Mid-range · 12-hour walk · Paris
Paris in a day: the island to the Arc
Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle at opening, the Louvre, the Tuileries for lunch, the Orsay across the river, Rodin's garden, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe at dusk.
A day in Paris follows the river west. The two churches on the Île de la Cité open early and are at their best before the queues; the Louvre takes the late morning and the Tuileries take lunch; the afternoon crosses to the Orsay and walks the left bank to the Eiffel Tower. The Arc de Triomphe goes last because its roof stays open into the evening and the Champs-Élysées is lit from it. Book the Sainte-Chapelle, the Louvre, the Orsay and the tower in advance, or this is a day of queues.
The route, stop by stop
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Notre-Dame Cathedral
Reopened in December 2024 after the 2019 fire, with the stone cleaned pale and the spire back on the crossing. Entry is free; a reserved slot skips the line, which by ten runs across the square.
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Sainte-Chapelle
Built in the 1240s for Louis IX's relics of the Passion. The lower chapel is a dim prelude; climb the spiral stair and the upper chapel is almost entirely glass — more than a thousand scenes in fifteen windows. Go on a bright morning.
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Louvre Museum
The Mona Lisa is behind glass at the end of a crowd; the Winged Victory on the Daru staircase and the Italian gallery beside it are the better twenty minutes. Two and a half hours is enough for one wing done properly, which beats three done badly.
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Jardin des Tuileries
Lunch. The kiosks in the garden are fine and the green chairs round the octagonal pond are free; the Orangerie at the far end holds Monet's water lilies if you would rather eat faster.
45 min here Walk here → -
Musée d'Orsay
Over the footbridge to a Beaux-Arts railway station. Go straight to the fifth floor for the Impressionists and the view out through the great clock; the rest of the building is a bonus.
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Musée Rodin
The Thinker, the Gates of Hell and the Burghers of Calais are all in the garden among the roses, so a tight day loses little by skipping the house.
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Eiffel Tower
Book the summit for the late afternoon. Walking the stairs to the second floor is cheaper than the lift, often faster than its queue, and the better way to see the ironwork.
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Trocadéro
Across the Pont d'Iéna for the view of the tower everyone has seen. After dark it sparkles for five minutes on the hour.
20 min here Walk here → -
Arc de Triomphe
Up Avenue Kléber to the roof, which stays open late, for the twelve avenues radiating from the star and the Champs-Élysées lit all the way down towards the Louvre, where the day began.
More in Paris
Every walking route in Paris, or the full Paris guide for where to stay and what a day costs.