5 Days in Paris: A Real Itinerary (Not the Tourist Trap Version)
A day-by-day Paris itinerary built around neighborhoods, not monuments. Where to eat croissants that change your life, which museums are worth the line, and what to skip.
Paris doesn’t need a sales pitch. But it does need a better itinerary than “Day 1: Eiffel Tower. Day 2: Louvre. Day 3: Versailles.” That plan will leave you exhausted, overfed on crêpes from tourist stands, and convinced Paris is overrated.
It’s not. You just have to know where to go.
This itinerary is built around neighborhoods, not checkboxes. Each day has a home base, a few things worth doing, and places to eat that locals actually go to. No rigid schedule — just a shape for each day.
Day 1 — Le Marais & Île de la Cité
The vibe: Getting your bearings. Walking, eating, and falling in love with the city before you even try to “see” anything.
Morning. Start at Du Pain et des Idées (34 Rue Yves Toudic, 10th). This bakery has been here since 1889 and the pain des amis — a flat, crusty, pull-apart bread — is one of the best things you’ll eat in Paris. Get the escargot pistache (pistachio snail pastry) too. Eat it on the canal.
Walk south through the Marais. This is old Paris — narrow streets, 17th-century hôtels particuliers, Jewish delis, and concept stores side by side. Wander Rue des Rosiers, grab a falafel at L’As du Fallafel (even the line moves fast), and poke into the small galleries along Rue de Turenne.
Afternoon. Cross to Île de la Cité. Notre-Dame is still being rebuilt, but the island itself is worth the visit — Sainte-Chapelle has the most stunning stained glass in Europe and the line is usually shorter than Notre-Dame’s ever was. Walk along the Seine afterward. If you’re a museum person, the Musée Carnavalet (free, history of Paris) is a 10-minute walk back into the Marais and almost nobody goes there.
Dinner. Breizh Café (109 Rue Vieille du Temple) — Breton crêpes and galettes done right. The buckwheat galette with ham, egg, and comté is the thing to order. Wash it down with dry cider.
Day 2 — Saint-Germain-des-Prés & the Left Bank
The vibe: Bookshops, cafés, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Paris of your imagination.
Morning. Walk through the Jardin du Luxembourg. Grab a chair by the Medici Fountain — it’s quieter than the main basin and more beautiful. Then head to Café de Flore or Les Deux Magots for coffee. Yes, they’re tourist spots. Yes, the coffee costs €7. Go once anyway — sit outside, watch the boulevard, and understand why Hemingway never left.
If you love bookshops, Shakespeare and Company opens at 10. Get there early. The upstairs is where the magic is — a tiny reading library with a view of Notre-Dame.
Afternoon. The Musée d’Orsay is the one Paris museum everyone should visit, even if you’re not a museum person. It’s an old train station filled with Impressionist paintings. Monet’s water lilies, Renoir’s dance scenes, Van Gogh’s bedroom. Get tickets online to skip the line. Budget 2-3 hours.
If you’re a Rodin fan, the Musée Rodin is a 15-minute walk from d’Orsay and the sculpture garden alone is worth the €13. The Thinker, The Kiss, Gates of Hell — all in one rose garden.
Dinner. Le Comptoir du Panthéon (5 Rue Soufflot) — classic bistro, no pretension, steak-frites that remind you why Paris invented the concept. Affordable by Left Bank standards.
Day 3 — Montmartre & the 18th
The vibe: The village inside the city. Steep hills, artists, and the best croissant of your life.
Morning. Take the metro to Abbesses (the deepest station in Paris — the spiral staircase is an experience itself). Walk up to Sacré-Cœur for the view over the city, but then immediately leave the tourist zone and head west into residential Montmartre.
Stop at Maison Plisson or Le Grenier à Pain for a croissant. Le Grenier won the Best Baguette in Paris competition, which means the president of France eats their bread for a year. The croissant is even better than the baguette.
Late morning. If you love art: the Musée de l’Orangerie (down by the Tuileries, not in Montmartre) has Monet’s full-wall Water Lilies in oval rooms designed specifically for them. It’s a spiritual experience even if you don’t care about art. Only takes an hour.
If you want to stay in Montmartre: wander the vine-covered streets behind Place du Tertre (avoid the square itself — it’s a caricature-artist tourist trap). Find Rue Lepic and follow it downhill past the windmills. The Moulin de la Galette is a real restaurant now, and it’s decent.
