Paris is one of our favourite cities and we’ve been there several times. We’ve taken advantage of a classic ‘bridge’ for a long weekend, a whole week or a one-day stopover in the city. We can assure you that it is a city that lends itself to both a short and a multi-day holiday.
If you’re planning a trip of four days in Paris, this article will show you our recommended itinerary for exploring this amazing city and its top attractions.
Here’s our “Four days in Paris itinerary”!
Paris, the Ville Lumière, is one of Europe’s most romantic cities and visited by so many tourists every year. There are so many places to discover in this fantastic city, from the most famous and iconic ones such as the Louvre or the Tour Eiffel, to other more hidden but extremely suggestive ones such as the Père Lachaise cemetery or the Musée Carnavalet. If you are planning a long weekend abroad, Paris is the city for you as visiting the most important places in Paris in 4 days is possible. In this article, we present our ‘4 day Paris itinerary’ that will take you on a discovery tour of this fantastic city!
Like our other itineraries, our ‘4 day itinerary Paris’ is a bit fast-paced and, as you will have read, includes visits in the evening, both to make the most of the time available but also because there are some places, such as the Eiffel Tower, which, if visited under the lights of the night, definitely have an extra quid! Ready to go? Here’s our ‘4 day Paris itinerary’!
The first day of our ‘4 Day Paris Itinerary’ kicks off in one of the most beautiful and characteristic areas of Paris: the Île de la Cité. This small island, located in the middle of the Seine, is the heart of the historical centre of Paris, where you’ll find the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Sainte Chapelle and the Palais de la Cité.
The first stop is the Sainte Chapelle, a small chapel built in 1200 to house some of the relics related to the Passion of Christ, including a piece of the cross carried by Jesus and the crown of thorns. This building has two floors: the lower floor was for the people, while the upper floor was for the noble class. The lower part looks more modest than the upper one, with a low height and a blue frescoed ceiling decorated with golden lilies, the symbol of the French crown. The upper floor is taller and its walls are entirely made of stained glass, creating incredible plays of colour.
If you want to avoid the queue and get in early, we’d recommend buying tickets in advance. You can find the official website for the Sainte Chapelle here.
After your visit to the Sainte Chapelle, we suggest you explore the Île de la Cité and head towards Notre Dame Cathedral, crossing the Place Louis Lépine. This small square is home to the flower market, a very special place where we recommend you make a stop.
Unfortunately, as things stand (April 2024), Notre Dame Cathedral is still closed to the public for renovation and restoration work on the building, which was heavily damaged by the fire that destroyed its famous spires.
From Notre Dame Cathedral, walk along the Île de la Cité, passing by the small but marvellous Place Dauphine, a small triangular-shaped square with a typically Parisian appearance, overlooked by houses with identical façades where a number of art galleries are located. From here, cross the Seine by walking across the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in the city (although the name translates as ‘New Bridge’) and built by Henri IV, together with the Place Dauphine.
The next stop is the Musée du Louvre, one of the must-visit places during a visit of Paris in 4 days, to which at least half a day should be devoted in order to visit at least the most famous galleries, such as those of Greek, Roman and Egyptian antiquities and the galleries of paintings.
The Musée du Louvre housed the Royal Residence until it was moved to the Chateau de Versailles and the rooms housing the collections still display the pomp and wealth of the crown. In this respect, we recommend a visit to the Apollo Gallery, one of the most opulent rooms in the building and where the royal jewels are kept.
Given the long queues to enter the museum, we again recommend that you buy your tickets online in advance via the museum’s official website, which you can find at this link.
After dedicating the afternoon to visiting the Musée du Louvre, we recommend you proceed to the Arc du Triomphe du Carrousel and on to the Jardin des Tuileries, which extends to the Place de la Concorde to enjoy an aperitif among the flower beds and ponds of this beautiful park, which is the largest in the city along the Seine.
For dinner, we recommend a restaurant or brasserie along the Seine (perhaps on a bateau mouche) or along Rue de Rivoli.
Four days in Paris itinerary: The stained glass windows of the Sainte Chapelle
Four days in Paris itinerary: Musée du Louvre
Four days in Paris itinerary: View of Pont Neuf and l'Île de la Cité
On the second day of our ‘4 day Itinerary Paris, we’ll be exploring the Left Bank of Paris. We’ll kick things off with a visit to the Musée d’Orsay, another of Paris’s famous museums. This museum, which used to be the Gare d’Orsay railway station, has one of the most important collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including Manet’s Le Fifre, Van Gogh’s La Nuit étoilée and Monet’s Nymphéas Bleus.
