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, and a Seine cruise at dusk. Day 2: the Louvre at opening, the Tuileries and the Musée d’Orsay. Day 3: the Eiffel Tower in the morning and the Arc de Triomphe at sunset. Day 4: a day out, Versailles by the RER C unless you are in Paris on a Monday, or a city day at the Palais Garnier and Montmartre. Keep the Orsay and Versailles 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 Versailles Passport (€35 April to October, €25 November to March). Or book a tour: a guided Louvre tour with entryad (from £67.20) and the Versailles coach trip with palace entryad (from £67.71) are sold on GetYourGuide’s own calendar, which stays open 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 |
| 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 |
| Versailles | €35 Passport April to October, €25 November to March | Coach trip with palace entryad from £67.71 | chateauversailles.fr | Every visitor books a palace time slot; closed Mondays |
- The Paris Museum Pass is €85 for 48 hours from parismuseumpass.fr. It does not replace the time slots: pass holders still book the Louvre, the Orsay and the Versailles Passport.
- Where to stay: a hotel in Le Marais, Saint-Germain, the Latin Quarter or by the Louvre puts most of the first two days on foot; see where to stay in Paris and where to stay in Le Marais.
Which day goes where
The four 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 1 or Day 3. Day 2 has the Orsay, and Versailles is closed |
| A Tuesday | The Versailles day. Day 2 has the Louvre, which is closed |
| A Wednesday or Friday | Day 2, for the Louvre’s late opening to 21:00 |
| A Thursday | Day 2, 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).
The vault and stained glass of the upper chapel of the Sainte-Chapelle. Photo: Stockholm, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notre-Dame
Île de la Cité · free to enter · the towers are a separate ticket
The cathedral is at the other end of the island, about 450 m from the Sainte-Chapelle in a straight line. Entry is free; the towers are a booked ticket, described in 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).
The Latin Quarter and the Luxembourg Gardens
5e and 6e · on foot from Notre-Dame
Cross to the Left Bank for the streets round the Sorbonne, the Panthéon and the Luxembourg Gardens. With no ticket to catch, this is the afternoon to walk without a plan.
The basin in the Luxembourg Gardens, with the Palais du Luxembourg. Photo: Guilhem Vellut, 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
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 Musée d’Orsay
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 and lists the museum’s own 90-minute route.
The Tuileries to the river
1er and 7e · about 700 m in a straight line from the Louvre to the Musée d’Orsay
Walk west through the Tuileries garden for lunch, then cross the Seine to the Left Bank for the Orsay.
The octagonal pond in the Tuileries garden. Photo: Moonik, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Musée d’Orsay
Left Bank, 7e · closed Mondays · €16 online, €14 at the museum · open 9:30 to 18:00, to 21:45 on Thursdays
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in a former railway station on the river. Book online before you go. It is free on the first Sunday of the month, but you still reserve a ticket. On a Thursday the late opening lets the Louvre take the morning and the Orsay the evening.
Day 3: the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe
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).
From the tower to the Arc
About 1.7 km in a straight line · metro line 6 from Bir-Hakeim to Charles de Gaulle–Étoile
The Trocadéro gardens, across the river from the tower, are on the way. The afternoon is free for the Champs-Élysées or a boat: the Seine cruise from the Eiffel Towerad is from £15.43 (4.4 stars from 91,230 reviews, 1 hour).
