Two days are enough for a solid first taste of Paris, as long as you group your visits by neighborhood instead of criss-crossing the city. This itinerary pairs the Louvre with Île de la Cité on Saturday, then Montmartre with the Eiffel Tower on Sunday, for a packed but stress-free weekend.
Saturday morning: the Louvre
Budget two to three hours for a focused visit to the major works (the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory of Samothrace) via the Denon wing. The museum is closed on Tuesdays and open until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. Booking an online time slot is strongly recommended, and mandatory in July and August; arrive at opening (9am) if you can, to make the most of the morning before the crowds build.
Saturday afternoon and evening: Île de la Cité and Le Marais
Twenty minutes' walk from the Louvre, Notre-Dame Cathedral is free to visit (allow 45 minutes to an hour), ideally before the Sainte-Chapelle and its stained glass, whose paid entry and security check can easily take up half an hour. Round off the day by crossing the Seine to Le Marais, a fifteen-minute walk away, for dinner in its lively streets.
Sunday: Montmartre, then the Eiffel Tower at sunset
Spend the morning on the Montmartre hill, its basilica and cobbled streets, then head to the Eiffel Tower by metro (line 2 to Charles-de-Gaulle-Étoile, then line 6 to Bir-Hakeim) to catch the sunset from the Trocadéro gardens. The tower is actually quieter in the late afternoon than during the day. Once night falls, it sparkles for five minutes every hour until midnight (1am in summer), a fitting last moment before wrapping up the weekend.
Tips
Buy your tickets for the Louvre, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Eiffel Tower online before you leave home: time slots open up to 60 days in advance and sell out fast on weekends. For getting around, a day transport pass pays for itself from your fourth metro ride onward.
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