Paris 3 day Itinerary
 

Ok, so I was planning to come up with an itinerary. But then I thought of looking around for suggested itinerary. I came across a nice 3 days itinerary from Frommers. Here is the link:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...062020791.html

I thought of posting it here on two purposes. One, others who are looking for similar itinerary might benefit from this. Second, I can validate it here whether it is possible.

Waiting for your feedback.

Thanks,
RP

Guys I am back... my account was suspended apparently for confusion... I was not sure how to write back to all you wonderful people... anyway finally it is resolved. I thought I have to plan everything without your help :) Moving this thread up for your feedback.

I would use those guides only to get ideas of what sights might be top priorities for you. I am not sure how many days you have in Paris but what we tend to do is to get a good guidebook and read up on what the major sights are to visit and then prioritize them. We also try to decide which sights might be better to visit at certain times or on certain days. For example, some museums are closed on certain days, other places might be best to visit first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid long lines, etc. We then try to look at which places are near each other geographically to avoid too much time spent on transportation.

I know this doesn't exactly answer your question but I hope it is helpful.

Junk4rp: Please see my post on your thread about Frommer's London plan (it is beyond nutty).

The Paris version isn't a 'plan' -- it is essentially a list. You'll have kids w/ you and instead of seeing the joys of Paris, you'd be on a forced march ticking things off the list.

You'd really do better to just jump on one of the H-o-H-o buses - if you do 2 or 3 of the routes and you'll see all the major sites from the outside and can jump off to go inside any that interest you.

@KTtravel: Good suggestion about planing the opening times etc to have things prioritized. I will look into the TRs here to come up with a plan. I guess, it is not as easy as pick up someone's itinerary and do it.

@janisj: I will remember your warnings when we are in London and Paris, I am pretty sure! Thank you for your cautions. I will look into these in detail and pare it down with the help of the trip reports.

I think your list is fairly do-able... but make sure that pair things up that are in the same area and do the museums in the morning... less crowded in my experience. You could definitely do 1, 2, on the same day, 3,4,5 on another, and 6,7,8 on the next. For Versailles, I recommend going mid afternoon, staying for sunset and then going to a cafe and then dinner.... in the morning you could have time to visit the area around the station St. Lazare... there is some shopping too. Then on your day to the pompidou, when you are around Rue des Rosiers.. go around the Marais, shop and eat- all walking distance to Pompidou. Be cautious of your bags around Chatelet. On rue des Rosiers, there are famous little shops to get the Jewish falafels... so tasty for lunch. Then around is great shopping and a gelateria called Amorino... Have fun!!! BTW--- when you go to Versailles, don't forget to visit Marie Antoinette's farm, further out but toooo charming.

Three years ago we stayed in Paris with our 7 & 9 yo for five nights, but really only had four days to sightsee. I had a lot of places I wanted to visit, and decided for the first time I would hire a guide for one day. I went with a gentleman and artist recommended by several posters on Fodors - Michael Osman. It was really a wonderful day. He led us through the Louvre at the opening, navigating us to all the popular sites before the crowds arrived, visted the Picasso museum (my daughters request), Pantheon, St. Chapelle and Notre Dame. Having a guide who knew exactly how to get everywhere and provided commentary was so worth it. I also chose him for a very intensive day to keep us all on our best behaviour. :)

On our own, the next three days:

We took a ride on a bateau mouche with Les Vedettes du Pont Neuf which we all really enjoyed. I would pick a sunny afternoon when everyone's feet need a break. It is such a different view of Notre Dame from the water.

We climbed up the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. Kids normally will be happy climbing up anything! If you have to choose, of course pick Notre Dame.

For some down time, take the kids to the Jardins Luxembourg. There is a fee to enter the playground. Another playground which was close to our hotel was Parc Monceau, where there was no charge.

My kids, well especially my daughter liked the Catacombs. My husband did not enjoy it. So, maybe inform your kids and show them what it is to see if they want to go. It was closed for a while last year and may not even be open. It certainly makes for some impressive photos to show your friends.....

We chose not to go up the Eiffel Tower. It was a group decision. The kids were fine with not going up, and my son thought it was best to see it from directly underneath. You also get great views of the city from the top of Notre Dame.

We did visit other sites over the four days, but the above were most appreciated by my kids.

Definitely try the crepes sold at many street corners.

As for books, my son read Notre Dame de Paris (Victor Hugo) and Les Trois Mousquetaires (Alexandre Dumas) in an edition designed for kids (about 250 pages in each with illustrations), prior to going. He read them in French but my kids go to school in French so you will have judge whether or not that will work for your son. Another book my son recommended is The King in the Window by Adam Gopnik.

Hope this helps.

Yes, I can't believe I forgot the Musee D'Orsay! Duh. Add that to the list of sites appreciated very much.

