What to Do in Paris: The Must-Sees and an Itinerary That Holds Together

The first mistake when visiting Paris is trying to do everything. You tick the Eiffel Tower in the morning, the Louvre at midday, Montmartre in the afternoon, and end up wiped out without really seeing anything. Paris is best savoured on foot, by neighbourhood, accepting that you will leave half the list aside.

Here is how to organise a visit that holds together: the neighbourhoods to chain cleverly, the monuments that earn their price, the right use of the Museum Pass, the tourist traps, and a three-day itinerary we have actually tested.

The neighbourhoods and how to chain them

Good news: Paris is small. The historic centre fits in a handkerchief, and walking from one neighbourhood to the next rarely takes more than twenty minutes. The trick is to group your visits by arrondissement rather than zigzag across the whole city.

The tourist core clusters around the Île de la Cité, the Louvre and the Marais, on the Right Bank. The Left Bank gathers the Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain and the Eiffel Tower area. These two blocks take two days, on foot, stopping in cafes along the way.

For the third day, leave the postcard. The Canal Saint-Martin, Belleville and the Buttes-Chaumont give a Paris where people actually live: cheaper terraces, markets, hilly parks. That is where you understand why Parisians stay in Paris.

A marker that helps you place yourself: the Seine splits Paris into the Right Bank (north, livelier and more commercial) and the Left Bank (south, more student and cultural). The arrondissements spiral out from the Louvre, the 1st, to the 20th in the east. The higher the number, the further from the tourist centre. Staying between the 1st and the 7th keeps you within walking distance of almost everything.

The monuments worth the detour

Not all monuments are equal, and some cost a lot for what they offer. Here are the ones we recommend, with 2026 prices and the hours that matter.

• Notre-Dame de Paris: reopened in December 2024 after the fire, entry is free. The cathedral now draws close to 35,000 visitors a day. Without a booking, the wait quickly hits 30 minutes to an hour on weekends and public holidays. Book a free slot on resa.notredamedeparis.fr, it opens 2 to 3 days ahead.
• Sainte-Chapelle: €13, and probably the best emotion-for-price in Paris. Its 13th-century stained glass is worth the look on a clear day, late morning when the light comes through.
• Arc de Triomphe: €16 to climb to the terrace. The view over the twelve star-shaped avenues justifies the climb, especially at sunset. Access via the underground passage, never by crossing the roundabout.
• Musée d’Orsay: €16 to €18, the impressionist must-see. Note, it is closed on Monday.
• Eiffel Tower: separate ticket, around €36.70 for the summit by lift, against €14.80 by the stairs to the 2nd floor. Importantly, it is not included in the Museum Pass. Many visitors prefer to photograph it from the Trocadéro or the Champ-de-Mars rather than pay to go up.

The Paris Museum Pass, really useful?

Yes, provided you string visits together. The pass comes in three formats: €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 days, €125 for 6 days. It pays off from three or four major sites. Do the maths: the Louvre, Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe and Sainte-Chapelle together already top €85, and you cut part of the queues.

Two honest caveats. The Eiffel Tower is not in it, and even with the pass you must book a slot at the Louvre. And a detail that trips people up: the pass days are consecutive calendar days, not 24-hour slices. A 2-day pass activated at 3pm on Monday expires at closing on Tuesday, not Wednesday. So activate it in the morning to get the most from it.

The Louvre without losing the day

The Louvre is huge, and that is exactly the trap. Wanting to see everything guarantees leaving exhausted with nothing retained. Target three or four wings, no more, and set a route before you go in.

On price, entry rose to €22 for visitors from the European Economic Area and €32 for non-European visitors on 14 January 2026. Entry stays free for under-18s and EU residents under 26. In every case, booking a timed slot is compulsory and free, even if you have the Museum Pass. Without a slot, you are turned away at the door.

The detail that changes the day: the pyramid is not the only entrance, and it is the most clogged. Favour access via the Porte des Lions or the Carrousel du Louvre (the underground shopping mall), where the queue is far shorter. And note it well, the Louvre is closed on Tuesday. That day, the crowd shifts to Orsay and Versailles, so it is best to avoid those on Tuesday too.

For a first visit, three targets are enough: the Mona Lisa and the Italian paintings on the first floor of the Denon wing, the Venus de Milo and the Greek antiquities, and the Galerie d’Apollon with the Crown Jewels. Allow two full hours, and keep energy for the rest of the day. The Louvre is also open late on Wednesday and Friday until 9.45pm, a far calmer slot than mid-afternoon.

