Paris itinerary: 1, 2 and 3 days

Paris rewards walking one area properly over ticking off landmarks. The city is compact — most central sights sit within a 5 km band along the Seine — but crossing it repeatedly eats the day. Build each day around one axis and one evening anchor.

One day suits a layover or a stop before a TGV. Two days is the common short break. Three days is where the trip stops feeling like a checklist: you can add Versailles or a slow museum morning and still eat a real dinner. Four to five nights, as the France guide suggests, lets you add a day trip and a rest afternoon.

Start early at the Louvre for a timed slot, then walk west through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde and up the Champs-Élysées, or turn onto the river and follow the Seine. Afternoon: cross to the Left Bank for the Orsay or the Latin Quarter. Evening: the Eiffel Tower lit, or a walk through the Marais if you prefer streets to monuments.

If museums are not the point, swap the Louvre for Montmartre in the morning — Sacré-Cœur, then down through the market streets — and spend the afternoon in the Marais. Both routes are walkable end to end in about 40 minutes each way.

Day 1: Louvre and the river axis, as above, finishing at the Eiffel Tower at dusk. Day 2: Montmartre in the morning while it is quiet, then the Marais and Île de la Cité in the afternoon, with Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle if you have booked. Finish with dinner in the 10th or 11th, where the food is cheaper than the 1st.

Keep both days on one bank at a time. A two-day trip that zigzags between Montmartre, the Left Bank and La Défense spends two hours underground.

Day 3 is the choice day. Option A: Versailles — RER C from central stations, roughly 40–45 minutes, and a half to full day at the palace and gardens. Option B: a museum morning (Orsay or Orangerie) plus Père-Lachaise or the Canal Saint-Martin in the afternoon. Option C: a slower neighbourhood day — Belleville, Butte-aux-Cailles or the Batignolles — with a market lunch.

Whichever you pick, keep the evening light. Three days of 15,000 steps is normal here; the third evening is when most people wish they had booked four.

Paris is a walking city with a cheap metro and expensive restaurants. The biggest lever is where you eat: a bakery lunch is €8–12, a bistro dinner €25–40 per person with wine. Accommodation is the second lever — the 10th, 11th and 18th arrondissements cost less than the 1st, 6th and 7th for the same metro access.

Museum passes only pay off if you visit three or more paid sites in a short window. For a three-day trip, individual timed tickets are usually simpler and cheaper.

Book the Louvre, Orsay and Eiffel Tower online with a time slot; this is the single biggest time saver. Many national museums close one weekday — often Monday or Tuesday — so check each site before you plan the day around it.

Paris is walkable but the metro is faster for anything over 2 km. Load a Navigo Easy card or use contactless where accepted. From the airports, RER B from Charles de Gaulle and Orlyval plus RER B from Orly both land you in the centre in under an hour.

Pickpocketing happens on Line 1, at Châtelet and around the Eiffel Tower; keep phones out of back pockets. Sundays and public holidays close many shops, though markets and museums often stay open.