A 3 Day Travel Guide to Paris

We spent a solid 3 days in Paris and felt like we saw everything we wanted to see. I'm sure if we stayed longer, we would have found some amazing hidden gems. But in 3 days we were able to hit lots of major landmarks.

After our experience, we found that there were a few things we could have done better. So while this travel guide is not exactly how we saw everything, we did see everything in this guide and want to share from our experiences.

Before we start, here are a few suggestions of things to do before you start your trip.

• Hotel: Make sure to get a hotel near a metro stop. We suggest going through Hotels.com. When you are looking at hotels, make sure to check the comments from previous guests. They are usually good about saying if the hotel is close to a metro stop or not. We stayed at this hotel and it was SO CLOSE to a metro stop, but it was also a teeny, tiny room which we were not expecting. 
• Paris Museum Pass: You can't go to Paris and not get a museum pass. It saves you so much money! And it lets you into so many different sites around Paris. Some of the sites even let you skip the waiting line if you have the Museum Pass. We bought our passes just at the airport near baggage claim, but you can also buy them online and have them mailed to you before you go or you can pick them up in Paris when you get there. 
• Metro Passes: Check out our post here to get all of the details on what and how to get the passes. 
• Apps: Make sure to download these four apps before you get to Paris. 

Day 1:

Because you're in Paris, probably the first thing you will want to see is the Eiffel Tower. This is one of the attractions in Paris that opens at 9:00 am during peak season (mid-June through early September). You can check out our post here for specific details. Plan on spending 2-3 hours at this site, especially if you are planning on walking up the stairs! 

**For another cool Eiffel Tower experience, try going 30-60 minutes before sunset so you can watch the sun setting and see the tower lit up. While we did not do this on our trip, this was something I saw recommended after we were already home**

While at the Eiffel Tower, you may want to stop and eat at one of their restaurants or cafes. We found that the cafe had delicious food and wasn't too terribly priced. 

After viewing the Eiffel Tower, make sure to take some time back on the ground to take some pictures of the whole tower. When we were there, the grassy area in front of the tower was closed. So we just went across the Seine and were still able to get amazing pictures. 

From the Eiffel Tower, we suggest heading to the Arc de Triomphe. Check out our post here to find out details about the tricky way to go to get to the Arc. While at the Arc, we definitely suggest climbing up to the top if you can! After the Eiffel Tower, it might be a lot for people in poor health or for young children. Our legs definitely hurt after our first day but the stairs were worth it!

For an easy end to the day, we suggest going to Napoleon's Tomb and the Army Museum. While we didn't actually go inside the museum (because it was closed when we got there), from what we hear it is a good place to visit. Check out our post here about Napoleon's Tomb.

At this point we suggest finding a place to grab dinner. Our favorite places were little crepe stands and shops.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel to unwind and relax for the evening because we were so tired from touring all day! If you're up for it, head back to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night all lit up. The Arc de Triomphe at night is also an amazing sight.

Day 2:

The second day we suggest going to the old city center. By getting off at the Cite metro stop, you are within walking distance of 3 amazing sights in Paris. 

First, head over to Sainte Chapelle. This was my favorite place we saw in all of Paris. Plan on spending at least an hour there. Ben wanted to stay longer and I now wish that we would have. 

After Sainte Chapelle, go over to Notre Dame and wait in line to climb the towers. Check out Ben's post here about the towers. This was my second favorite thing we did in Paris. 

After the towers, grab some lunch at a crepe stand across the street from Notre Dame and start to listen to the Rick Steves Audio Europe App. Go to the track called Historic Paris. As you eat your crepes and start listening to Rick, you can stand in line to enter the cathedral. Even if the line looks long, it moves pretty fast. Check out Ben's post here about seeing the inside of Notre Dame. 

When you come out of the church, if you have time and want to cool down a bit, head on over to the Archeological Crypts at the opposite end of the plaza. 

After the Crypts, continue listening to Rick and take the Historic Paris walking tour. Sadly we did not have time to do this tour and I really wish that we had.  

If you aren't into seeing the Crypts, or you don't want to do the walking tour, you could go to the Louvre and Orsay Museums. But, we wouldn't suggest them, except maybe going to the outside of the Louvre Museum in order to see the glass pyramids. Check out my post about the Louvre here and why you probably don't need to see it.

Day 3:

This last day, we suggest spending in Versailles. It is such a beautiful place and you can literally spend all day there. Make sure to take into account transit time getter there. Since it is outside of the main city center area of Paris, it does take a little bit of extra time getting there but it is so worth it. See my detailed post about Versailles here. 