A visit to the Musée d’Orsay will take you at least a couple of hours, and you can buy your tickets online and find out more about the collections there via the museum’s official website. A visit to Paris in 4 days simply has to include this beautiful museum, and we highly recommend that you take a look at the view over Paris from one of the famous clocks on the exterior façade.
Once you’ve finished your visit, we suggest a stroll along the Seine to the Esplanade des Invalides. As its name suggests, it’s a large expanse of green where you can also take a break and lie in the sun. The Esplanade des Invalides is home to the Hôtel des Invalides, the famous building with the golden dome where Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb is kept.
The Hôtel des Invalides is a building from the 17th century that was originally built to house war invalids. It is now used as a military museum. Of the various buildings that make up this complex, the most famous is the Dôme des Invalides, which is surmounted by the famous golden dome. In whose crypt, visible from above, Napoleon’s tomb is preserved.
After a visit to the Hôtel des Invalides, we head towards one of the most loved and most hated monuments in Paris: the Tour Eiffel. It’s a must-see on a four-day trip to the city.
You can walk through the Champ de Mars, a large garden stretching from the tower to the Military School, to get to the Tour Eiffel. The Tour Eiffel is sometimes called the ‘Iron Asparagus’ by Parisians in a derogatory tone. It was erected for the Expo. At 300 m high, the Eiffel Tower is a magnificent piece of engineering, imposing but also light, thanks to the lattice metal structures that allow light to pass through. To get to the top of the Eiffel Tower, you have to take the lift up to the base of the antenna. From there, you can admire Paris from every angle.
Of course, we recommend that you go up the Eiffel Tower at sunset time and enjoy the lights of the Ville Lumière slowly coming on. Once down, we suggest you stop at the Champ de Mars and admire the spectacle of the Eiffel Tower glowing in the darkness while sitting on the lawn sipping a refreshing beer: this is the perfect ending of this 2nd day of our “4 day Paris itinerary”!
Itinerary Paris in 4 days: Tour Eiffel
Itinerary Paris in 4 days: Musée d'Orsay
Itinerary Paris in 4 days: Napoleon's tomb in Hôtel des Invalides
On the third day of our ‘4 Day Paris Itinerary’, we head back to the right bank of the Seine, starting with a visit to the Palais Royal and the Jardins du Palais Royale. The Palais Royale is home to several national institutions, so you can only visit the inner courtyard, where there is the installation of the Colonnes de Buren (which is also disputed by some) and the Jardin du Palais Royale.
The Jardin du Palais Royale is a small green oasis of peace enclosed within the Palais, where you can stroll in the shade of the trees and among the flower beds.
Once out of the Palais Royal, you should stop for a photo opportunity at the Kiosque des Noctambules, the entrance to a Paris metro station topped with a small dome of coloured Murano balls.
From Palais Royale, you can walk or take the metro to Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera. You can visit the Palais Garnier every day, except on some exceptional closing days. You can check the calendar and buy tickets on the official website at this link.
You can choose between a guided tour and a self-guided tour with an audio guide. On the tour, you’ll learn about the history of this building and the Paris Opera, and you’ll also get to see some spaces that are normally closed to the public, like the foyer de la danse or the ballet costume depot.
Once you’ve finished your tour of the Palais Garnier, which lasts about an hour and a half, you can continue on foot along Rue de la Paix, the street of Parisian jewellers, to the Place Vendome. This is at the centre of which stands a very tall column bearing the statue of Napoleon Bonaparte. This column, made from the fusion of more than a thousand cannons after the Battle of Austerlitz, is inspired by Trajan’s Column in Rome. It has a surface entirely decorated with a bas-relief narrating the exploits of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Place Vendôme is one of the fulcrums of modern Paris history. Chopin lived in a building in this square, and it overlooks the famous Hotel Ritz, where Princess Diana spent her last hours and where Coco Chanel lived.
From Place Vendome you head towards Place de la Concorde and from here begins the Avenue des Champs Elysées, the most famous shopping street in Paris, which leads all the way to the Arc de Triomphe: along this street you will find some of the most important fashion boutiques in the city and one of the locations of the famous Galéries Lafayette.
