My wife and I are taking our granddaughter and my wife's sister to Paris in October. We will arrive on Thursday AM and depart on Monday AM. They have not been there before so I want them to see as much of the "sights" as possible. Does anyone have a "perfect" itinerary for 4 days that will insure a maximum use of time?

Hi OB,

Start with the miniguide to Paris at www.fodors.com.

Like ira says, start with a guide or book so you can make a list of the sights/places that interest each member of your party.

Get a map of Paris and notate where each of those places is located.
Start shifting the places into 'groupings' to prevent your sightseeing from taking you across town/back unnecessarily.

Then go online or look in the guidebook to see what days / hours the places are CLOSED - make final adjustments to the groupings based on that.

Allow 1-2 hours for a smaller museum and up to 1/2 day for the Louvre (more than that will burn you out!) Work in a couple of nice 'jardins' a la Tuileries and Luxembourg. Even the bridges crossing the Seine give pleasing views.

Place a * by 1 or 2 places on your list for each day that are absolutely 'must-see' items; if you see these, you will be content; if you miss anything else, it is not a damper on your plan.

For an overall distance rule-of-thumb, looking at the map, it is about 1.75 miles from Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre. The center of Paris is very walkable; use the Metro if you need to cover some ground.

For the day of your arrival, depending on how you handle jet-lag, plan to do outdoors things and walk a lot, coffee at cafe, etc. Try not to nap but plan to turn in about 8 or 9pm, if you can. This will help you transition into local time.

It sounds like YOU have been to Paris before, so you should be able to help recommend what a first-timer should see.

I'm a loyal fodorite, and recommend as ira does the free info here--click at the top of this screen on Destinations to get the basic Paris suggestions.
Other itinerary ideas/walking routes are at www.frommers.com, www.ricksteves.com/plan/countries, and www.paris.org

I have a file on Paris; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

I will now put in a plug for Rick Steves even though this is a fodors site. He has the book Best of Paris and not only does it have some sample itinerarys for 3-7 days, but he also includes a handy chart with the days that certain museums and sights are closed. You may also want to buy a Museum Pass because it may be cheaper in the long run, but I understand that it enables you to bypass all the lines and make the most use of your time. Have fun!

As Ira notes, the miniguide to Paris has a 3-day itinerary, which covers most of the must-see sights. The one major sight missing from that itinerary is Ste. Chappelle, my favorite sight in Paris, which can be seen easily when you visit Notre Dame.

United Airlines Hemisphere magazine has a feature called "Three Perfect Days" that I find helpful in new cities.
http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/home.htm
The one on Paris is not bad, but make sure you check the map to confirm where they say things are in relation to each other. They have the Jacquemart-Andre Museum near the Luxembourg Gardens!

shellio, thanks for providing the url for the Hemispheres site: it looks very interesting. While I was on the website, I noticed that they sell (actually, they link to the publishers of) a book called "Row 22," which is a compilation of short stories that were originally written for the in-flight magazine, each of which involves different characters who are sitting next to each other in seats A and B of row 22.

It sounded like a cute idea that might be fun to read on a plane, or to give to friends as a "bon voyage" gift. Before buying the book, I wondered if anyone here has read any of the "Row 22" stories, and, if so, what you thought of them? (Sorry for straying so far off the subject of this thread...)

Bree, I've read a number of the Row 22 stories in the magazine and have always enjoyed them. I think it's a great idea for a gift. I didn't realize they were compiled in book form; I may get it myself.