And there you have it! 3 days in Paris! We loved our time in Paris and are so grateful that we got to experience one of the most popular cities in the world. It is so popular for a good reason. There are so many things to see and do, but don't over schedule yourself. Take your time and really enjoy the place you are in. Look for the beauty and the details and take lots of pictures! But also spend time in the moment. I think we had a good balance of enjoying our time in the moment and enjoying our time through camera lenses. Plan and prepare, but don't freak out when plans don't go your way. 

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The Archeological Crypt at Notre Dame

Notre Dame is an old building, older if you count its life from the beginning of construction rather than from its completion 200 years later. But even so the history of buildings on that spot, on the Cite island, is much much older than the Cathedral and even than Paris itself. But to learn this history you will need to venture underground and into an area known as the Crypt.

How to Get There:

Getting to the Archeological Crypt is just like getting to Notre Dame, so refer to my Notre Dame Cathedral post for directions. The entrance to the crypts is at the far end of the plaza, away from the Cathedral. If you are coming from the Cite metro stop then this is the end you will come to first. Look for a stairwell an words in French that are similar to Archeological or Crypt. 

Visiting the Crypt is included on the Paris Museum Pass, so if you have that be sure to use it. It also free for students with a student id. Other wise it will cost you 6 euros per adult and 2,50 per child. Be aware that the do close early, around 6:00 most days, so plan accordingly. 

What You Will See:

To be honest I don't know why this area is called the Crypt. That name makes me think I will see a place where dead people were buried, in fact I thought it was going to be part of the burial area of the Cathedral at first. But there are no dead people here, it as actually more awesome than that. 

People have lived on the island of Cite in the middle of the River Sine, now also in the center of Paris, for a long, long time. As history moved forward and nations rose and fell the oldest of these settlements were covered up and built over by the new occupants of the island. So when you enter the chambers underneath the Notre Dame plaza you are stepping back in time to some amazingly preserved ruins that sit right under the city. 

When you first enter the crypts you will pass through a series of displays on ancient money. One of the best collections in the world is here so it is worth looking at, and if you happen to be into ancient coinage it is probably worth a considerable amount of time. 

Further in you will come to the actual ruins themselves. I was pretty surprised that they were just sitting there underground, like a giant model, except actually the real thing. I always find it amazing to walk through the places where people used to live and work. Of course they are underground now, but they weren't back then. I try to picture what it was like when these buildings were the top layer of the island. 

The walk way is set up above most of the ruins so that you can look down in to them. You can walk around the entire thing, and depending on how hot it is outside you might want to read all the signs. The crypts are a good place to cool off if you are in Paris during a warm season. 

Sum Up:

Depending on the number and quality of ancient ruins you are going to see on your trip to Europe you can decide whether seeing the Archeological Crypts is worth it to you. This will also depend on how much time you have in the Cite area since you will also need to see Notre Dame, the towers of Notre Dame, and Sainte Chapelle while you are in the area. 

However, if you are using the Museum Pass and you are here to see the churches anyway then it is certainly worth walking around the crypts even just briefly. 

Visiting the Palace of Versailles

Visiting Versailles was one of our favorite days we spent in Paris. Although it is outside of the city center and away from the other main attractions of Paris, for us it was definitely worth setting aside a good part of a day to see it. Château de Versailles, or Palace of Versailles in English, is a beautiful palace with amazing details inside as well as out. The grounds are expansive and you could spend a long time just in the gardens. Turned into a palace by Louis XIV, this former hunting lodge has a long history of being the center of Parisian culture for over 70 years during the reign of Louis XIV. Filled with gold, detailed paintings on walls and ceilings, and beautiful, intricate floors, Château de Versailles is a feast for the eyes and a highlight of any trip to Paris.

How to Get There:

From Paris get to the Invaldes stop using the Paris metro. From there, get on the Yellow C line (an RER train) and get off at the Versailles Château Rive Gauche stop. From there you will need to walk a few minutes to get to the palace. For specific directions from your location, make sure to use the Paris Metro App. Plan on the trip taking about an hour to get to the château. Because Versailles is not close to the city center, your metro tickets will need to be good for Zone 5. If you are buying a multi-day metro ticket, take the time to do the math to see if it is worth buying a multi-day for Zones 1-5 or if it is cheaper for you to buy a single ticket for Zone 5 for the day you want to go to Versailles. Because of the weather, we decided to do Versailles in the middle of our 3 day trip. We decided that it was easier for us to buy a 3-day ticket to all 5 zones. But if you are planning on doing Versailles on the first day of your trip or at the end, it might be cheaper to buy a day ticket for the day of your trip. 

