A Weekend in Paris

Two days is enough to see the Paris most first-time visitors come for: the cathedral that reopened in December 2024, the stained-glass chapel next to it, the Impressionists in a former railway station, the Eiffel Tower at dusk, the Louvre, and the hill of Montmartre. It is not enough to see all of them at a relaxed pace, so this plan makes choices. Day 1 stays on the island where Paris began and the Left Bank, and ends at the Eiffel Tower. Day 2 gives the morning to the Louvre, walks through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde, and spends the afternoon on Montmartre.

The order follows the opening hours. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and the Musée d'Orsay on Mondays, so the plan is written for a Saturday and Sunday. On a Sunday and Monday, swap the two days. It does not work on a Monday and Tuesday. Expect about 5 km on foot on day 1 and about 4 km on day 2 (not counting the museum floors), with two short Metro or RER rides, all in central Paris. Our Paris guide covers neighbourhoods and where to stay.

Book these before you go. All of them sell timed slots, and some sell out.

• Louvre: timed ticket at ticket.louvre.fr. Adults pay €22 if they live in the European Economic Area and €32 if they live outside it (since 14 January 2026). Under-18s are free, as are EEA citizens and residents under 26, but both still need a slot. From 17 October to 1 November 2026 the museum requires a reservation from every visitor. Choose the 09:00 slot on Sunday. Only buy from the Louvre's own site: it warns about copycat sites and street sellers.
• Sainte-Chapelle: timed ticket at sainte-chapelle.fr. The site shows €22; the €16 rate is for visitors who live in the EEA, with free entry for EU residents under 26 and for everyone on the first Sunday of the month from November to March. Pick the first or second slot of the day.
• Eiffel Tower: tickets at toureiffel.paris go on sale 60 days ahead at 08:30 French time, and the summit slots go first. Take a slot about 30 minutes before sunset. See the Eiffel Tower section for prices.
• Notre-Dame needs no ticket, but you can reserve a free time slot on notredamedeparis.fr, released two to three days ahead. It is recommended from April to October. The bell towers are a separate paid visit.

Day 1 - Île de la Cité and the Left Bank

09:00 - Notre-Dame: inside the rebuilt cathedral

Notre-Dame de Paris caught fire on 15 April 2019, and after more than five years of work it reopened to worshippers in December 2024. Entry to the cathedral is free. It opens at 08:15 on Saturday and Sunday and closes at 19:30, with last entry at 19:00; on weekdays it opens at 07:50, and on Thursdays it stays open until 22:00. If you have no reserved slot, join the walk-in line on the left side of the west front, under the blue signs. The line moves faster early in the day.

Allow about an hour. The west front, with its three portals, the gallery of kings and the rose window, is worth ten minutes before you go in. Inside, the limestone was cleaned during the restoration and is much paler than it was before the fire.

The bell towers reopened on 20 September 2025. They are a paid visit, around €16 for adults, bookable only online through the Centre des monuments nationaux, not at the cathedral, and free for under-18s who still need a slot. The towers need their own booked slot and extra time, so this plan leaves them out. If you want them, drop the Luxembourg Gardens at midday. Check the current hours on the booking site; they change with the season.

The rebuilt spire seen from the south tower, October 2025. The 19th-century design was reproduced. Image: Dragonfruit2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

10:15 - Sainte-Chapelle: the glass chapel

Walk west along the island for about 5 minutes, past the Palais de Justice on Boulevard du Palais. Sainte-Chapelle stands in the courtyard of the law courts, and you pass an airport-style security check at the entrance. King Louis IX had it built between 1242 and 1248 to hold relics of Christ's Passion, among them the crown of thorns, which he had bought in 1239.

Go straight up the staircase to the upper chapel. Its walls are almost entirely stained glass, in fifteen tall windows that tell the Bible story from Genesis onwards. The ground-floor chapel is low and painted in blue and gold, and takes a few minutes. Allow 45 minutes to an hour. In winter the chapel closes at 17:00, so you can see the glass properly only in daylight.

The upper chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, December 2024. Image: Gerda Arendt, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

If you have time left, the Conciergerie is next door. It was a royal palace and, during the Revolution, the prison where Marie Antoinette was held before her execution in 1793.

11:15 - A walk up the Boul' Mich' to the Luxembourg Gardens

Cross the Seine on Pont Saint-Michel and walk south on Boulevard Saint-Michel, the main street of the Latin Quarter. It is about 1.7 km, roughly 25 minutes, to the Luxembourg Gardens. Marie de' Medici, widow of Henri IV, had the palace built from 1612, and it is now the seat of the French Senate. The park is free and open every day from morning to dusk.

Lunch here: buy a sandwich on Boulevard Saint-Michel and sit by the Grand Bassin, the octagonal pond in front of the palace. Allow 1 hour 15 minutes.

