Let’s be honest…trying to figure out how to spend 3 days in Paris is overwhelming. The city is huge, there’s so much to do! Between the countless museums, churches, landmarks, and gorgeous French cafes, it seems like you need a lifetime to see it all. I planned this 3-day Paris itinerary when I visited the city for the first time with my friend Kelly, and I left feeling like I got a great taste of the culture, the food, and the iconic sights that make Paris so special. If we haven’t met, I’m Gina, and I’m so excited to help you spend 3 days in Paris!
Since my 2022 trip, I’ve been back to Paris multiple times, so I’ve added things to this post over the years. (Remember how I said it’s hard to cram everything you want to do into 3 days? I had to come back!) If you end up loving Paris, I highly recommend visiting Paris during the Christmas season, especially with a loved one. I went as a solo traveler, and it was still incredibly magical, but I fully intend on experiencing it with the LOML one day.
But First: My Top Itinerary Tip for Sightseeing Around Paris
If you want to experience the best of Paris in the easiest way possible, getting The Paris Pass is the best way to do it!
Purchase the Paris Pass from the Go City
- The Paris Pass is a great way to save money and will allow you to book attractions, tours, and more. You will see me refer to things I did using the Paris Pass multiple times throughout this post.
- You can choose the number of days that you want your pass for, but it must be used in consecutive days.
- The more things you do from the Paris Pass, the more money you will save.
- For a more detailed Paris Pass description, check out my post about Why You Need The Paris Pass
Museum Lovers: Get the Paris Museum Pass
If you intend on seeing any of the museums through the Paris Pass, you MUST ALSO pick up a Paris Museum Pass. This is NOT something you can download from the Paris Pass or Go City.
Paris Day 1: Welcome to Paris! Getting Lost, Wine Tasting, Seine River Cruise, and the Eiffel Tower
There’s no better way to start your first day in Paris than with a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino (or, a double cappuccino. I won’t judge you. If you’re like me, you barely slept on the plane!).
After landing and eating breakfast, my friend Kelly and I spent the beginning of our first day familiarizing ourselves with the streets of Paris the best way I know how – by getting “lost!” When I have free time on my travel day, I love to leave my hotel, pick a direction, and just start walking. You’ll be amazed at how much you discover when you have no idea what’s there…in fact, we even stumbled upon the Louvre this way!
Wine tasting at Les Caves du Louvre
- Booked through the Paris Pass; reservation required.
- During the tasting, they let us taste 3 different kinds of wine (1 white, 2 red) while the sommelier educated us on the different wines in the regions of France.
- At the end, you can buy wine and champagne from their shop next door.
Take a Seine River Cruise
A Seine River cruise allows you to see the beauty of Paris from the water. You’ll pass by the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Musée d’Orsay. You can go during the day, or take a sunset cruise at night. The ships have an open air deck so you can see Paris with zero obstructions.
- Booked through the Paris Pass
- Cruises start every hour on the hour
- No need to make a reservation; however, there will likely be a long line!
The Eiffel Tower
- We ended our first day by (what else?) seeing the Eiffel Tower! I will never forget seeing it for the first time…I really felt as though it had the “wow” factor that I always imagined it would.
- You can see the Eiffel Tower up close – many people come sit on the grass in front of it for picnics, or even just to hang out. You can also go inside the Eiffel Tower via the Paris Pass, but in my opinion, seeing it from the outside is better!
Seeing the Eiffel Tower Lit Up at Night
The Eiffel Tower lights up at dusk and stays lit until 1:00 AM. Every hour on the hour is a glittering light show that lasts for 5 minutes and is 100% worth seeing. Of note, it stays light outside MUCH longer in Paris, so dusk usually isn’t until after 9:00 PM! I will never forget getting off the subway with Kelly during our last night in Paris and sprinting towards the Eiffel Tower for one last view of the light show before we left. It had seemingly just gotten dark an hour or two earlier, and we didn’t realize it was after midnight!
- Pro Tip: The Eiffel Tower’s lighting and sparkling lights are protected by copyright, so professional use of images of the Eiffel Tower at night require prior authorization and may be subject to a fee.
