Paris for a day is doable
 

I often see people saying you need lots of days to visit Paris or any big city in Europe. I spend not even a full day and yet I got a good taste of Paris.
I think if museums are concerned PAris can be done in 3-4 nights at most even.

I did a one day trip from Amsterdam (flew with Transavia in the morning) and saw all these for a few hours:

- the Notre Damme (from outside)
- the Arc de triomphe
- walked along the Champs elysees (sp)
- walked around/next to the Eiffel Tower
- Passed by the Moulin Rouge on my way to the Garre / train station (I don't rememebr which one as it's not far from two train stations).

I returned to Eindhoven in the Netherlands for dinner by train. I even had to get off in Brussels because I foolishly have booked a ticket for two days later and still had time to go back to the Netherlands for dinner.
I even brought a box of macarons on my way to the train station in Paris as a souvenir.
So, yes, it seems Paris can be done in a day trip, sure no restaurants or going into cathedrals or museums. And I skipped the Louvre and Versailles of course. If you add them, I can see how more time is needed. But it's perfectly doable as a day trip. On the other hand Vienna and London seem somehow more spread out to be able to see so many things so fast.

If it's Tuesday it must be Belgium.

from the OP's description I think he missed visiting Paris

And I think some posters here are “of an age” and forget what it’s like to be a first-timer who has dreamt of Europe.
I was with a friend in Paris for five days. She knew I had been to London and asked if there was anyway I’d be willing to go there for one day. Well, yes!
We bought Eurostar tickets and were off for a wonderful day visit.
No, of course we didn’t see everything but we were in London!

If one just wants to go to Paris to say they have been to Paris, sure. But if they actually want to see more than two landmarks, probably not. And would require to be in close proximity to another viable city (London, I guess).

What is it with the fly bys of major cities lately? Is it social media? AI? That is fueling all of this?

I fail to see what the problem is and why all the negativity about seeing a place for just 1 or 2 days. Of course someone won’t see everything and depends on what one thinks is everything.

I live close to 2 major US cities and the US capital and haven’t seen everything. Why can’t people just be happy for others who want to share what they did with their limited time? It’s not new as suggested itineraries do start at 1 day. Lots of people can just for 1 day. I would love to have a day in Paris.

Yes, you can breathe the air in Paris and see a famous landmark with a bit more detail than in an on line video, but is that actually a visit? This shows the difference between "can" and "should."

To-MAE-to, To-MAH-to. And I fail to see the problem to let people know that sometimes their plans might be unrealistic. And Washington DC is not Paris....YMMV.

It makes perfectly sense to stay only 1 day in a big city, if you are interested in just a few monuments or only 1 or 2 museums and nothing else. But only if youare well prepared for that or can do it with a excellent local guide.
For example:
old coptic churches in Cairo
railway stations of Paris
Byzantine mosaics in Istanbul
Museo delle Scienze e Techniche Leonardo da Vinci a Milano
but all that has absolutely nothing to do with a "visit of a town"

Not to mention the benefit of cheaper airfare to Europe from the East Coast. And, as someone who has been to NYC, would NEVER suggest someone go there for a day trip. However, sure, if you live within a few hour train ride, it is plausible, I guess. I also live near two major metro areas and a major touristic area. And I also know the logistics to travel in the area. And I have seen insane itineraries from people who think they can see all of San Francisco , go to Yosemite the next day and see Lake Tahoe the same day as Yosemite. Not realistic.

The advantage of living in Europe: an efficient public transit system and interesting places.
I can take on an overnight ferry ifrom Gdynia, spend a full day in Karlskrona, and take the overnight ferry back for 369 Canadian pesos.
I can even bring my bike.

It's a pity they didn't take the train, which would have been cleaner, was probably quicker but probably cost more sadly. What does it matter if they wanted a day trip to Paris? I have seen other posters wanting to do a day trip from Paris to Amsterdam and they received plenty of advice on how to do it.
Not everyone wants to visit churches and museums.

My sister-in-law did a day trip to Paris from Buckinghamshire by train, and had a fabulous day out.

Disagreeing is not being negative...