What You Will See:

The best time to get to Versailles is right in the morning as it opens. There are not very many people on the plaza leading up to the palace which means you can get great pictures of the front of the building. The lines are also much shorter when it first opens. Plan on spending most of the day at Versailles if you want to see all three parts (main palace, gardens, and Marie Antoinette's estate). We were there from 10:00 am until about 4:00 pm. 

Once you get through security, ask for a map from the desk right outside the security check. They will give you directions to the main ticket counter and the start of the palace. If you have a Museum Pass, you can skip the ticket line and go straight into the palace. They offer free audio guides for the palace that give you information on almost every single thing. We did not use these guides so we cannot vouch for them, but it seems like if you wanted extreme details about each room, that would be the audioguide to take. We just used the Versailles track on the Rick Steves Audio Europe app. It gave good information and we only had trouble in one spot because part of the tour on the app wasn't open when we were at Versailles. But this is pretty typical of the palace; different parts are opened and closed at different times throughout the year. 

Throughout the palace, you will see lots of ornate and beautiful rooms. Some of our favorites were the chapel, the Hall of Mirrors and the bedchambers. It is amazing to see the expanse of the palace and even though it is quite large, rooms can get very crowded so just be prepared for that. Also, when you are walking from floor to floor to get to different rooms, be careful on the stairs; there are deep, worn down places in the steps from so many people walking on the stairs over so many years. Use the hand rails and closely watch your feet! After you exit the palace, the side of the building near the security check has a large, formal restaurant and a smaller cafe. We ate at the cafe for lunch and were happy with our meal, even if it was on the expensive side. There are also gift shops and free restrooms in this area with plenty of signage to point you in the right direction. 

Behind the palace is where you can see and enter the gardens. The Versailles track on the Rick Steves Audio Europe app continues with the gardens outside. Take your time and wander through them. They are so beautiful and maintained so perfectly. There are lots of groves with fountains in the middle of them that are located to the left and right of the main plaza. These fountains are not on except for certain times and days. If you wish to see the fountain shows, the price for entry is more expensive and is not included in the Museum Pass. We did not see the fountain shows but poked our heads in to see some of the fountains and they were beautiful. 

Because the gardens are so huge, there are options besides walking to get around. They offer golf carts and bikes that you can rent to help you and your family get around. There is also a small "train" that takes people up to the Marie Antoinette Estates. We walked the whole time we were there but it really did make us extremely tired. But there are plenty of food and snack carts and states to get some treats. The cheapest place we found to get gelato was in Petite Venice (Little Venice). It is a little place next to the Grand Canal where Louis XIV housed gondoliers he brought in from Venice to drive gondolas in his Grand Canal!

The third area in the Château de Versailles is the Domain Marie Antoinette (Marie Antoinette Estates). This area is away from the gardens and was meant to be a peaceful place away from the hustle and bustle of the palace. At the Domain, there are two small palaces and some smaller gardens. After we went through the palaces, we decided they looked a lot neater on the outside than on the inside, so they probably aren't worth going to unless you have a Museum Pass because they cost extra money. Also, if you are already tired from walking around the gardens, it might not be worth the extra energy to see this part of the Château. 

Sum Up:

Château de Versailles, Palace of Versailles, simply Versailles: it is a beautiful way to spend a day on your Parisian trip. Visiting the palace is a must followed by visiting the gardens at your own pace, while visiting the Domain Marie Antoinette might not be worth it to you to go see if you are already tired from the gardens or if you don't have a Museum Pass. There are lots of things to see at the Palace of Versailles and we highly recommend taking this day trip. 

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The Towers of Notre Dame

While I did write a couple weeks ago about the Notre Dame Cathedral, I did not go into detail about the tower tour that is available there. This is because there is an extra cost and considerable extra effort involved in this tour so they really are separate activities. In fact we did them on different days. The tower tour is amazing though, so if your wallets and your legs are up to it I highly encourage you to go.

How to Get There:

Of course the directions for getting to the Notre Dame Towers tour start out exactly the same as getting to Notre Dame for any other visit. You can read my directions here. 

Once you are at the façade of the cathedral go to the left side of the church. Running along the wall you should see a line leading away from a door on the corner of the leftmost tower. If you are either very early or very lucky this line will not be long, but most likely it will be pretty lengthy, but go ahead and get in the end of the line, it will be worth it in the end. 

