Paris 5 day Itinerary

Without knowing more, it's rather difficult to give recommendations. These may differ depending on tye time of year and days of the week of your visit, as well as your interests and priorities.

However Rick has some ideas: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/paris-itinerary

Paris alone needs six nights so you don't have time to squeeze in Normandy and Versailles. Click on https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/france/paris then scroll down and At a Glance click on the + on the right.

Hi Bob

I spent a week in Paris in May. It was my first time. Paris is an incredible city and a week was just a drop in the bucket.

What are your interests?

I did the Toot Bus which is a hoho bus. For me, it was great but I know there are persons who do not like hoho buses. The Toot Bus gave me an overview of Paris, I did get off at D'Orsay and later back on.

Besides the D'Orsay, I also went to the Cluny, another fabulous museum.

If you are doing a side trip to Normandy and half a day at Versailles, that is not going to give you a lot of free time exploring Paris.

If you have 5 days, you have five days. If you want to visit Normandy and Versailles, that's your call too. In effect, you will have 3 days for Paris itself. It's up to you to prioritize based on your interests. Museums? Churches? Landmarks? Neighborhoods? Shopping? Gastronomy? I spent 15 days there last year based on my itinerary.

With really only 3 full days in Paris, that is not a ton of time. Not sure of your interests, but here is what I would prioritize seeing:

1) Sainte Chappelle, Conciergerie, and Notre Dame - very easy to see all of these on the same day as they are close to each other

2) Musee d'Orsay - I have been three times, and I think I was in there for about five hours each time, but if you are not a museum person, you could hit highlights in a quicker time

3) Arc de Triomphe at night - the view from the top is fantastic. I have done this three times and have loved it every time.

4) Seine River Cruise - great way to see the city. We did this one, but there are other options: https://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/champagne-cruise-happy-hour/

5) Sacre Coeur - absolutely gorgeous and great views of the city from the steps.

Of course you have time for Normandy and Versailles, if seeing those are important to you. It just means that you will need to set priorities for what to see in Paris, and you will probably need to make advance bookings, but that's true of longer visits to Paris, too, and I assume that's why you're asking.

In your situation, if you have the inclination and energy to see a lot in a couple of days, then you might consider a pass such as https://www.parismuseumpass.fr/en It includes Versailles, as well as several major venues in Paris, such as the Louvre, the Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Notre Dame towers. It will allow you to skip ticket purchase lines, but since you can often buy tickets for sites online now, that value is negligible. You still need to book entrance times in advance for some sites.

But if you do buy this, it would determine the timing of your visit to Normandy, as you would need to use the pass on consecutive days, so you'd want to visit Normandy either before you activate the pass or after it expires.

These kinds of passes often require that you visit a lot of sites in the time provided to be "worth it" financially, so I wouldn't suggest them for anyone who prefers a more leisurely pace. But if your time in Paris is limited, and you want to fit in as much as possible, it might be worth your while.

Other than that, I would suggest clustering your visits to minimize travel times. For example, on our first visit to Paris, we visited the Louvre first thing. At the time, there was an entrance from the Metro that opened a few minutes before the main entrance. I'm not sure if that's still the case, but using that entrance first thing allowed us to see the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory (in that order, because the Mona Lisa is the smallest) before the museum got crowded. Then we were free to wander around and admire the beautiful building and other art at our leisure, since other areas don't get as crowded. From there, we walked through the Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde and its obelisk, and down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, stopping for lunch along the way.

Note that, if you're an Impressionist art lover, the Orsay has even more of interest than does the Louvre, in case you have time for only one.

In the heart of Paris, around Île de la Cité, the Marais, and the Left Bank, there is much to see, and it is easy to spend a couple of days around there and see a lot, including Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, and the Pantheon (closed for restoration when I was there in the fall, though). Even just wandering around will give you an eyeful at every turn.

So, whenever possible, plan your daily sightseeing to focus on sights that are near each other, and enjoy the walks from one to the next.

I've never done a boat tour on the Seine, but that might also be a way to get an overview of central Paris in a limited time.

*Edited to clarify a comment that is causing the discussion to veer away from helping the OP.

