5 Days in Paris: The Reddit-Backed Itinerary

CDG/Orly → Le Marais

From CDG: Take the RER B to Châtelet–Les Halles (~50 min, €11.80), then walk or take Métro Line 1 to Saint-Paul. From Orly: Take the Orlyval + RER B to Châtelet (~45 min, €14.10). Avoid taxis unless you're splitting with a group — they're €55+ fixed fare from CDG and traffic is brutal.

Drop bags at your hotel. Most Parisian hotels will hold luggage before check-in.

Wander Le Marais

Le Marais is Paris's most walkable neighborhood — medieval streets, Jewish quarter (Rue des Rosiers), LGBTQ+ hub, art galleries, and some of the best shopping in the city. No itinerary needed, just walk. Every turn reveals something.

Place des Vosges — Paris's oldest planned square (1612). Stunning arcaded buildings around a manicured garden. Sit on the grass, buy a gelato from Amorino on the corner, and soak it in. Victor Hugo's apartment is here too (free entry).

Rue des Rosiers

The heart of Paris's Jewish quarter. Grab a falafel from L'As du Fallafel (the one with the massive queue) or skip the line and go to Mi-Va-Mi next door — nearly as good, half the wait. The falafel here is legitimately some of the best street food in Europe.

Notre-Dame & Sainte-Chapelle

Walk south from Le Marais across Pont Marie to Île de la Cité. Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024 after the fire restoration — the interior is breathtaking with new lighting and cleaned stonework. Free entry, but expect a queue.

Sainte-Chapelle (€11.50, book timed ticket) is 5 minutes away and arguably more stunning — floor-to-ceiling 13th-century stained glass windows that glow on sunny days. Go in the afternoon for the best light. This is many people's favorite sight in all of Paris.

Seine Evening Walk

After dinner, walk along the Seine. Cross to Île Saint-Louis for Berthillon ice cream (€3.50/scoop, closes at 20:00), then continue along the Left Bank quais. The Notre-Dame lit up at night from Pont de l'Archevêché is the postcard moment. Grab a bottle of wine from a cave (wine shop) and sit on the riverbank — Parisians do this all summer.

Sacré-Cœur & the Back Streets

Walk up to Sacré-Cœur early (before 9:30) to avoid the crush. The basilica is free and the views from the parvis (front steps) are the best panorama in Paris — you can see the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, and all the way to La Défense. Skip the dome climb unless you love stairs.

After Sacré-Cœur, go backwards. Most tourists walk up from Anvers Métro, see the basilica, and leave. Instead, walk behind the church into the real Montmartre — Rue Cortot, Place du Tertre (acknowledge the tourist artists, keep walking), Rue Lepic, the Montmartre Vineyard, and the tiny Place du Calvaire with its hidden view.

Rue Lepic Market Street

One of Paris's best market streets. Cheese shops, fishmongers, fruit stands, and the café from Amélie (Café des 2 Moulins, 15 Rue Lepic — worth a quick coffee for the vibes, not the food). Browse Fromagerie Lepic for an education in French cheese — they'll let you taste before you buy.

South Pigalle (SoPi)

Walk downhill from Montmartre into South Pigalle — the area around Rue des Martyrs. This used to be the red-light district but has transformed into one of Paris's trendiest neighborhoods. Rue des Martyrs is a food lover's paradise: Rose Bakery for scones, Sébastien Gaudard for pastries, Terra Corsa for Corsican charcuterie.

Browse the vintage shops on Rue Houdon and Rue Victor Massé — much less picked-over than Le Marais vintage.

Canal Saint-Martin

Take Métro Line 2 from Anvers to Colonel Fabien or Jaurès. The canal is Paris at its most photogenic — iron footbridges, tree-lined banks, locks that open every 20 minutes. The stretch between Rue de la Grange aux Belles and Place de la République is the sweet spot.

Grab a bottle of wine and snacks from the shops along Quai de Valmy and sit on the canal bank. This is what Parisians do on summer evenings. In cooler months, duck into Chez Prune (36 Rue Beaurepaire) for a glass of wine with a view of the canal.

Musée d'Orsay

Get there for opening (9:30, book your timed entry at 9:30 slot). The Orsay houses the world's greatest Impressionist collection — Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cézanne. The building itself (a converted 1900 train station) is stunning. Go straight to the 5th floor Impressionist galleries first — that's what everyone's here for and they get crowded by 11.

Allow 2–2.5 hours. The clock window overlooking the Seine on the 5th floor is an incredible photo spot.

Budget alternative: Walk 2 blocks to Pâtisserie Viennoise (8 Rue de l'École de Médecine) for incredible hot chocolate and pastries in a no-frills student haunt — €5 total.

Shakespeare and Company & the Latin Quarter

Shakespeare and Company (37 Rue de la Bûcherie) — the legendary English-language bookshop across from Notre-Dame. Browse the creaky floors, find the reading nooks upstairs, and buy a book to get the shop's stamp. The attached café has surprisingly good coffee and pastries.