The Best Place to See the Eiffel Tower From a Distance
If you want to see the Eiffel Tower from a distance (not to mention, get Instagrammable photos!), the best place is Plaza del Trocadéro.
At the end of the plaza, there are steps you can go down to get an even better view. If you go all the way to the bottom, you will be able to walk along the Seine River.
Paris Day 2: Authentic French Cafe, The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Saint Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe, and Champs-Élysées
First things first: You need breakfast at an authentic French cafe. And yes, I’m talking about the romantic-looking ones with flowers outside. Since Paris is so huge and I don’t know where you’re staying, I’m not going to recommend a certain one…but they’re everywhere, and look like this:
The Louvre Museum
- Booked through the Paris Pass; reservation required.
- Go early in the morning; you could easily spend hours here if you wanted.
- The Louvre is CLOSED on Tuesdays.
- You MUST also get a Paris Museum Pass, which can be obtained from Big Bus Information Center. The Paris Museum Pass website is also great to browse if you want to see more museums than just the Louvre.
The Mona Lisa
The highlight of the Louvre is, of course, The Mona Lisa.
- The most famous painting in the Louvre (and quite possibly the world); painted by Leonardo da Vinci
- There are signs in the museum that help guide you to where this painting is, and there will be a line of people waiting to get a close-up photo.
You’ve probably heard rumors that the Mona Lisa painting is much smaller than people expect. This is especially true when you compare her to the giant painting of The Wedding Feast at Cana across the room. I didn’t get a photo of this one, but it’s the largest painting in the entire museum. It seems unfair to put her across from this, but perhaps the staff thought the weight of her fame and status matched the grandeur of this much larger work of art!
- Side note: I’m not much of a museum person, so I’ll be honest and say Kelly and I peaced after we saw the Mona Lisa. However, if you love museums, Paris has a multitude of amazing ones to choose from (and some are included in the Paris Pass)!
Go Inside Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle
The Notre Dame Cathedral is about a 20 minute walk from the Louvre. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go in when we visited in 2022 due to damages from the fire. Despite having returned to Paris multiple times, I still haven’t made it to see the inside of Notre Dame, but I promise you it’s on my list! If you get to see it, feel free to add to my FOMO in the comments.
- Can book through the Paris Pass – reservation required
A short walk away from the cathedral is Sainte Chapelle, a gothic-style cathedral originally built to house relics of Christ. Although not as famous as Notre Dame, you CAN tour this one!
- Paris Pass – reservation required
- Known for it’s high ceilings and (equally high) gorgeous, stained-glass windows.
Walk Down Champs-Élysées
- Paris’s most iconic shopping street.
- This street has some affordable shops, but it was also very ritzy. You will find everything from Zara to Chanel.
- A nearby landmark is the Pont Alexandre III bridge.You can walk across the bridge and admire its stunning, extravagant architecture, along with great views of the Seine River!
At the opposite end of Champs-Élysées from the bridge stands the Arc de Triomphe, a massive structure built to honor those who died in the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. You can make a reservation through the Paris Pass to go up to the top of the tower and get a great view of the city!
Paris Day 3: Palace of Versailles, Le Marais, Montmartre, and Moulin Rouge
The Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is an absolute must-see day trip if you have enough time. Aside from seeing the Eiffel Tower at night, it was my favorite thing we did during my first visit.
- Booked through The Paris Pass
- You MUST also get a Paris Museum Pass to be allowed to enter the Palace.
- The Palace of Versailles is CLOSED on Mondays.
- There is a link on the Go City app with the Paris Pass to book your reservation time.
The Palace of Versallies is an absolutely magnificent building adorned in bright gold, and the interior has a variety of different chambers and suites that are replicas of the royal era.
- Originally built by King Louis XIII to be used as a hunting lodge, and then later turned into a chateau. The chateau was eventually expanded by King Louis XIV into a palace.
- Today it is declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the top tourist attractions in the world.
We chose to only tour the palace since we had other things planned for today, but you could easily spend an entire day here if you wanted to.
