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Paris in 2.5 days - recommendations wanted !

Hi everyone ! Super excited to make my first trip to Paris in September as part of a whirlwind 10 day tour. I arrive in Paris on a Tuesday at 5:30 PM to CDG, staying in an AirBNB apartment in the 1er directly across the street from St. Eustache. Leaving on the 12:19 PM train from Gare du Nord to Amsterdam on Friday, so I have Tuesday night, all day Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday morning to enjoy Paris. Below is my tentative itinerary at this point, any suggestions are very welcome. More importantly, if anything I'm doing/planning is boneheaded, I would love for you to tell me what a yutz I am ! : )

Tuesday 5:30 PM - arrive at CDG, Uber to the address or RER-B to Chatelet/Les Halles? Checking into the apartment around 6:45 or so, so should be out and about by 7:30 or 8:00. Maybe do the Seine cruise at night and grab some dinner?

Wednesday - was planning on using the fact that the Louvre is open until 9:30 that night and is walking distance to our abode to do that in the evening. Perhaps start early and get some crepes for breakfast and see the Arc, Eiffel Tower, and Les Invalides in the morning, then head down into St Germain late morning for lunch and a walk around Luxembourg Gardens. Spend the afternoon exploring there and Quartier Latin, then cross the river and do the Louvre at night, followed by dinner at a nice bistro or brasserie before retiring.

Thursday - wanted to hit Du Pain et des Idees for some breakfast pastries and then head out to Pere Lachaise. Poke around there for a bit, then head down into Le Marais for lunch (L'As du Falafel?)/shopping. See Notre Dame and visit "the Iles" and then maybe have dinner around Rue Montorgeuil. Perhaps check out Pompidou and have a cocktail or two before turning in.

Friday - ?? Perhaps sleep in, then get some bread and cheese on Montorgeuil and have a nice breakfast before checking out and heading to Amsterdam.

OK, have at it. Where do I err? : )

Posted by
2030 posts

Sounds like a good plan, but on Wednesday, you plan on doing a lot of touring, involving much walking and standing, before going to the Louvre in the evening - which will involve a huge amount of walking and standing, so you may not be up to it. I recommend hitting the Louvre while your legs are fresh. You are planning to pack in a lot each day -- might not get to it all, but I'm sure you will be able to see a lot. Have fun!

Posted by
301 posts

I have just one quick suggestion. Unless you're a real Napoleon nut, I'd skip Les Invalides. You have enough to do that morning. The cruise on the first night is a good relaxing idea and it'll be awesome (literally) to see this beautiful city lit up at night!

Posted by
10344 posts

Be prepared for the possibility that you will not be able to do everything on your list.

Posted by
7175 posts

You paint an enticing romantic vision, and you could easily spend all your time in bars, bistros and cafes.
With so much on your list you do need to come up with a realistic precise schedule, and once there do your best to stick to it. Soak up the atmosphere on the metro between sights rather than by sitting in a cafe.
Be prepared to drop things at the last minute (Invalides or Pompidou perhaps), and spend less time wandering the Marais or St Germain than you would really like. I have dropped Pere Lachaise, but added St Chapelle, Musee d'Orsay and Sacre Coeur. Be prepared to eat late or on the go, and massage your feet before bed.
Tuesday
1730 Arrival CDG
2000 Seine River Cruise (might be ambitious)
Wednesday
0900 St Chapelle (amazing stained glass) 9:30am-6pm (late opening until 9:30pm on Wednesday).
1100 Notre Dame
1300 Le Marais
1500 Pompidou Centre (modern art collection) 11am-9pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
1800 Louvre 9am-5:45pm (late opening until 9:45pm on Wednesdays and Fridays). Closed on Tuesdays.
Thursday
0900 Eiffel Tower
1200 Invalides (Napoleons tomb) 10am-6pm (late opening until 9 pm on Tuesdays).
1400 Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees
1600 Latin Quarter / Luxembourg Gardens / St Germain
1800 Musee d'Orsay 9:30am-6pm (late opening on Thursdays until 9:45pm). Closed on Mondays.
Friday
0800 Sacre Coeur & Montmartre
1219 Departure Gare du Nord

Posted by
7814 posts

Don't pass up the chance for any of their memorable croissants & baguettes. : ) Part of our wonderful memories are lingering over espresso & croissants at little outdoor cafes.

I like your plan - would just skip the Pompidou but that's personal preference. If you're too tired the first evening for the river cruise, be sure to do it another evening. Also, buy your Eiffel tower reservations ahead of time on-line to save you time. We really enjoyed going up in the evening at dusk, watching the city slowly turn into the City of Lights, and come down to watch the Eiffel tower twinkling on-the-hour.

Posted by
5 posts

Great advice, everyone - I really appreciate your taking the time to point me in the right direction. I can easily lose Pompidou and Invalides from the itinerary if need be. I also could easily switch my Wednesday/Thursday daylight activities so that I'm going to Pere Lachaise, Le Marais, Notre Dame, and Ile St. Louis/Ile de la Cite on Wednesday before the Louvre and then do the Eiffel Tower, Arc du Triomphe, Luxembourg Gardens loop on Thursday.

I can't see the username now that I'm in the reply screen, but thanks so much to whomever took the time to actually "map out" these activities with approximate times - just knowing how much time I can/need to allot for each activity is helpful.

Posted by
7175 posts

Pleased to be of assistance Biscuitbarrel.
You will have to change your name to "CroissantJar" !!

Posted by
5 posts

HAHAHA... seriously, thanks again for that breakdown. I assume the amount of time you allotted for each site, museum, etc.. is based on how long you think is sufficient, given the paradigm of my time frame/desired activities?

Posted by
7175 posts

Indeed, time spent, and then also time to get to your next sight.
When you have an ambitious schedule I find it helps you to keep on track by allocating a 'window' to each place.
This is based on a minimum time to do something justice, and realistic travel times.
Sometimes it might mean lunch on the run, or leaving a museum earlier than you would like.
What's the alternative? Missing something at the end of the day.