Three Days In Paris
Days one and two from the 2-day itinerary, plus a full day at Versailles — or a deeper Paris day.
Three days is when Paris starts to feel like a place you know rather than a city you're visiting. Day one and two follow the two-day itinerary. Day three gives you a choice: the grandeur of Versailles, or a slower Paris day that takes you to places most visitors never reach.
Day 1 — The Left Bank Masterpieces
Louvre (9am, 2 hours), Tuileries walk, bistro lunch, Musée d'Orsay (2pm), Saint-Germain aperitivo, dinner at Au Pied de Fouet. Full schedule here →
Day 2 — Eiffel Tower, Marais & Montmartre
Eiffel Tower (8:30am), Seine cruise (11am), Marais lunch and exploration (1pm), Montmartre evening. Full schedule here →
Day 3 — Your Choice
Versailles Full Day
8:45am — Leave Paris
RER C from any central Paris station to Versailles-Château-Rive Gauche. The train runs every 15 minutes and takes 40 minutes. Buy a return ticket (€4.50 each way).
9:30am — Palace of Versailles
Book tickets online well in advance. The Hall of Mirrors is the centrepiece — 357 mirrors, 20,000 candles, the room where the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871. The State Apartments, the Chapel Royal. Allow 2 hours inside.
12:00pm — The Gardens
83 hectares of formal gardens designed by Le Nôtre. The Grand Canal, the Trianons, Marie Antoinette's Hamlet. Take a golf cart or bicycle to cover the distances. On Tuesdays the fountains may not run (musical fountain shows are Saturdays and Sundays).
3:00pm — Petit Trianon
Marie Antoinette's private estate within the grounds — more intimate, more interesting than the main palace. The Hameau de la Reine (her fake rural hamlet) is fascinating.
5:30pm — Return to Paris
RER C back. You'll arrive in Paris in time for dinner.
Water Lilies, Canal & Père Lachaise
10:00am — Musée de l'Orangerie
Monet's Water Lilies, painted specifically for these two oval rooms in the Tuileries. The most meditative room in Paris. Smaller and quieter than the Orsay — allow 90 minutes. Book ahead.
12:00pm — Luxembourg Gardens
Walk (30 mins) or Metro to Luxembourg. The model sailboats, the Medici Fountain, the beehives. Rent a sailboat if you have children. Buy a sandwich from a boulangerie on Rue de Medicis and eat on the terrace.
2:00pm — Canal Saint-Martin
Metro to Jacques Bonsergent (line 5). Walk the canal north from Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. Iron footbridges, tree-lined banks, the best cafés and concept stores in Paris. On a Sunday the roads are closed and locals picnic on the bank.
4:00pm — Père Lachaise Cemetery
Metro from Goncourt to Père Lachaise (line 3). 110 acres of extraordinary Victorian funerary architecture. Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Proust, Molière. Get a map at the entrance. Allow 2 hours.
7:00pm — Dinner in Belleville or Oberkampf
The 11th arrondissement around Rue Oberkampf has the best concentration of neighbourhood restaurants in Paris. Natural wine bars, Vietnamese, French bistros. Septime is here (book 3 weeks ahead). Otherwise: Les Trois 8, Le Servan, La Banane.
Find the perfect Paris hotel
For three days in Paris, staying in Le Marais or the 10th arrondissement puts you within easy reach of everything in this itinerary.