Loading...
Three days in Paris is enough to fall hopelessly in love with the city; and nowhere near enough to see everything, which is exactly the point. The French capital rewards slow travel: a croissant eaten standing at a zinc bar, a wrong turn into a courtyard lined with ivy, the way the light hits the Seine at golden hour. This itinerary builds a logical route through the city's greatest hits without the frantic pace of a checklist trip. Day one anchors you in the historic heart around the Louvre and the Right Bank, tracing the grand axis of Parisian planning from the Tuileries gardens to the Palais Royal. Day two crosses to the Left Bank for the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d'Orsay, and the wide boulevards of the 7th arrondissement. Day three climbs the butte of Montmartre, where the white dome of Sacré-Cœur rises above a neighbourhood that still feels like a village in the middle of a world city. Throughout, the itinerary builds in the two things Paris demands above all else: time to eat well and time to simply walk. Paris is a city of 20 distinct arrondissements, each with its own character, and even a few blocks of unplanned wandering will reveal something the guidebooks missed. Use the Métro for longer hops (it is fast, frequent, and one of the world's best urban rail networks) but wherever possible, walk. The city was designed to be experienced at pavement level, and the gaps between the famous monuments are often more memorable than the monuments themselves.
Paris
Welcome to the interactive itinerary for Paris. Explore the map and daily schedule below.
Start at the Louvre the moment the doors open at 9 am; the queue grows fast. Buy timed tickets online at least a week in advance and head straight for the Denon Wing, where the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory of Samothrace, and Venus de Milo are housed. Allow two to three hours for a focused visit; the building itself is as extraordinary as the collection, especially the glass pyramid entrance and the medieval foundations visible in the Sully Wing. When you surface, take coffee and a late breakfast at Café Marly, whose terrace looks directly onto the pyramid; one of the best-positioned café seats in Paris. From there it's a short walk through the Tuileries Garden to the Palais Royal, a beautifully calm, colonnaded arcade that most tourists overlook. The inner courtyard houses Daniel Buren's striped column installation and some excellent specialist boutiques. For lunch, Le Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon is worth a short Métro trip; the belle époque dining room is a monument in its own right, and the brasserie food is solid. Afternoon: board a Seine River Sightseeing Cruise from the Pont de l'Alma. The one-hour circuit passes the major monuments from the water and gives you orientation for the rest of the trip; evening departures add a romantic dimension but the daytime views are clearer for photography. End the day with a slow walk back along the quais as the city lights come on.
Café Marly (Louvre terrace) for morning coffee; Le Train Bleu in Gare de Lyon for lunch; book a table. For dinner, try the neighbourhood bistros around Rue de Rivoli or pick up picnic supplies from a boulangerie and eat by the river.
Book Louvre timed-entry tickets at louvre.fr at least one week ahead, especially for weekends. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. Arrive for the 9 am opening slot to avoid the worst of the crowds, and be prepared to spend time in the queue even with a pre-booked ticket.
Getting around: Café Marly to Palais Royal is a 5-minute walk through the Tuileries. Le Train Bleu (Gare de Lyon) is 20 minutes by Métro from Louvre-Rivoli on Line 1 then Line 14.
Wake up early and walk to the Eiffel Tower before the crowds arrive. Pre-booked tickets for the summit are worth having for the view (on a clear day you can see 70 km in every direction) but the second floor is less crowded and still spectacular. The area beneath the tower, the Champ de Mars, is a long park popular with picnickers; the Rue Cler market street, three blocks north, is the best place in Paris to build a mid-morning snack: artisan cheeses, charcuterie, fresh fruit, and a dozen varieties of bread. The market runs through the morning and captures the quotidian pace of the 7th arrondissement, one of the city's most elegant residential neighbourhoods. Cross the Seine to the Musée d'Orsay, housed in a stunning converted railway station. The Impressionist collection on the top floor (Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh) is arguably the finest in the world. Book tickets online and allow at least two hours; the building's great clock windows and the restaurant inside the old first-class dining room are worth seeking out even if you're not a dedicated museum-goer. Dinner on the Rive Droite: the cocktail bar Pink Mamma in Pigalle is one of the city's most-photographed interiors and serves excellent Italian-influenced food; book a week ahead. Finish with a walk up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, whose rooftop viewing platform is the best free vantage point in Paris for seeing the city's perfect radial street plan.
