Paris in 3 Days: The Perfect Itinerary

Paris rewards three-day visitors who resist the temptation to sprint through every must-see and instead treat the city as a series of intimate neighbourhoods connected by the Métro and the Seine. The Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, and the Louvre are non-negotiable for first-timers, but the city's deeper pleasures reveal themselves in the village-like quartiers between the grand monuments: the covered passages of the 2nd arrondissement, the canal culture of the 10th, the flea markets of Clignancourt, the garden terraces of the Palais Royal. A good Paris itinerary leaves room for getting deliberately lost.

Day one: the Marais and Notre-Dame island — start at the Place des Vosges, walk to the Pompidou Centre, cross to Île de la Cité for Notre-Dame's ongoing reconstruction viewing, then the Latin Quarter for dinner. Day two: Montmartre in the morning (arrive before 10am to beat the crowds at Sacré-Coeur), the covered passages at lunchtime, the Palais Royal gardens in the afternoon, and the Arc de Triomphe at sunset. Day three: Versailles day trip or — if Versailles feels like too much — the Musée d'Orsay followed by the Eiffel Tower evening visit when the crowds thin and the tower's light show begins.

Paris's Navigo Découverte weekly transport pass covers all zones including Versailles and the airports, and is significantly cheaper than buying individual tickets — collect it from any staffed station window with a passport photo. Budget €150–250 per day covering a mid-range hotel in the 3rd or 11th arrondissement, one restaurant meal and one café meal daily, and transport. The boulangerie breakfast is the best value ritual in Paris: a café crème and a fresh croissant for under €5 at any neighbourhood bakery.