(The Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro. Photo: NonOmnisMoriar)
First trips to Paris rarely go wrong because of the list. They go wrong at the Louvre on a Tuesday or the Musée d’Orsay on a Monday. This plan gives each day one stretch of the Seine, orders the days around those closures, and shows what a ticket buys at today’s official prices.
The short version
- Three full days, one stretch of river each: Île de la Cité and the Louvre, then the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, then the Musée d’Orsay and the Left Bank.
- Two closing days set the order. The Louvre shuts on Tuesdays, the Orsay on Mondays. The Eiffel Tower day has no weekly closure, so it takes whichever of those days falls in your trip.
- Book a time slot for four things: the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, the Eiffel Tower and the Catacombs. Notre-Dame is free.
- A Métro ride is €2.55. The airport trains need a separate €14 ticket that day passes do not cover.
Four facts that decide the shape of the trip
- The big museums close on different days. The Louvre and the Orangerie are closed on Tuesdays. The Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Rodin and the Musée Picasso are closed on Mondays.
- Many tickets have two prices. National museums and monuments charge residents of the European Economic Area less. The Louvre is €22 for EEA residents and €32 for everyone else; Sainte-Chapelle is €16 or €22. Under-18s enter both free, as do EEA residents under 26. From outside Europe, budget the higher figure.
- Paper Métro tickets are gone. Since 1 January 2026 a Métro, train or RER journey is €2.55 and a bus or tram ride €2.05, on a Navigo Easy card or a phone. A Navigo day pass is €12.30 for unlimited rides, airports excluded.
- Older guides send people to closed doors. The Centre Pompidou shut on 22 September 2025 for a renovation its own site says runs until 2030. The Orsay is open, but is rebuilding its reception areas until summer 2028.
Day 1: Île de la Cité and the Louvre
Paris began on an island in the Seine, and so does this plan. The whole day is on foot. Do not put it on a Tuesday.
Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle
Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024, five years after the fire. Entry is free, and a free online time-slot reservation is optional. It drew more than 800,000 visitors in January 2025 alone, so go at opening or late in the day. The cathedral’s own site was behind a security check when we wrote this, so confirm its hours on the day.
Five minutes away, Sainte-Chapelle is the ticket worth paying for on the island: a 13th-century royal chapel walled in stained glass. It opens 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. from April to September and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from October to March, last entry 30 minutes before closing. Tickets are €22, or €16 for EEA residents, and €30 or €23 combined with the neighbouring Conciergerie. Go on a bright morning; grey light flattens the glass.
The Louvre: three rooms, not a route
Walk west along the Right Bank to the Louvre. It opens 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and until 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday, with last entry an hour before closing. Booking a time slot is recommended, even for visitors who enter free. On the first Friday of the month after 6 p.m., except in July and August, entry is free for everyone.
Nobody sees the Louvre. Choose three things before you go in and leave when they are done. The two late evenings are the calmer visit. If tickets are gone, the pyramid courtyard and the Tuileries Garden beyond it are free, and the garden stays open until 9 p.m. in September.
Day 2: The Eiffel Tower and the western axis
No weekly closure here, so this is the day to put on a Monday or Tuesday. It has one real decision: how high to go.
How high to go up the Eiffel Tower
Start at the Trocadéro terrace, where the view across the river is free, then cross the Pont d’Iéna. The Tower is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. in September 2026, with last ascents at 10:45 p.m. Large bags are not allowed and there is no left luggage. Adult prices from the Tower’s own site:
| Ticket | Adult | What it buys |
| Stairs to the second floor | €14.80 | A real climb to 116 metres, where most of the classic views are. |
| Lift to the second floor | €23.50 | The same floor without the stairs. |
| Stairs, then lift to the top | €28.00 | Walk to the second floor, lift to the summit at 276 metres. |
| Lift to the top | €36.70 | Two lifts to the summit, which can close in bad weather or at peak times. |
Our call. Second floor, at dusk. At 116 metres the city is still buildings; from the summit it becomes a map. Take the stairs if you can and put the €8.70 saved towards a Seine cruise.
One autumn warning: between September and November 2026, Métro Line 6 is suspended on selected Sundays between Charles de Gaulle–Étoile and La Motte-Picquet–Grenelle, which closes Bir-Hakeim, the Tower’s nearest station.
The Arc de Triomphe
The Arc is open every day. The roof is 284 steps up, with a lift on request and no booking needed; last admission is 45 minutes before closing. Tickets are €22 in high season and €16 from October to March, and high-season Wednesdays are also €16, which most guides miss. It closes for part or all of 1 May, 8 May, 14 July and the morning of 11 November for national ceremonies. From the top, the Champs-Élysées runs straight to the Concorde. Walk it if you like, but if the day runs late, skip the avenue, not the roof.
Day 3: The Musée d’Orsay and the Left Bank
A slower day south of the river. Keep it off a Monday.
The Musée d’Orsay
The Impressionist museum fills a former railway station and is far easier to see in one visit than the Louvre. It opens 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday and until 9:45 p.m. on Thursdays. Tickets are €16 online or €14 at the desk, dropping to €12 online after 6 p.m. on Thursdays. Under-18s and EEA residents under 26 go free. Its free first Sundays have ended, so do not plan around one.
