Sainte-Chapelle
A 13th-century royal chapel whose upper level is walled almost entirely in stained glass. An early slot gives you the room before it gets crowded.
Itinerary · Paris, France · 5 days
5 Days in Paris: Four City Days and a Day at Versailles
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Five days gives Paris room to breathe: four days in the city, each kept to one part of town, and one full day at Versailles. The plan starts where Paris began, on the islands in the Seine, then follows the long straight axis that runs west from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe. Versailles sits in the middle of the trip on purpose, so you can move it a day either way if the forecast turns. The last two days climb Montmartre, follow a canal to a hilltop park, and finish with the Musée d'Orsay, Napoleon's tomb and the Eiffel Tower.
Updated October 2026
- Best forFirst-time visitors with time for one day trip, who want each day to stay in one part of town
- SeasonSpring (April to June) and early autumn (September to October) are the most comfortable; summer is busiest, and the Versailles gardens are at their best in the warmer months
- PaceBalanced20 stops over 5 days
- Budget$$Nine of the twenty stops are free to enter (Notre-Dame, Île Saint-Louis, the Tuileries, the Versailles gardens on most days, the Grand Canal, Sacré-Cœur, the Canal Saint-Martin, Buttes-Chaumont and the Champ de Mars); the main costs are your hotel and the museum and monument tickets
Paris → Versailles
- Day 1Île de la Cité, Île Saint-Louis and the Marais
- Day 2The Louvre, the Tuileries and the Champs-Élysées
- Day 3The Versailles estate
- Day 4Montmartre, the Canal Saint-Martin and Buttes-Chaumont
- Day 5The 7th arrondissement
Solid line: on foot · Dotted line: a ride (train, bus, boat or taxi) · Each day's stops are numbered from 1.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
- Day 1The islands and into the Marais4 stops · Île de la Cité, Île Saint-Louis and the Marais
- Day 2The royal axis, from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe4 stops · The Louvre, the Tuileries and the Champs-Élysées
- Day 3Versailles, gardens first4 stops · The Versailles estate
- Day 4Montmartre and the Canal Saint-Martin4 stops · Montmartre, the Canal Saint-Martin and Buttes-Chaumont
- Day 5Orsay, the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower4 stops · The 7th arrondissement
Day 1
The islands and into the Marais
Why this orderSainte-Chapelle runs on booked time slots, so take an early one and see the glass before the chapel fills. Notre-Dame, a few minutes away, needs no booking and can absorb the rest of the morning. Then walk east across the footbridge to Île Saint-Louis, the quieter island, and over the river into the Marais, where the Musée Picasso closes the day in a grand 17th-century mansion.
Getting aroundOn foot all day. Notre-Dame to the Musée Picasso, across Île Saint-Louis, is about half an hour on foot without stops.
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Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris
The Gothic cathedral begun in the 12th century, back open since December 2024 after the restoration that followed the 2019 fire. It costs nothing to go in, and an optional free slot can save queueing; after an early Sainte-Chapelle visit it is the unhurried part of the morning.
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Île Saint-Louis
The smaller of the two islands, reached from behind Notre-Dame by a footbridge and lined with 17th-century townhouses. Walk its central street and its quays rather than looking for a single sight.
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Musée National Picasso-Paris
More than five thousand works by Picasso, shown in the Hôtel Salé, one of the grandest 17th-century mansions in the Marais. The building is half the pleasure.
If it rains: Trade the walk on Île Saint-Louis for the Conciergerie, next to Sainte-Chapelle: part of the medieval royal palace, later the revolutionary prison where Marie Antoinette was held before her trial.
Day 2
The royal axis, from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe
Why this orderA straight line of gardens, squares and avenues runs west from the Louvre to the Arc de Triomphe, and this day walks it. Take the earliest Louvre slot, choose two or three collections, then step out into the Tuileries for air and lunch. Monet's Water Lilies wait at the far end of the garden in the Orangerie. Finish by walking up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and climbing to its roof, where twelve avenues fan out below you.
