Paris · 5 days · 23 stops · 40% local · ~14.7 km walked (~19,700 steps) · relaxed pace
Five unhurried days covering the icons and the neighborhood life around them — one district at a time, no zigzag.
⛰ Terrain: some climbs. Mostly flat; the Montmartre morning climbs stairs.
🛡 Safety: relaxed. Nothing beyond normal big-city sense.
One museum, done properly. Book the Louvre for opening and leave the afternoon for the gardens.
Start with the monumental core
World's largest art museum. Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and 35,000 other works.
Royal garden between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde.
Hidden colonnaded courtyard with the iconic Buren columns.
Carnavalet is free; lunch at the Enfants Rouges. Rue Vieille du Temple for the evening.
A full day of squares, museums and market grazing
Paris's oldest planned square; pink-brick arcades and royal symmetry.
Hôtel Salé houses the world's largest public Picasso collection.
Paris's oldest covered market (1615) — lunch stalls locals actually queue for.
End the day with an apéro around Mouffetard.
Medieval island to student slopes
13th-century chapel with the most extraordinary stained glass in Paris.
Gothic masterpiece on the Seine, recently reopened after restoration.
Legendary English-language bookshop opposite Notre-Dame.
Senate gardens with model boats, chess players, and chestnut allées.
Orsay in the morning, Rodin's garden after lunch — it's a ten-minute walk between them.
Impressionists, sculpture gardens and café terraces
Belle Époque train station turned Impressionist temple.
Sculpture garden with The Thinker, in an 18th-century mansion.
Paris's oldest abbey, anchor of literary café culture.
Sartre and Beauvoir's old haunt. Touristy now, but the terrace is iconic.
Montmartre early, then cross town for sunset at Trocadéro — the sparkle on the hour is your send-off.
Morning on the butte
White-domed basilica crowning Paris's highest hill.
Save the tower for the finale
Best frontal view of the Eiffel Tower across the Seine.
Sunset from Trocadéro, climb at dusk for the hourly sparkle.
Tower-side lawn — picnic and golden-hour photos.