When DH and I lived in Paris in the eighties we’d take frequent weekend trips to London and the Benelux countries. Drive out Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening. We’d have just the whole of Saturday and Sunday morning, but we went often enough and always had something specific we wanted to see/do, so it worked well for us.

I’ve read other posts from tanek so am interested in the information they present. That was the reason I even read this. I would hate for someone not to share their experience as Paris is one of my favorite places. Any time spent there is worth it to me which I enjoy hearing about. I just might learn something I didn’t already know.

I too once visited Paris for the day from London. I was taken by a client on a corporate entertainment day out. Eurostar out and back. Breakfast on the train out and champagne on the train back. We were ferried around Paris in a limo bus to see a few of the key sites Champs Elysee, Monmartre, Eiffel Tower etc. Lunch in a "traditional bistro" . We all really enjoyed the day for the experience. Whether it was Paris or the champagne, I'm not sure!. Did I get to see all of Paris? Of course not but who cares?

We have deleted four posts and edited two others for being unnecessarily argumentative. People can have different travel styles. Let's keep things civil.

If I lived in Amsterdam I would take a day trip to Paris for lunch. I’m envious 🤣

During our five+ years in Brussels and four years in Maidenhead, England, I did more than 70 day trips to Paris, either solo or with my husband. From Brussels it was especially easy, we could get from the door of our apartment to the base of the Eiffel Tower in about two hours. Of course, we always had a pet sitter lined up to keep Raisin, our English cocker, company while gone all day. From Maidenhead, the trip was faster when Eurostar trains were served at Waterloo station. Took a little longer when Eurostar moved to St. Pancras.

Sometimes I had something specific to see/do on my list, sometimes it was just for wandering around. As a general rule, my/our energy would flag late in the afternoon. That was when I usually took a tea break at a cafe with comfortable chairs -- sometimes a luxury hotel lobby or, more often, the Cafe de l'Esplanade (serves Damman Freres tea, my fav French tea brand): https://cafe-de-lesplanade.fr/ For the day trips from London, I normally bought a reduced price first class ticket, which included a light breakfast on the way to Paris and a light dinner on the way back.

If you happen to live in a European city well connected, a quick math will show that you can "do" all cities within a 2-hour flight time. Morning flight at 7ish, return around 8 gives you at least 7 to 8 hours to spend at destination. Would it be Paris, London or Vienna, you can obviously see a lot, even visit a museum, have a proper lunch...
I did a lot of these day trips when I was younger, leisure or business. But no more. It is a very long day, you need to keep an eye on the watch not to miss the flight.. and I am much more concerned by environment issues.

If only Al Gore were as concerned....jets here, jets there, meeting others who do the same......

You know, in my youth, during a layover, I took a taxi out to Salt Lake to dip a toe in and I had the taxi driver pass by the Mormon Tabernacle on the way back to the airport. I counted it as a "visit" to Salt Lake City.
No, I would not consider that so today.
To each his own,
AZ

Thank you for sharing your wonderful day with us! I am sure you have inspired other kindred spirits, with only the option of one day, to go for it!
This would be too much of a whirlwind for most of us, but others might have life circumstances, health issues or budget constraints that would love to have your one day.

I remember my first trip to Paris, upon hearing the French conversation all around me and seeing the Eiffel Tower, I giggled with delight. I am sure you absorbed some of the ambiance and treasured the sights, it sounds like it was what you hoped it would be!

Yup, I've done something similar. The metro system is decent, allowing one to move around rather quickly and especially if you get some skip-the line ticket for the places you want to visit, you can definitely visit at least 5 popular tourist attractions in a day.

I have gone from Paris to Amsterdam for day trips more than once and thoroughly enjoyed myself, so I'm sure that the reverse is possible, too. Obviously it is not ideal, but it's better tha nothing.

