3 nights in Paris

Hi Jordan, when do you plan to travel-winter, summer?

Museum d'orsey would probably be the best museum to make sure you hit and save all the others for another time.

Notre Dame. See the Eiffel Tower but only go up if you pre-purchased tickets.

I would skip Arc de Triomphe, Lovre and Monmartre if you don't want to be rushed. But if you find yourself with time that you do want to do more, I would add Nepolians tomb and St Chapelle church.

Learn the Metro right away. Quickest, easiest and cheapest way to zip around Paris.

We just stayed at "Hotel Ile de Saint Louis" and I loved the local. On the island and right by the Latin Quarter with shops and cafes wherever you turn.

Get a bottle of wine and a sit along the river directly across from Notre Dame and watch the boats pass by. Eat cheese at every opportunity. And seek out Macarons at Piere Hermes. Mmmmmmmm

Mid to late spring

Enjoy a glass of wine on the banks of the seine river at night under the Eiffel Tower , enjoy the view from sacre couer , get a map of the metro , and a carnet of tickets and just pop up from the metro and sit at a cafe and people watch

These are my 3 favourite walking routes in Paris, connecting some of the main sights ...

1) Ile de la Cite & Le Marais
Pont Neuf >> Saint Chapelle >> Conciergerie >> Hotel de Ville >> Pompidou >> Picasso Museum >> Marais >> Carnavalet Museum >> Place des Vosges >> Ile St Louis

2) Latin Quarter & St Germain des Pres
Notre Dame >> St Michel >> Musee Cluny >> Sorbonne >> Pantheon >> Jardin de Luxembourg >> St Sulpice >> Delacroix Museum >> St Germain des Pres >> Musee d'Orsay

3) Right Bank
Invalides >> Pont Alexandre III >> Grand+Petit Palais >> Lower Champs Elysees >> Place de la Concorde >> Madeleine >> Opera >> Place Vendome >> Tuileries Gardens >> Orangerie >> Pyramid du Louvre >> Palais Royal

I was in Paris this year, last 2 weeks of April. Everything was in bloom . . . the trees, the lilacs, flowers.

• Take a 1-hour Seine cruise at sunset (Les Vedettes du Pont Neuf) on your first evening
• Go to an evening concert at Sainte-Chapelle
• Walk around the Marais Quarter, stop in at the Carnavalet Museum (free), maybe the Andre Jacquemart Museum
• Walk around the Latin Quarter (Rick has an audio tour)
• Paris Walks offers a selection of 2 hour walking tours.
• Fat Tire Bikes has both bike and Segway tours. They are both fun and interesting
• Rodin Museum. Of all the "biggies" I'd choose this one. It is small and the gardens are beautiful in the spring.
• Stop in a couple (or more) of the chocolatiers and try some of the best chocolate in the world. Macarons are even better. Don't worry, you'll walk off the calories. Some of my faves: Pierre Marcolini (actually Belgian ;-), Pierre Herme, Henri Leroux, Jean-Paul Hevin.
• If you want to see Impressionist art, instead of the always crowded Orsay, go to either the Orangerie or the Marmottan. The Orangerie has Monet's huge waterlily paintings but also a fine collection by his contemporaries. The Marmottan is a little farther afield (a metro ride to the 16th and a nice walk 10-minute through the park). It has Monets spanning his long career and representative of the evolution of his work.

In late April the Luxembourg Gardens are particularly amazing with a profusion of bulb flowers -- they really go all out. Great place to sit and have coffee and enjoy the beauty.

Use your first night, even if jet lagged to cruise the Seine on Bateaux Mouches.

Do not miss Saint Chappelle, or Notre Dame.

My favorite neighborhood is St. Germaine des Pres.

We saw the highlights in the Louvre in about 2.5 hours, then enjoyed walking through the Tuileres, up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. A cruise on the Seine and the Eiffel Tower would be musts from our perspective. Although we enjoyed other museums and churches, part of the fun was just walking along the boulevards and river and taking in the sights. I would say no to Sacre Coeur as it's out by itself, taking a while to get there, and we believe that other sites were much more interesting.

I like David DJP_SYD's walking tour suggestions - please note on #3, I'm pretty sure he means going straight from the Grand/Petit Palais to Concorde via a small part of the bottom part of the Champs-Elysées rather than turning and walking up that commercial monstrosity to the Arc de Triomphe. That would be no way to spend part of two days in Paris.

With only two full days in Paris, you probably have to pick two of those three suggested walks. Stops along the way will give you some monumental Paris and some ambiance Paris. Go later spring if you can, although the weather's not reliable even then. Spring seemed to have come awfully early this past year, I'm not sure it will do it again in 2016.

Also definitely a Seine river cruise, preferably in the evening, but any time will be great!

Exactement Kim.