5 Days in Paris: A Slower, Fuller Itinerary

Five days is when Paris starts to feel like a place you live in rather than a list of sights. You can give the Louvre a whole morning and the Orsay a whole afternoon on different days, spend a full day at Versailles without guilt, and still have an unhurried day in Montmartre at the end. Above all, five days gives you time to do what Parisians do: sit on a terrace, walk without a destination and eat a long lunch.

The route runs one district per day. Day 1 is the Île de la Cité and the Latin Quarter, up to the Panthéon and the Luxembourg Gardens. Day 2 is the royal Right Bank: the Louvre, the Palais-Royal, the Palais Garnier and the rooftop of Galeries Lafayette. Day 3 is the Seventh: the Eiffel Tower, the Rodin garden and the Musée d'Orsay. Day 4 is Versailles. Day 5 is Montmartre, from the museum on the rue Cortot to the Sacré-Cœur at sunset.

The arrival day does not count. The five days can be swapped, keeping the Louvre off a Tuesday and the Orsay, the Rodin museum and Versailles off a Monday; the table below shows each day's closing days.

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This route at a glance

Tickets to book before you fly

Nine tickets over five days, never more than three on a single day. Book the Eiffel Tower and Versailles first. Prices start at the figures shown, per person.

Arrival evening: settle in slowly

With five days ahead, there is no hurry on the first evening. Unpack, find the bakery and the café nearest the hotel, and have dinner within walking distance. A short walk to the river after dinner is enough for night one.

Before bed, check the forecast for the week and decide which day suits Versailles best; it is the one day of the route that depends on the weather.

• Keep Day 4 for a dry day if you can.
• Buy a carnet of single tickets loaded onto a Navigo Easy card.
• Day 1 starts at Notre-Dame at 9:00.

Day 1: The island, the Latin Quarter, the Panthéon and the Luxembourg

Begin where Paris began, on the Île de la Cité. Notre-Dame is free and quietest at 9:00; at 10:00 the Sainte-Chapelle opens its upper chapel of glass, and the ticket includes the Conciergerie, the vaulted hall of the medieval kings. Allow two hours for the three.

Cross to the Left Bank and climb slowly through the Latin Quarter, past the Sorbonne, the university since the thirteenth century, to the Panthéon. Under its dome, Foucault's pendulum swings over the floor, and in the crypt lie Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and Josephine Baker.

Walk down the rue Soufflot to the Luxembourg Gardens, the most Parisian of all the parks, and take two green chairs by the Medici Fountain or the octagonal pond. Five days means you can stay until the gates close.

Stops in order

1. 9:00 · Notre-Dame Cathedral: free entry
   6 Parvis Notre-Dame - Place Jean-Paul II, 75004, Paris
2. 10:00 · Sainte-Chapelle: upper chapel and the Conciergerie
   8 Boulevard du Palais, 75001, Paris
3. 12:30 · Sorbonne: lunch in the Latin Quarter
   75005, Paris
4. 14:30 · Panthéon: crypt and pendulum
   Place du Panthéon, 75005, Paris
5. 16:00 · Luxembourg Gardens: green chairs by the fountain
   Place Edmond Rostand, 75006, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Climb to the Panthéon colonnade in summer

From April to October, a short guided climb takes small groups to the colonnade around the dome. It gives one of the best views of the Left Bank, and it is never crowded.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The three monuments are indoors; in heavy rain, swap the Luxembourg for the Musée de Cluny nearby.

Day 2: The Louvre, the Palais-Royal, the Opéra and a rooftop

Spend the morning at the Louvre. The guided entry at 9:30 takes you through the essentials in two hours, and with five days you can stay on until lunch in one wing, the French crown paintings of the Denon wing or the Egyptian galleries of the Sully wing.

Leave by the north side to the Palais-Royal garden, a quiet rectangle of lime trees, and the striped columns of its courtyard. Have lunch under the arcades or in the covered Galerie Vivienne next door.

Walk up the avenue de l'Opéra to the Palais Garnier for an hour in the most opulent building in Paris: the grand staircase, the gilded foyer and, if no rehearsal is on, the auditorium under Chagall's ceiling. Next door, the free rooftop of Galeries Lafayette looks out over the opera house to the Eiffel Tower.

Stops in order

1. 9:30 · Louvre Museum: guided, then a wing of your choice
   Pont du Carrousel, 75001, Paris
2. 13:00 · Palais-Royal Garden: garden and the striped columns
   Passage du Perron, 75001, Paris
3. 13:30 · Galerie Vivienne: lunch in the covered passage
   Rue des Petits Champs, 75001, Paris
4. 15:00 · Palais Garnier: staircase, foyer and auditorium
   Place Jacques Rouché, 75009, Paris
5. 16:30 · Galeries Lafayette: free rooftop
   40 Boulevard Haussmann, 75009, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

End the day on the Lafayette roof

The rooftop terrace is busiest at midday and quietest around 17:00, when the light falls on the green roof of the Opéra and the Eiffel Tower. It costs nothing and is one of the best views of the trip.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Every stop except the Palais-Royal garden is indoors or under glass.

Day 3: The Eiffel Tower, the Rodin garden and the Musée d'Orsay

Take the first slot of the day at the Eiffel Tower, after the photograph from the Trocadéro. The second floor gives you a view over everything you have seen on Days 1 and 2.

Walk east past the Champ de Mars and the École Militaire to the Musée Rodin. Inside the mansion are The Kiss and the sculptures of Camille Claudel; in the garden, The Thinker sits among roses and clipped trees. The garden café is a peaceful place for lunch.

In the afternoon, walk to the Musée d'Orsay along the rue de Grenelle and the rue de Bellechasse. The Impressionist floor at the top is calmer in the late afternoon, and on Thursdays the museum stays open until 21:45, which makes it the perfect evening visit.

