Budget · 3-hour walk · Paris
Île de la Cité and the Left Bank in three hours
Pont Neuf, Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame, then up the hill to the Panthéon and the Luxembourg.
This is the oldest three hours in Paris: the island the city started on, the bridge that is confusingly the newest and the oldest at once, and the climb up the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève behind it. Sainte-Chapelle is the one stop that rewards planning — the upper chapel is 15 minutes of glass and two hours of queue if you arrive without a timed ticket. Everything after it is free.
The route, stop by stop
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Pont Neuf
The oldest standing bridge in Paris despite the name. Go down the steps to the square du Vert-Galant at the island's tip.
10 min here Walk here → -
Sainte-Chapelle
Fifteen minutes of stained glass behind an hour of security queue. Book a timed slot or come at opening.
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Notre-Dame de Paris
Reopened in December 2024 and free to enter, but the timed reservation slot is what gets you in without the standby line.
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Shakespeare and Company
Cross to the Left Bank at Pont au Double. The bookshop is three minutes on and the view back at the apse is the best there is.
10 min here Walk here → -
Panthéon
The climb up rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève is the only real gradient on this walk. Foucault's pendulum still swings inside.
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Jardin du Luxembourg
Finish in a chair by the pond rather than on a bench — the green metal chairs are free and moving one is the local custom.
30 min here Walk here →
More in Paris
Every walking route in Paris, or the full Paris guide for where to stay and what a day costs.