Paris Itinerary
 

My wife & I will be in Paris at the end of September. We are thinking we will stay in the city for 4-6 days. We don't want to kill our 72 year-old bodies by trying to do/see everything quickly. I'm going to list some obvious places to visit and I would appreciate you experts on Paris to suggest how to order these so we have some down time each day. Maybe we only try to do 2 of these each day. We will be staying in the St. Germain section of the city. These are listed in no particular order:

Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe & Avenue Des Champs-Elysees
Napolean's tomb, Invalides
Sacre' Coeur
Tuileries Garden
Louvre (evening guided tour?)
Notre-Dame
Sorbonne
Place de la Bastille
Versailles
Etc.

http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

Since you are going to several expensive museums check out the Paris Museum Pass - sold at any participating museum and gives priority entrance at Louvre, Versailles and others.

Also good for climbing the towers at Notre Dame - which I highly recommend- though it is quite a climb.

the Orsay Museum to me is a must -much more enjoyable to me in many ways than the Louvre.

You've got one obvious (if long) walk here... Start at the Arc du Triomphe, walk down the Champs-Elysees. Because it's a long, long street, perhaps just walk as far as the George V metro station. Let on the #1 line and take it east to the Concorde station.

Get off at the Place de la Concorde. From there, look to the south, across the Seine, and you'll see Les Invalides. Walk across the bridge if you want to visit. Otherwise, continue walking from Place de la Concorde through the Tuileries ... which will take you straight to the Louvre.

Past the Louvre, continue your walk on north side of the Seine. Cross the Pont Neuf to the Ile de la Cité and Notre-Dame.

I suggest getting a copy of The Eyewitness Guide to Paris and following the suggested itineraries. That will save you considerable back-tracking.

With only 4-6 days I'd probably skip going out to Versailles myself.

What are you wanting to do at the Sorbonne?

No Eiffle Tower? No Luxembourg Gardens?

As far as planning, I personally would get a paper map and just dot out the various locations, and group them into logical order. Allow plenty of time for walking, sitting in a cafe for a coffee or wine to rest, use taxis when needed.

The Sorbonne isn't a muséum, and if you aren't a student, you won't be able to accèss the proprerty.

If you décidé to go to Versailles, I think I would recommend taking a half-day, air-conditioned bus tour.
Otherwise, you'll be exhausted.

Thank all of you! Excellent suggestions. My first task is to get a good map of Paris and determine where everything is and make a logical and efficient order of visits. The Paris Museum Pass sounds like something we ought to get. Obviously, this is a work-in-process but we are 60+ days out and I need to tie down a number of reservations.

I agree that Musee d'Orsay is more enjoyable than the Louvre.

If you love Monet, when you visit the Tuilleries you will end at L'Orangerie where the huge water lilies canvases are...it is amazing to see.

You mentioned Place de la Bastille...if you are not aware, there is nothing to see there, really. Nothing exists of the Bastille today and all there is to see is the Juillet column. You may know that already. However, the entrance to the Promenade Plantee is close by and may be an enjoyable walk for you.

I would check out Luxembourg Gardens since you are staying in St Germain. Instead of the Sorbonne, consider Musee de Cluny and/or Pantheon which are close in the 5th arrondissement.

The Bastille area however does have some great markets -like in Place d'Allegre.

Arc de Triomphe & Avenue Des Champs-Elysees

Champs-Elysee, take the #80 bus and ride along it. Arc de Triomphe may be nice if you go up, otherwise not a "sight". Take a city bus to go past it.

Napolean's tomb, Invalides

One very cool thing in Invalides: military maquettes. They have a special "museum in museum". And to learn something about French militarism.

Sacre' Coeur

Not bad, Get some insight on the Paris Commune: that church was built on the bodies of the Communards, so to speak. It's a fascinating area if you like people watching. There's a very nice small park to the back of Sacré Coeur. Lovely to sit there: not many people seem to find it.