There are ticket options that allow you to tour the Gardens, which are absolutely massive, and which also include the Estate of Trianon (Marie Antoinette’s estate). To give you an idea of just how massive:
- Walking from the Palace of Versailles to the Grand Canal of the gardens would take you 15 minutes (there are other sections of the gardens, such as Apollo’s Bath Grove, that are much closer).
- Walking to the Estate of Trianon would take you 25 minutes.
When touring the inside of the palace, it is important to enter on the right wing side as opposed to the left. We entered on the wrong side and ended up accidentally going out the exit way before we were ready! (Thankfully, they let us back in, but we had to go through security again!)
The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles
After you enter on the correct side of the palace, you will go through the Gallery of the History of the Palace, and up the stairs to the Louis XIV rooms. From here, you will enter the State Apartment rooms which eventually leads to the Hall of Mirrors.
The Hall of Mirrors was my favorite room in the entire palace. It is a massive space with huge windows, a painted ceiling, and multiple sparkling chandeliers.
Explore Le Marais
When we got back to Paris from Versailles, we decided to explore Le Marais, a chic, trendy spot that is known for being LGBQT+ friendly. It is a vibrant community with shops and restaurants that’s located right on the Seine river. It’s not a must-do, but definitely worth walking around if you have some extra time.
We ate at this restaurant (Les Deux Colombes), which had views of the famous Hotel de Ville:
Walk Through Montmartre
Montmartre is known as the most romantic neighborhood of Paris and became my favorite area out of everything that we visited. It is what I always pictured when I envisioned the quintessential “French neighborhood.” It attracted a lot of artists back in the day, such as Ernest Hemingway and Picasso.
Moulin Rouge
The most famous thing in Montmartre is, of course, Moulin Rouge. You can buy tickets to see live dancers perform the legendary French cabaret shows. Although Kelly and I didn’t do this our first time in Paris, I was finally able to check a Moulin Rouge show off my bucket list 2 years later with my friend Jess. The show was absolutely incredible, and the theater is beautiful. However, we did not realize it was a topless performance! Jess and I were expecting something more like an NYC Broadway show, so you can imagine our initial surprise. Overall, it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, and if you’re about the theater life, you should absolutely get tickets.
Montmartre Walking Tour
To see the best of Montmartre, I recommend taking a Montmartre Walking Tour – booked through the Paris Pass. Kelly and I did this, and we thought it was a great way to explore this part of Paris.
- A guide takes you up and down the streets of Montmartre and tells you about the history, landmarks, and other quintessential things you may not find on your own. This was the perfect way to familiarize ourselves with the city!
- One of my favorite things we saw was the Les Mur des Je t’aime (aka the Wall of Love), a navy blue tiled wall that has “I love you” written in 312 languages.
- The tour ends at Sacre Coeur Basilica, a massive Catholic church with stunning architecture. You are allowed to go inside the church and look around.
Two minutes from the Sacre Coeur Basilica is a restaurant called Au Cadet de Gascogne, which was featured in the Paris Pass under “Champagne Gourmand.” Basically, you walk up, show them your pass, and they give you a glass of free champagne with a small tray of French pastries and desserts. Yes, you read that correctly. After walking the hills of Montmartre for the past hour and a half, it was the perfect way to relax.
Paris Free Time Suggestions
- Hop on/hop off bus tour through the city (Paris Pass)
- Multiple walking tours throughout the city (Paris Pass)
- Musee d’Orsay – this is probably Paris’s second-most famous museum (only to the Louvre). Set in what used to be one of Paris’s main train stations. (Paris Pass)
- Pere Lachaise Cemetery – Oscar Wilde is buried here! (Paris Pass)
- Tour Palais Garnier, Paris’s opera house
- Parks in Paris
- Most famous: Jardin du Luxembourg and Jardin des Tuileries
- Other parks: Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Bois de Vincennes
Explore Paris With Get Your Guide
If you choose not to do the Paris Pass, Get Your Guide has plenty of fantastic options when it comes to things to do in the City of Light. Explore walking tours, food tours, entry tickets, and more.
Paris Hotel recommendation
Villa Saxe Eiffel
This hotel is located right near the Eiffel Tower in a prime spot in Paris! I stayed here when I went to see the Eras Tour in Paris and I absolutely loved it. Click your favorite link to book.
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