Paris, booked properly.
The tower, the river, the Louvre queue and the day out to Versailles. Which beat the queue, the door price, and how to jump the line.
The Louvre at nine, the Seine at dusk.
Straight past the pyramid queue to the Mona Lisa, an hour on the river as the bridges light up, the lift to the summit of the tower, and the gilded long day out at Versailles. The Paris hours worth reserving before your flight lands.
Louvre Museum Timed-Entrance Ticket
Skip-the-ticket-line timed Louvre entry gets you in fast, then wander from Ancient Egypt to the Mona Lisa at your pace.
From $26 per person
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★ 4.4Traveller favouriteEiffel Tower Entry Ticket with Optional Summit AccessFrom $2920,035 reviews
The tower is the whole point.
Everyone means to go up, then loses an afternoon to the queue at the south pillar. The fix is the right ticket: the lift to the summit, the stairs to the second floor, timed entry that skips the line, a few that pair the climb with a cruise underneath. Sort the slot before you fly and the rest of the day stays yours.
Which day out of Paris?
You will want one day beyond the city, and choosing it is half the fun. Three ways to spend it, routes and fares side by side, so you can decide and move on.
The Sun King’s palace
Versailles
1 day · from $17 · 41,579 reviews
The largest palace in Europe, an hour from the city: the Hall of Mirrors, the state apartments, and gardens that run to the horizon with the Grand Canal down the middle. Go for the palace alone, or take the full domain with the Trianon and Marie Antoinette’s hamlet. Book timed entry or the queue eats the morning.
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Monet’s garden
Giverny
5 hours · from $93 · 2,372 reviews
The house Monet lived in for forty-three years and the water-lily pond he painted over and over, with the green Japanese bridge you already know from the canvases. Best from spring to autumn when the borders are full. Half a day on its own, or paired with Versailles or the Orsay if you want the paintings and the place they came from.
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The D-Day coast
Normandy
14 hours (approx.) · from $120 · 6,877 reviews
A long but moving day west: Omaha Beach, the American cemetery above it, Pointe du Hoc and the landing museums. Small-group trips keep it personal and most include lunch. This is the one people come back quietest from, and the one they remember longest.
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Paris keeps its best hours for the evening.
Red velvet, a hundred feathers and a bottle of champagne at the Moulin Rouge, or the sleeker rooms at the Lido and the Crazy Horse. The show is set, so the choices are the seat, the sitting and whether dinner comes first. Book ahead; the good tables go weeks out.
Eat the way Paris does.
Cheese and charcuterie in the Marais, a bakery crawl before the queues, a cellar tasting that finally explains the labels. The trick is knowing which door to open, which is exactly what a guide is for.
The river is the best seat in the city.
Nearly every monument worth seeing lines the Seine, which is why an hour on a boat beats an hour in a taxi. A quick sightseeing loop by day, or dinner and the tower sparkling on the hour after dark.
The city started on an island.
Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle stand a few minutes apart on the Ile de la Cite, where Paris has been Paris for two thousand years. A good guide reads the Gothic stonework, the fifteen walls of stained glass and the Revolution’s old prison next door, and books the entry so you walk past the line.
Pick your Paris, landmark by landmark.
The city reads best one monument at a time. Montmartre for the view and the painters. The Louvre for a morning indoors. The island for the Gothic. The tower for the last of the light.
Something particular in mind?
Twelve kinds of Paris afternoon, museum to market. Choose one and the picks are ready.
One day beyond the city.
Fast trains put a lot within a morning of Paris. The palace at Versailles, Monet’s garden at Giverny, the D-Day coast, an abbey in the tide, chateaux and champagne. Home in time for dinner.
Three Paris days, in order.
Three days holds the Paris that matters, taken in sequence. The museums first, the river and the icons next, and Versailles as the big day trip.
Day 1
Start on the island
Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle on the Ile de la Cite, a slow walk along the quays, then an hour on the Seine as the light goes. An easy pace to shake off the flight.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Masterpieces and the tower
The Louvre first thing on a timed ticket, a walk through the Tuileries, the Orsay if there is time, and the Eiffel Tower booked for last light. The big-hitters, in one well-planned day.
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Day 3
Montmartre and one last night
Up the hill to Sacre-Coeur and the painters’ square before the crowds, a food or wine walk through the back streets, then the cabaret after dark. Or trade it for a day out to Versailles.
Plan day three →
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