I wouldn't say that musee d'Orsay has more of interest than the Louvre. It depends on your interests though. Maybe higher proportion of art that you may want to see. I wouldn't have wanted to miss either museum, really.

I appreciate all your suggestions. Thank you.

I wouldn't say that musee d'Orsay has more of interest than the
Louvre. It depends on your interests though. Maybe higher proportion
of art that you may want to see. I wouldn't have wanted to miss either
museum, really.

Neither would I, but if a person doesn't have time for both, the Orsay is more painting focused, whereas the Louvre houses a lot of antiquities in addition to paintings, and is more difficult to manage in a short amount of time. I, personally, love the Old Dutch and Flemish masters, but most people I know are more interested in the Impressionists. Not dissing the Louvre, and have no interest in getting into a p!ssing contest over which is better. Just trying to help the OP manage a short visit to Paris. :)

Bob,

There are different travelers and different ways to travel. It really does matter what interests YOU and how your 5-day itinerary fits with your overall trip plan. Are you traveling elsewhere in France? Or to other cities with major museums like Madrid, London or Amsterdam?

Our first visit to Paris was for 7 nights; 6 full days. I was sure we would get to Versailles or Giverny, maybe both. But Paris had too much to offer and we didn’t get to either ‘til our second visit to Paris, over a dozen years later. I feel that we were right to just stick with Paris on that first visit and that would be my recommendation to you with just 5 full days.

Paris has

• Museums - for art, literature, science, military history and fashion
• History
• Neighborhoods to explore
• Food - restaurants, cafes, bakeries and pastry shops, and chocolate shops
• Parks
• A variety of cultures
• Churches and non-Christian religious sites
• Major shopping and fashion.
• Walking tours and food tours and cooking classes
• Riverfront art and book stalls
• Covered Passages and their shops
• Sights like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Pere Lachaise cemetary and more.
• Seine River cruises
• LATE ADDITION - Music

You’ve had lotsa advice above. I’d suggest you start with a few guidebooks. I find books with photos and maps help, like DK Eyewitness and Lonely Planet. Michelin Guidebooks are extraordinary for Paris and France. So is another French guide, Guide Routard, if you have some ability to read French. Once you have sights and ideas in mind, the Rick Steves guidebooks are great for practical information.

One poster above, BB, has good advice about grouping your activities, geographically.

ONE LATE, LAST REVISION: As to the Orsay/Louvre choice … seeing both in 3 days vs. 5 days is quite different as both are large and crowded in their most popular galleries. For 3 days, both may be too much for many of us. Which to see depends on your preferences in art. And which galleries to see in the Louvre also depends on your artistic tastes. The Rick Steves and Michelin guides are instructive, but in a nutshell, the Orsay is renowned for its Impressionist collection and the Louvre is the place for antiquities, Renaissance painting, Dutch Masters and 17th, 18th and early 19th C. French painting.

Again, it all depends on you, your total trip and your interests and reasons to travel.

But consider that the potential day trips add travel time … a couple of hours RT to get to the Palace Entrance at Versailles and a fair bit more than that for Normandy, so you will be giving up 3/4 a day of your 5 days just to get to the train in Paris, then to your two day trip sites and back if you go to both Versailles and Normandy

Also consider that some sights are very crowded during summers and spring break and even the so-called shoulder season. You may encounter long lines and less than satisfactory opportunities to soak it all in and appreciate your visit due to crowds.

If you're technologically inclined, using one of the AI applications is an excellent way to build an itinerary. You give it as much information as you can, for example what date and time you will arrive in Paris? Where will you be staying? What are your priority sites? Are you willing to use public transportation and/or do you want to walk? AI will determine the best days and time to see certain sites and optimize your schedule given where you want to go. It will also take into account how long you should expect to spend at each activity. For example it will say the Louvre or the d'Orsay museums can take most of a day each, so it would not suggest you see two other major sites on the same day. It can provide walking time and distance between sites or your hotel, and it can suggest restaurants or areas to dine in. It's a conversation, so you can change the input or tell the AI you'd rather not go to one site, so please modify the plan, etc., etc. It's actually quite fun to play with.