Yes, Paris really has that je ne sais pas even if you just walk around and don't visit any museums. I didn't even sit in a caffe or bistrot and was a solo traveler and even that way I felt the romantic vibe. Heck, I believe I felt it the moment my plane started to descend. I still remember how the clouds cleared and how I saw those Parisian Haussmann flats appearing. Really like the intro scene of a movie. :love:

Yes, it was February or March, the weather was cloudy/rainy, and I wasn't oblivious to the problems like some immigrants selling tacky things and police looking at them suspiciosly or some street corners smelling like piss, but none of these defracted from the romantic vibe. I expected to be disappointed but I liked it sooo much! It's funny how some overhyped places like Paris, Salzburg and Prague lived up to their hype for me and others like Vienna, London and Athens did not. Anyway, I'm especially glad I saw Notre Dame before the fire (my trip was in 2017). If you like a city in a dreary month that says a lot. I didn't even find the staff at the shop where I bought the box of macarons and croissants rude at all, but I know some French. Even the lady at the train station was nice and dealt fine with my then-rusty French.

I could have even had lunch and a coffee there but the vibe was so nice for even just walking arond the main sights. I really felt like in a movie. Yeah, I know that's just a glimpse of what Paris has to offer but it's apparently a city where even a glimpse is good enough! At least for me. Same like Salzburg and Prague. Vienna is the opposite, a glimpse there could be "Is that it?!". It sure beat having to be stuck in dreary Eindhoven for that day! The Transavia ticket from Amsterdam airport was really cheap. Even the train ticket PAris to NL wasn't all that much. That said I would NOT hop between different places that way. Even for a weekend I'll do just 1 city.

To those who though my day in Paris was too short, this looks like much worse. I present you a Bulgarian travel agency:

"1st day
Flight from Sofia Airport to Charleroi with Ryanair at 05:45 - 07:30. Departure for Amsterdam. Trip in the central part of the city. Departure for Antwerp. Hotel accommodation. Overnight stay.

2nd day
Breakfast. Transfer to Brussels. Downtown tour. Afternoon departure for Paris. Overnight stay in Paris.

3 day
Breakfast. Pre-lunch possibility to visit the Palace of Versailles with advance reservation. At noon, climb the Eiffel Tower and a one-hour river walk Free time along the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Return to the hotel. Overnight stay in Paris.

4 day
Breakfast. A panoramic tour of Paris. Visiting the Latin Quarter with the Pantheon and the Sorbonne, the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, the City Hall, the Louvre, the Tuileries Gardens. At noon departure for Calais. Hotel accommodation and overnight stay at Calais.

5 day
Early morning crossing of the English Channel with the Calais - Dover ferry. Breakfast on the ferry. Arrival in London. Free time or a trip with a local guide, including a combined bus and walking tour. Hotel accommodation. Overnight stay.

6 day
Free time or day trip to Windsor Castle, including transport, entrance and audio guide, booking fee. Flight to Sofia at 18:45 - 23:50 with AK Ryanair."

It's typical for Bulgarian travel agencies to cram as many places/countries as possible. I removed most mentions of sigths, but those trips basically include almost anything touristy you cna think of! So my trip to just see Paris and get a box of macarons and buy croissants was certainly less rushed than that. :)

When I first saw this thread I thought it was a bad idea. But after giving it some thought, only one day in Paris is far better than never seeing it. I'm glad you enjoyed your day.

Yes, one of my favorite days in Paris was when we took a day trip (train) to Luxembourg City.🇱🇺

I used to travel like this - like visiting was a scavenger hunt. I could do an exterior visit of nearly every landmark in Paris in one day. walked up to and touched the Aric de Triomphe and read some of the words on it as I headed down the Champs to the saw the obelisk in Place de la Concorde, walk through the Tuileries, under the arc de triomphe du carrousel, see the pyramid at the Louvre, go north to rue de Rivoli, then down to Tour St. Jacques and then the Hotel de Ville, then turn south and get onto the island and see Notre Dame, turn back west and see the outside of Sainte Chapelle, then turn up to see the Conciergerie. This scavenger hunt walk could be done in a half day. I'd likely win the scavenger hunt, but I wouldn't have seen much, really. Most of this could be done using street view on Google though. Save the expense of getting to Paris and just do it online, it won't feel much different.

We do Paris for a day, but it's easy from Belgium. Of course it can be done, but if you are flying from another continent I wouldn't advise it.
That Bulgarian itinerary is insane though.