Getting aroundOn foot, about half an hour or a little more from the Orangerie to the Arc de Triomphe along the Champs-Élysées. To save your legs, take metro line 1 from Concorde to Charles de Gaulle–Étoile.
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Museum
Louvre Museum, Paris
The eastern end of today's straight line west: the kings' palace, opened as a public museum in 1793 and entered beneath I. M. Pei's glass pyramid. Every visitor needs a timed slot; take the earliest and limit yourself to a wing or two.
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Tuileries Garden
The old palace garden between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, laid out in formal lines with ponds and movable chairs. Free, and the natural place for a midday break.
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Musée de l'Orangerie
A small museum at the west end of the Tuileries, built around Monet's Water Lilies, which wrap two oval rooms lit from above. Short on size, long on calm.
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Arc de Triomphe, Paris
Napoleon's triumphal arch, reached by an underground passage rather than across the roundabout. Climb the stairs to the roof for the view down the avenues, and stop at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the arch.
If it rains: Trade the Arc de Triomphe's open roof for the Petit Palais, a short walk off the Champs-Élysées, the city's fine-arts museum, whose permanent collection is free.
Day 3
Versailles, gardens first
Why this orderMost visitors go straight into the palace at opening and queue with everyone else. This plan turns the day around. Start in the gardens, which open earlier, walk down to the Grand Canal, then cross the park to the Trianon estate when it opens around midday. Keep the palace for a late-afternoon time slot, when the morning crowds have thinned. Versailles is on Day 3, not at the end, so it can move a day either way if rain is forecast: the gardens are most of the day.
Getting aroundRER C to Versailles Château–Rive Gauche, about a quarter of an hour on foot from the palace; trains from Saint-Lazare (Versailles Rive Droite) and Montparnasse (Versailles Chantiers) also go. Inside the estate it is all on foot, with long walks between the canal, the Trianon and the palace.
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Gardens of Versailles
Le Nôtre's formal gardens: terraces, fountains, clipped groves and long views from the palace down to the canal. Free to enter on most days; on fountain-show days a ticket is needed.
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Grand Canal of Versailles
The cross-shaped canal at the heart of the park, built under Louis XIV. Walk part of its banks, or hire a rowing boat in season.
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Grand Trianon
The quieter side of Versailles: Louis XIV's pink-marble Grand Trianon, the Petit Trianon, and Marie Antoinette's hamlet of rustic cottages around a pond. It opens later than the palace, which is why it comes first here.
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Versailles Palace
The palace itself, from the state apartments to the Hall of Mirrors. Every visitor needs a time slot; book a late one and the rooms are calmer than in the morning.
If it rains: Keep the palace and the Trianon interiors, and drop the Grand Canal. Better still, check the forecast the day before and move the whole visit to a drier day.
Day 4
Montmartre and the Canal Saint-Martin
Why this orderClimb Montmartre from the quiet side: start at the Musée de Montmartre and its gardens above the vineyard, then walk round to Sacré-Cœur and its view over the city. In the afternoon, cross by metro to the Canal Saint-Martin, with its locks and iron footbridges, and follow the water north to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, a hilly park that is the right place to end a day on your feet.
Getting aroundMetro line 2 from Anvers, at the foot of Montmartre, changing to line 5 at Stalingrad for Jacques Bonsergent, a short walk from the canal. Walk north along the water; Buttes-Chaumont is about a quarter of an hour's walk east of its top end.
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Musée de Montmartre
The hill's history museum, in one of the oldest buildings on the Butte, where Renoir and other painters once had studios, with gardens looking over the Montmartre vineyard. It gives the hill a story before you meet its crowds.
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Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris
The white-domed basilica at the top of Montmartre, free to enter, with one of the widest views over Paris from its steps.
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Canal Saint-Martin
A canal opened in the 1820s, with nine locks and arched iron footbridges. Walk beside the water and cross it on the footbridges as you head north.
