Nothing compares to your first time in Paris. I had already seen the Eiffel Tower once, during a semester abroad, but it wasn’t until we went back together, sharing a cheap bottle of champagne below the Eiffel Tower, that we understood why it was called the city of love. Five trips later, that’s still one of the moments we measure every other Paris night against.

This Paris Destination Guide is built from those five trips of experience. Below you’ll find where to go, where to eat, where to stay on different budgets, what we’d actually skip and real prices so you can plan without guessing!

Getting to Paris & Getting Around

We typically fly into Charles de Gaulle (CDG). It’s Paris’s main international airport, and depending on where you’re coming from, you’ll likely land there rather than the smaller Orly.

Getting from CDG into the city: Skip the taxi line unless you’re exhausted or traveling with a lot of luggage; a taxi or Uber into central Paris runs somewhere in the €55-75 range depending on traffic and time of day. The RER B commuter train is the move if you’re comfortable with a bit of navigating: it’s about 35-50 minutes to central Paris stops like Gare du Nord or Chatelet-Les Halles, and the airport fare is roughly €14. Trains run every 10-15 minutes.

Getting around once you’re there: The Metro is genuinely the best way to see Paris. It’s fast, it runs late, and a single ride is a couple euros. We buy a pack of single tickets or load a Navigo Easy card at the start of the trip and top it up as needed rather than buying day passes we don’t fully use. Taxis and rideshares in Paris add up fast, so we treat them as a late-night or bad-weather backup, not a default.

The Eurostar option: If London is part of your trip (more on that below), the Eurostar connects Gare du Nord in Paris to London St. Pancras in about 2 hours 15 minutes. We’ve done this run and it’s an easy, scenic way to combine both cities without flying!

Museums in Paris France

Paris is a museum haven! We wanted to breakdown the top museums we would recommend, based on your preferences. All of these in one trip may feel overwhelming, but they’re all special for their own reason!

The Louvre & Jardin des Tuileries

The Louvre is, for better or worse, the museum everyone comes to Paris for, and the collection genuinely earns the hype: the Mona Lisa, Napolean’s apatments, room after room of work most people only ever see in textbooks. Book a timed entry slot online in advance; walk-up lines in peak season regularly run over an hour!

Right outside, the Jardin des Tuileries is a formal French garden that stretches from the Louvre toward the Place de la Concorde. It’s free, it’s beautiful and it’s a good place to decompress after a few hours of being inside a museum.

• Cost: €22-€32
• More Information: The Louvre
• Estimated time needed: 3-4 hours

L’Orangerie

This is the museum we actually send people to first. L’Orangerie is small (you can see it in 60-90 minutes) and anchored by two oval rooms built specifically to house Monet’s Water Lilies at full scale. Standing in the middle of one of those rooms, surrounded by canvas on every wall, does something the same paintings in a normal gallery just can’t. Go right when it opens if you can; the Water Lilies rooms get loud with tour groups by mid-morning.

• Cost: €12.50
• More Information: Musée de l’Orangerie
• Estimated time needed: 1-1.5 hours

Musée d’Orsay

Housed in a converted train station, the Orsay holds the deepest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist work anywhere: Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne. The building itself, with its giant station clock and iron-and-glass roof, is worth the ticket on its own.

• Cost: €14-16
• More Information: Musée d’Orsay
• Estimated time needed: 2-3 hours

Petit Palais

This is the museum we’d send you to if you’re already worn out from paying for museums. The Petit Palais sits just across from the Grand Palais near the Champs-Élysées, and its permanent collection is free to enter, no ticket, no timed entry, no line to speak of. The building itself is worth the visit on its own: an ornate palace built for the 1900 World’s Fair, with a domed entrance hall and a genuinely lovely interior garden courtyard where you can sit with a coffee and just breathe for a minute. As far as our Paris Destination Guide goes, this is one of the best free things to do and one of the least crowded!

• Cost: Free
• More information: Petit Palais
• Estimated time needed: 1-2 hours

Eiffel Tower 

Here’s a genuinely useful bit of experience from five trips: we have never gone to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and we don’t feel like we’re missing anything. The best views IN Paris aren’t from inside the tower, they’re OF the tower. Save the money and the timed-entry hassle and instead find a good vantage point to watch it sparkle for five minutes on the hour after dark. If you do want to go up, expect to pay prices based on which floor you visit (second or top) and beware that tickets sell out weeks in advance during peak season!