Two to three hours covers the Impressionist galleries, by our estimate. The Thursday evening is the best-value museum visit in Paris: cheaper, quieter, and it frees the afternoon.
The Latin Quarter and the Jardin du Luxembourg
Walk east into the Quartier Latin, built around the Sorbonne, the Panthéon and the Musée de Cluny’s medieval collection. The streets between them are the point. Finish in the Jardin du Luxembourg: about 23 hectares, some 3,000 trees and 106 statues, run by the French Senate since 1879 and free. Its gates follow daylight; in mid-September 2026 they close at 7:45 p.m.
If you have a fourth day
- Montmartre. The Sacré-Cœur is free and open 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; the dome is about 280 steps and €8. Go in the morning, before the Place du Tertre fills.
- The Catacombs. An ossuary 20 metres underground in former quarries. Adult tickets are €31 with an audio guide; book on the official site.
- Le Marais. Aristocratic townhouses from the 16th to 18th centuries, and France’s first protected heritage district, in 1962. Lunch at the Marché des Enfants Rouges, the city’s oldest covered market, founded in 1615 and closed on Mondays.
Getting in from the airport
- Charles de Gaulle. The RER B reaches central Paris in about 35 minutes on the €14 Paris Région–Aéroports ticket; day passes do not cover it. Expect engineering works on the line during 2026. The Roissybus ended on 1 March 2026. A taxi is a fixed €56 to the Right Bank or €65 to the Left Bank.
- Orly. Métro Line 14 reaches Châtelet–Les Halles in about 25 minutes, 5:30 a.m. to around 12:30 a.m., on the same €14 ticket; an ordinary Métro ticket is not valid at the airport. A taxi is a fixed €45 to the Right Bank or €36 to the Left Bank.
Where a guided tour earns its money
Pay for a guide when the building is the obstacle. The Louvre’s size defeats most first visits, and a guide who takes you to three rooms in a sensible order beats any map. The same goes for the Orsay if you cannot make Thursday evening, and for Montmartre, where a guide brings out the artists’ history the streets keep to themselves. A Seine cruise is the other paid hour worth keeping: Vedettes du Pont Neuf’s one-hour cruise from the Square du Vert-Galant is €15 online or €17 on the day, and at dusk it shows both banks in the time it takes to walk one. Skip guides for the Tuileries, the Luxembourg and Notre-Dame’s nave, which are free and better at your own pace.
Before finalizing a schedule, travelers can browse Paris tours and activities on Mubboo to compare guided museum visits, Eiffel Tower tickets, Seine cruises and walking tours.
Questions first-time visitors ask
How many days do I need in Paris?
Three full days covers the plan above. Add a fourth for Montmartre, the Catacombs or the Marais.
Which days are the museums closed?
The Louvre and the Orangerie close on Tuesdays; the Orsay, Rodin and Picasso museums on Mondays. The Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe have no weekly closure.
Do I need to book the Louvre in advance?
A time slot is recommended, not required, even for free entry. Adults pay €22 if resident in the EEA and €32 otherwise.
Is Notre-Dame free?
Yes. Entry is free and the online reservation is optional. Go early or late to avoid the longest wait.
Sources
Every figure was checked against the operator’s or agency’s own page on the date given. Prices and hours change.
- Musée du Louvre, hours and admission — louvre.fr; Tuileries — louvre.fr/en/explore/the-gardens (13 Sep 2026).
- Sainte-Chapelle, practical information — sainte-chapelle.fr (13 Sep 2026).
- Notre-Dame: reopening — Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris (29 Aug 2026); reservations — resa.notredamedeparis.fr (7 Sep 2026); January 2025 attendance — Sortiraparis (29 Aug 2026).
- Eiffel Tower, rates, opening times and Line 6 notice — toureiffel.paris (13 Sep 2026).
- Arc de Triomphe, practical information — paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr (13 Sep 2026).
- Musée d’Orsay, admission, hours and renovation notice — musee-orsay.fr; first Sundays — musee-orsay.fr (13 Sep 2026).
- Closing days — Musée Rodin, Musée Picasso, Musée de l’Orangerie; Centre Pompidou — centrepompidou.fr (13 Sep 2026).
- Quartier Latin — Visit Paris Region (29 Aug 2026); Jardin du Luxembourg — jardin.senat.fr (13 Sep 2026).
- Sacré-Cœur hours and dome; Catacombs — catacombes.paris.fr (13 Sep 2026); Le Marais — Musée Carnavalet; Marché des Enfants Rouges — Visit Paris Region (29 Aug 2026).
- Île-de-France Mobilités, 2026 fares — iledefrance-mobilites.fr; airport ticket — Ticket Paris Région–Aéroports (13 Sep 2026).
- Airports — Paris Aéroport, CDG by RER B and Orly; Roissybus — Air Journal; taxi fares — Service-Public.fr (13 Sep 2026).
- Seine cruise — Vedettes du Pont Neuf (13 Sep 2026).