The line moves in jumps because they only let in a certain number of people at a time. You won't need to buy tickets until you get up the first set of stairs in the tower, so don't worry about that until you get there. If you have a Museum Pass you can use that to get in, but it won't let you skip waiting in line. While you are in the line there will be plenty of crepe stands across the street, so if you feel hungry have someone hold your place in line and get some of my favorite French cuisine. 

What You Will See:

Once you get inside the tower you will ascend the first set of stairs to a chamber where you can buy tickets and there is a small gift shop. You wait in this room until another group comes down from the top then you will be taken up. The walk up is very long and strenuous depending on how good of shape you are in. There were a couple of elderly ladies with us who had a hard time and kept stopping so people could go around them. This is a somewhat scary experience as the stairs are in a tight spiral so there really isn't much room to put you feet on the inner side. My advice is that even if you are slow just keep going up until you reach a landing where you can actually stand aside. 

When you finally come out of the stairs you will exit onto a parapet where you will immediately be able to see some of Notre Dame's iconic gargoyles. You will have seen many of the smaller gargoyles on the side of the build ing while you waited in line, but the ones at the top of the stairs are the real deal, the ones you've seen in pictures. The first set you may have seen from the plaza below, but here you will be right next to them. 

As you walk down you will see that you can continue straight or go to the left. Make sure you go to the left as this is the only way to get into the bell tower and see some of the inner area gargoyles that cannot be seen from anywhere else. Once you take the left turn there will be a small door on the right that you can enter to get to the bells. This will require walking up some extra stairs, but you wouldn't want to go to Notre Dame and not see the bells, right? 

Once you have seen the bells and the inner gargoyles you'll continue on from where you turned. This will lead you to another stairway. At this point you will have a choice whether to continue up to the panorama view from the top of the tower, or to go back down and exit. I highly suggest you continue on to the top. 

From the top you will be able to see splendid views of Paris on all sides. Each group only gets 5 minutes up here though so make sure you have your camera ready and try not to block other guest's way. I could have used maybe a two minutes longer up there, but I remember waiting in that line at the bottom, so down we went when our time was up. 

Then it is down, down, down, all the way to the bottom where you will exit back onto the plaza. Be careful going down, as this will be harder on your legs then going up and you do the whole distance in one go. 

Sum Up:

The Towers of Notre Dame were one of favorite things in Paris. Meagan was hesitant about waiting in the long line, but afterward she said it was more than worth it. It costs 10 euro per person if you don't have the Museum Pass, but I think even that would be worth it to be able to be in the towers. For me it was a more enjoyable experience than the cathedral itself.

Why You Don't Need to See the Louvre

One of the most iconic places in Paris, after the Eiffel Tower, is probably the Louvre museum. With its glass pyramid entrance, it is an enticing museum to go see. But when we went we were very underwhelmed.

How to Get There:

Using the Paris Metro, get off on the Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre stop. This stop is not like a normal metro stop because it is actually inside the museum. A lot of the museum is underground and by exiting on this stop, you will end up in a mall sort of area with shops that skirt around the actual entrance to the museum. 

This was one of the first annoying parts of the Louvre. There were so many people and not very good signage so it was hard to find out exactly where we were supposed to go. Since we had our Paris Museum Pass, we were able to go right up to the wing where our Rick Steves Audioguide started, but it was confusing trying to get there.

What You Will See:

We used Rick Steves's free Audio Europe App and listened to the Louvre track. Because the Louvre is so overwhelmingly huge, we decided it was best to just stick to what Rick said so we only ended up touring one wing of the museum. On our tour we saw a TON of statues as well as some paintings, including the Mona Lisa which is just as underwhelming as everyone says it is. It is far more entertaining watching all of the tourists mob around the painting trying to get up close to see it. 

The one part we did like was an area that used to be a palace. It was interesting for us to see the history of the building through the artwork from the time period. We also enjoyed seeing a collection of crowns and royal jewels in this exhibit. 

Sum Up:

During our trip to the Louvre, we really discovered that we are not art people. We enjoy art in small amounts, but statues are not our thing. So if you are an art person, especially an art person who loves sculptures, you would probably enjoy the Louvre. There are also just so many people (easily the most crowded place we went to while we were in Paris) that it didn't lend to an enjoyable experience for us. If you have a Museum Pass it might be worth it to go see one or two things inside (like the Mona Lisa) just to say that you went to the Louvre. But if you are paying for tickets, I would suggest not even bothering. Our favorite part of the whole experience was simply seeing the glass pyramids from outside the museum. That was where we took the most pictures and enjoyed our time the most. It is such a huge area that it isn't overcrowded with people and the pyramids are were a lot more exciting for us to look at and appreciate than some of the pieces of artwork inside the museum. 