Where to stay, and where to avoid

The neighbourhood where you sleep matters almost as much as your programme. Well placed, you walk home in the evening and save on journeys.

Our favourite areas: the Marais (4th), central, lively, full of small streets; the Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain (5th and 6th), perfect for the Left Bank; and the 7th, calmer and smart, a step from the Eiffel Tower and Orsay.

The classic mistake is booking near the Champs-Élysées because the name reassures. The area is expensive, noisy, and actually quite far from the real living neighbourhoods. You pay for the address, not the experience. Two other traps: Pigalle and around the Gare du Nord, handy on paper but less pleasant at night, and the hotels glued to the Eiffel Tower, overpriced for what they offer. If the budget is tight, look at the 11th and 12th: well connected, lively, and 20 to 30% cheaper than the tourist core.

The scams to know

Paris is not dangerous, but a few scams target tourists at the same spots, year after year. Knowing them is enough to defuse them.

• The Sacré-Cœur bracelet: on the Montmartre steps, men tie a thread to your wrist “as a gift”, then demand money. Keep your hands in your pockets and do not hold out your arm.
• The “deaf-mute” petition: you are handed a sheet to sign for a fake cause, long enough to search your bag or demand a donation. A classic around the museums.
• The shell game: three cups or three cards, on the Seine quays and at the foot of Montmartre. It is rigged, you always lose. The “winners” around are accomplices.
• The “found” gold ring at your feet, which a stranger offers you to buy, and the fake waiter who adds drinks to the bill on a very touristy terrace.

On pickpocketing, two areas come up in every account: metro line 1 between Étoile and Châtelet, and the RER B linking the airport to the centre, where families loaded with suitcases get targeted as they step off. The useful reflex: bag closed and in front of you in crowded carriages, phone never left on a terrace table. If you arrive from the airport with luggage, a taxi or ride-hail is well worth the extra cost. General rule: if someone approaches to offer you something for free in a tourist spot, it is rarely free.

When to come, and for how long

The best window comes in two blocks: April to June and September to October. You get mild weather, pleasant terraces and reasonable crowds. July and August are hot and very touristy, with part of the Parisians away on holiday, which shuts many neighbourhood shops and good tables.

Winter has its merits if you come mainly for the museums: little queuing, low raking light on the stone, and the festive mood from late November. The downside is short days, with night falling around 5pm in December. On duration, three full days cover the must-sees without rushing. Four to five days open the door to Versailles and one or two more museums. In just two days, you have to choose from the start.

3-day itinerary, tested on the ground

Here is a realistic programme, calibrated to see the essentials without rushing. It alternates big sites in the morning (before the crowd) and strolling in the afternoon.

A firm view on Montmartre: the Place du Tertre and its portrait artists are overrated in high season, packed and touristy. The neighbourhood keeps its charm if you go up early in the morning, before 9am, when the lanes are still quiet and the light is good. And if you have a fourth day, it is the right time for Versailles: 45 minutes on the RER C, the chateau closed on Monday, and grounds so vast they fill a whole day.

Getting around and staying connected

Paris is above all a walking city. For longer distances, the metro is still unbeatable, but how it works has changed. The paper ticket carnet is gone: there is now a single metro/RER ticket at €2.55 across the whole Paris region, and everything is handled on mobile.

For a stay, two practical options:

• Navigo Day at €12.30: unlimited for the day, the smart buy if you take the metro more than five times.
• Navigo Liberté+: each journey charged at month end, handy for moderate use.
• Navigo Week at €32.40: worth it beyond four full days (it runs Monday to Sunday, not a rolling 7 days).

The point that surprises many visitors: everything now goes through the phone. The Bonjour RATP app sells tickets and plans routes in real time, the Navigo goes digital on mobile, and museum skip-the-line QR codes show on screen. You book your museum slots online, you navigate with Citymapper, you scan your ticket at the gate. Without a connection from arrival, you are quickly stuck.

That is why we suggest arriving already connected. Rather than hunting for a shop at the airport, activate a eSIM for France before you leave: you scan the QR code emailed to you, and you have internet on the 4G/5G network the moment you land at Roissy or Orly. Enough to book, navigate and pay for your journeys without stress. For the details by country of origin, our France SIM card guide compares every option.

With Orange, the service of more than 300 million customers, you travel with peace of mind: 200+ destinations covered, human support 24/7, and 100% refunded if you do not use your eSIM.