Draft #1 of Paris Itinerary....needs a lot of work PLEASE help!!!
 

Here is my first run at my Paris itinerary. My 21 yr DD and I will be arrving in late may and will be there from 4 days (1st day is arrival day). Could you please please offer ANY COMMENTS. I want this trip to be absolutely perfect as neither of us has ever been to Paris. Thanks so much!

Day 1 Arrive Paris 7:25 a.m. – at hotel by 10:30 or so.

Drop bags at hotel – Le Meridian Montparnasse

Grab some lunch, purchase museum tickets and tickets for Siene night cruise

Head on over to the Latin Quarter - stroll around just perusing the sights

Visit Luxemborg Gardens

Dinner – nothing to expensive as we want to save that for a night when we are refreshed…any suggestions

Is it time to go to bed yet??

Day 2

Ile de la Cite, Ile St. Louis, and the Marais

SAINTE CHAPELLE

NOTRE DAME

NOTRE DAME CRYPT

**I have read something about a place on Rue St. Louis where you can get omelette and quiche…anyone know the name of this place?? I am sure however there are plenty of places to grab similar food???

Now to MARAIS

PLACE DE VOSGES

Do some shopping as I have heard there are some really great shops in this area.

Maybe grab a table at a café for some wine and cheese then back to the hotel for a nap.

Up from nap, freshen up and then on the road again…

JARDIN PALAIS ROYAL

LOUVRE COURTYARD / TUILLERIES GARDEN

LOUVRE hit the big 3: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory.. We will probably have some time to enjoy more but I want to make sure to see the big 3.

ARCH DE TRIOMPHE
.
Café Marly before or after the Arc de Triomphe?

Dinner – I have no idea yet.

**Should we add additional sights to this day as I am unsure how long all this will take? I cannot imagine we will be in any one museum for more than an hour or so.

Day 3

PLACE DE CONCORDE

CHAMPS D’ELYSSES

Maybe stop and get picnic items for lunch on the Champs de Mars.

RODIN’S GARDEN

Shopping in the St. Germaine area.

Stopping at café for a small dessert and glass of wine maybe??

L’ORANGERIE

L’ORSAY

Dinner - don’t know where

Night Siene river cruise.

** I am sure there is room for something else here but I don’t know what.

Day 4 –

What have I missed????

Hi muffin,

I'd try not to jump around too much in Paris, particularly with your limited time. I'd do Arc de Triumph and Champs d'Elysee together, since the Arc is at the end of the Champs d'Elysee. Do the St. Germain area while you're at the Luxembourg Gardens.

I'd say if you can, and it's in your budget, dinner in a restaurant at the Eiffel Tower one of your nights. And a visit to the Rive Droit as well. I found I liked the L'Opera area for window shopping.

I don't remember doing so much in Paris in a few days, but its a lot for me, and I do tend to cram. This is a good list to start. Just remember, if you don't fit everything in, there's always next time.

First of all, don't expect perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, and if you expect perfection, you'll be destroyed at the least little issue or problem (and there will be some - when have any of us ever gotten through a day without some issues or problems).

Don't plan so much. Spend some time just enjoying.

Your Day 2 could be done, maybe, in two days. Not in one. Even if you did only spend one hour in each museum (I hope you spend longer), you still wouldn't have time for it all.

Consider visiting at least one of your "must-see" Paris sights on your first day. I don't know, maybe it's just me and I'm not real into gardens, but on your first day in Paris, you're going to go walk around the park. Maybe visit the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame that day instead.

On the day you visit Sainte-Chappelle, go early to avoid the long lines. Same with the towers at Notre Dame.

As the Arc de Triomphe is at the end of the Champs Elysees, visit those on the same day. Make sure to spend time watching the cars go whizzing around and around - it's very funny!

I believe that l'Orangerie is open for individuals (as opposed to groups) in the morning only. You might want to check on that.

Day 3 is very crowded with activities too. Save the Champs Elysees for late afternoon, when there will be more people out, and the cafe-sitting and people-watching will be better. Also, you can use that time to rest up from all the other activities of the day.

not sure where you fly from if London you might have energy for day 1 if LA no way will you still be standing.

Stuffing too much in to each day. TRy to buy tickets where you are or get consierge to do it (don't spend your time at it).

Food will not be a problem, chosing and booking restaurant may be though. If say from LA you need to stay awake as much as possible but you may want to eat at say 4pm not 8pm when the Parisian's will want to hence you may want to eat in a bistro.

Day 2 is how long (36 hours?) I reckon the two islands will see out a good day

Not sure about planned nap, I tend to just keep it going but at a slower pace if in doubt eat slower and enjoy more food

Drop the Arc de T (oh yes you can climb upstairs and look out, don't bother)

Need to think about shops (not open 24/7) and some of the large ones are worth a bit of time. Also I suggest allow a big bit of time for d'orsay

Other ideas

Look like you've missed out Napolean's tomb the arabic centre. Could drop a segway tour in early on to get an idea of the layout. Versailles.

The Cafe Marly is in the Louvre courtyard, so the time to go there would be before or after visiting the Louvre.

You are staying in Montparnasse, so I would suggest, if the days of the week work out, that you get picnic supplies at the Edgar Quinet street market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

OMG...you guys are fantastic!!! This was exactly what I was looking for. I have to admit i based my itinerary off of someone here on the forum who sounded like they had a fantastic trip but it did sound like a lot to me.

I will be flying in from Texas so that day is going to be a let's see how things go!!!

Being as day 4 is pretty open there is plenty of room to move things around and spend more time at certain places and still get to see the main things we wanted to see.

