We are going to be in Paris for a day in September and would like to know if we can get to most of the major attractions by walking. Eiffell Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Palace de la Concorde and Notre Dame.

I guess it depends on where you're starting from.

You may not have enough time to walk to each place and visit it (but you don't say that you want to visit or go inside any of these places). Perhaps you only want to walk by and see the Eiffel Tower and Arch of Triumph from the outside. If you only want to see these four sights and not go inside and are starting from a central point in Paris or starting from the Eiffel Tower then the answer is yes.

If you would care to give more complete information to get more accurate responses that would be good too!

You can use mappy.com to plan a pedestrian route among these four places. Mappy will give your the miles or kilometers and the time between sights.

Here's a walking itinerary. Stop and visit what you want along the way. Here's a suggested route. Start on foot at Ile Saint-Louis, it's the island right next to Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame is located). Walk down the main street in the middle of the island (very charming). Cross the bridge to Ile de la Cite and you'll be right in front of the backside side of Notre Dame. Cross to the right bank and walk along the Seine to The Louvre. Enter the first street entrance to the Louvre and you'll be in an interior courtyard. Look through the door facing west and you'll see the pyramid. Walk in that direction and you'll soon enter The Tuilleries Gardens. Walk through them and you'll arrive at Place de la Concorde. At this point you should be able to see the Eiffel Tower on your left, across the Seine and maybe 1km+- away (a rough guess on my part. You can continue straight ahead to the Champs Elysees and beyond to the Arc de Triomphe if you want, or walk to the tower. The tower and arch are roughly 1km apart (again, a rough guess, check mappy.com).

If you walk without stopping from Ile Saint Louis to Place de la Concorde I don't think it would take more than 45 minutes to 1 hour (remember, non-stop). From there, you can see the Arc and the tower and decide if you want to continue walking or take the metro.

This walk will bring you past many of the most famous monuments in Paris, which are generally right along or near the river.

Thank you for the great info.

Depends how far you are willing to walk! Seriously. We did what you asked about in a (long) day. We were staying in the Latin Quarter and took the Metro up to Eiffle Tower first thing. Then slowly (just using a city map) walked/worked our way back. What we did by sounds very much like that is described in the post above. We poked around quite a bit and stopped for lunch along the way.

When you say a day...perhaps you might tell us what time and where you arrive...and similarly for leaving.

FMT has some good ideas. There is also a nice park at the western tip of Ile de la cite with nice views. It is also the location where you could catch a Seine cruise. Two lunch spots would be Ile St Louis or Place des Vosges.

If you do walk over to Louvre, across the street is Palais Royal, a nice little park surrounded by old buildings.

Palais Royale is a good stop along the way. As you walk from Place de la Concorde towards the Champs Elysses you will pass, on your left, The Grand Palais and The Petit Palais, also worth a look. Of course, next to them is The Pont Alexandre III (the most beautiful bridge in Paris) but you can pass that and Les Invalides on your walk back from the tower.

Other people mentioned walking to Place Des Vosges in The Marias and that is also a good suggestion. There are a million good suggestions as to what you should see but a lot of it is matter of opinion. If you haven't been here before and have limited time and want to see the most famous and iconic sites of Paris, then the walk you had planned is the one to do. I would suggest doing it a relaxed pace and when you feel hungry make sure to stop along the way and eat some French food and drink some wine. If you feel tired but not hungry then stop at a cafe and people watch. Don't forget to look in store windows and check out the eye candy. Of course, you'll be in the most touristic areas and the things you'll see and the places you'll eat are mostly for the tourists but I assure you it won't diminish your experience.

I suggest trying to make this as relaxing as possible and skip time consuming things like the Louvre or waiting in line to go up the tower. Don't rush to see things you don't have time for. Look at the people, the parks and the buildings instead. Notice how even the lampposts for the streetlights are works of art (especially in the Place de la Concorde). If you relax and enjoy the sights and sounds you'll soak up much more of the vibe of this beautiful city, and its romantic aura is the true essence of Paris. It will leave you longing for another visit. And another. And another.

One more thing. I did check on mappy.com and to walk from Notre Dame to The Arc, then to The Tower and then back to Notre Dame takes just under 3 hours. This is non-stop walking, of course.

FrenchMystiqueTours,
Thank you for your help. Since we have such a short time in Paris I am with you on taking in the sights,people, sounds and the vibes of the city.

Thank you for your help.

Glad to help ruthca. I've just read a couple of trip reports here on the forum from people's Paris trip. Find them and read them. They both were so happy they did things in a relaxing way without trying to see everything. The last I just read said she had a whole list of things on her "to do" list and didn't make it to most of them. She relaxed instead and said she had a better time. I'm sure you will too by using this approach. It's about what you'll see on the way to your attraction as much as it is about the attraction itself.

One more tip. It might be helpful to buy a map of Paris before you come and spend some time getting acquainted with the city and where everything is. If you can find one that superimposes the Metro lines on top of the map, even better.

My favorite map was a freebie I picked up after I arrived Paris. It showed all the famous sights, sites, monuments, parks, etc. I like a paper map because I add notes to it as I go along.