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Napoleon's Tomb in Paris

Paris is full of things that are, or were once, the biggest, most expensive, or most impressive in the world for their class. Unfortunately for Napoleon the Pharaohs really made it nearly impossible to claim the title of the most impressive tomb, but that didn't stop him from trying. The result is one of the most ostentatious resting places for one of the smallest men on the planet. But even as you shake your head at it and wonder at the ego that gave birth to this kind of huge display of wealth and power after death you realize that here you are visiting it, so it pretty much worked, didn't it?

How to Get There:

Getting there is simple, Napoleon's tomb is part of the Museum of the Army located at Hotel Invalides, so you just have to get off at the Invalids metro stop and look for the great golden domed church. That would be Napoleon's tomb. Walk there, be prepared for a quick security check to enter the grounds. When we were there this check was run by soldiers, I don't know if this was due to the state of emergency still in effect while we were there or because it is part of the Museum of the Army.  So your milage may vary. 

What You Will See:

The main attraction of the site is the gigantic casket that rests in the center of the building. This is where the mortal remains of the great general rest. You enter on the main level where you can view the casket from above from the central balcony. This balcony forms a complete circle allowing you to view the casket from all angles. 

Alcoves surround the balcony wherein other important people are entombed. Not having a ton of knowledge of French history and not reading the language these did not particularly strike me, but they were pretty cool looking. 

There are stairs in the back of the building (opposite where you enter) which will take you down to the level of Napoleon's casket. This is also the level of his wife's tomb which can be found by going right after the stairs. 

Sum Up:

The tomb of Napoleon is a quick stop if you don't also do the Museum of the Army (which we did not do). It is part of the Museum Pass so if you went ahead and got that it is definitely worth going to see. If not then I wouldn't say it is a must see in Paris. You can walk around the grounds for free if you want, and the building is pretty cool on its own, and it wasn't very crowded when we were there.

Visiting the Arc de Triomphe

Ever since I was little, the Arc de Triomphe has been on my list of things to see in Paris. I even wanted to see it more than the Eiffel Tower. I'm not quite sure what my draw to the Arc de Triomphe was, but I was so glad we were able to see it while we were in Paris.

How to Get There:

Getting to the Arc de Triomphe isn't that hard, especially if you use the Paris Metro App. Use the app to get to the Charles de Gaulle stop (the metro will also have Arc de Triomphe in brown letters at the same stop). From there, just head up the stairs and you will be right in front of the Arc. This is the best place to take pictures of the whole Arc de Triomphe because you are far enough away that you can get you and the Arc in the same shot. 

From there, follow the signs that will lead you to the Arc itself. You will have to go underground because the circle where the Arc de Triomphe is located is very busy with no way for pedestrians to get across. Once you get to the Arc you can walk around under it for free, or you can stand in line to purchase tickets to enter the Arc itself. You can also use the Paris Museum Pass if you have one. This is one of the sights that lets you skip ahead in line. We didn't have to wait at all to get right in. 

What You Will See:

To get to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, you will need to climb a lot of narrow, spiral-y stairs with few places to stop. There are no elevators to the top that we saw. On its own the stairs are not too bad, but if you are planning on doing it the same day as climbing the Eiffel Tower or doing the towers of Notre Dame, your legs might hurt the next day. 

At the top of the stairs there is a small gift shop, restrooms, and a few gallery pieces to look at. Then there is one more smaller set of stairs that will take you to the very top of the Arc de Triomphe. The views are amazing from up there! You can see a complete 360 degree  view of the city. There are plenty of places for photo ops with the Parisian skyline in the background. Even though the views are awesome, be prepared for not a super clear day. When we went it was quite hazy and smoggy. Another fun thing to do at the top was to watch the traffic move around the Arc. It would be really cool to take a time lapse of that. 

Underneath the Arc (which is free to enter) you will see beautiful stone work and engravings as well as the memorial flame for the Unknown Soldier. There are plenty of places to sit under the Arc and it is just a nice place to be while you recover from the hundreds of steps you have walked up and down. 

When you are ready to leave, go back to the stairs that you climbed up to get to the Arc de Triomphe but turn around to see the stairs to exit. We walked all around the Arc to try and find the exit route and it was just behind where we started from. 

Sum Up:

The Arc de Triomphe is a beautiful Parisian staple. It is a really fun place to go if you want to see a beautiful view of Paris. Even if you don't want to pay to climb to the top of the Arc, just getting off the metro stop and taking pictures of the Arc de Triomphe or walking to see the underside is a great, easy opportunity to see one of the classic sights in Paris.