This is the realistic window for live meetings, customer calls, or pair work without forcing either end out of normal hours.
Both cities observe daylight saving time. The hour offset on this route can shift by one hour twice a year (typically March and October/November), and the two clocks rarely change on the exact same date — expect a transient 1-hour mismatch for two to three weeks per transition.
If you are a lark (morning type): Westward travel is the easier direction and larks usually feel close to baseline within 2 days. The risk for larks is overshooting: stay up later than you feel like at the destination for the first two nights to avoid waking before local sunrise.
If you are a night owl (evening type): Westward travel suits owls because the body prefers delaying over advancing. A 1-hour westward shift typically clears in 1 days. Stay outside in the evening light at the destination and avoid early-morning bright light for the first three days.
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The great-circle distance from Paris to London is about 344 kilometres. A typical non-stop flight takes around 1.4 hours at standard cruise speed; routes with connections add two to four hours.
London is currently 1 hour behind Paris. Both cities observe daylight saving time. The hour offset on this route can shift by one hour twice a year (typically March and October/November), and the two clocks rarely change on the exact same date — expect a transient 1-hour mismatch for two to three weeks per transition.
Westward travel — which this route is — is the easier direction. Your body delays its clock, which is closer to its natural tendency. Most travellers clear a 1-hour westward shift in 1 days.
For a shift of 1 hour, melatonin offers little benefit beyond what consistent light exposure already provides. The Cochrane review on jet-lag melatonin shows the strongest effects on shifts of five hours or more.
For a shift under two hours, pre-trip adjustment is usually not worth the effort.
Owls (evening types) recover faster on westward routes because the body prefers delaying over advancing. Larks may overshoot — they should stay up later than they feel like at the destination for the first two nights.