The Champs Elysées are twelve radial avenues, the centre of which is the Place de l’Étoile on which stands the Arc de Triomphe, a monument built to celebrate (again) the victories of Napoleon Bonaparte. Near the arch is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a symbol of all the soldiers who gave their lives for their country.
We recommend you climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to admire the panorama that stretches from the Défense district to the Musée du Louvre.
In the late afternoon, we headed to the famous Montmartre district, home to the Basilique du Sacre Coeur. If you have 4 four days in Paris at your disposal, this is an area you simply have to visit. In our opinion, the best time to explore this part of Paris is before and after dinner. In the evening, this neighbourhood has a very special atmosphere, reminiscent of the bohemian era that made this area famous. The Montmartre district has been home to so many Parisian artists, including the likes of Picasso and Renoir.
We suggest you take the long staircase up to the Basilique du Sacre Coeur and stroll through the neighbourhood to the Lapin Agile, then walk down Rue Lepic where the Moulin de la Galette is located.
By late evening, you’ll have reached the Boulevard de Clichy, the famous red light district of Paris where the Moulin Rouge is located, where the third day of our “4 day itinerary Paris” ends.
Four days in Paris itinerary: Opéra Garnier
Four days in Paris itinerary: Basilique du Sacre Coeur
Four days in Paris itinerary: Moulin Rouge
On the last day of our ‘Paris in 4 days’ itinerary, we head east of Paris to the Centre Pompidou. This modern building houses a cultural centre with the Musée National d’Art Moderne and the public library. It’s a multifunctional centre where various activities such as conferences, shows and concerts are held.
We suggest you check out the Musée National d’Art Moderne, one of the most popular museums in the world. Its collection includes works by Picasso, Kandinsky, Chagall and Matisse.
Outside the Centre Pompidou is the Stravinsky Fountain, a unique fountain where statues move and create water games. It’s also known as the Fontaine des Automates.
Centre Pompidou and Fontaine des Automates
After the Centre Pompidou, we head to the Marais district, one of the liveliest and most dynamic quarters of Paris. It’s a great place to visit, and you’ll find the beautiful Place des Vosges (our favourite) there. It’s one of the places you cannot miss on a visit of four days in Paris.
The Place des Vosges is a square with a park in the middle. You should stop to admire the perimeter of the square, which is made up of identical buildings with red facades and slate roofs. Centrally located on the north and south sides are the two most important buildings and slightly taller than the others: the Pavillon de la Reine and the Pavillon du Roi, where Victor Hugo’s house is also located.
We’d also suggest stopping for lunch in one of the typical French restaurants located under the arcade surrounding the square.
After this pleasant break at Place des Vosges, we move on to the nearby Place de la Bastille, where once stood the famous Paris prison of the same name and symbol of freedom and the French Revolution. For this reason, this square is still today one of the places where numerous events such as the Paris Gay Pride are held.
The second part of this last day of our ‘Paris in 4 days itinerary’ moves to the rive gauche of the Seine, starting with the Paris Pantheon. The Pantheon in Paris was built with the idea of making a church but soon became a mausoleum housing the tombs of some of France’s most famous historical figures, such as Voltaire, Émile Zola and Victor Hugo. There’s also a reproduction of Foucault’s pendulum, which was originally hung from the Pantheon’s dome.
Next to the Pantheon is the Jardin du Luxembourg, another beautiful park in Paris. It’s overlooked by the Palais du Luxembourg, which is currently the seat of the French Senate. You can enjoy a pleasant stroll among the statues, fountains and perfectly manicured flower beds.
The last day of this ‘4 Day Paris Itinerary’ ends in one of the city’s liveliest neighbourhoods, the Quartier Latin. The central part of the Quartier Latin is a pedestrian area where you’ll find a variety of cafés, restaurants and bars, particularly frequented by university students from the nearby Sorbonne.
4 day Paris itinerary: Foucault's pendulum at the Pantheon
4 day Paris itinerary: Quartier Latin
As you can see, our “4 day Paris itinerary” has a tight schedule but will allow you to visit all the most famous places in the city! We hope you find this itinerary useful and, if you decide to follow it, let us know how it went! Stay connected with us via the newsletter and social channels and, as always… trip to try!
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