Stops in order

1. 9:00 · Trocadéro Gardens: the photograph
   Paris
2. 9:30 · Eiffel Tower: second floor
   5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007, Paris
3. 11:30 · Champ de Mars: the walk to the École Militaire
   Avenue Bosquet, 75007, Paris
4. 12:30 · Musée Rodin: house, garden and café
   77 Rue de Varenne, 75007, Paris
5. 15:00 · Musée d'Orsay: late opening on Thursdays
   1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 75007, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Put Day 3 on a Thursday

The Orsay's late opening on Thursday evenings lets you take this day slowly: a long lunch in the Rodin garden and the Impressionists at 18:00, when the day crowds have left.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The tower, the Rodin house and the Orsay are indoors or covered; skip the walk between them in heavy rain and take the RER C.

Day 4: A full day at Versailles

With five days, Versailles can have the whole day it needs. Arrive for a 9:00 palace slot and see the State Apartments, the Royal Chapel and the Hall of Mirrors in the calm first hour.

Spend the late morning in the gardens of André Le Nôtre, walking down from the terraces to the Latona Fountain and the groves, and have lunch beside the Grand Canal. On fountain-show days, from April to October, the water features play to baroque music.

After lunch, the estate of Trianon opens: the Grand Trianon in pink marble, where Louis XIV escaped the court, the Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet, a toy village around a lake. Catch the RER back to Paris at the end of the afternoon and have a quiet dinner near the hotel.

Stops in order

1. 9:00 · Palace of Versailles: palace slot at opening
   Rue de la Chancellerie, 78000, Versailles
2. 11:30 · Gardens of Versailles: Latona Fountain and the groves
   Place d'Armes, 78000 Versailles
3. 13:00 · Grand Canal, Versailles: lunch by the water
   Allée du Grand Canal, 78000 Versailles
4. 14:30 · Estate of Trianon: the two Trianons
   Esplanade du Grand Trianon, 78000, Versailles
5. 16:00 · Queen's Hamlet: the queen's village
   78000, Versailles

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Bring a picnic from Paris

Restaurants at Versailles are busy and expensive at lunchtime. A picnic from a Paris bakery, eaten on the grass by the Grand Canal, saves an hour of queuing and is the nicest lunch of the day.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The palace and the Trianons are indoors; the little train links them across the gardens.

Day 5: Montmartre from the museum to the Sacré-Cœur at sunset

End the trip on the hill of the artists. Start at the Musée de Montmartre on the rue Cortot, where Renoir had his studio and the gardens look down over the Clos Montmartre vineyard. Then walk past La Maison Rose and the windmills of the rue Lepic, where Van Gogh lived with his brother.

Have lunch on the quieter north side of the hill and spend the afternoon in its streets: the Place des Abbesses with its Art Nouveau metro entrance, the Wall of Love in the square next door and the small shops of the rue des Abbesses.

In the evening, climb to the Sacré-Cœur for sunset. The steps in front of the basilica face south, and as the sun goes down the whole city you have walked for five days spreads out below you. Have the last dinner of the trip on the hill.

Stops in order

1. 10:30 · Musée de Montmartre: Renoir's gardens over the vineyard
   12 Rue Cortot, 75018, Paris
2. 12:30 · La Maison Rose: the pink café
   Rue de l'Abreuvoir, 75018, Paris
3. 14:30 · Place des Abbesses: Art Nouveau metro entrance
   Place des Abbesses, 75018, Paris
4. 15:00 · Wall of Love: the Wall of Love
   Square Jehan Rictus, Place des Abbesses, 75018 Paris
5. 18:30 · Sacré-Cœur: sunset on the steps
   Rue du Chevalier de la Barre, 75018, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Come down by the stairs on the rue Foyatier

After sunset, walk down the long staircase of the rue Foyatier beside the funicular. Lit by old street lamps, it is one of the most photographed staircases in Paris and the last view of the trip.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The museum and the basilica are indoors; take the funicular rather than the steps in rain.

Departure morning: a last walk by the river

After five days, you will have a favorite corner of Paris. Spend the last morning there, with a coffee and no plan, before heading to the station or the airport.

Buy anything fragile, such as wine or perfume, on the last day so that you carry it as short a distance as possible.

• Most hotels keep bags after check-out.
• The RER B serves both airports from the Left Bank and Châtelet.
• Allow plenty of time for an international flight.

Which day goes where

The 5 days can be swapped around. Use this table to keep every sight off its closing day.

Swapping days on a 5-day Paris trip

Five days gives you room to replace a day with something closer to your interests. The table suggests swaps that keep the route balanced.

💡 Pro Tip

Leave one afternoon empty

On a five-day trip, the best memories often come from the afternoon with nothing planned: a café that turned into a long lunch, a shop you wandered into, a street you followed because it looked interesting. Keep one afternoon free for it.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

5 days in Paris: what to budget for

• Tickets: the nine timed tickets on this route are listed at the top with their starting prices.
• Transport: about fifteen single rides and two RER trips to Versailles; a 5-day Paris Visite pass rarely pays off.
• Food: a set lunch in a bistro is the best value of the day; dinner costs more for the same meal.
• Free days: most of Day 5 is free apart from the museum, and the gardens of Days 1 and 3 cost nothing.

More Paris routes

• 4 days in Paris: the same city a day shorter.
• One week in Paris: two more days for the Marais and a second day trip.
• 3 days with Versailles: if you end up with only three days after all.
• Paris for art lovers: more museums for a five-day stay.
• The best time to visit Paris: when to come for a longer trip.
• Paris with Giverny: the swap for Day 4 in spring and summer.
• All the 3-day routes, by theme