Five days in Paris is enough to see all five primary landmark clusters — the Eiffel Tower quarter, the Louvre corridor, the historic islands, Montmartre, and the Marais — plus a full day at the Palace of Versailles without cutting any visit short. The route is designed as five self-contained days, each with one dominant zone, so a missed morning on one day doesn't cascade into the next.

Day by day

Day 1: Arrival Day: Eiffel Tower Quarter

  • RER B from CDG to Gare du Nord — 35 min (€11.80). From Gare du Nord take Metro line 4 south to your accommodation zone, or transfer to RER C for the 7th arrondissement.
  • Check in and drop bags — 30 min. Most hotels allow luggage storage before room availability.
  • Eiffel Tower — 1.5–2 hr. Book the 16:00 or 17:00 slot for golden-hour light on arrival day; the tower is illuminated at dusk. Summit entry costs €29–35 depending on slot; stair-only to the 2nd floor is €11.
  • Champ de Mars walk south — 20 min. The 24.5-hectare park behind the tower. Flat, open, safe after dark on the main allée.
  • Rest valve — O'Tacos or a boulangerie near École Militaire metro for a low-effort first-night dinner. The area around Rue de la Motte-Picquet has several cafés open until 22:00.
  • Total: ~4 km walking; 2 metro/RER segments (airport transit only).

Day 2: Left Bank: Invalides, Musée d'Orsay, Saint-Germain

  • Hôtel des Invalides & Army Museum — 1.5 hr (€15). Open from 10:00. Napoleon's tomb in the Dôme des Invalides requires a combined ticket; the free courtyard outside is always accessible and worth 15 min alone.
  • Walk to Musée Rodin — 45 min (€14). The garden holds the original cast of The Thinker and The Gates of Hell. Garden-only entry is €4 — skip the interior if time is tight.
  • Musée d'Orsay — 2 hr (€16). Use the Quai Anatole France entrance for shorter queues. Floors 2 and 5 first; the clock-face terrace before leaving.
  • Rest valve — Café de Flore, 172 Boulevard Saint-Germain (15 min walk from Musée d'Orsay). Order a café crème and a croissant and take the corner table if available. Expensive by Paris standards (€6–8 for coffee) but the room is part of the visit.
  • Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood walk: Boulevard Saint-Germain, Rue de Buci market, Rue de l'Odéon — 1 hr. Rue de Buci has a daily outdoor market with olives, cheese, and fruit. Bring cash.
  • Luxembourg Gardens — 45 min. The 25-hectare formal garden is open until 21:30 in summer. The central fountain basin has rented toy sailboats (€4 per session; children and adults use them equally).
  • Total: ~9 km walking; 0 metro segments.

Day 3: Historic Islands: Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Louvre

  • Notre-Dame Cathedral — 1 hr (free, timed ticket required). Book the 09:00 slot — the restored nave has the fewest visitors before tour groups arrive at 10:00.
  • Conciergerie — 45 min (€11.50; or covered by Museum Pass). The former royal palace and prison on the Île de la Cité. Marie-Antoinette's reconstructed cell is the main exhibit. 100 m from Notre-Dame.
  • Sainte-Chapelle — 45 min (€13; book online). The upper chapel stained glass is the reason to visit — 600 m² of 13th-century glass in 15 windows. Best light between 10:00 and 13:00.
  • Rest valve — picnic on the Pont Neuf or the Square du Vert-Galant tip of the Île de la Cité. Pick up supplies on Île Saint-Louis on the walk across: fromagerie and boulangerie on Rue Saint-Louis-en-l'Île.
  • Louvre Museum — 2.5–3 hr (€22; timed-entry mandatory). Enter via Carrousel du Louvre underground. Denon Wing 1st floor: Room 711 for the Mona Lisa (allow 20 min of jostling). Ground floor: Winged Victory on the Darly staircase. Sully Wing: Egyptian antiquities.
  • Tuileries Garden — 30 min. Walk west from the Louvre to Place de la Concorde. The central allée is 700 m of gravel flanked by topiary. The basin at the west end has chairs.
  • Total: ~8 km walking; 0 metro segments today.

