Plan your Paris trip

Musée d'Orsay

The Impressionists housed in a converted Beaux-Arts railway station, with a giant clock face overlooking the Seine.

Tip Go late on Thursday when it stays open until nearly ten and the crowds have thinned to almost nothing.

The Louvre

Yes, it is enormous and yes, everyone is photographing the Mona Lisa with their backs to her.

Tip Enter via the Porte des Lions or the Carrousel mall entrance to skip the pyramid queue entirely.

Sainte-Chapelle

A 13th-century royal chapel that is essentially a jewel box of stained glass — fifteen towering windows that turn the whole upper chapel into…

Tip Come on a sunny morning; the glass needs direct light to do its impossible thing.

Père Lachaise

The most atmospheric cemetery in Europe, a cobbled hillside city of the dead where Chopin, Wilde, Piaf and Morrison lie among mossy tombs and old…

Tip Grab a map at the entrance — it is genuinely a maze, and the best tombs are unmarked from the main paths.

Marché d'Aligre

A raucous covered-and-open market in the 12th where real Parisians shop, haggling over produce, cheese and secondhand junk, then decamp to the wine…

Tip Arrive before noon on a weekend for the full theatre, and eat oysters standing at a barrel outside.

The Seine quais

The riverbanks are a UNESCO site and the city's living room — the lower quays are pedestrianised in stretches, perfect for a wander, a picnic, or…

Tip The stretch below the Institut du Monde Arabe is quieter and has some of the best sunset angles on Notre-Dame.

Canal Saint-Martin

Tree-lined water crossed by iron footbridges, flanked by independent shops, coffee roasters and casual wine bars.

Tip Skip the daytime and come at aperitif hour; this is an evening neighbourhood at heart.

Eiffel Tower

Gustave Eiffel's 1889 iron lattice is the one landmark every visitor actually expects to see in person, and it earns the queue — the view from the…

Tip Book a timed ticket online weeks ahead and choose the stairs to the second floor; lift tickets bought on the day can mean a queue of two hours or more.

Disneyland Paris

Europe's biggest theme park, forty minutes east of the city by train, and the single most-visited attraction in France by a wide margin — full-scale…

Tip Take the RER A directly from central Paris rather than a coach transfer, and buy park tickets online in advance to skip the gate queue.

Rodin Museum & gardens

A serene mansion and sculpture garden where The Thinker broods among the roses.

Tip Bring a book and a coffee — the garden benches are the point, not just the marble.

Versailles

The absurd, magnificent seat of the Sun King — go early, make straight for the gardens, and rent a bike or a rowboat on the Grand Canal to escape the…

Giverny

Monet's garden and its famous lily pond, best in late spring and summer. A short train to Vernon and a shuttle, and an easy half-day of pure colour.

Chartres

An hour by train to one of the greatest Gothic cathedrals in the world, with stained glass that survived eight centuries largely intact.

Everything to do in Paris

Skip-the-line tickets, guided tours and day trips, all in one place on Booking.com.

Getting around

Walk first. Paris is deceptively compact — the historic core is barely five kilometres across, and the pleasure of the place is largely at street level, so treat the Métro as a tool for the long hauls rather than a default.

Flights

Compare fares into Paris and pick dates that suit the days you planned.

Airport transfers

Book a private or shared ride from the airport so the first evening starts at your door, not at a ticket queue.

Car hire from Paris

Only worth it for day trips beyond the city — in town, the plan above works on foot and public transport.