Ready to plan your own Paris trip? Use our free collaborative travel itinerary planner to build a fully customised day-by-day plan — drag and drop your schedule, add walking routes between stops, and share it with your travel group in real time. Packing for the trip? See our paris packing list for a season-specific checklist you can import directly into your trip.
Rue Cler market for a self-assembled mid-morning picnic. Pink Mamma in Pigalle for dinner; book online at least a week ahead as it fills quickly. The Musée d'Orsay restaurant (inside the original dining car) is a splurge-worthy lunch option.
Eiffel Tower summit tickets sell out weeks in advance at toureiffel.paris; book the moment your dates are confirmed. If the summit is sold out, second-floor tickets are usually available closer to the date. Arc de Triomphe rooftop entry is free for EU citizens under 26 and very reasonable for everyone else; it is particularly beautiful just after sunset.
Getting around: Eiffel Tower to Musée d'Orsay is a 15-minute walk along the Seine via Pont d'Iéna. Pink Mamma (South Pigalle) is 25 minutes north by Métro from Musée d'Orsay on Line 12.
Montmartre is the hill that Paris climbed to build its most recognisable skyline, and the neighbourhood still rewards early arrivals who arrive before the midday tour groups. Take the funicular from the bottom of the hill or walk up the steep staircases for exercise and views that expand as you climb. Sacré-Cœur's white travertine dome is a late 19th-century construction but the views from the parvis are magnificent, stretching across the whole city. The streets behind the basilica (Rue Lepic, Place du Tertre) are the beating heart of old Montmartre; La Maison Rose, a pink-shuttered restaurant on Rue de l'Abreuvoir, has been photographed so many times it has become an icon in its own right. Budget photographers converge outside it from mid-morning, so visit early. The Palais Garnier, the 19th-century opera house that inspired the Phantom of the Opera, is a 25-minute walk or short Métro ride from the base of the hill. Even if you're not attending a performance, the guided tour of the auditorium and foyer is well worth the hour. In the evening, Bouillon Chartier on Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre has been feeding Parisians since 1896; the brasserie food is unfussy and very good, the prices are famously low, and the belle époque dining room is one of the city's great democratic dining experiences. End the evening with a stroll past the Moulin Rouge, whose glowing red windmill sails still define this edge of the 9th arrondissement.
La Maison Rose for a light lunch in the Montmartre village atmosphere. Bouillon Chartier on Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre for dinner; arrive when it opens to avoid a long queue; they do not take reservations.
Palais Garnier tours run daily but timed slots sell out, especially on weekends; book at operadeparis.fr. The tour lasts about 90 minutes and includes the Grand Foyer, auditorium, and the famous Marc Chagall ceiling. The Moulin Rouge exterior is free to photograph at any hour; performances inside are expensive and must be booked months ahead.
Getting around: Sacré-Cœur to Palais Garnier is 1.5 km downhill, an enjoyable 20-minute walk via Rue des Martyrs. Palais Garnier to Bouillon Chartier is 5 minutes on foot along Rue du Faubourg-Montmartre.
Buy a carnet of 10 Métro tickets or a Paris Visite pass for unlimited travel; single tickets are significantly more expensive per journey.
Museum admission is free for all EU citizens under 26. Non-EU visitors under 26 also get free entry to national museums on the first Sunday of each month.
Paris restaurants rarely open for dinner before 7 pm and tables are usually available for walk-ins after 9:30 pm when reservations start releasing.
Tap water in Paris is safe to drink; ask for 'une carafe d'eau' at any restaurant to get free filtered water, rather than paying for bottled.
Pocket a paper Métro map from any station; phone signal is unreliable in the tunnels and platforms are often deep enough to lose GPS.
Paris operates on 220V electricity with European two-pin plugs. Bring a universal adapter if arriving from the US or UK.
Spring (April to June) and early autumn (September to October) offer the best combination of mild weather, long daylight hours, and manageable crowds. April and May bring blossom to the city's parks and gardens, while September has a settled, golden quality and the major museums are less crowded after the August holiday period. Summer (July to August) is the peak season (hot, very busy, and expensive) but the long evenings and outdoor festivals make it vibrant. Winter (December to February) is cold and occasionally rainy, but the Christmas illuminations on the Champs-Élysées and the quiet museums make it a rewarding time for those who don't mind a coat. Whenever you visit, book the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and any major exhibitions well in advance.