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Four days is enough for Paris if you book the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle and Versailles ahead. Leave the rest of each day loose. This Paris itinerary runs Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle on Day 1, then the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay on Day 2. Day 3 is the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, and Day 4 is Versailles or Montmartre.
We have done big-city days with nieces and nephews along. The plans that survive have two booked slots and a long lunch, not six stops. I would pack one carry-on for four days here and still bring less than I think I need. The cobbles are harder on shoes than any outfit is on a suitcase, and nobody misses the fifth pair of boots.
The Louvre closes on Tuesdays. The Orsay and Versailles close on Mondays. Start on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and every stop below is open. Euro prices are what each official site listed on October 2, 2026.
| Day | Plan | Booking needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre-Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, Latin Quarter | Sainte-Chapelle yes; Notre-Dame optional | Notre-Dame free; Sainte-Chapelle €22 |
| 2 | Louvre, Tuileries, Orsay | Louvre slot recommended; Orsay online | Louvre €32 (non-EEA); Orsay €16 online |
| 3 | Trocadéro, Eiffel Tower, Seine cruise, Champ de Mars | Tower tickets online, official site only | Tower €14.80 to €36.70; cruise €15 to €18 |
| 4 | Versailles, or Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur | Versailles palace slot | Versailles €35; basilica free, dome €8 |
Paris Day 1
Start on the Île de la Cité, the island in the Seine. Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle sit a few minutes’ walk apart. Notre-Dame has reopened and entry is free. The cathedral’s reservation page calls booking entirely optional. I would still reserve a morning slot and skip the standing line.
The towers are a separate visit. The towers’ ticket page lists €16, requires a booking and counts 424 steps to the top. Skip them if your knees are already complaining about the cobbles.
Sainte-Chapelle is the reason to book ahead. Its upper chapel is walls of 13th-century stained glass. A ticket is €22 on the monument’s own site, with free entry for EU residents under 26. The chapel is small, so the timed slot matters more here than anywhere else on Day 1.
Spend the afternoon in the Latin Quarter, across the river, on foot and without a list. Narrow streets, a late lunch and a long sit are the plan, because Day 2 asks more of your feet.
Louvre Paris
The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, with late nights to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. Last entry is an hour before closing. The museum’s admission page lists €32.00 for non-EEA visitors against €22.00 for EEA residents.
It also recommends a time-slot booking even for free-entry visitors, and everyone gets in free after 6 p.m. on the first Friday of the month except in July and August. I would book the 9 a.m. slot and walk straight to the three things you came for. Trying to see the whole building is a plan to see none of it.
Walk west afterward through the Tuileries Garden, which is free and has chairs around its ponds. It is the right place to sit down and eat something before the afternoon.
The Musée d’Orsay is across the river in a former railway station. It runs 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, stays open to 9:45 p.m. on Thursday and closes on Mondays, and general admission is €16 when bought online. On the first Sunday of the month entry is free, but online booking is mandatory.
Louvre in the morning and Orsay after lunch is the order that works. The Orsay is easier to take in at two hours than the Louvre is at four.
Paris Day 3
Book the Eiffel Tower first and build the day around the slot. The tower’s own ticket guide says lift tickets to the second floor and the summit go on sale 90 days ahead. Stair tickets go on sale 60 days ahead. Only the tower’s official site sells single ascent tickets. The tower warns that other sites offering them may be fraudulent.
| Eiffel Tower ticket (adult) | Price |
|---|---|
| Second floor by stairs | €14.80 |
| Second floor by lift | €23.50 |
| Summit: stairs to the second floor, then lift | €28.00 |
| Summit by lift only | €36.70 |
The tower runs 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with last ascents at 10:45 p.m. The summit can be restricted in severe weather. If the forecast is mixed, the second floor is the safer buy.
Start at the Trocadéro terrace for the view across the fountains, then go up at your slot. Afterward take a one-hour Seine cruise. Bateaux Parisiens lists €18 online (€20 regular) from the tower. Vedettes du Pont Neuf lists €15 for adults, down from €17. Its boats leave from the Square du Vert-Galant at the tip of the Île de la Cité.
Finish on the Champ de Mars lawn. The queue under the tower is where pickpockets work, so keep zips shut and phones in a front pocket.