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 Champs-Élysées from the roof of the Arc de Triomphe. Photo: Jorge Láscar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Day 4: a day out
Versailles, Giverny and Reims are each a train ride from Paris and back the same evening. The other two, Mont-Saint-Michel and the D-Day beaches, are 14-hour coach days. Prices are the operators’ own; tour prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” price on 30 September 2026.
| Trip | Closed | Entry | Tour from | Getting there alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Versailles | Mondays | €35 Passport April to October, €25 November to March | £67.71 | RER C to Versailles Château–Rive Gauche, then 10 minutes’ walk |
| Giverny | November to March | €13 | £59.14 half-day | Train from Saint-Lazare to Vernon-Giverny, then the shuttle |
| Reims and champagne | Houses open on set days | Mumm cellar visits €30 to €60 | £197.13 | TGV to Reims, 45 minutes |
| Mont-Saint-Michel | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December | Abbey €16 April to September, €13 October to March | £76.28, 14 hours | TGV to Rennes, then a coach |
| The D-Day beaches | American Cemetery: 25 December, 1 January | Cemetery free | £104.57, 14 hours | Train to Bayeux, then a local tour |
Versailles
Closed Mondays · Passport €35 April to October, €25 November to March · RER C, then 10 minutes’ walk · tour from £67.71
Versailles is the usual fourth day. Book a morning palace slot, then walk to the Trianon estate, which opens at noon. The Passport (€35 from April to October, €25 from November to March) covers the palace, the Trianon estate and the gardens, and every visitor, free ones included, books a palace time slot. The coach trip with palace entryad (from £67.71, 4.6 stars from 7,485 reviews, audio guide) puts the ride, the timed entry and the guide in one booking. The Versailles day trip guide has every route, ticket and tour.
Giverny, or Giverny and Versailles
Open 1 April to 1 November · €13 · half-day tour from £59.14
Monet’s house and gardens take an hour and a half to two hours, and there is no skip-the-line entry, so book the ticket first. The half-day trip from Parisad (from £59.14, 4.5 stars from 3,475 reviews) is a coach trip; the combined Giverny and Versailles guided dayad is from £119.14 (4.5 stars from 1,549 reviews, 11½ hours) and runs only while Giverny is open and never on a Monday. See the Giverny day trip guide.
Reims and champagne
TGV 45 minutes · cellar visits from €30 · tour from £197.13
Reims is easy on your own: a cellar visit and lunch. A tour is worth it for the vineyards outside the city: the small-group day trip with six tastingsad is from £197.13 (4.9 stars from 368 reviews, 11 hours). See the champagne day trip guide.
Or stay in the city
A city day instead fits the Palais Garnier (€25, visits sold online only, up to 30 days ahead; self-guided visitad from £21.43), a metro ride from the Louvre, and Montmartre, where the walk up to the Sacré-Cœur and round the Place du Tertre is steep. The Montmartre walking tour with a local guidead is from £20.56 (4.9 stars from 2,822 reviews, 2 hours 20). The Paris Catacombs are closed on Mondays and sell out. For the evening, Moulin Rouge tickets and the other cabarets; for the food on the way, Paris food tours and cooking classes.
Where to eat between the sights is in where to eat in Paris, which lists places by the landmark they are near.
With three days, or in December
The 3-day itinerary drops the day out and fits the Palais Garnier and Montmartre into its three city days. 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. When to go, and what closes when, is in the best time to visit Paris.
Common questions
Is 4 days enough for Paris?
Yes, for the big sights and one day out. Three days cover the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe at a steady pace; the fourth is a day trip, and Versailles is the easiest. Book the timed tickets, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Sainte-Chapelle, before you fly.
What is the best day trip from Paris on a 4-day visit?
Versailles: the RER C runs to Versailles Château–Rive Gauche, 10 minutes' walk from the palace, and the Passport covers the palace, the Trianon estate and the gardens: €35 from April to October, €25 from November to March. It is closed on Mondays. Giverny, from 1 April to 1 November, and Reims, 45 minutes by TGV, are the alternatives.
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. A Tuesday is the day for Versailles; a Monday is not.
Can I do Mont-Saint-Michel or the D-Day beaches in a day from Paris?
Yes, but each is a 14-hour day on a coach tour, and on your own Mont-Saint-Michel is at least 3 hours 15 minutes each way by TGV and coach. With four days, Versailles, Giverny or Reims take less of the trip.
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