5 Days in Paris: The First-Timer Itinerary
5 Days in Paris: The First-Timer Itinerary
Five days covers the full first-timer set: Eiffel Tower and a Seine cruise, the Louvre and Notre-Dame, Montmartre and Le Marais, the Catacombs and Orsay, then the Arc de Triomphe and the Latin Quarter to close it out. Book every timed sight before you land. Need a different length? See the 2-day , 3-day , 4-day , 6-day or 7-day version of this route.
Book these before you go: the Eiffel Tower’s timed lift (Day 1), the Louvre’s timed entry, closed Tuesdays (Day 2), Sainte-Chapelle’s 30-minute slot (Day 2), and the Catacombs (Day 4), whose tickets release exactly 7 days ahead with no walk-up option at all.
The 5-day route at a glance
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Eiffel Tower, Champ de Mars, evening Seine cruise |
| Day 2 | Louvre, Tuileries, Sainte-Chapelle, Notre-Dame |
| Day 3 | Montmartre, Sacré-Cœur, Le Marais |
| Day 4 | Catacombs, Musée d’Orsay, Saint-Germain-des-Prés |
| Day 5 | Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, Latin Quarter |
Day 1: The Eiffel Tower and the Seine
Morning: Book the second-floor lift (EUR 23.50) or the summit (EUR 36.70) through toureiffel.paris and take the earliest slot you can get; the tower is emptiest right at opening. Walk Champ de Mars afterward for the view from ground level.
Lunch: Grab something a few streets back from the tower itself, prices drop fast once you’re off the direct sightline.
Afternoon: Cross to Trocadéro Gardens for the postcard shot back across the river, then wander the 7th arrondissement at your own pace.
Evening: A Bateaux Parisiens cruise from Port de la Bourdonnais runs about EUR 19 and an hour, and it’s the easiest way to see the riverside monuments lit up without walking the whole stretch. Book an evening cruise slot since sunset departures fill first. Dinner in the 7th or Saint-Germain afterward.
Day 2: The Louvre and Île de la Cité
Morning: The Louvre needs a booked slot (EUR 22 EEA / EUR 32 non-EEA) at louvre.fr and it’s closed Tuesdays, so check your dates before you set this day. Pick two or three galleries rather than the whole museum; the Objets d’Art rooms are usually far calmer than the Mona Lisa crowd. Reserve skip-the-line entry if your dates are already tight.
Lunch: Rue de Rivoli or the Palais-Royal arcades both have quick, decent options.
Afternoon: Walk the Jardin des Tuileries toward the river, then cross to Île de la Cité. Sainte-Chapelle (EUR 16 EEA / EUR 22 non-EEA, mandatory 30-minute slots) is worth the ticket for the stained glass alone. Next door, Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024 and costs nothing to enter; a free timed slot exists but only opens 72 hours ahead.
Evening: Dinner in the Latin Quarter, then a last walk along the river , the whole stretch you’ve covered today is a single UNESCO listing .
Day 3: Montmartre, Sacré-Cœur and Le Marais
Morning: Climb Montmartre for the Place du Tertre’s street artists and the Sacré-Cœur basilica, free to enter. Keep your wrist to yourself on the steps up, the bracelet scam is concentrated right there: someone starts tying a “friendship bracelet” on you and demands payment, a firm no and walking on ends it.
Lunch: A bakery stop on Rue des Abbesses beats any cafe on Place du Tertre itself.
Afternoon: Head to Le Marais for Place des Vosges, Rue des Rosiers, and boutique browsing, it’s one of the few Paris neighborhoods where shops commonly stay open on Sundays too.
Evening: Dinner in the Marais, then a slow walk back if your hotel is central.
Day 4: The Catacombs and Musée d’Orsay
Morning: The Catacombs (EUR 31, audio guide included) release tickets exactly 7 days ahead at 10am Paris time on catacombes.paris.fr , with zero walk-up capacity, so set a reminder the week before. The site reopened this spring after a five-month renovation with better lighting and a new immersive audio guide, worth knowing if you visited before and skipped it.
Lunch: Something quick in the 14th before heading back toward the river.
Afternoon: Musée d’Orsay (EUR 16, closed Mondays, EUR 12 for Thursday evenings after 6pm) for the Impressionist collection; give it two hours minimum.
Evening: Saint-Germain-des-Prés for dinner and a coffee at Café de Flore or Les Deux Magots, you’re paying for the history there more than the espresso, but it’s worth doing once.
Day 5: The Arc de Triomphe and the Latin Quarter
Morning: The Arc de Triomphe (EUR 22 high season, EUR 16 low season) covers the rooftop terrace ticket, book ahead and go early for a lower crowd on the climb. Walk down the Champs-Élysées after, but eat somewhere else, the cafes directly on the avenue price for footfall, not flavor.
Lunch: Cut over toward the Latin Quarter for a proper bistro lunch instead of anything on the avenue.
Afternoon: Spend the afternoon in the Latin Quarter around the Sorbonne, Shakespeare and Company, and the Rue Mouffetard market street, this is the neighborhood where student-district energy and centuries-old buildings sit right next to each other.
Evening: A farewell dinner in the Latin Quarter or back in Saint-Germain, whichever fits your route home better.
Do you need to book the Arc de Triomphe in advance?
It’s recommended rather than mandatory: gate tickets exist, but booking ahead skips a real queue at the base and locks in your price before any seasonal change. High season (April through September) runs EUR 22, dropping to EUR 16 the rest of the year, so check which band your dates fall into before you buy.
What’s the one thing 5 days lets you do that shorter trips can’t?
It’s the first length with a genuine slow afternoon built in, the Latin Quarter walk on day 5 isn’t rushed toward a booked ticket the way every other afternoon on this route is. Use it to double back to a neighborhood you liked rather than following the plan exactly.
Keep your Navigo Easy card topped up through day 5; five days of flat EUR 2.55 rides adds up faster than most people budget for.