In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Day 1: the Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité, the Latin Quarter and the Luxembourg Gardens, the Musée d’Orsay, and a Seine cruise at dusk. Day 2: the Louvre at opening, then the Tuileries, the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe at sunset. Day 3: the Eiffel Tower in the morning, the Palais Garnier, and Montmartre to finish. Keep the Orsay off a Monday and the Louvre off a Tuesday. Book before you fly: the Eiffel Tower (€36.70 to the summit; lift tickets go on sale 60 days ahead), the Louvre (€32 for UK and US visitors), the Sainte-Chapelle (€22) and the Palais Garnier (€25, online only). Or book a tour: a guided Louvre tour with entryad (from £67.20) or reserved Eiffel Tower accessad (from £36.00) is sold on GetYourGuide’s own calendar when the official dates are sold out.
Book these before you fly
Prices are the adult rate for a visitor from outside the European Economic Area, which includes the UK and the US, from each operator’s own page on 29 September 2026. GetYourGuide prices are its lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.
| Sight | Official price | On GetYourGuide | Book at | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eiffel Tower | €36.70 summit by lift | Reserved accessad from £36.00 | toureiffel.paris | Lift tickets go on sale 60 days ahead and sell out in busy periods; stairs tickets must be booked too |
| Louvre | €32 | Guided tour with entryad from £67.20 | ticket.louvre.fr | A time slot that cannot be changed; closed Tuesdays |
| Sainte-Chapelle | €22; €30 with the Conciergerie | Combined ticketad from £21.43 | sainte-chapelle.fr | Timed entry: arrive at the time on the ticket, not before |
| Palais Garnier | €25 | Self-guided visitad from £21.43, the same price | operadeparis.fr | Sold online only, up to 30 days ahead |
| Musée d’Orsay | €16 online, €14 at the museum | Entry ticketad from £11.14 | musee-orsay.fr | Closed Mondays; open to 21:45 on Thursdays |
| Arc de Triomphe | €22 April to September (€16 on Wednesdays), €16 October to March | Rooftop ticketad from £13.71 | paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr | 284 steps to the roof; open to 23:00 in summer, 22:30 in winter |
- The Paris Museum Pass is €85 for 48 hours from parismuseumpass.fr, against £94.28 and up on GetYourGuide, so buy it from the pass’s own site. It does not replace the time slots: pass holders still book the Louvre and the Orsay.
- Where to stay: a hotel in Le Marais, Saint-Germain, the Latin Quarter or by the Louvre puts most of this on foot; see where to stay in Paris.
Which day goes where
The three days can run in any order. Move them so that no sight lands on its closing day.
| If your trip includes | Put it on |
|---|---|
| A Monday | Day 2 (the Louvre is open; the Orsay is not) |
| A Tuesday | Day 1 or Day 3 (the Louvre is closed) |
| A Wednesday or Friday | Day 2, for the Louvre’s late opening to 21:00 |
| A Thursday | Day 1, for the Orsay’s late opening to 21:45 |
Day 1: the islands and the Left Bank
Sainte-Chapelle
Île de la Cité · morning slot · €22, or €30 with the Conciergerie · 9:00–19:00 April to September, 9:00–17:00 October to March
The walls of the upper chapel are almost entirely 13th-century stained glass. Entry is by time slot, and the chapel asks you not to arrive before the time on your ticket. The nearest station is Saint-Michel Notre-Dame (RER B and C).
Notre-Dame and the Latin Quarter
Île de la Cité and the 5e · a short walk from the Sainte-Chapelle
Notre-Dame stands at the other end of the island. Entry to the cathedral is free, and the towers are a separate booked ticket: see visiting Notre-Dame. The guided tour of the cathedral, inside and outad, is from £18.00 (4.7 stars from 1,733 reviews, 1 hour). Cross to the Left Bank for the Latin Quarter: the Sorbonne, the Panthéon and the Luxembourg Gardens are a walk south.
The west front and towers of Notre-Dame. Photo: Gargarapalvin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Musée d’Orsay
Left Bank, 7e · closed Mondays · €16 online, €14 at the museum · open to 21:45 on Thursdays
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in a former railway station on the river, a walk along the quays from the Latin Quarter. Book online before you go. It is free on the first Sunday of the month, but you still reserve a ticket.