The Grand Bassin in the Luxembourg Gardens. Image: Wulf Alex, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

13:15 - Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Leave on the north-west side and walk about 450 m to Saint-Sulpice, the second-largest church in Paris after Notre-Dame. Entry is free. In the Chapelle des Saints-Anges, on the right of the entrance, are two large murals by Eugène Delacroix, finished in 1861. A brass line set into the floor of the transept and an obelisk mark a gnomon, an old astronomical instrument. Stay 20 minutes.

Then walk about 500 m east to Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The abbey church is one of the oldest in Paris, with a tower and nave from the 11th century. The two cafés across the square, Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, have been here since the 1880s and were where Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir worked after the war. They charge for the setting. If you only want to see the square, a short stop is enough. Stay 30 minutes.

The tower of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Image: DXR, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

14:30 - Musée d'Orsay: the railway station that became a museum

From Saint-Germain-des-Prés it is about 1.2 km, 15 minutes on foot, to the Musée d'Orsay: walk north on Rue des Saints-Pères, turn left into Rue de Lille and follow it west to the museum. The building was a railway station, opened for the 1900 World's Fair. The station stopped serving long-distance trains in 1939, and it opened as a museum in 1986. The great hall of the station is still the central space, under the glass roof.

The hall of the Gare d'Orsay in 1920. Image: Agence de presse Meurisse. Agence photographique (commanditaire), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The museum is open from 09:30 to 18:00, Tuesday to Sunday, and closed on Mondays. On Thursdays it stays open until 21:45. Adults paid about €16 in 2026 on the museum's own ticket page; check it for any non-EEA rate before you buy. The museum asks you to book a time slot, and on the first Sunday of each month, when entry is free, a slot is required. Go first to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist galleries on the upper level, which hold Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cézanne and Van Gogh. Allow two to two and a half hours.

The Musée d'Orsay from the Seine, 2018. Image: Pierre André Leclercq, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

17:15 - The Eiffel Tower at dusk

From the Musée d'Orsay RER C station, a train to Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel takes about 5 minutes. On foot along the river it is about 2.5 km, 30 to 35 minutes. Either way, you arrive at the tower from the Champ de Mars, the park under its legs.

The Eiffel Tower opened in 1889 as the entrance to the World's Fair, and stands 330 m high. Its official ticket page lists these adult prices for 2026: €14.80 for the stairs to the second floor, €23.50 for the lift to the second floor, €28 for the stairs to the second floor plus the lift to the summit, and €36.70 for the lift to the summit. Ages 12 to 24 pay about half, ages 4 to 11 about a quarter. From 11 January 2027 the prices rise by about €0.40 to €1.00. The summit closes in strong wind, fog and storms, usually has a maintenance closure in January and February, and shuts earlier than the lower floors. Check the tower's updates page the morning you go. If the summit is closed, the second floor still has a wide view.

The Eiffel Tower from the Champ de Mars. Image: Alexandre Prévot from Nancy, France, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Between November and late January the sun sets before 18:00. From early September to mid-June the tower is open from 09:30 to 23:00, with last entry at 22:45. In summer it opens at 09:00 and stays open until midnight, and sunset is after 21:00, so pick a later slot.

Day 2 - The Louvre, the Tuileries and Montmartre

09:00 - The Louvre: four things in three hours

The Louvre opens at 09:00 on Sundays and closes at 18:00, with last entry at 17:00 and rooms cleared from 17:30. On Wednesdays and Fridays it stays open until 21:00. The Pyramid is the main entrance, and the underground Carrousel du Louvre shopping centre is another way in that is often shorter. Both lead to the security check. Do not leave the museum and re-enter: any exit is final.

You cannot see it all in a lifetime, so pick a route. Start in the Denon wing and climb the Daru staircase to the Winged Victory of Samothrace, a Greek marble from about 190 BC. Then follow the signs through the Italian painting rooms to the Salle des États and the Mona Lisa, behind glass, with a crowd in front. Go straight there at 09:00, when the line is shortest.

The Daru staircase and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, 2007. Image: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Salle des États, where the Mona Lisa hangs. Image: Shonagon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

On the way back, walk through the Galerie d'Apollon, the 17th-century gilded gallery where the French crown jewels were on show until the theft of October 2025, when thieves took part of the Napoleonic jewels. The gallery reopened on 22 July 2026 without the jewels, and the museum says new cameras and anti-intrusion systems have been installed. The jewels have not been recovered. You can still see the ceiling and the carved and gilded walls. The Venus de Milo is on the ground floor of the Sully wing. Allow three hours for these four and the walk between them.

The Galerie d'Apollon, photographed in 2024. Image: Wilfredor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

If the Louvre is sold out, the Orangerie, at the Place de la Concorde end of the Tuileries, shows Monet's Water Lilies. Check its hours and prices on its own site before you go.

12:30 - Lunch in the Palais Royal garden

Leave by the north side of the museum and walk about 5 minutes to the Jardin du Palais-Royal. The arcades around the garden were built in the 1780s, and the cafés under them are a calmer place for lunch than anything around the Louvre. Allow an hour. The garden is free.