• Cost: €23-37
• Reserve spots online here: Eiffel Tower Tickets
• Estimated time needed: 2-3 hours

Notre Dame

Notre Dame reopened to the public in December 2024 after the 2019 fire and the years-long restoration that followed. We haven’t personally been back inside since the reopening, so treat this section as a placeholder until we do. What we can say from past visits: even from the plaza outside, the cathedral’s scale and the flying buttresses along the back are worth the walk. Entering the Cathedral is completely free, though there may be a queue so we recommend going earlier in the morning, or later in the evening.

• Cost: Free
• More Information: Notre Dame
• Estimated time needed: 30 minutes

Montmartre & Sacré-Coeur

Montmartre is the hilltop neighborhood of narrow streets, artist history, and the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur at its peak. This is one of our favorite areas to just wander! The Place du Tertre still has artists sketching portraits, and the streets around Rue Lepic feel more like a village than the middle of a major city. The funicular up to the basilica saves your legs the climb and is covered by a standard Metro ticket. The basilica itself is free to enter, and the view over Paris from the steps out front rivals anything you’d pay for. This is a popular spot for pickpockets and scammers, so avoid any invites to play a game and keep your personal belongings close! If you wish to climb to the top of the dome, that will cost you €8 and roughly 300 steps.

• Cost: Free to go inside / €8 to visit the Dome
• More Information: Sacré Coeur
• Estimated time needed: 2-3 hours

Seine River Boat Cruise

A one-hour Seine cruise is a low-effort way to see Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and most of the major bridges from the water, and it’s a good option on a day when your feet need a break. Standard sightseeing cruises run about €18-25 depending on the operator and time of day; night cruises cost a bit more but give you the lit-up monuments! We have personally taken a tour on the Bateaux Sightseeing Cruise but there are many operators to choose from.

Travel Tip: If you can time it up right, we recommend going at sunset so your tour ends right as the Eiffel Tower sparkles for the first time!

• Cost: €18
• Reserve spots online here: Bateaux Sightseeing Cruise
• Estimated time needed: 1 hour

Champs É’lysées & Arc de Triomphe

The Champs-Élysées is the wide, famous avenue running from the Place de la Concorde up to the Arc de Triomphe, lined with flagship stores and cafes that are more about the scene than the food. We treat it as a walk, not a destination: stroll it once for the postcard, then spend your money elsewhere. The Arc de Triomphe itself is worth climbing (284 steps, no elevator to the top) for one of the better panoramic views in the city, looking straight down the Champs-Élysées. This is where you can truly appreciate the city’s layout!

• Cost: €16-22 (to enter)
• More Information: Arc de Triomphe
• Estimated time needed: 1-2 hours

Panthéon

The Panthéon is a domed mausoleum in the Latin Quarter that holds the remains of Voltaire, Rousseau, Marie Curie, and other French icons. It’s less crowded than the big-name stops, which we consider a point in its favor, and the dome itself is genuinely impressive.

• Cost: €13-16 (to enter)
• More Information: Panthéon
• Estimated time needed: 1 hour

Jardin du Luxembourg

Our favorite park in Paris, hands down! The Jardin du Luxembourg is on the Left Bank near the Panthéon and has a completely different feel from the Tuileries: tree-lined paths, a central pond where kids sail toy boats, and enough green space that it never feels as packed as the more famous gardens. Free to enter, and a genuinely nice spot to buy a sandwich and just sit for an hour.

• Cost: Free
• Estimated time needed: 30 minutes – 1 hour

Sainte-Chapelle

Sainte-Chapelle is a 13th-century royal chapel tucked inside the Palais de Justice. From the outside it gives away almost nothing. Then you climb the narrow staircase into the Upper Chapel and the whole room turns to stained glass: fifteen soaring windows, over 1,100 individual scenes, floor to ceiling on every wall. On a sunny morning the light comes through in blues and reds, and it’s genuinely one of the most beautiful interiors we’ve seen. The visit itself is short, most people spend 30-45 minutes total, so it pairs easily with Notre Dame.

• Cost: €22
• More Information: Sainte Chapelle
• Estimated time needed: 30-45 minutes

Palais Garnier

The Palais Garnier is the opera house Paris built to be looked at, not just performed in, and even if you don’t have tickets to a show, the self-guided visit is worth it on architecture alone. Marble staircases and gold leaf on nearly every surface makes it something to marvel at. This is also the building the Phantom of the Opera is set in, if that’s part of the draw for you. Self-guided tickets include an audio guide app, and the building is open daily, though the auditorium itself sometimes closes to visitors for rehearsals, so don’t count on seeing it.

