3 Days of Luxury in Paris

Luxury in Paris is not about spending as much as possible. It is about never waiting, never rushing and seeing the city from the inside: a guide who takes you to the Mona Lisa before the crowds, a fitting in a couture house on the Avenue Montaigne, a table in the bar of a palace hotel, and a front-row seat at the most famous cabaret in the world. This route puts those experiences in a sensible order, one district per day, so that the logistics disappear.

Day 1 is the Golden Triangle, the area between the Champs-Élysées, the Avenue Montaigne and the Avenue George V where the great fashion houses and palace hotels are. Day 2 is the royal Right Bank: a guided morning at the Louvre, the Place Vendôme and the rue Saint-Honoré, and the restored apartments of the Hôtel de la Marine. Day 3 crosses the river to the Left Bank, where Paris shops in the world's first department store and lunches in Saint-Germain.

As on every route on this site, the arrival day does not count. Check in, have a drink in the hotel bar and start the three days the next morning. Book the guided Louvre and the Crazy Horse first; they are the two that sell out.

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This route at a glance

Tickets to book before you fly

Prices are the lowest per-person options on the booking page. Private guides, premium cabaret seats and champagne packages are offered on the same pages at the checkout.

Arrival evening: the hotel bar

After a long flight, the most luxurious thing to do is stay in. Book a table in your hotel's restaurant or bar, unpack properly and ask the concierge to confirm tomorrow's plans. A good concierge in Paris can find a table that is "fully booked" and a driver for the whole of Day 1.

If you want to go out, keep it to the neighborhood: the bars of the palace hotels around the Avenue George V and the Place Vendôme are the classic first evening in luxury Paris.

• Ask the concierge to book a car for Day 1 and dinner for Day 2.
• Send any garments that need pressing tonight; most palace hotels return them by morning.
• Keep the first evening short: Day 1 starts with fittings at 10:30.

Day 1: The Golden Triangle, the Petit Palais and the Arc at sunset

Start on the Avenue Montaigne, the grandest shopping street in Paris and the home of the great couture houses. The flagships open late in the morning, so begin at 10:30 with an appointment if you want personal attention; the sales associates will hold pieces and send them to your hotel. Lunch in the Golden Triangle is part of the experience: the restaurants of the palace hotels on the Avenue George V and the Avenue Montaigne serve some of the best food in the city.

Walk down to the Petit Palais, the city's fine arts museum, housed in a Belle Époque palace with a courtyard garden and a café among the columns. The permanent collection is free, and it is one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris. Opposite, the glass roof of the Grand Palais rises over the Champs-Élysées gardens, and the Pont Alexandre III, the most ornate bridge in Paris, crosses to the golden dome of Les Invalides.

In the late afternoon, ride up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and climb to the roof for the sunset over the twelve avenues. Dinner is late on the Avenue George V, followed by the second show at the Crazy Horse, where the lighting and choreography have made it the most sophisticated cabaret in Paris.

Stops in order

1. 10:30 · Avenue Montaigne: couture flagships, appointments recommended
   Avenue Montaigne, 75008, Paris
2. 14:30 · Petit Palais: free permanent collection, courtyard café
   Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008, Paris
3. 15:30 · Grand Palais: the glass roof from the gardens
   Avenue de Selves, 75008, Paris
4. 16:00 · Pont Alexandre III: gilded bridge and the view to the Invalides
   Promenade des Berges de la Seine - Port des Invalides, 75007, Paris
5. 18:30 · Arc de Triomphe: rooftop at sunset
   Tunnel de l'Étoile, 75008, Paris
6. 22:00 · Crazy Horse: cabaret, second show
   12 Avenue George V, 75008, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Ask the boutiques to deliver to your hotel

The flagships on the Avenue Montaigne send purchases to your hotel the same afternoon. You walk the rest of the day with free hands and find everything waiting in your room.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The Petit Palais is the perfect rainy afternoon, and the boutiques are indoors. Skip the bridge in heavy rain and keep the Arc only if the cloud is high.

Day 2: The Louvre with a guide, the Place Vendôme and the Hôtel de la Marine

Book a guided reserved entry to the Louvre for 9:30, or a private guide if you want the museum on your own terms. A good guide takes you to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory in the right order, and then to the rooms most visitors never find, such as Napoleon III's apartments, all red velvet and gold.

Walk through the Palais-Royal garden to the rue Saint-Honoré, the most fashionable street of the Right Bank, and on to the Place Vendôme, the octagonal square of the jewelers, with the Ritz on one side. The great jewelry houses have their flagships around the square; even window-shopping here is an event.

