Ultimate 7-Day Itinerary: Explore The Best Of Paris, France
Experience a seven-day Paris adventure with historic sites, unbelievable food, attractions and more. Explore the Louvre, picnic on the Seine, take in the Eiffel Tower and feel the magic of Disneyland Paris.
7-Day Paris Itinerary
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Day 1: Arrive and Settle In
Depending on where you are arriving from, make your way to your accommodation. We used Welcome Pickups for transfers to and from the airport. After settling in, pick up a seven-day metro pass and take the metro to the pier near the Eiffel Tower.
Get situated and experience Paris from the comfort of a river cruise on the Seine. We chose an evening cruise with Bateaux Parisians. Sit on the open top deck and wave at all the people on shore during your hour-long commentated cruise. You will get some great pictures of historic sights, including the Eiffel Tower, in the background. Online tickets will save you a couple of euros per person (€16 for adults and €7,50 for children 11 and under). Then find a spot and watch the Eiffel Tower light up as the sun goes down.
Day 2: Visit the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe
A trip to Paris wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Louvre. Book your tickets for opening at 9:00 am; you will want to arrive to line up about 15 minutes before opening. General admission is €22 with kids under 18 free. You could easily spend the better part of the day here, it is that big, but plan on a half day as everyone will likely be tired of walking by lunch. The museum is well-signed if you are trying to hit the most popular works of art like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.
Head to Angelina for lunch and some amazing hot chocolate or grab some picnic supplies from a boulangerie and head next door to the Tuileries. The Tuileries is a great stop following a visit to the Louvre for a picnic on the grass or by the ponds. The gardens separate the Louvre from Place de la Concorde and host the Fête des Tuileries in the summer months, a fair for families.
In the afternoon, make your way to the Arch de Triomphe located at the top of the Champs-Élysées. Admission is €16/adult with children 18 years and under free. If you visit the Eiffel Tower at night, then plan to visit this site during the daytime. There is yet another windy staircase with over 280 stairs to access the terrace, however an elevator is available for those who need it. Plan for about an hour and a half at the site and take in the Paris skyline.
Finish your day early with a walk down the Champs-Élysées and dinner at Le Paradis du Fruit. Get ready for an early start at Paris Disneyland the next day. They allow you to bring in food, so consider picking up something from a bakery to take for lunch.
Day 3: Disneyland Paris
A great spot for all the Disney lovers in your family. Disneyland Paris hosts two parks: Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios. These are smaller in scale than their North American counterparts but just as magical. If you only have a day, I would suggest a two-park pass. Depending on the age of your children and your stamina it is possible to hit all the highlights in both parks on one long day. Ticket prices vary depending on the time of year but were around €100/adult 12 and up in August. Children aged 3-11 are a few euros less and children under 3 are free.
Disneyland Paris is about an hour from central Paris. We chose to take the metro but with summer construction there were delays, and it took us about 90 minutes. If I were to plan it again, I would arrange for a transfer through a service like Welcome Pickups as the metro made for a very long day. Be sure to arrive before opening and pack water bottles, snacks and even a picnic lunch. For our complete guide to visiting Disneyland Paris, check out this post.
Day 4: Sainte Chappelle and Notre-Dame
You may need a quieter day following Disneyland. Visit Sainte Chappelle and take in over 1100 stained glass windows in this gothic-style royal chapel. Visit the lower chapel before making your way up the winding staircase to the upper chapel. Access is available for those who have mobility issues through the Palais de Justice. Admission is €13/adult with children 18 years and under free. Open seven days a week with hours that vary depending on the time of year. Plan for about an hour and a half at the site.
Walk to the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral, also located on Île de la Cité, and take in the beautiful exterior. Following the fire in 2019, the Cathedral is closed; however, there is still a lot to see on a walk around the site with artistic and spiritual presentations offered outside daily. If you have any Shakespeare lovers in your family, be sure to check out Shakespeare and Company a great bookstore and coffee shop a short five-minute walk from Notre-Dame.
Day 5: Catacombs, Luxembourg Gardens and the Eiffel Tower
Make a reservation for lunch at Il Était un Square. If you are interested in what’s below the streets of Paris, book a time to visit the Catacombs in the afternoon. I wouldn’t recommend this for young children, anyone afraid of small spaces or with mobility challenges. There is a long, windy staircase as part of the descent and the walk is about 1.5 km long. Plan for about a 90-minute visit and bring a sweater as the temperatures are cool.
Same-day tickets aren’t usually available, so it is worth booking ahead if you want to visit. Tickets go on sale online one week in advance. The Catacombs are open Tuesday through Sunday and cost €29/adult €10/child 5-17 and are free for those 4 and under.
Following your visit to the Catacombs you might be up for something a little lighter. The Luxembourg Gardens are a great place for the kids to run around, rent a boat to float in the pond and play on the playground. Don’t forget to take in the other Statue of Liberty while you are there. Just a couple of minutes outside the garden’s East gate you can visit Amorino for an amazing flower gelato.
Make your way towards the Eiffel Tower. Buy a picnic for dinner along Rue Cler and enjoy it with the views of the Eiffel Tower from Champs de Mars. Head to the Eiffel Tower for an evening visit and watch it light up and sparkle as you enjoy the Paris skyline at night. Tickets can be purchased one month ahead online and sell out quickly. Make sure to decide ahead what option you want to buy so that you are ready to go when booking becomes available. If you miss this window, you can still visit the Tower but will need to do so as part of a tour, which is more expensive.
Day 6: Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur
Montmartre is located in the 18th arrondissement on a large hill and is a beautiful spot to visit. Take the funicular or walk up the steps to the top of the hill where you will find the Basicalla Sacre-Coeur, which is free to enter. Make your way to the dome for some of the best views in Paris. Around Sacre-Coeur you will find a small village-like area with winding cobblestone streets, cafes and artists selling their offerings.
As you make your way back down the hill be sure to check out the water fountains and double-decker carousel. This is also a good spot to pick up a few souvenirs to take home. Make sure to also check out the Wall of Love while you’re in the neighbourhood. This is a great place to stop for a picture, with a giant wall with the words I love you in 250 different languages.
End your last evening with a picnic on the Seine. Take in the historic buildings, wave at the people on the boats as they pass and enjoy a glass of wine and a baguette and cheese. The river banks come alive in the evenings with music and food and the odd person trying to sell you drinks in case you forgot to pack your own. After dinner make sure to check out the green book boxes that line the upper walls of the Seine, these bouquinistes sell second-hand and specialty books.
Day 7: Travel Day
Pack up, have one last chocolate croissant for breakfast, and grab a few snacks for the flight as you make your way home or to your next adventure.
Any do-overs?
A couple things I would do differently on our next visit. I would book transfers to and from Disneyland using the same service we used for the airport. The metro, even without the delays, made for an exceptionally long day.
I loved staying in the 8th arrondissement, near the Arch de Triomphe. It was incredibly easy to get to the metro and explore the city and was a great neighbourhood. However, our Paris Airbnb was our most expensive accommodation of the entire European holiday and unfortunately, it was also our least favourite in terms of amenities and cleanliness, despite the good reviews. We won’t be going back there again.
See Experienced It for our family’s favourite things to do in Paris and Good Eats for our favourite restaurants.