Tuileries Garden

You walk through them to get somewhere else. Orangerie is there: that's something you might want to see. I also like Jeu de Paume for Photography + de building is interesting.

Louvre (evening guided tour?)

Too large of a museum, to have an intimate, Parisian, experience. Instead, go to Musée Rodin, most for its sculpture garden, although the house is also very nice and fascinating.

Notre-Dame

Sainte Chapelle will perhaps be more spectacular if it's a sunny day. A bit of a hassle to get into and long lines, but worth it, more than Notre Dame. If you have time, make a stop at the Holocaust monument. It's in the tip of the island, partly underground, and a really worthy experience.

http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/RESOUR...LERY/PARIS.HTM

Sorbonne

Why? There are numerous "Sorbonnes" all over town. Paris university is huge and it's spread all over town, mostly on the Left Bank. Instead, do the Cluny Museum. Again, an interesting building and great medieval art.

Place de la Bastille

It's a roundabout with a pillar. But you might like a walk along Canal St Martin, especially the eastern end, up to Bassin de la Villette even.

Versailles

I'd spend all my days in Paris, so that you can begin to wander. Wandering in Paris is the nicest thing there is.

Etc.

Bonus

Parc des Buttes Chaumont.
The little Park just off the Grand Palais by the same landscape architect.
Do a bakery hunt for prizewinning bakeries.
See all Paris "passages", have Indian food at Passage Brady
Go to a couple of markets. For instance, there's a great one in the 15th, under the railway line
Walk the Avenue Plantée, from Place de la Bastille
Go to Institut du Monde Arabe and have lunch in their rooftop restaurant: great views.
In general, use the bus system to see a lot of Paris as you travel from one destination to the other. But also dare to get off the bus if you see an interesting area and wander around a bit, have coffee on the street corner and sit and watch for a while. Paris has an excellent urban infrastructure, with everything you need as a flaneur.

Pompidou Center - Modern Art Museum and free to go to roof for bomb views over Paris.

Hi,
I would avoid Versaille as you are staying for rather short time.

And also, why do you want visit Sorbonne?


i would also include in your plan Luxembour gardensas I love them
You can have a look here
https://tripplannera.com/france-paris-trip-planner
to plan your trip.

And try to bu the museum tickets beforehand to save money
http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

It's easy to download a complete map of Paris using Google. Best of all, it's free, and you can enlarge or shrink it before you print it.

You can also enlarge Gooogle Maps to see where the Metro or Bus stops are. Just hover over the blue bus icon or Metro station.

The sights most people want to see are contained in roughly a 3 x 2.5 kilometre area. You can walk from one place to another fairly easily. If it's a long distance and you don't have much time, take the Metro. The Bus can eat up a lot of time.
It's a good idea to learn how to use this website, which explains transport options and how to use them correctly: ratp.fr

Google Maps Street View will give you different options of the time it takes to get where you want to go - by walking, Metro or Bus.

You won't be able to do everything that people suggested you do - mostly due to waiting in line.
Or they have suggested a lifetime of stuff that would require several trips.
Make sure that you go on the days
the things you want to see are open.

fuzzbucket, I think buses are better than the metro if you really want to see something of Paris and have a bit of local flavour. Also, they're step free so getting on and off is very easy, better than navigating some metro stations.

RATP also has a good app, but I would advise citymapper: excellent public transport information.

everything I read above would fit into 4 days comfortably. With time to spare.

I presume the OP just wants to see the Sorbonne, the main building, and why not, it is very famous It's in an area most tourists are at some point, anyway, it would be hard NOT to see it (I'm talking about the main building on place de la Sorbonne, just below the Pantheon). Of course the OP doesn't want to go to some Sorbonne building around Censier or Nation (which is where I had some classes). It is one of the oldest universities in the world, after all. Now you can take a guided visit of some parts of it, but that isn't so easy to explain and sign up for, so I'll assume it's just to see that area and around it.

