Help planning itenary

Hi,

Thanks to the forum I hv been able to shortlist the places i would like to visit in Paris. We are in Paris from 2nd oct-6th oct. I wuld love it if someone gives some suggestions on planning the itenary.

Day 1 (2nd oct Thu):

Arc de Triomphe (at Day)

Champs Elysees

Walk along the river Seine

Day2(fri):

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de

Saint Chapelle

Jardin Des Tuileries

Louvre Museum

Day 3(sat):

Eiffel Tower

Pantheon

Jardin du Luxembourg

Palais Garnier

Paris @ night (Eiffel Tower ,Musée d’Orsay, Place de la Concorde, Opera, Louvre)

Day 4(sun):

Chateau de Versailles

Day 5(mon):

Montmarte

Sacre Coeur

Departure at 9pm

Does this sound fine?

Thanks!

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Based on my experience, I%26#39;d suggest you change your Louvre visit to Monday. When I was there, I got to the museum shortly before the 9 a.m. opening time, and had virtually no crowds to deal with -- it%26#39;s their slowest day of the week as I recall.

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Day 5(mon):

Montmarte

Sacre Coeur

Departure at 9pm

If you start at the bottom of Montmartr at, say, 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. and follow a self-guided tour to the top like the one in the DK Eyewitness book, then look at the artist square and several shoips, then Sacre Coeur and then have lunch up there, it will probably only be 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. This will leave quite a bit of time until your 9:00 departure.

Pjk

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I think you can pretty easily fit all the things from days 1 %26amp; 2 into one day without rushing even a little. That will give you an entire day to plan your Louvre visit and something else, depending on how long you want to stay at the museum.

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Hi,

HappyGoin: I was looking for that information- i can do some stuff from day 2 on day 1 depending upon our energy levels.

Pjk %26amp; travelproponent: We generally would love to walk around a bit on some lively street. Any suggestions?

Thanks a ton for ur replies!

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One thing not on your itinery is exploring the Marais. You could do this on Friday morning, not forgetting the fallalef for lunch, then go up to Montmartre at, say, noon or 1:00 and spend the afternoon there. You could have dinner in Montmartre at Le Poulbot, then head back for your departure. This would involve a bit of walking in both areas but is do-able without being too tiring.

Pjk

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Totally disagree on changing the Louvre visit to Monday. On Mondays I believe both Musee d%26#39;Orsay and Versailles are closed, thus Louvre is very crowded by the afternoon. Maybe if you get there at opening and buzz through. Friday night would be a great time to visit the Louvre, open until 9:00 p.m., much less crowded.

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Since this has come up and if the OP is a first time visitor to Paris, I%26#39;d suggest not going through the exhibits at the Louvre at all. You might want to go into the shops etc underneath the glass pyrmimid, but the Lourve itself is so big with so many rooms (arcades) with so many paintings and scupture that it is overwelming, and you come away from it trying to think what you saw during all of the time you spent there. Especially if the weather is good, I%26#39;d save the Louve for a subsequent visit.

For something else, look to see if there is something interesting at the Pitit or Grand Palais or at the Exhibition Center. These usually have changing exhibits and all are within walking distance of the Lourve.

Pjk

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Definitely leave the Louvre on Friday but do go there last as it%26#39;s open late (9:45 - 10:OO ish) and there%26#39;s a nice food court there if you need to eat, and no line nor crowd on Friday evenings, we arrived at 5:45PM in mid Sept and there was no line to enter.

One suggestion I%26#39;d make is due to your itinerary has you jumping around a bit on Saturday. To not spend so much time getting from one area to another you might think about putting the Panthen and Luxembourg garden on the same day as Notre Dame and Ste Chappelle, the only line you%26#39;ll encounter among those is if you aren%26#39;t there early AM and want to climg the NOtre Dame tower.

Garnier you might add if you%26#39;re walking toward the Louvre on the champs de elysee on your first day as it%26#39;s closer to that area than anywhere else you%26#39;re going, you could add that to your Thursday schedule.

Your Eiffel tower day, puts you near Invalids, and the Rodin if those interest you as well.

Good luck and have fun.

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I choose Friday for Louvre becoz its open till late night. I don%26#39;t think I can do the Louvre more than 2 hrs at a time. So i had planned that maybe i can take a break after 1 1/2-2 hrs. Go out a bit maybe in the tuileries and if i still hv the energy enter Louvre again. I believe we can enter Louvre as many times as you want in a day?

ffdoc2: Thanks so much! I was basically looking for someone to sort things out in my itenary. I was not sure of the saturdary plan. YOur suggestion is very helpful.

Pjk: I just read about Marias %26amp; i think im going to go there!

Thanks.

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I would switch the Palais Garnier from Day 3 to Day 5. Unless you are staying in the Montmartre area, I would go to Palais Garnier first and then head over to the Montmartre area. Day 3 has enough in it without Palais Garnier. Also, it is not located in the same area as the rest of the day%26#39;s activities.

I would add the Marais on Day 4 (Sunday) after you return from Versailles. The Marais has more shops and restaurants open on Sunday than do many of the other areas because many of the shops/restaurants in the Marais are owned by Jews who observe a Friday night until Sunday night sabbath and therefore are willing to be open on Sunday. I suggest you grab dinner in the Marais on Sunday at L%26#39;As du Falafel on Rue des Rosiers (the walk-up window). Yumm!

If you have extra time on Day 3, you could add Les Invalides and/or walking around the St. Germaine des Pres neighborhood.

Mostly though I think you itinerary is very sensible and should result in a good trip. Good work!