Afternoon. Take a break. Paris rewards you for slowing down. Find a bench in the Square Louise Michel below Sacré-Cœur, or sit at a café terrace and just watch the city happen.
Dinner. Le Bouillon Chartier (7 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre) — Paris’s most famous workers’ canteen, serving classic French food at absurdly low prices since 1896. Expect to wait 15 minutes, sit at communal tables, and pay €20 for a three-course meal. It’s loud, fast, and brilliant.
Day 4 — Eiffel Tower, Trocadéro & Champs-Élysées
The vibe: The Paris landmarks you came for, done without the misery.
Morning. Get to the Trocadéro by 8 AM for photos of the Eiffel Tower without 10,000 people in frame. The view from the terrace across the Seine is the best angle. If you want to go up the tower, book the summit ticket online weeks in advance — the line without a reservation is genuinely 2-3 hours.
Honestly? The tower is more impressive from below and across the river than from the top. Walk to the Champ de Mars, lie on the grass, and look up. That’s the postcard moment.
Afternoon. Walk up Avenue des Champs-Élysées — it’s a wide, tree-lined boulevard that’s mostly chain stores now, but the walk from Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe is still grand. If you’re into photography, climb the Arc (€13, 284 steps) — the view down the twelve avenues radiating out from the roundabout is geometric perfection.
If you’re a Disneyland person: Disneyland Paris is 45 minutes by RER train. You could swap this afternoon for a half-day there. No judgment. The Ratatouille ride is genuinely good.
Dinner. Le Relais de l’Entrecôte (15 Rue Marbeuf, 8th) — there’s no menu. They bring you a walnut salad, then steak-frites with their secret green sauce. That’s it. It’s perfect. There’s always a line but it moves fast.
Day 5 — Versailles or Canal Saint-Martin
The vibe: Pick your ending — palace grandeur or neighborhood cool.
Option A: Versailles
Take the RER C to Versailles (40 minutes, €7 round trip). Get there when it opens at 9 AM. The palace interior takes 90 minutes. The gardens are the real attraction — 800 hectares of manicured perfection. On fountain show days (Tuesdays and weekends, April-October), they turn on all the fountains and play baroque music. It’s absurd and wonderful.
Lunch at La Petite Venise inside the gardens — it’s the only restaurant on the Grand Canal and the setting is extraordinary.
Back in Paris by late afternoon. Use the evening for anything you missed or a final dinner in the Marais.
Option B: Canal Saint-Martin (the local’s day)
Sleep in. Walk along the Canal Saint-Martin — locks, iron footbridges, and the kind of tree-lined waterway that makes you want to move to Paris. Stop at Chez Prune for brunch on the terrace overlooking the canal.
Explore the 10th arrondissement — vintage shops on Rue de Marseille, the covered market at Marché Saint-Quentin, and coffee at Ten Belles (one of the best specialty coffee shops in the city).
If you want one more museum: the Centre Pompidou is 15 minutes south. The building itself is the art — all the pipes and ducts on the outside, painted in primary colors. The modern art collection is hit-or-miss, but the rooftop terrace view is free and spectacular.
Last dinner. Chez Janou (2 Rue Roger Verlomme, 3rd) — known for having 80+ Provençal dishes and the most Instagram-famous chocolate mousse in Paris. They bring a giant bowl to the table and you serve yourself. It’s theatrical and delicious.
Getting there
Fly into Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). From CDG to central Paris:
- RER B train: €11.45, 35 minutes to Châtelet-Les Halles. The cheapest and most reliable option.
- Roissybus: €16.60, drops you at Opéra. Good if your hotel is in the 9th.
- Taxi/Uber: €55-65 flat rate to Right Bank, €62-70 to Left Bank.
Orly (ORY) is the secondary airport — closer to the city, used by some European and budget carriers.
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Quick tips
- Metro tickets: Buy a carnet of 10 on the Île-de-France Mobilités app. Works on metro, bus, and RER within the city.
- Tipping: Service is included in France. Round up a euro or two if the service was great. Don’t tip 20%.
- Restaurants: Lunch is the best deal in Paris. Many restaurants offer a 2-course “formule” for €15-20 that would cost €40 at dinner.
- Sundays: Most shops close. Museums stay open. It’s the best day to wander neighborhoods without crowds.
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