Paris Versailles Day Trip
Versailles is Day 4 because it needs a whole day and a booked slot. The palace is closed on Mondays, and a visit to the palace requires a time slot. The Passport ticket is €35 standard and covers the palace, the Trianon estate, temporary exhibitions and the gardens.
Take the RER C to Versailles Château Rive Gauche, a ten-minute walk from the palace. The palace opens at 9 a.m. I would book the first slot and keep the free gardens for the afternoon. The Trianon estate is a separate €15 ticket if you buy it alone and opens at noon.
If you would rather stay in town, spend Day 4 in Montmartre. The basilica of Sacré-Cœur is free and open from 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and the dome costs €8 for adults after 280 steps. The basilica asks for no ticket, so Day 4 stays loose after three booked days.
Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?
Barely, on this plan. The pass’s own site lists €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 days and €125 for 6 days. The days are counted by the hour from your first visit.
Our sums for the four paid sights are the Louvre at €32, the Orsay at €16 and Sainte-Chapelle at €22. Add the Versailles Passport at €35. That comes to €105, the same as the 4-day pass.
The pass saves money only if you add a sight. The Notre-Dame towers at €16 would put it €16 ahead on paper. Slots at the Louvre, Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle and the Notre-Dame towers still have to be reserved with the pass. It buys no flexibility. I would skip it unless you plan the extra sights.
Paris Metro Fares
A single Metro, train or RER ticket is €2.55 from January 1, 2026, per Île-de-France Mobilités. The operator says that single ticket works across the region, including Versailles. The all-zones day pass, Navigo Jour, is €12.30 and excludes airports.
By our arithmetic the day pass pays from the fifth ride. A Versailles day reaches that with the RER out and back plus a few Metro hops. On Days 1 to 3 you will walk most of it, so single tickets are cheaper.
From the airports, a special ticket costs €14 per trip. It covers the RER B from Charles de Gaulle, and Metro line 14 or the Orlyval from Orly. It is not valid on buses or trams. Paris je t’aime puts the CDG journey at 35 to 50 minutes. Orly by Metro 14 takes 25 minutes from Châtelet.
Paris Facts
The State Department says US passports must be valid for 3 months beyond the day you leave the Schengen area. Tourists can stay up to 90 days without a visa. The EU says its Entry/Exit System became fully operational on April 10, 2026. It records a facial image and fingerprints from non-EU visitors.
ETIAS, the EU’s planned pre-travel authorization, is set to start after the Entry/Exit System, and its start date has moved before. Check the official ETIAS site before you fly to see whether it applies to your dates.
Hotels add a tourist tax per person per night, and it is not always in the quoted price. Paris je t’aime’s 2025 table has €3.25 for a 2-star hotel and €5.53 for a 3-star. Ask what your hotel will add at checkout.
Rain falls moderately all year here, with no dry season. A light waterproof layer earns its place in the bag. Our carry-on-only packing list and the guide to packing cubes for a carry-on cover the one-bag version of this trip. If the airport line is the part you dread, TSA PreCheck, Global Entry and CLEAR are compared in one post.
Paris FAQ
Is Notre Dame free to enter?
Yes. The cathedral says it is open to all, free of charge. Its reservation system is entirely optional and meant only to smooth admission. The towers are a separate ticketed visit.
Do you need to book the Louvre in advance?
Yes, in practice. The museum recommends time-slot booking even for free-entry visitors. The Paris Museum Pass page says a reserved slot is the only way to guarantee entry with the pass.
When do Eiffel Tower tickets go on sale?
Lift tickets to the second floor and the summit go on sale 90 days ahead. Stair tickets go on sale 60 days ahead. Both are sold on the tower’s own ticket site.
Do US citizens need a visa for France?
No, not for a tourist stay of up to 90 days in the Schengen area. Your passport must be valid for three months beyond the day you leave. The EU’s Entry/Exit System now records a photo and fingerprints at the border.
Is Versailles worth a day trip?
Yes, if you like palaces and gardens and can spare a whole day. If four days already feels tight, Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur are the lighter swap and cost far less.
Prices are approximate, current as of publication, and change frequently — confirm the latest price with the retailer before buying.
Published October 13, 2026.
Photo credits: (1) featured, Eiffel Tower seen across the Jardins du… — NonOmnisMoriar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; (2) West facade of Notre-Dame de Paris and the… — Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; (3) Tall stained glass windows inside the upper… — David McSpadden from Daly City, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; (4) Hall of Mirrors with its chandeliers and… — Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.