But you can do more than 2 of these per day, at least some of them. That is one example. The Sorbonne is very near Luxembourg gardens which you might want to see, and the Pantheon. IN fact, in one day, I think you could easily do Notre Dame plus Sainte Chapelle plus the Sorbonne, Pantheon and Luxembourg gardens in one day.

One of the best things to do in Paris is to find a nice sidewalk cafe one with a view if possible, order something to drink,and indulge in some people watching. I'm not going to suggest any sites as others have done a good job, but try an ice cream/ gelato at Amorino's. There are several locations in Paris including one on the Left Bank. Google. Berthillon is an other excellent ice cream venu, but Amorino is more fun.

IN fact, in one day, I think you could easily do Notre Dame plus Sainte Chapelle plus the Sorbonne, Pantheon and Luxembourg gardens in one day.>

throw in the Cluny Museum as well? right on the walk from N D area to Pantheon.

I haven't read all of the posts, but this struck me.
\ou've got one obvious (if long) walk here... Start at the Arc du Triomphe, walk down the Champs-Elysees. Because it's a long, long street, perhaps just walk as far as the George V metro station. Let on the #1 line and take it east to the Concorde station.

Get off at the Place de la Concorde. From there, look to the south, across the Seine, and you'll see Les Invalides. Walk across the bridge if you want to visit. Otherwise, continue walking from Place de la Concorde through the Tuileries ... which will take you straight to the Louvre.

Instead of walking this, you can take a bus straight down the Champs doing this and believe me--that is ENOUGH of the Champs Elysees. It is a wide avenue of shops and the most sterile part of Paris.

Someone recommended the DK Eyewitness Guide to Paris. I also recommend this book for one BIG reason--it gives you an area of Paris and all its sites in a very graphic form so you can gather your day in an efficient way.

The museum recs are great.

@bu67, the number 80 bus is excellent for a drive along Champs Elysées. Also it starts at Champ de Mars (Eiffel Tower) and ends up in Montmartre.

http://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/paris...ghtseeing.html

but note that routings will change, the RATP app/site are an excellent resource.

For a brief visit, watch out for closure days, often Monday or Tuesday. Check closure days for your favorite sites before you set the exact days of your trip.

We have finally decided and booked a hotel in the Invalides and Eiffel Tower Quarter. Now we will begin "planning" each day's activities/visits. 3 1/2 days total (about noon on Wednesday through Saturday night). We have to leave Paris about mid-day Sunday.

>>> We don't want to kill our 72 year-old bodies by trying to do/see everything quickly.

This is usually due to a mismatch between your time allocation and the scope of the actual visit. How long does a venue take? No one can tell you that. You might have passing interests at a large museum and intense interests at a tiny museum. If you take someone's recommendation at face value without really thinking how you want to visit, you will ended up "do/see everything quickly." Also, how you connect venues adds to time and energy. Some places are well connected by metro while other connections require a lot of walk at the street level plus a lot of walking changing transports.

>>> Maybe we only try to do 2 of these each day.

Many people use this kind of rule and I think many people end up doing too much or leaving a lot of money on the table. If the energy expended is the key metric, look at the itinerary using that metric, not some in personal number that might have nothing to do with your concern. Some "2" activities are exhausting while some other "5" activities are not. A couple who visited Paris for the first time just did what you wrote, "Arc de Triomphe & Avenue Des Champs-Elysees". They also indicated they did not want to get tired running around. I mentioned Champs-Elysees was a boring sterile avenue for the most part. Since they were planning to walk past Orangerie and they had a museum pass, I recommended just stop by there during the walk. Rest and visit - two for one at no cost including a free clean restroom. But no, it meant "3" things. They lamented they did not have time left to take a special trip to Orangerie later even though they were interested in Impressionist paintings.