• Cost: €22
• More Information: Palais Garnier
• Estimated time needed: 30-45 minutes

Les Deux Plateaux (the Buren Columns)

Tucked into the inner courtyard of the Palais Royal, just across from the Louvre, Les Deux Plateaux is a 1986 art installation by Daniel Buren: 260 black-and-white striped columns of different heights, rising out of the courtyard floor. It’s one of the more photogenic, least crowded spots in central Paris. It’s completely free and open at all hours, no ticket, no line, which makes it an easy add-on if you’re already walking between the Louvre and Palais Royal’s gardens.

• Cost: Free
• Estimated time needed: 15-20 minutes

Picnic along the Seine

Skip a sit-down lunch or dinner one day and duck into a local supermarché instead (you’ll find one in almost every neighborhood) for a wedge of cheese, some fruit, and a fresh baguette from the boulangerie next door. Add a bottle of wine, which you can find for well under €10, and you’ve got a full spread for two for probably €15-20 total, a fraction of what the same meal would cost at a cafe with a river view!

There is something magical about a homemade charcuterie board along the Seine. Wave to the river cruises as they go by and soak in golden hour along one of Europe’s most iconic rivers. It’s always a highlight for us and is a must-do, whether it’s your first time in Paris, or your 5th!

• Cost: €15-20
• Estimated time needed: 1-2 hours

Paris Destination Guide: Day Trips

Paris is a great home-base for a trip to France. Not only are there endless activities, museums and sights to discover, you can also take a few incredible day trips from the city!

Monet’s House & Gardens, Giverny

This is where Monet actually lived and painted for over 40 years, including the water garden and Japanese bridge that inspired the Water Lilies you can see at L’Orangerie. It’s open April 1 through November 1 only, so this is strictly a warm-weather day trip. Admission to Monet’s House & Gardens is about €13, and getting there by train (Paris Saint-Lazare to Vernon, then a short shuttle) runs somewhere around €45-55 round-trip once you add the shuttle and connections. If you’re not comfortable coordinating your own transportation, there are tours from Paris* that include transportation on a coach bus.

Versailles Palace & Gardens

Versailles is enormous. The Hall of Mirrors is the moment everyone comes for, but the gardens alone can eat a full afternoon if the weather’s good. Tickets are around €35 in high season (April-October) and less in the off-season. If you’re planning to see the Trianon estate too, the combined Passport ticket is usually the better value than buying separately. If you don’t feel like navigating on the train to Versailles, you can also book a tour* that includes transportation. Give yourself a full day at Versailles, as a half day would feel rushed!

Château de Sceaux

A quieter, far less crowded alternative to Versailles, Château de Sceaux is a formal French garden and 17th-century estate just south of Paris, easily reachable by RER B. We like recommending this one because it’s off the beaten path and a smaller, quieter chateau experience (compared to Versailles). If you want to visit the inside exhibits, it will cost €5.

London, England

Not technically a French attraction, but if you’re already crossing an ocean, the Eurostar makes London a legitimate day trip (or overnight) from Paris: about 2 hours 15 minutes each way from Gare du Nord to St. Pancras. We’ve done this run and it’s genuinely an easy way to travel. This day trip will run you around €200-350, depending on the time of year you’re traveling. Our recommendation would be to make London it’s own trip, but if you only have one-day, steal our itinerary here.

Where to Stay in Paris, France

Budget Friendly: St. Christopher’s Inn Paris Canal (Hostel)

A solid hostel option if you’re traveling light on budget or don’t mind shared spaces. It’s along the Canal Saint-Martin, which is a genuinely charming, less touristy part of Paris in its own right, with a younger, laid-back neighborhood feel. We stayed here during our first two trips to Paris.

Family Friendly: Hotel Des Nations Saint-Germain

In the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, this hotel offers rooms with pull-out couch options, which matters if you’re traveling with kids and don’t want to book two separate rooms. Saint-Germain itself is one of the better home-base neighborhoods in Paris: walkable to the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Rooms with Views: Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile

This hotel sits outside the city center, but the trade-off is worth knowing about: rooms with genuinely incredible views (some looking straight at the Eiffel Tower), a breakfast buffet that outdoes most Paris hotels in this range, and easy Metro access back into the center. If you don’t need to be steps from the Louvre, this is a strong pick and where I stayed on my most recent trip.