Day 4: Montmartre and Le Marais

  • Metro line 12 to Abbesses — 20 min from central zones. Take the elevator from the platform (36 m deep — one of the deepest in the network).
  • Sacré-Cœur Basilica — 45 min (free; funicular = 1 metro ticket). Arrive before 09:30 to have the terrace steps clear. The interior mosaic in the apse: 475 m², completed in 1922.
  • Montmartre walk: Place du Tertre, Rue Lepic, Moulin de la Galette — 1 hr. The windmill at Rue Lepic No. 83 dates to 1622. The lane descends in switchbacks — expect rough cobblestones.
  • Rest valve — Café des Deux Moulins, 15 Rue Lepic. Croque-monsieur and coffee in a zinc-countered room. Budget 40 min.
  • Metro line 2 from Blanche to Oberkampf — 10 min.
  • Le Marais: Rue des Rosiers, Place des Vosges, Maison de Victor Hugo — 2 hr. Rue des Rosiers: falafel from L'As du Fallafel (No. 34, queue moves in 15 min, €7 takeaway wrap). Place des Vosges: 140 m × 140 m arcaded square; arcade walking is free; garden closes 21:30. Maison de Victor Hugo at No. 6 is free entry.
  • Centre Pompidou exterior and Stravinsky Fountain — 20 min walk from Place des Vosges. The plaza fountain has 16 kinetic sculptures. Interior permanent collection costs €15.
  • Total: ~11 km walking; 2 metro segments.

Day 5: Palace of Versailles Day Trip

  • RER C from central Paris (Musée d'Orsay or Invalides stop) to Versailles Château — 40 min (€4.50 single, Zone 1–4). Trains depart every 15–20 min. Arrive at Versailles Rive Gauche station, not Versailles Chantiers.
  • Palace of Versailles — 2.5–3 hr (€21 entry; timed-entry mandatory, book online). The State Apartments (the Hall of Mirrors is 73 m long with 357 mirrors), the King's Chamber, and the Opera Royal are the main interior draws. Hall of Mirrors is clearest before 11:00.
  • Versailles Gardens — 1.5 hr (free outside Fountain Show days; €10 on show days). The formal gardens run 800 m from the palace to the Grand Canal. The Grand Trianon palace (€12) and Petit Trianon (€12) are optional extensions at the north end of the gardens — allow 1 extra hour each.
  • Rest valve — the café terrace at the Grand Canal (within the gardens). Basic brasserie menu: €14 plat du jour, €3.50 coffee. Sit facing the canal; the geometry of the 1,670 m water axis is the most-photographed element of the grounds.
  • Return RER C to Paris — 40 min. Trains back to Paris run until approximately 23:00.
  • Final evening: Seine-side walk between Pont de la Concorde and Pont des Arts — 30 min. The stretch between these two bridges is flat, illuminated, and passes under eight bridges. The Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge has views east to the Île de la Cité and the lit spire of Notre-Dame.
  • Total: ~12 km walking; 2 RER segments.
Traveller Tips
  • A Navigo Semaine (€30.75, all zones) covers every segment in this 5-day itinerary including the Versailles RER C trip — buy it at any metro station if you arrive on a Monday.
  • Book Versailles timed-entry at least 2 weeks in advance for any weekend date. The palace closes Mondays — plan accordingly.
  • Museum Pass (4-day, €74) covers Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Invalides, Conciergerie, Sainte-Chapelle, and Versailles palace — it pays for itself on Day 3 alone at list prices. Does not cover Eiffel Tower or Versailles Fountain Show.
  • Versailles Fountain Shows run Saturday and Sunday from late April to October (check versailles.fr for dates). The show plays to a recorded Baroque score in 55 fountain groups across the gardens; a Garden ticket (€10) is required on show days.
  • Montmartre cobblestone streets are difficult for wheeled luggage or pushchairs. If travelling with children or heavy bags, take the funicular both up and down.
  • The free first-Sunday-of-the-month entry at the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay only applies outside peak summer months — both museums charge full entry every Sunday in July and August.
Palace of Versailles in Paris
Must Visit

Palace of Versailles

Louis XIV's palace 23 km southwest of Paris contains 2,300 rooms, 1,250 fireplaces, and 483 mirrors in the Hall of Mirrors alone. The gardens cover 800 hectares and are organised along a strict east–west solar axis. Entry to the palace requires a timed-entry booking; the gardens are separately ticketed on Fountain Show days. Guerilla Tip: The 09:00 palace entry slot is the only slot where the Hall of Mirrors has fewer than 50 people in it — by 11:00 it routinely holds 300+.