🇫🇷 Paris - What You Should Check Out + Itinerary

Paris is another of my favourite cities in Europe. It’s so vibrant, and has a nice mix of old and new. I’ve been there twice and hope to be back again some day!

I was there in Sep 2017 for just a weekend before attending a conference in Amsterdam, so I decided to fly in earlier via Paris. Since I only had a couple of days in the city, and it was my first time there, I went on a couple of walking tours to explore the key sights, but it was more touch and go.

And in Nov 2022, since I was there on holiday, I had the opportunity to explore the city on a more leisurely pace, so I managed to pop into places like the Louvre and the Arc De Triomphe. I also met with my Parisian colleague who took us around Le Marias and Montmarte.

📷 Here are the must see sights I highly recommend:

📍 Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is the most iconic sight in Paris. Although you can see it from various spots around the city, Trocadéro Square or Champ de Mars are the best spots if you want to take photos up close.

📍 Arc De Triomphe

This is a historical monument honoring those who fought for France and died during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. It’s worth getting a ticket to go up to the top of the arch, where you get a great view of the city, including the Eiffel Tower. Lol climbing up is hard work though.

📍The Louvre

There are lots of museums and art galleries across Paris, but if you only have time for one, you need to visit the Louvre, which is the largest museum in the world. They’ve got really extensive collections here, and this is also where you get to see the famous Mona Lisa painting. It’s really crowded so pre-book your tickets online, or go before opening to queue if you’re walking in.

📍 Jardin des Tuileries

This vast garden is really pretty, and a nice place to take a short stroll through after visiting the Louvre. Sit by the fountains to chill and you’ll feel the calmness amidst a busy city.

📍Notre Dame Cathedral

A very beautiful cathedral with intricate Gothic architecture. I managed to see it in 2017, but when I visited in 2022, it was closed for restoration since the 2019 fires. A place to visit when it reopens in Dec 2024.

📍 River Seine

This waterway passes through the heart of the city, and lots of bridges (Pont) connect the left and right banks, each of them have their own uniqueness.

📍 Le Marais

A beautiful traditional Parisian neighborhood. It has lots of narrow but vibrant lanes, good food, shopping, and historical sights. Check out the Pompidou (modern art museum) and Hotel de Ville (city hall) here as well.

📍 Champs-Élysées

This is a long street which runs through Place de la Concorde and Arc de Triomphe. It is also home to lots of designer boutiques, department stores and high street brands.

📍Galeries Lafayette Haussmann

This is an century old department store with an iconic dome shaped stained glass roof. They’ve got most of the famous designer brands all under one roof.

📍Montmarte

A charming hilltop district worth visiting. It is home to the Sacre Coure, a really grand cathedral, and the famous Moulin Rogue, a famous cabaret. From Montmarte, you get a nice view of the city as well.

📝 2 Day Itinerary in Paris covering the most popular sights:

Day 1:

- The Louvre

- Jardin des Tuileries

- Place de la Concorde

- Champs-Élysées

- Arc de Triomphe

- Eiffel Tower

Day 2:

- Le Marias (including Pompidou + Hôtel de Ville)

- Île De La Cité (Notre Dame Cathedral)

- Île Saint Louis

- Shopping around Opera + Galleries La Fayette Haussmann

- Montmartre (including Sacre Coure + Moulin Rogue)

If you have more time, you can do it in a slower pace, or add in a few more attractions. You could also add a day trip to Versailles (for a magnificent palace), Disneyland Paris, or La Vallee Village (outlet shopping).

🛤️ Getting to/around Paris:

🚆 High Speed Rail

You can take the Thalys to Paris from cities such as Amsterdam, Brussels etc, Eurostar from London, or the TGV serving other domestic routes from cities such as Lyon, Nice, Strasbourg, etc or international routes all the way from Milan, Zurich, Munich etc.

However, instead of a Main/Central station which other European cities typically have, there are different stations in Paris where the trains call at eg Gare du Nord (North Station) mainly serves northbound trains eg to London, Brussels, Amsterdam… Gare de’l Est (East Station) mainly serves east bound trains such as to Strasbourg, Champagne, Munich… Gare de Lyon mainly serves south bound trains such as to Lyon, Milan, Geneva… Gare Montparnasse serves the western routes like Bordeaux, Tours, Rennes…

So do check where your trains will be calling at, and whilst you can get from one station to another easily by metro / Uber, you need to factor enough time if you’re changing trains at different stations.

🚊 RER

RERs are a network of 5 regional train lines that go from the city centre to the suburbs. You can ride on these trains to the airport, Disneyland, La Vallee…

🚇 Metro

The metro network in Paris is extremely dense so you can get around the city easily and inexpensively. I find it pretty efficient and take the metro to most places, but it gets really crowded in the trains and pickpocketing is quite common, so do have your bags close to you and be alert at all times.

🍴What to eat?

To be honest I didn’t have many meals in Paris, but would recommend these places I dined at:

🥞 Auguste - BleNoir Family

Amazing crepes with both sweet and savory options

🍗 Brasserie Chateau Landon

Tasty duck confit

🍜 Sanukiya

Authentic udon, for some comfort food and Asian fix after many western meals 😆

🏨 Where to stay?

Paris hotels aren’t the cheapest, but if you have the budget, go for the 7th arrondissement where the Eiffel Tower is, or around the 1st arrondissement where you get your famous landmarks like the Louvre.

For me, I found hotels in those areas too expensive, so I had to stay further out, but picked accommodations near the metro so it’s easy to get around.

In my Nov 2022 trip, I stayed at the ibis Paris Gare du Nord Château-Landon 10ème. It’s in between both Paris du Nord and Paris de’l Est, so really convenient because I was arriving from the former and leaving from the latter. It’s also near a couple of metro stations, so just a few stops to the city centre. The room isn’t the largest, but it still has the essentials and is clean. Paid S$386.56 for 3 nights with breakfast for 2, working out to S$128.85 per night, which I think is pretty reasonable for Paris over a weekend.

During my Sep 2017 trip, I stayed at an Airbnb at Montparnasse which was a private room in an apartment. The location was decent, and near a metro station. Paid S$147.61 for 2 nights.

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