How dressy will Paris be in late September? On another website, some people were recommending to bring mostly black pants and be prepared to layer. Most of my travels in the past have been with blue jeans and khaki Dockers trousers and long and short sleeve sport shirts. I am not planning to take a sport coat, just a water-repellent jacket with hood, a sweater vest or two, and collapsible umbrella. Your thoughts?

Sounds a perfect clothing to me.
I spend half my professional life in paris and I am most of the time wearing jeans and polo's or shirt.
I am not aware of a colour favoured over others.

I'd forget the umbrella - it will be useless in the wind. Get a rain had or good, instead.
Might be too warm for jeans. Think you'll be fine with medium-weight Dockers.
Any color is fine - Dockers come in black.
The most important thing is well-broken in walking shoes and cotton blend socks.
If you need a scarf, you can buy one anywhere.

Remember that some supermarkets close around 1PM on Sunday.

Many restaurants close on Sunday and/or Monday, so check before you go.
Department stores are open on
Sunday.

Someone already mentioned this...but I think the Cluny is a great choice. With limited time, I'd skip Versailles (unless you really, really want to see it), because it really does take the better part of an entire day to see.

I aslo am a big fan of taking the buses. It takes a little more "pre-trip" research to get a handle on the routes that are of main importance to your hotel location (as opposed to the Metro, which is incredible simple to navigate), but it is worth it in terms of (a) seeing the city while you move from place to place, and (b) convenience, for many short distance moves.

One more thing: Find a tour book that has a left bank walk that will show you the main sights in an efficient walk.

A stop at Place des Vosges is always pleasant in the heart of the Marais.

If you opt for only one art museum pick based on taste:

Louvres - Pre-1870 , mostly
Orsay - Impressionists and post-impressionists
Pompidou - Twentieth century to present

As you can tell, most folks like the Orsay best, but it really is a matter of taste. If you are crazy about Dutch masters or Renaissance masters, the Louvre is the place to be.

Going up the Eiffel Tower is fine, but you basically have a choice:
1. Buy in advance and risk bad weather/view
2. Buy there and wait in line for a long, long time
Alternative is see it from a Seine cruise or from across the river at Trocadero.

ssander

The drawback to going to the top of the Eiffel Tower is that the Eiffel Tower is not in the view. Consider instead the top of the Montparnasse Tower, especially around sunset, and avoid the hassle of the ET. Or, take the tethered balloon in the parc André Citroën, and reach the same height as the top of the ET with no building at all.

http://www.ballondeparis.com/fr/ball...0-presentation

Disclaimer about my recommendation not to go up the Eiffel Tower: Our first trip Paris, we did go up -- as is the desire of most first-time visitors to Paris.

However, that was in October 2011, one month after 9/11, and there were no crowds in Paris. (In fact the plane we ere on--from PHL--was more than half empty...we each got to lie down in four seats in both directions.)

Nevertheless, regardless of my apparent hypocrisy, I still tell my friends not to bother going up. Most ignore me. :-)

ssander

Another suggestion in addition to the good ideas of earlier posters: Take an evening cruise on the Seine. Very relaxing after a busy sightseeing day and lovely to see the city, bridges and especially the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. A memorable way to cap a day in Paris ( and you can prebook online from home).

The obvious places that you have listed are definitely worth visiting. I genuinely suggest you to check out Headout.com where you can easily book most of these places in advance. There are guided tours available, priority access to Eiffel Tower summit with a host, Notre Dame Cathedral Guided tour, Versailles Guided tour with lunch and transfers, Guided tour to Louvre Museum etc.
I am sure this a perfect place for you to order tickets.
Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Even better than going up the Tower or looking at it from another height is to have a picnic in the Champs de Mars underneath it. I also like to view it from the top of the Galeries Lafayette, along with all of Paris (as we used to do from La Samaritaine)

