PARIS:
Do’s & Don’ts
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4 Day Itinerary
Oh, Paris. You’re such a beautiful city, with a rich history. I went to Paris assuming I would enjoy it as I had other European cities, I didn’t realize how much I would love it. Paris is beautiful. The food, people, history, parks, buildings, everything.
I may be new to this whole Paris thing, but here’s what I learned from my time there.
DO:
- Use the metro! When using the metro, buy the carte metro pack. I went with my sister and we used two packs in our 5 days in Paris. The metro made traveling between sites further away from each other easy. We walked when we were able, but took advantage of the metro as well.
- Visit all of the tourist sites you’ve heard about. It’s all worth it. I will leave our itinerary at the bottom of this post. My top favorites: Notre Dame, the Catacombs, and Sainte Chappelle.
- Eat local whenever possible and often. We had so much delicious food while we were in Paris. My favorite? The French onion soup from LA source. We also sampled crème brulee, gelato, eclairs, macaroons, crepes, etc. We tried several places and ate snacks throughout the day as we wanted to eat as much as we could!
- We stayed in an AirBNB and loved it! We were about a 10-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and right next to several eateries and the metro.
- Take a day trip! We took 3: Giverny, Versailles, and Disneyland Paris…..all worth it!
- Download the Get Out of the Line app (see more on day 2)
- Buy a guidebook. I used Rick Steves book on Paris
AVOID: (not worth it)
- Angelina’s. I had heard the hot chocolate was divine, it was so rich. Too rich. I only had a few sips and had to throw the rest away. (But if you really want to try it, they have a location at Versailles)
- There will be many people trying to sell low-quality souvenirs around the Eiffel Tower. If you’re going to buy a souvenir, get one somewhere else. I promise you can find miniature Eiffel Towers other places, and the quality will be better. (I ended up buying a hat from a small souvenir shop and grabbed a small Eiffel Tower and they gave it to me for free)
- If Sacre Coeur isn’t on your list, I would say it’s okay to miss. You can see views in many other places throughout Paris.
We ended up losing a day from our original itinerary, so I will show what we ended up doing. Our original plan spread the museums out and gave us more time in some areas. All in all, we were in Paris for 4 ½ days. I think one more full day, would’ve been perfect!
Actual itinerary:
DAY 1: Friday
Arrived in the early afternoon. Checked into our AirBNB
Visited Musee d’Orsay, Musee d’Orangerie, and the Louvre
Dinner at LA Source (49 Boulevard de la Tour-Maubourg, 75007 Paris, France)
We were exhausted when we finally got into Paris as our connecting flight had been cancelled and we were lacking in sleep. We decided to hit all of the museums in one shot. I wish we had been able to space them out more and I would recommend not seeing them all one after the other. If you haven’t heard of the Orangerie museum, it has works from Claude Monet. I love his art and wanted to stop by the small museum to see more of it. We bought a joint pass for the Orangerie and Orsay museums for 16 euros. We could’ve and should’ve spent more time at the Louvre, but our exhaustion got the better of us.
LA Source had delicious French onion soup! We also had crème brulee there.
DAY 2: Saturday
Notre Dame- (get the out of the line app, which will let you make a reservation/get in line on your phone). Climbing the bell tower was one of my highlights of the whole trip.
Lunch at: Bertrands (10 Rue Lagrange, 75005 Paris, France). Make sure to grab some macaroons!
Shakespeare Book Co (where famous writer used to hang out)
Walked around the Latin Quarter and had gelato at Amorino (gelato shaped like a rose)
Sainte Chappelle- (which houses the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen) I would’ve loved to spend more time admiring it all.
Catacombs- (we booked a skip the line tour through Viator and found it worth the cost) If you go to the Catacombs on your own, make sure you pay for the audio guide so you can learn all of the history. The Catacombs were another highlight for me.
Luxembourg Gardens/palace- This was a lovely park. We sat down to enjoy as we planned out our evening.
Pantheon- it had closed for the day, so we enjoyed it from the outside. *It is right next to Luxembourg Gardens
Arc de Triomphe and the Champs de Elysees- Did you know the McDonalds on the Champs de Elysees is the most profitable in all of the world? We stopped in for some macaroons, they are inexpensive and were surprisingly good.
DAY 3: Sunday
We took a day trip to Giverny to see Claude Monet’s home and water garden. The train will take you to Vernon, where you will then find transport to Giverny. We used le Petit train, which we loved! The gardens were so beautiful and it was nice to see a different part of France. I would recommend this as a day trip if you have time.
Sacre Ceour- (we climbed the dome for the view) It took us a long time to find the cathedral, so once we arrived, it was almost a disappointment. It was rainy and a little hazy so we didn’t have a good view. Ultimately for me, it was my least favorite part of the trip, but I think I would’ve liked it better if we found it easier. Walking around, did give us an opportunity to see Montemarte. We enjoyed street crepes.
Eiffel Tower (day time and evening) We didn’t go up the Eiffel Tower, so that may be something I do next time. I knew I wanted a good view of the city, but I wanted the Eiffel Tower in the view. **Make sure you see the Eiffel Tower on the hour in the evening as it lights up and sparkles for 5 minutes each hour.
DAY 4: Monday
Disneyland, Paris
I love Disneyland, so this was so much fun for me. It rained half of the day, but we still managed to have fun. Disney Paris is smaller than Disneyland, but I almost liked it more. The food is different and it was cheaper. I was glad we were able to go. You can visit Disneyland, Paris by metro/train…it’s very easy to find!
DAY 5: Tuesday
Versailles (we ate at Angelina’s and Laduree while there)
Versailles was so lavish. I took AP European History and it was fun to visit Versailles as I was able to see the table the Treaty of Versailles was signed on. I enjoyed having a brush up on the history and the palace was amazing! We booked a private tour and enjoyed the extra history we learned. (It also helped us skip the line). We didn’t walk into the gardens as we were a little pressed for time, but I think next time, it would be something I do. Angelina’s and Laduree are both at Versailles, so we took advantage of both. Laduree really is that good.
Paris, LDS temple- As I’m Mormon (see more at lds.org), it was nice to be able to walk over to the LDS temple from Versailles.
Rue Cler- This is an older market-style street. It was close to where we stayed and we wanted to ensure a visit to A La Mere de Famille (candy shop that has been in Paris for a long time)
*Food places worth eating*
LA Source
Bertrand’s
Laduree
Amorino
Le Petit Cler
Truthfully, I could’ve spent more time in Paris, but I think 5 full days would give you plenty of time to see what you want, with at least 1-day trip.
Paris was amazing and I can’t wait to go back! Have you been? Leave your recommendations in the comments below!