In the afternoon, visit the Hôtel de la Marine on the Place de la Concorde, where the restored eighteenth-century apartments of the royal furniture keepers show how the court of Versailles lived in Paris. The loggia looks over the square and up the Champs-Élysées. End with a cocktail in one of the hotel bars around the Place de la Concorde.

Stops in order

1. 9:30 · Louvre Museum: reserved entry with a guide, about two hours
   Pont du Carrousel, 75001, Paris
2. 12:00 · Palais-Royal Garden: garden and arcades
   Passage du Perron, 75001, Paris
3. 12:30 · Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré: lunch and boutiques
   Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008, Paris
4. 14:00 · Place Vendôme: jewelers and the Ritz
   Place Vendôme, 75001, Paris
5. 15:30 · Hôtel de la Marine: royal apartments and the loggia
   Place de la Concorde, 75008, Paris
6. 17:30 · Place de la Concorde: cocktail nearby
   Place de la Concorde, 75008, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Ask your guide for Napoleon III's apartments

The Second Empire apartments in the Richelieu wing are often left out of short tours. Mention them when you meet your guide; they are the most opulent rooms in the Louvre.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: Every stop on this day is indoors or under arcades. Rain makes the Louvre fuller, so keep the 9:30 slot.

Day 3: Rodin, Le Bon Marché and Saint-Germain

Start at the Musée Rodin, a mansion and a rose garden on the rue de Varenne. The Kiss is inside; The Thinker sits outside among clipped trees. It is the most beautiful small museum in Paris and a peaceful start before a day of shopping.

Walk ten minutes to Le Bon Marché, the oldest department store in Paris, where the designers on the first floor are chosen with a curator's eye and the escalators were designed as part of the architecture. Next door, La Grande Épicerie is a food hall of extraordinary quality, the place to buy chocolates, oils and wine to take home.

Spend the afternoon in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where the boutiques of the rue du Bac, the rue de Grenelle and the rue Jacob mix French designers with antique dealers and the best pastry shops in the city. Finish with an aperitif on the terrace of one of the literary cafés of the boulevard Saint-Germain.

Stops in order

1. 10:00 · Musée Rodin: house and rose garden
   77 Rue de Varenne, 75007, Paris
2. 12:00 · Le Bon Marché: the oldest department store in Paris
   Rue du Bac, 75007, Paris
3. 13:30 · La Grande Épicerie: food hall, lunch and gifts
   38 Rue de Sèvres, 75007 Paris
4. 15:00 · Saint-Germain-des-Prés: boutiques and antique dealers
   3 Place Saint-Germain des Prés, 75006, Paris
5. 18:00 · Café de Flore: aperitif on the terrace
   Rue Saint-Benoît, 75006, Paris

The numbers for this day

💡 Pro Tip

Claim the tax refund before you leave the store

Visitors from outside the EU can reclaim VAT on purchases above a minimum amount in a single store on the same day. The department stores have dedicated desks; bring your passport and do it in store rather than at the airport.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

If it rains: The museum house and the department stores are indoors. In heavy rain, skip the Rodin garden and spend longer at La Grande Épicerie.

Departure morning: a last breakfast and a car to the airport

Have breakfast in the hotel, let the concierge settle the last details and book a car to the airport. Most palace hotels arrange a driver who meets you at the door and handles the luggage.

If you have purchases to declare for a tax refund, leave extra time at the airport and keep the items in your hand luggage.

• Book the airport car the evening before.
• Keep tax-free forms, receipts and your passport in one folder.
• Allow extra time at the airport if a tax refund still has to be validated.

Which day goes where

The three days can run in any order. Use this table to keep every sight off its closing day.

Luxury Paris: where to shop on this route

Each day of the route covers one of the three great luxury shopping areas of Paris. The table shows what each is best for, so that you can plan purchases around the right day.

💡 Pro Tip

Book the restaurants before the flights

The best tables in Paris are booked weeks ahead, and lunch is usually easier to secure than dinner. Fix the meals first and build the rest of each day around them.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

Making Paris feel effortless

• A private driver for Day 1 removes the hardest part of shopping: carrying it.
• Guided entries at the Louvre replace the ticket line with a meeting point and a time.
• Premium cabaret seats include the best views and champagne, and they are the first to sell out.
• The concierge of a palace hotel can find tables, cars and appointments that are not available online.

The one thing money can't buy in Paris is an empty Eiffel Tower. For the view without the crowds, the Arc de Triomphe roof at sunset on Day 1 is the luxury choice.

More 3-day routes

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• Romantic 3 days in Paris: Montmartre and a night at the Moulin Rouge.
• Paris on a budget: the opposite approach.
• Paris at Christmas: the store windows and the lights.
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• 5 days in Paris: room for Versailles by private car.
• All the 3-day routes, by theme