Wander the Latin Quarter's narrow streets — Rue de la Huchette (tourist trap, but fun to see), Rue Mouffetard (one of Paris's oldest market streets, excellent for cheese, produce, and people-watching), and the Panthéon (€11.50, Foucault's pendulum and the crypts of Hugo, Voltaire, Curie, and Dumas).

Jardin du Luxembourg

The most beautiful park in Paris. Grab a crêpe from a street vendor on Rue Soufflot and find a green metal chair by the Grand Bassin (central fountain). Watch kids sail toy boats, joggers circle the paths, and old men play pétanque near the southwest corner. This is peak Paris — doing absolutely nothing in a stunning setting.

Eiffel Tower

Book the summit ticket (€29.40) online weeks ahead — slots sell out. The 9:00–9:30 slot has the shortest crowds. Take the elevator to the 2nd floor, then the separate elevator to the summit. The view is incredible on a clear day — you can see the entire city.

Alternatively: If tickets are sold out (they often are), walk to Trocadéro (Métro Line 6) for the iconic view across the river. The photo from Trocadéro is honestly better than the view from the top. Then walk across Pont d'Iéna and have a picnic on the Champ de Mars.

Rue Cler Market Street

A 10-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. Rue Cler is a pedestrian market street in the 7th that feels like a village — fromageries, boulangeries, wine shops, chocolatiers. This is where locals in the 7th do their daily shopping.

Les Invalides & Musée Rodin

Les Invalides (€15) houses Napoleon's tomb — a massive red porphyry sarcophagus under the golden dome. Even if you're not into military history, the architecture is jaw-dropping. The Armée museum is surprisingly engaging.

Musée Rodin (€13) is a 10-minute walk away and one of Paris's most underrated museums. The sculpture garden is the real star — The Thinker, The Gates of Hell, The Burghers of Calais, all in a gorgeous 18th-century mansion garden. Come here over any of the big museums if you want beauty without crowds.

Le Bon Marché & La Grande Épicerie

Le Bon Marché is Paris's most elegant department store — not Galeries Lafayette (which is a tourist zoo). The fashion floors are curated, the design section is incredible, and the building itself is a stunner.

But the real reason you're here is La Grande Épicerie — the attached food hall that might be the best grocery store on earth. Aisles of French wines, artisan chocolates, olive oils, foie gras, regional specialties. This is where you buy gifts and souvenirs. Budget €30–50 for food gifts here — they'll be the most appreciated things you bring home.

If Mokonuts is full (likely): Head to Aux2 — recently awarded a Bib Gourmand, small restaurant with impeccably plated dishes. The desserts are extraordinary.

Eiffel Tower Sparkle

The Tower sparkles for 5 minutes every hour on the hour after dark (until 1:00 AM). Best viewed from Trocadéro, Pont de l'Alma, or Champ de Mars. Time your evening walk to catch it — it never gets old.

Versailles Day Trip

Take the RER C from Saint-Michel or Invalides to Versailles–Rive Gauche (~40 min, €4.30 each way with Navigo zones 1–5, or ~€7.60 with t+ tickets). Book your Palace timed entry online ahead of time (€21) — the 9:00 AM slot is crucial. By 10:30 AM the Hall of Mirrors is a sea of selfie sticks.

Strategy: Do the Palace first (1.5 hours), then immediately head to the Gardens. The gardens are the real star — 2,000 acres of geometric perfection. Walk to the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon (Marie Antoinette's private estate) — these are 20 minutes from the Palace and most tourists never make it this far. The Hamlet (Hameau de la Reine) is surreal.

If You Skip Versailles: The Louvre

Book the 9:00 AM timed entry (€22). The Louvre is overwhelming — 380,000 objects across 72,735 m². Don't try to see everything. Here's the efficient route: enter through Passage Richelieu (shorter line), go straight to Denon Wing for Mona Lisa (get it out of the way), then Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, and the Italian paintings gallery. Then switch to whatever interests you. Allow 3 hours max before museum fatigue hits.

After, walk through the Tuileries Garden to Place de la Concorde, then up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe (€16, rooftop has the best view of the avenue).

Angelina & Pierre Hermé

Two essential Paris sweet stops. Angelina (226 Rue de Rivoli) serves the most famous hot chocolate in Paris — thick, rich, almost like drinking a melted chocolate bar. The Mont Blanc pastry is their signature. Expect a queue but it moves.

Pierre Hermé (72 Rue Bonaparte, 6e) — the macarons really are that good (and that expensive, ~€3 each). The Ispahan (rose, lychee, raspberry) is the icon. Also try the 2000 Feuilles (€10, worth every cent). Buy a box to bring home.

One Last Walk

After dinner, walk to Pont Alexandre III — the most beautiful bridge in Paris, lit with golden lampposts. Look one way for the Eiffel Tower, the other for Les Invalides. Then walk along the Seine back to your hotel. Buy a bottle of wine, sit on the quai, and toast the city. You earned it.