The Musée d’Orsay from across the Seine. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
A Seine cruise at dusk
1 hour · €15 online from the Vedettes du Pont-Neuf, Square du Vert-Galant
Finish where the day began: the Vedettes du Pont-Neuf leave from the tip of the Île de la Cité, with a live guide. Seine river cruises compared has the other boats and their piers.
Day 2: the Louvre and the Right Bank
The Louvre
1er · closed Tuesdays · €32 · 9:00–18:00, to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays
Book the 9:00 slot. With a morning, the Louvre’s own advice is the Denon wing, for the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Raft of the Medusa. The slot cannot be changed, and once you leave you cannot come back in. The Louvre tickets guide compares the official ticket with the guided tours.
The stone facade of the Louvre palace. Photo: Fred Romero, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
The Tuileries to the Champs-Élysées
1er and 8e · about 3.3 km in a straight line from the Louvre to the Arc
Walk west from the Louvre through the Tuileries garden to the Place de la Concorde, then up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc. This is the stretch where an open-top hop-on hop-off bus makes sense: the Tootbusad (from £31.50, 4.4 stars from 17,736 reviews, tickets for 24, 48 or 72 hours) and the Big Busad (from £33.43, 4.4 stars from 16,109 reviews, 24 or 48 hours) both stop at the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Musée d’Orsay, the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower, and each has an optional Seine cruise. Both can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before.
Arc de Triomphe
8e · €22 April to September (€16 on Wednesdays), €16 October to March · open to 23:00 in summer, 22:30 in winter
Climb the 284 steps to the roof for the view down the Champs-Élysées and across to the Eiffel Tower, ideally at sunset. Last entry is 45 minutes before closing. The Arc closes on 1 May, 8 May, 14 July and the morning of 11 November.
The Arc de Triomphe, with visitors on the roof terrace. Photo: Rijin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Day 3: the Eiffel Tower, the Opéra and Montmartre
Eiffel Tower
7e · €36.70 summit by lift, €23.50 second floor · book on the day your date goes on sale, 60 days ahead
Take the earliest slot you can get. The summit can close in bad weather or when it is busy, and there is no left luggage, so leave bags at the hotel. When the official date has sold out, the Eiffel Tower tickets guide has what to do; reserved access with a hostad is from £36.00 (4.7 stars from 7,576 reviews).
Palais Garnier
9e · €25 · online only, up to 30 days ahead · about 1½ hours
The 19th-century opera house, with its grand staircase and auditorium. Visits are sold online only; there are no visit tickets at the door. Metro 8 from École Militaire runs to Opéra.
Montmartre
18e · the Sacré-Cœur and the Place du Tertre · steep streets and steps
Finish on the hill: up to the Sacré-Cœur for the view over Paris, and round the Place du Tertre. The Montmartre walking tour with a local guidead is from £20.56 (4.9 stars from 2,822 reviews, 2 hours 20). To eat on the hill, Paris food tours and cooking classes compares the Montmartre, Marais and Saint-Germain tastings, and Moulin Rouge tickets and the other cabarets has the evening shows.
The Sacré-Cœur and its steps, Montmartre. Photo: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to eat between the sights is in where to eat in Paris, which lists places by the landmark they are near.
With a fourth day
The 4-day itinerary adds one. Take it out of the city: Versailles is 10 minutes’ walk from the RER C station, but closed on Mondays, like the Orsay. Day trips from Paris compares it with Mont-Saint-Michel, the D-Day beaches and the Loire; Reims for champagne is 45 minutes by TGV, and Giverny is open from April to October. For the full list of what to book and which day each sight closes, see what to book before you go; in December, add the Christmas markets.
Common questions
Is 3 days enough for Paris?
Enough for the big sights if you book the timed ones ahead: the Eiffel Tower (lift tickets on sale 60 days ahead), the Louvre, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Palais Garnier. It leaves no room for a day trip; Versailles needs a fourth day.
What should I book before a 3-day trip to Paris?
The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Sainte-Chapelle, which all sell timed tickets, and the Palais Garnier, which sells visits online only, up to 30 days ahead. The Musée d'Orsay and the Arc de Triomphe are worth booking to save the queue.
Which days should I avoid for Paris museums?
Monday, when the Musée d'Orsay, the Catacombs and Versailles are closed, and Tuesday, when the Louvre is closed. The Louvre stays open to 21:00 on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the Orsay to 21:45 on Thursdays.
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