I hear your concern about not exhausting your 72-yr-old bodies. As the possessor of a body only marginally younger, I'd like to suggest what works best for me--after an hour or so of walking, we find a cafe and get something--a Perrier, a coffee--and rest for fifteen minutes or a half hour. That's enough to recharge our batteries for a while. Then, later, we take a break for lunch. In the afternoon, rinse and repeat. We have favorite cafes, in places with great people-watching, or we just find a spot that's appealing, depending on where we are. For example, you say you want to see the Sorbonne. As others have said, the Sorbonne doesn't have an open campus; it's buildings spread all over the place. But if you like, you can find a cafe in the place de la Sorbonne and soak in the architecture of the Sorbonne chapel, built by Richelieu in the 17th century.

In St. Germain, the cafe Bonaparte across from the church of St. Germain des Pres may be in one of the most touristy locations on the planet, but it's nonetheless a wonderful place to sit for a while and drink in the view. Or after your visit to Notre Dame, walk behind the church and cross the pedestrian bridge onto the Ile St. Louis. JUst to your right will be a small cafe with a drop-dead view of the buttresses and the buildings lining the quai to the right of Notre Dame. Touristy? You bet. But iconic.

As for what particular sites you visit when, let your own interests guide you. If medieval art bores you into a coma, you can skip the Cluny. As for the Eiffel Tower, for my money you're much better off strolling the Pont des Arts on the hour at night and watching it twinkle in the distance than going through the hassle of fighting the crowds to get to the top. But ultimately it's your trip and your call.

Anyway, have a wonderful time.

Gretchen makes a good point...the Galleries Lafayette (great department store) rooftop (free and with an elevator) has a great view of the city.

ssander

And a good sushi bar if I remember well.

Do any of you have any thoughts and recommendations about an evening Seine River cruise? With dinner?

Cruise yes. Dinner, no. Eat much better elsewhere for less.

Do any of you have any thoughts and recommendations about an evening Seine River cruise? With dinner?>

several companies that seem to be clones of each other. Look for discount coupons that are ubiquitous.

wine and cheese cruises may be nice but I'd rather be looking at the illuminated sights than food.

>>> Do any of you have any thoughts and recommendations about an evening Seine River cruise? With dinner?

It depends on what you are looking for.

I have avoided this during my past visits to Paris, but this year, we happened to be Paris with a couple visiting Paris for the fist time. They wanted to do Bateaux Mouches, so we agreed to join them.

Time: There were two departures. 6pm and 8:30pm. The 8:30pm was timed to hit the 10:00pm Eiffel tower sparkles, so that is what we did. The earlier one is cheaper. You realize that the cruise ends quite late and depending on which on you take, it is not that close to public transit stops. Some taxis are usually waiting at the dock, but I suspect there might not be enough for those getting off the boat last.

Sightseeing: Having seen all the attraction near the river many times from the land, cruising was a poor way of looking at things except for two item. You are too far and too low to look at things. The two views not available from the land was the sunset behind Notre-Dame seen from the middle of the river. Another one was the Statue of the Liberty located on Ile des Cygnes. The boat "circled" in front of the Statue several times to allow people sitting on both sides to see the lit up Statue. The boat was timed to hit the 10:00pm Eiffel Tour sparkles. To take advantage of this, you need to sit on the left side in case of Bateuax Mouches dinner cruise, that is the dock side of the boat when you get on. However, they assign tables, so we happened to get the better side of the boat. You get much better view of the night lit Eiffel tower from land, however.

Meal: As I expected, this was not a highlight. It seemed to be prepared for a common denominator taste. It was not what I would find in a typical Paris restaurant that gets listed on the higher rating end of reviews.

Who rides this: I saw mostly middle age and above. There were a few young business couples. I did hear a few French speaking group, but mostly English speakers.

Music: I thought what they played reflected the passenger mix. A lot of U.S. oldies, some international and Russian oldies.

Value: For me, the value was neither the view nor the meal, but a time to chat with our friends. It was enjoyable for that purpose.