13:30 - Through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde

Walk back through the Louvre's courtyards to the Tuileries Garden, laid out by André Le Nôtre in the 1660s, and walk its length to Place de la Concorde, about 1.6 km from the Palais Royal. The garden is free and its opening hours vary by season.

Place de la Concorde is one of the largest squares in Paris. In the middle stands the Luxor Obelisk, about 3,300 years old, given to France by Egypt and erected here in 1836. In 1793 the guillotine stood on the same square, and King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed here. Allow 30 minutes. See Place de la Concorde.

The Luxor Obelisk on Place de la Concorde. Image: Jebulon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

14:30 - Metro line 12 to Montmartre

At Concorde station take line 12 towards Mairie d'Aubervilliers and get off at Abbesses, about 15 minutes. Abbesses is one of the deepest stations in Paris, so use the lift or climb the spiral stairs. One of Hector Guimard's Art Nouveau entrances stands on the square above.

15:00 - Montmartre: the village on the hill

Montmartre was a separate village until 1860, and the streets still climb like one. From Place des Abbesses walk up Rue Ravignan and Rue Norvins for about 500 m to Place du Tertre, where painters work at their easels. Artists will approach you for portraits; say no clearly if you do not want one. Next to the square is the Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, consecrated in 1147 and one of the oldest in Paris.

Then walk about 250 m to Sacré-Cœur. The basilica was begun in 1875 and consecrated in 1919. Entry is free, and the dome and crypt are a separate paid visit whose price we could not confirm. The steps in front give the widest free view of Paris. Time your arrival for the half hour before sunset. The funicular from the foot of the hill costs one Metro ticket. If you prefer to walk down, the steps are steep.

Sacré-Cœur on the top of the Butte Montmartre. Image: Terragio67, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

If you want a museum, the Musée de Montmartre is in the old village; check its hours first.

The weekend at a glance

Practical notes

Getting in from Charles de Gaulle. The RER B takes about 35 minutes to central stations such as Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame. The airport ticket, the Ticket Paris Région-Aéroports, costs €14 per journey, and you load it onto a Navigo Easy card or a phone app.

Metro, RER and tickets. Paper tickets are no longer sold. A single Metro-Train-RER ticket costs €2.55 in 2026 and a bus or tram ticket €2.05. The Navigo Easy card costs €2 and you load tickets onto it, or onto your phone with the Île-de-France Mobilités or Bonjour RATP app. The plan needs about five rides, so single tickets (about €13) are cheaper than the €12.30 Navigo Day pass. Buy a separate Navigo Easy card for each person: one card works for one person only. The weekly Navigo pass runs Monday to Sunday and does not pay off on a weekend trip. Keep your ticket until you have left the station: inspectors check.

The Paris Museum Pass. In 2026 the pass costs €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 and €125 for 6. It lists the Louvre, Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre-Dame towers; check the pass site for Sainte-Chapelle. Pass holders still have to reserve a slot at the Louvre and Orsay. Add up the Louvre (€22 or €32), Orsay (about €16), Sainte-Chapelle (€16 or €22) and the Notre-Dame towers (about €16): the 2-day pass saves little or nothing on this plan, so single tickets are simpler.

Pickpockets and scams. Guides and visitors report the same patterns: pickpockets on the Metro, in queues at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, and around Sacré-Cœur; people with clipboards asking you to sign a petition; a stranger who picks up a "gold ring" and says you dropped it; and men at the foot of the Sacré-Cœur steps who tie a thread bracelet on your wrist and then ask for money. Keep phones and wallets in a zipped inside pocket, wear a bag in front on the Metro, and walk on. Metro line 1, which links the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées and Châtelet, is a line often named for thefts.

What is closed. The Centre Pompidou has been closed since September 2025 for renovation and is due to reopen in 2030, so older guides that list it are out of date. The Louvre is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December, and Orsay on 1 May and 25 December. Paris opened three supervised bathing sites in the Seine in summer 2026 (Bras Marie, Quai de Bercy and Grenelle), but they ran only from 4 July for about eight weeks, so they are not part of an autumn or winter weekend.

Mondays and Tuesdays. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and the Musée d'Orsay on Mondays. Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle and the Eiffel Tower are open every day, apart from a few public holidays at Sainte-Chapelle (1 January, 1 May, 25 December).

If you come between November and March

• Daylight ends before 18:00 for most of the winter. Sainte-Chapelle closes at 17:00, with last entry at 16:30, so keep it in the morning.
• On the first Sunday of each month from November to March, entry to Sainte-Chapelle is free for everyone, and the first Sunday of every month is also free at Orsay with a booked slot. Both draw long lines. 1 November 2026 is the first Sunday of the month.
• The Eiffel Tower summit has a maintenance closure in most Januaries and Februaries.
• Late openings help on weekdays: the Louvre until 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Orsay until 21:45 on Thursdays. Notre-Dame is open until 22:00 on Thursdays.

Prices and opening times are as published in October 2026. Check each official site before you go, as hours and rates change with the season.