@ehong8295: You mean the Frommer list that I posted, right? I am guessing that you saw all three days itinerary and think it is doable. Some fodorites thought it is not doable in 3 days. When you said 1,2 etc. are you referring to the districts or the numbers in the list? I think your suggestion about Versailles in the afternoon is good. That way we still can use the morning to do other things. Is taking a train the best way to go to Versailles?

@poutine: Hiring a guide on the first day might be a good idea. Will think about it. What do the guide approximately charge for a day? My kids already have decided to go to the top of Eiffel tower, bragging points in front of friends I guess! Climbing other places, unless worthwhile can be persuaded out. I do not know about Catacoms. Looks nice for pictures, but is it a little creepy for young kids! I do not want them to feel sad or scared seeing the bone piles etc. I will look at the books soon. My son would like to read in english I think. I will ask, whether he would be comfortable reading books in French yet (this is his first year of French class!).

Thanks a lot for all your suggestion. It is making me excited about the trip and helping plan the trip!

Either that link isn't working for me, or that's the craziest list I've ever seen. That's not an itinerary; it's a random list of things, most of which would never be on a first-timer's 3-day trip to Paris with kids. The Closerie des Lilas (sure, it's a great restaurant, but why on that list?)??.Throw that thing out the window!

What you need is a good guidebook or two plus a detailed map so you can group things to make the best use of your time, plus input from your kids about what they're most interested in doing and seeing.

I believe ehong was referring to the districts, as they are next to each other when numbers are similar, but most first timers don't have any reason to tick off specific districts as a "sight" (eg, 3).

The problem is your link only shows one day, and that list apparently has other things for other days (most important things on day one, next most important on day two and your day three is what is left for those who have more time). I think their list is basically okay for the 3 days together, with the exception of a couple things -- which are the few bars/cafes they name. There is no reason in the world someone has to go to Harry's NY bar or Closerie des Lilas. So drop those and go to whatever cafe you like and is convenient. Closerie des Lilas is expensive, also, and they have rules about where you sit and what you order (I know that from experience, they won't allow people to just sit in certain places and have a drink). I'm not talking about dinner tables, either.

Don't go to the Catacombs, it is a place where dead people are interred, it's not a Disneyland experience for people who think it is fun to see "creepy" things, which shows no respect for the dead.

StCirq & Christina: If you look at the linked site . . .

Scroll down and over on the left there is a link to "Suggested Itineraries: In one day, In two days, In three days"

Junk4rp only linked day 3 -- but all three must be considered for it to make any sense.

In other words >> If one has 1 day do these things, w/ 2 days add theses sites, and w/ 3 days add these<<

So "Day 3" isn't meant as a 3-day plan, but just the third day of a 3-day visit. My comments above were after looking at all three days -- still a stoopid plan IMO. But just to explain what's what.

Meant to add -- if you think Frommers Paris plan is weak, you should take a gander at their suggestions for 3 days in London. Paris is stoopid -- London is <B><red>STOOPID</B> </red> on steroids ;)

@StCirq: I have not reserached the Frommer list enough yet, since I still have not decided the partment I am going with. So, I do not know what every place they have. I wanted to get a validation from experienced Europe travellers, and I hear it is either not doable or kind of not an itinerray! So, I will have to come up my own list from the suggestion people have provided and from the Trip reports.

@Christina: May be ehong was referring to th sights within the districts. But I will have to decide which one are must see witin the district. So far I do have not understood all must see in paris except for a few very known one Like the Eiffel tower, Louvre, Notre Dame etc. catacomb, I thought is kind of creepy for kids, but since poutine suggested (I admit the pictures are impressive), wanted to ask. BTW, poutine has some very well thoughtout detailed suggestions of both Paris and London in earlier posts.

Yes, the Frommer lists follow most important in the first day and then second day and the third day. I like the concept, even though content is questionable at this point. It would be a probably a good idea for someone in Fodor to create a running list of best things to see per day with a reality check. The most knowledgable travellers for each city should create a list and make it a sticky (is there a concept of sticky in this forum??) so that all novice travellers like me can see it first before starting so many threads.

I don't think it's ever useful to have a "running list." There are no "best things to see," only the things you want to see. And it doesn't matter which apartment you choose - Paris is a very compact city with excellent transportation. You should pick what you want to see, get a map and group things well so as to save time, then make sure you're familiar with the days and hours things are open, then make allowances for how weather might affect your plans and have backups.

Things my kids have enjoyed in Paris in the past include the boat rides on the Seine, the Jardins de Luxembourg, the Mosquée de Paris, the Conciergerie (my daughter went through a major Marie Antoinette phase), Sainte-Chapelle, the Tour Eiffel, the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée Marmottan, the Marais, the Cité de Science, Deyrolles, Angelina, Berthillon, the bouqinistes, the Bois de Boulogne, the Place Beaubourg, and shopping just about anywhere. But your list might be completely different.