Busy Days in Paris

It’s possible. We visited St. Chapelle, the concierge, taxied to Montmartre, walked around had a baguette sandwich, walked to the Arc, went up, walked down Champs E, walked down the Rue Cler market street then back to our hotel in St Germain area. Didn’t feel rushed at all, maybe a little tired but we were fine.

Totally reasonable and only way to get in the sights you wish to enjoy. For perspective, when my kids were young (8 and 10), we spent a spring break in London and Paris (ten days in all). We spent 6 in Paris and kicked the heck out of the city and hit all the highlights in those six days, including Versailles and Giverny. When my daughter (now 20) and I were planning our trip to Paris for this June, she asked me how long we had stayed in Paris. She remembered 30 days...lol, NOT!

No, you won't have 5 hours in the Louvre, but I never ever want to spend 5 hours in the Louvre myself. My eyes are well and truly glazed over before then, so we hit the hightlights and then move on. That is generally not a popular point of view on this forum as lots of people like to travel slow. Which is great if you have the time and budget to do so, but if you don't well, you do what you can.

Enjoy your trip, your way!!

Barbara's day would have worn me out for sure, though using bus or Metro would have made it easier. Lisa's seems quite doable, especially with the help of transit (or even a taxi). Paris is a great walking city, but it's also OK to ride once in awhile, especially when the vertical element occurs, like Montmartre.

You are missing nothing. To me, it's a reasonable itinerary to do one thing in the morning, one thing in the afternoon and one thing now and then in early evening. Your itinerary is sound.

I believe Americans -- if you're a fellow Yank -- are put off by having to rely on the Paris Metro and or buses to get around. For me, transit in Europe is a snap because I have used transit in the United States for close to 35 years. From what I see, not a lot of Americans are used to transit, so the alternatives to get around in Europe are expensive taxis or the very expensive car rental.

My first trip to Paris mirrors yours. On my first full day, saw the D'orsay Museum in the morning, the Catacombs in the afternoon and took a short cruise on the Seine in the early evening. I never felt rushed. Most of the succeeding days I followed the same strategy: something in the morning, something in the afternoon and, occasionally, something in the early evening; a few days, I would take the evening off and just have dinner.

Phew! cuz the prior day I'm planning Versailles in the morning, a meal and stroll around Ile de Cite in the afternoon, and a concert at St. Chapelle in the evening!

Seeing 3 sights in Paris in one day is certainly possible.

Doing Versailles as a half day trip from Paris - not so much. But I guess it depends on what you consider “seeing” Versailles. It is huge. It takes an hour to get there and an hour to get back. About twenty minutes to walk from the train stations, then the line for security. I’d say at least 3 hours to “see” the interior of the main palace, do a whirlwind tour of the gardens, and see the Hamlet. This skips ALOT, and would be 5-6 hours minimum. Not including a lunch break.

Speaking of food, don’t expect to eat a quick lunch at a sit down restaurant. While it’s common to be in and out of a restaurant in an hour in the US, it’s less common in Europe. But there are lots of street cart type options.

this last trip i was pretty lazy but Monday was a pretty big day for me - Chateau Vincennes, Pere Lachaise, then Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees (Longchamp store and a pharmacy, not heavy duty shopping), then a Bateaux Mouches cruise. Tiring but it worked!

For me, the absolute basics of Paris take 3 to 4 days, assuming you are well organized. If you have but 2 days, you’ll need to prioritize, but only listing 3 locations; Montmartre, Orsay Museum, and Eiffel Tower, should not be difficult to accomplish in one day. You will want to have tickets for the museum and for the Eiffel Tower purchased in advance to avoid ticket lines.

Traffic probably means people, lots of people as Paris has been inundated by tourists, more than ever, since the Covid restrictions eased. You are certainly not going to be driving about the city, and the fastest mode of transportation is using the métro, which is very easy and cost-effective, and generally not effected by traffic.

@mango.tree - exactly, the metro is at the same level as Chicago, NYC, DC, etc. - routes have the beginning and end, everything is easily read, even in French, and there really are loads of folks to help.

I went to the Air & Space museum via bus and had a minor problem finding the final bus TO the museum - asked 3 French Bus drivers with limited English and between them, they got me on the right bus! I've found the Metro/Bus workers far more helpful than any PAPD or NYC Metro worker.