Where to Eat & Drink in Paris, France

Paris may be one of the culinary capitals of the world, but that can make the city feel overwhelming when deciding where to eat. Here are a few of our tried and true spots we’ll always go back to.

Le Vieux Bistrot

Our favorite restaurant in Paris, full stop. This is one we go back to on every trip. Classic French bistro fare, the kind of place that feels like it hasn’t changed its menu (or its charm) in decades. The menu is reasonably priced. Don’t miss the Beef Bourguignon!

La Rotonde

A Montparnasse institution with old-school brasserie energy. Order the snails if you’ve never had them in Paris; this is the place to try them!

Hot Chocolate: Café de Flore & Angelina

Paris takes chocolat chaud seriously, and the two spots we keep going back to couldn’t be more different from each other, which honestly makes trying both worth it instead of picking just one.

Café de Flore, the legendary Left Bank cafe in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, serves a more drinkable, pourable hot chocolate, closer to what you’d expect. It’s rich without being heavy, and easy to get through a full cup without feeling like you need to lie down afterward. Rumor has it, this was a famous haunt of Hemingways.

Angelina, near the Tuileries on Rue de Rivoli, is the opposite experience. Their signature “L’Africain” hot chocolate is thick, almost spoon-standing-upright thick, made from melted chocolate rather than cocoa powder, and served in a little porcelain pitcher alongside a mound of whipped cream so you can adjust the richness yourself. It’s dessert in a cup, not a beverage you sip casually.

Travel Tip: Both spots draw long lines by mid-morning, especially Angelina, which is a regular stop on tour group routes. Get there right at opening and you’ll walk right in instead of waiting 30-45 minutes.

What We’d Skip

Every guide that only tells you what to do is lying to you a little. Here’s what we’d genuinely reconsider.

Trocadéro at peak hours. The view of the Eiffel Tower from Trocadéro is real and it is good, but the plaza itself can feel overwhelming: shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and a steady stream of vendors trying to sell you trinkets or bracelets. We’d rather get the same tower view from a quieter park picnic spot along the Champ de Mars, or from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, which gives you the tower in a wider skyline shot instead.

The Louvre, if you’re short on time. This one might be controversial, but if you only have a couple of days in Paris, we’d skip the Louvre before we’d skip L’Orangerie or the Orsay. The Louvre is incredible, but it’s also the most crowded, most expensive, and most exhausting museum in the city, and the smaller museums are more affordable, less crowded, and honestly less overwhelming to navigate. Save the Louvre for a return trip when you have a full day to give it.

Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Covered above, but worth repeating in this section: we’ve skipped it five trips running and don’t feel like we’re missing the real Paris experience. The view of the tower beats the view from it every time.

Paris Destination Guide: Practical Tips

Best Time to Visit

Our favorite time to visit is Spring. Warmer weather without the summer crowds, and everything from museum lines to restaurant reservations is easier to manage! We have also visited in February & November: and the trade off is a noticeably quieter, calmer Paris if you don’t mind needing a coat.

Getting Around

Taxis and rideshares in Paris get expensive fast, and traffic makes them slower than you’d expect for the price. Default to the Metro; save cars for late nights or bad weather!

Plan Ahead

The Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Versailles all run on timed-entry systems now, and popular slots sell out days ahead in peak season. Paris is a city that you can’t “wing”.

Who is Paris for?

Paris is one of those cities that works for almost everyone, but it hits differently depending on what you’re after. Here’s who we think gets the most out of it:

• Museum and art lovers: Between the Louvre, L’Orangerie, the Orsay, and the Petit Palais, you could spend an entire trip indoors and still not see it all.
• Romantics: The sparkling Eiffel Tower at night, a Seine cruise at sunset, and a bottle of wine on a park bench, Paris still earns its reputation as the city of love.
• Architecture and history lovers: From Notre Dame’s Gothic bones to the Belle Époque ironwork of the Musée d’Orsay to the gold-domed Panthéon, Paris is a walking timeline of French architecture.
• Slow travelers: This is a city built for wandering. Get lost in Montmartre, grab a bench in the Jardin du Luxembourg, and let an afternoon pass by.

Paris is a city that somehow lives up to the hype, and still finds a way to surprise you, even on your 5th trip!

All of the recommendations in our destination guides are places we have personally stayed, dined or explored so you can get an authentic perspective. We will always be transparent if we haven’t personally done something or experienced it firsthand!

Please note: Prices listed in this post are approximate and subject to change. Always check official websites before booking.