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Parc des Buttes-Chaumont
A steep, romantic park made from old quarries, with a lake around a rocky island and a small temple on its cliff top. Climb to the temple for a last view of the day.
If it rains: Trade the park for the Musée de la musique at the Philharmonie de Paris, a museum of musical instruments a few metro stops away on line 5.
Day 5
Orsay, the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower
Why this orderThe last day stays in one district and needs no metro. Start in the Musée d'Orsay, with the great Impressionist collection in a former railway station. Walk along the river to the Invalides for Napoleon's tomb under the golden dome, then through the Champ de Mars to the Eiffel Tower. Book the tower for the evening of your last day, and stay nearby after dark for the lights.
Getting aroundOn foot all day. The Musée d'Orsay to the Invalides is under half an hour on foot, and the Champ de Mars runs from there to the foot of the tower.
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Musée d'Orsay
A grand riverside railway station turned museum, home of the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces. Book a time slot: the entrance areas are being renovated.
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Hôtel des Invalides
Louis XIV's home and hospital for aged and disabled soldiers, now the Army Museum, with Napoleon's tomb beneath the golden dome. The tomb is the part not to miss.
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Champ de Mars
The long lawn between the old military school and the Eiffel Tower, free and open, with the tower growing larger as you walk.
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Eiffel Tower
Where the Champ de Mars ends: the iron tower raised for the 1889 World's Fair, and the last stop of the trip. Reserve your ascent in advance, especially to the top, and wait for dark, when its lights sparkle for five minutes every hour.
If it rains: Trade the Champ de Mars for the Musée du quai Branly, by the river near the tower, a museum of the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.
Practical notes
Opening days and hours vary.
They change by place and season, and several museums and the Versailles palace close one day a week. Check each place before you go, and book a time slot wherever one is offered.
What to book ahead.
The Louvre and the Versailles palace require a timed booking for every visitor. Sainte-Chapelle runs on time slots. Book the Eiffel Tower ahead if you want the summit. The Musée d'Orsay strongly advises a time slot while its entrance areas are renovated, and the Orangerie and the Musée Picasso recommend one. Museum Pass holders must book a slot at the Orsay and the Orangerie too.
Getting around.
The metro is the quickest way between areas. Paper tickets have been phased out: load single Metro-Train-RER tickets onto a Navigo Easy card or a phone. The same ticket reaches Versailles by RER; you need one each way. Airport journeys need a separate airport fare.
From the airports.
Charles de Gaulle is linked to the centre by the RER B train; Orly by metro line 14. Both need an airport ticket.
Where to stay.
A base between the Louvre and the Marais keeps Days 1 and 2 on foot, puts Montmartre and the 7th a short metro ride away, and leaves the RER C at Saint-Michel–Notre-Dame close by for Versailles.
Questions travellers ask
Is 5 days enough for Paris?
Enough for the major sights at a comfortable pace plus one day trip, as long as each day stays in one area. It still leaves out whole districts, which is a good reason to come back.
Why is Versailles on Day 3 and not the last day?
So it can move. The gardens are most of the day and are miserable in heavy rain; with Versailles mid-trip, you can swap it with Day 2 or Day 4 once you see the forecast.
Why see the Versailles palace in the afternoon?
The palace is at its busiest in the morning. Starting in the gardens and the Trianon, and booking a late-afternoon palace slot, puts you in the rooms after the morning rush.
Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it for this route?
It can be, because most of the paid stops on this route are included: the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, the Orangerie, the Musée Picasso, the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, the Musée d'Orsay and the Army Museum. It does not cover the Eiffel Tower or the Musée de Montmartre. Add up the tickets you will actually use first, and remember that a pass does not replace the time slots at the Louvre, the Versailles palace, the Orsay or the Orangerie.
What if I only have three days?
Pick a plan built for three days rather than cutting this one down: with less time, it is better to drop Versailles and keep the city days than to rush both.
Keep exploring France
Photo credits
- The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in daylight, seen from the rear left: iankelsall1, CC0 · source
Place names from Google Maps.
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