Two opposite things can be true:
1. You don't need much time to get something out of visiting a city.
2. By moving around a lot, you spend an extraordinary amount of time and money on transport rather than being at your destination.

I have no interest in getting on a plane for a one day visit. I have done a 2½ hour drive to see something for a day. That's probably my limit. If I was in London, I would not even remotely contemplate a plane trip to Paris, even if I had never been.

However, since I have been to Paris, I can tell you I would absolutely not choose what you did for a one-day visit. Walking the Champs-Elysees is a huge waste of time for no good reason. Is it to see the Macdonalds? Or the Foot Locker? How about the Sephora store or Zara? I hear they have a Starbucks.... OMG I feel like a teenager again.

apersuader65, the "scavenger hunt" analogy made me laugh this morning. So true, and very early in our travel days, I was so guilty of that.
I find it ironic that now after 20 or so trips to Paris where that we can't possibly collect more "scavenger hunt" site points, we often DO walk like that in Paris because it's such fun city to walk around in. I'm always surprised to find at the end of the Paris day, I the couch potato just walked 10-15 miles.

shelemm, re Champs Elysee. OMG, that was my first thought. Now THAT is a street I'm never doing again.

Not really. Street View doesn't really make you feel the vibe of a place, nor are you really surrounded by locasl in real life. Many places look good on Street View but don't feel as nice in real life. Yet, Paris has this special vibe and energy. It can't be felt from photos at all. Sure, it looks beautiful on them. But photos are 2D flat. The air in Paris deffinitely felt different than that of Amsterdam.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't think experiencing the Paris air and avenues is wasted time for what felt like the cost of going out in Amsterdam. Each location has its own energy.
Some have to go to do something like see a museum, but I just enjoy a lax walk to see the main sights/symbols of a city.

Now I no longer live in the NL I wouldn't waste 3 hours of my life to fly to Paris and just do that, no way! But I did Athens for just 2 nights/3 days and it was enough for it. I didn't like it as much as I expected so I went 7 hours earlier than my flight to the airport. SO in a way I'm glad I didn't do more than 2 nights. So those probing trips are worth it if they're really cheap. I don't want to book 4+ nights in a country/city I've never been to, even 2 feel too many if you don't end up liking it. And I toally loved Athens on Street View so my disappointment was huge. Honestly, I loved the Acropolis and the beaches but nothing else.

[QUOTE=AlessandraZoe;17538160]apersuader65, the "scavenger hunt" analogy made me laugh this morning. So true, and very early in our travel days, I was so guilty of that.

The other thing we used to do, take pictures of all the sites. I was to excited to actually get pictures with US at the damn Eiffel Tower, but had dozens of the tower itself. Ended that charade on our third trip and now only take pictures of us.

Sounds like you had a great time! But as you say, it takes a lot more time to see Paris in detail. I am in awe of Paris and it would take me a lifetime to enjoy it. I've even started thinking about immigrating, but I think I need to hear more opinions about it. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience.

Well even a drop of Paris was good enough for me when you consider I lived in the dreary drabness of Eindhoven.

On this dreary, foggy day, my thoughts are once again on Paris.:sleep:

are you sure you are reading reliable sources?
All the names quoted as immigrants are 100% French. Dubuffet, no idea why he is quoted. Duras parents were civil servants who worked overseas, Camus was a prominent figure of Algeria at a time it was a French department, and Cesaire is from Martinique, a French overseas department.
Couscous was rather imported to metropolitan France by "pieds noirs", ie Europeans that had to leave Algeria for Metropole after the independence.

Yes, I think you're right.... Marguerite Duras, Aimé Césaire, and Albert Camus were not immigrants in the traditional sense of the word.

Moulin Rouge by Paris Metro
 

> Passed by the Moulin Rouge on my way to the Gare / train station (I don't rememebr which one as it's not far from two train stations).

Metro 2 Blanche station with 1 exit near Moulin Rouge.
For Nation direction (eastbound), get off at the Last carriage, so you're close to the exit.
For Pte. Dauphine (westbound), get off at the 1st carriage...