Restaurants - we will be having one over the top dinner while in Paris (our trip extends to Vienna and Rome for the next ten days so we are having to spread out the Euros)! Where would you guys recommend. I personally would love to do the ET restaurant as I believe even if we didn't like the food we would love the atmosphere. Oh..another question are there places where you can go in an have a drink at the bar? i know in the US a lot of the upscale restaurants you can have a cocktail in their bar area without having to dine.

Again, everyone thank you I now have something to work with.

I reorganized your list to place close things together. You'll need to double-check that a museum doesn't fall on its closing day...

Day 1 - Arrive Paris 7:25 a.m. – at hotel by 10:30 or so.
Drop bags at hotel – Le Meridian Montparnasse
Grab some lunch,
Head on over to the Latin Quarter - stroll around just perusing the sights
Visit Luxemborg Gardens
Dinner – nothing to expensive as we want to save that for a night when we are refreshed…any suggestions
Is it time to go to bed yet??

Day 2 - Ile de la Cite, Ile St. Louis, and the Marais
SAINTE CHAPELLE
NOTRE DAME
NOTRE DAME CRYPT
**I have read something about a place on Rue St. Louis where you can get omelette and quiche…anyone know the name of this place?? I am sure however there are plenty of places to grab similar food???
Now to MARAIS
PLACE DE VOSGES
Do some shopping as I have heard there are some really great shops in this area.
Maybe grab a table at a café for some wine and cheese
JARDIN PALAIS ROYAL then back to the hotel for a nap.
Up from nap, freshen up and then on the road again…
Dinner – I have no idea yet.

Day 3 -
LOUVRE hit the big 3: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory.. We will probably have some time to enjoy more but I want to make sure to see the big 3.
LOUVRE COURTYARD
Café Marly
TUILERIES GARDEN
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE
L’ORANGERIE
CHAMPS ELYSEES
ARCH DE TRIOMPHE

Day 4 –
What have I missed????
L’ORSAY
RODIN’S GARDEN
Shopping in the St. Germaine area.
Maybe stop and get picnic items for late afternoon break on the Champs de Mars.


* Night Siene river cruise - buy tickets as you board

* purchase museum tickets - buy as you enter, or buy Museum Pass, or pre-order at FNAC and pick up

Wow! You are flying from Texas...jet lag the first day will probably rear its ugly head.
Maybe it is just me, but Paris is a great place to wander...Perhaps plan a little more for this.

The "big 3" at the Louvre can be seen in 1/2 hour if you're walking fast enough. I would visit the Louvre/Tuileries /Place de la Concorde as they are adjoining- you can get off metro stop at Louvre, walk through Tuileries and end up at Concorde.

I would suggest grouping Musee d'Orsay and Notre Dame in the same day as well.

Arc de Triomph and Champs-Élysées...window shopping is great fun... can also be grouped together as well.

Just a few suggestions...have fun!5

Just noticed the comment about opening hours for the Orangerie. My information is that it is open for individuals 12:30-7PM (till 9PM on Fridays). Closed Tuesdays. Mornings are for groups only. http://www.musee-orangerie.fr/

Here's the info for the restaurants at the Eiffel Tower:

http://www.restaurants-toureiffel.com/

There are only 2 restaurants at the Eiffel Tower, Altitude 95 & Jules Verne. The buffets are akin to concession stands. Jules Verne is expensive, but Altitue 95 may be a bit more affordable comparatively.

Definitely get a reservation for one of the restaurants ahead of time. We were shut out of dinner at the Eiffel Tower due to lack of reservations, so ended up on a dinner cruise (Bateaux Mouches) on the Seine. It was a good alternative. We enjoyed our dinner immensely AND we got to cruise the Seine.

Day 2 is a 48 hour day :)

Day 1: no need to buy Seine tickets unless you are doing a dinner cruise. The Vedettes du Pont Neuf is at the western tip of Ile de la Cite.

For restaurants, there are some good ones along the Left Bank of the Seine, east of Notre Dame. Last time I also tried Chez Clement, which is near St Michel square (they have a website).

Day 2. Good start. There are several places to eat on Ile St Louis. As you cross the bridg from Ile de la Cite to ISL, there is the Brasserie on your left, anf another restaurant (name escapes me) on your left. And, if ever you want to have dinner in this area, some nice restaurants down the main street.

I'd stop my day plans after Place des Vosges and Marais shopping, possible adding Palais Royal/Tuileries.

Day 3, Louvre and area. Louvre is HUGE, so go in with a plan or a guidebook (I've seen Rick Steve's recommended for this portion). Afterwards, lunch (Cafe Marly?), then Orangerie, Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysee, Arc That should get you to late afternoon.

Day 4 Eiffel tower, Rodin, and Orsay would fill up a day.

It's coming together.

Another vote for Chez Clement.

We had one dinner at Altitude 95 and it was throughly enjoyable. The food was quite good, as were service and atmosphere.

We had lunch on one of the isles (don't remember which one) and one of our dishes was a quiche. The place was called Au Lys D'Argent, and it was on one of the longer streets, not a short side street.

On the Ille St.Louis, I can recommend Le Caveau de L'Ille. It's a nice little place for dinner. They have a website, too.

Enjoy Paris! Don't rush through it, though.
:)>-

Wow even better ideas!

Travelnut thanks for reorganzing I really appreciate that!!

You guys are so fantastic and I truly mean that. I was running into a wall with my ideas and now I am feeling a little less overwhelmed with the direction you all have provided.

Thanks again and keep the ideas rolling!