How to See Paris in A Day Guide

If you're not having a glass of champagne at the end of a busy sightseeing day, I think you have to reevaluate your time in Paris because to me, this is a classic Parisian experience, especially in a small place like this. This is just such a local place that I really love to come and chill at. Paris has been a beacon of culture for centuries. Today, it's still one of the most important world capitals because it's a center of fashion, art, architecture, and incredible food. I'm Angel Castellanos for The Tour Guide, and today I'm gonna give you the formula of what it's like to have an epic day right here in Paris. Paris is in northern France and has been the capital of the country for centuries. Paris has two major airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly. CDG has more international flights coming in with over 70 million passengers each year. Orly is smaller but closer to the city. Getting to central Paris from Charles de Gaulle is quite easy, and there are several options to choose from. The most convenient and quickest option is to take the RER B train, which runs from CDG airport to the city center in about 35 minutes and stops at several key train stations in the city, including Gare du Nord, Châtelet-les Halles, and Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame. Another option is to take a taxi, which will take you directly to your destination but can be more expensive, especially during peak traffic hours. Alternatively, you can take a shuttle bus service, such as the Rossi or Les Busses Direct, which run from CDG airport to several central Paris locations, including the Paris Opera House and the Eiffel Tower. If you're already in Europe, you can also reach Paris by train. Paris has six major train stations, including Gare du Nord, which is the busiest station in Europe and serves as the arrival and departure point Paris is divided into 20 districts, known as arrondissements, which spiral out like a snail from the center. The River Seine cuts through the heart of the city with several of Paris' most famous bridges, such as the Pont Neuf and the Pont des Arts, spanning its waters. Located in the center of the city, from the 1st to the 4th arrondissements are some of Paris' most famous landmarks, including the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Saint-Chapelle, and the Louvre Museum. The Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain-des-Prés make up the 5th and 6th arrondissements, located on the left bank. The 7th is the home to the Eiffel Tower. For being such a massive city, getting around Paris is easy. Paris' public transportation system is fast, inexpensive, and efficient. Today, our strategy is to use public transportation to connect the dots for the big distances across the city. We will also be walking, since many of Paris' main sites are within walking distance of each other. Another option is to rent a bike and cycle around the city. Paris has a well-developed bike lane network, and bike rental is easily available at many locations throughout the city. The bus network in Paris is extensive and buses run frequently. Key routes, like bus No. 69, runs from the Bastille to the Eiffel Tower, stopping at major sites like the Louvre. With over 300 stations and frequent trains, the Paris Metro is one of the fastest and most convenient ways to get around the city. Paris is a massive city, and there's lots of different ways to get around. You can certainly use a transportation app, like Uber or FreeNow, which connects to the local taxis, but my favorite way is to use the Metro because it's inexpensive and very efficient. The trains are frequent and they're very fast, and you can buy a booklet called a Carnet, which is a booklet of 10 tickets, save yourself a little bit of money, or get a transportation pass called a Navigo de Couverte. So it really depends on how long you're here, but usually the Carnet, the booklet of 10 tickets, is the way to go. This is the line, so each line has a number and a color, and then you're going in this direction. You gotta make sure you hold onto your ticket because you often need it when you exit the Metro stations. We created the perfect route and plan to get you from A to Z. Check out our blog for great information on maximizing your time and increasing your fun. Before we get started today, hook me up with a comment, like, and subscribe so we can keep bringing you great content. I'm starting the day by having a chill breakfast at an award-winning bakery to try some of the best croissants in the city, and then I'll see the Saint-Chapelle and the Louvre Museum. From there, we'll cross to the left bank for lunch. When it comes to breakfast in Paris, you wanna skip the hotel breakfast. Parisian locals don't eat breakfast in a hotel. You wanna go to a local boulangerie like this one. It's an award-winning bakery. There's tons of croissants, baguettes, all the good stuff that you wanna try first thing in the morning. So how much is a baguette? 140. 140, and how much is a pain au chocolat? 150. So you could have a pain au chocolat and a coffee for under three euros, right? Exactly. Perfect. So we're in the heart of the Marais here, near the Saint-Paul metro stop, and we're at a boulangerie called Le Petit Versailles, and it's an award-winning boulangerie. Boulangerie is a French word for bakery, and not only do they have baked goods, but they also have pâtisseries, which are sort of the really sweet, good-looking pastries. So I have some beautiful pain au chocolat, which is essentially a croissant filled with chocolates. So butter and chocolate always make a good combination in the morning. And then just, I don't think you can come to Paris without trying a croissant. Typical boulangerie does open early in the morning, but it's not typical for them to have chairs and tables set up. This particular one sets up at about 10.30 in the morning if you wanna sit down like I am, but otherwise, they're just catering to locals. I haven't seen one tourist come through here yet. We just crossed over the Pont du Philippe over the Seine to Ile Saint-Louis, which is the smaller of the two islands in the middle of Paris. So the bigger island is the Ile de Cité, which is where the Notre Dame is located and a bunch of other cool things that we're gonna check out. Paris first began as a small fishing village on this island in the 3rd century BC. It was eventually conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC. In the 6th century, King Clovis, the first king of the United Frankish Kingdom, made Paris a prominent city, setting the stage for Paris to officially become the capital of France in 987. The Notre Dame construction started in 1163, becoming one of the most iconic buildings in Paris and the symbol of Gothic architecture. Unfortunately, due to the fire in 2019, the Notre Dame is still closed until further notice. We're staying on the Ile de Cité because just a stone's throw away from the Notre Dame is another Gothic masterpiece. All right, there are two sorts of travelers, those who stand in line and those who don't. The people on the left here don't have a ticket, so they're waiting in a huge queue and once they get inside, they're gonna wait in another huge long queue. If you're standing on these two lines, you already have a ticket and your time slot is listed at the end of the queue. These lines go by really fast, so if it seems long, that's okay, but definitely book your ticket in advance. So you can buy your ticket online to the Saint-Chapelle and many other sites in Paris and skip this line. So this is the second line these people had to stand in because if you already have a ticket, you stand in the empty line. So this is the most spectacular medieval church in all of Paris for me because of these 15 stained glasses that tell the story of the Bible. So this is a 13th century church built by Louis IX and it brings in so much light. It was built around the crown of thorns for Jesus. Our next stop is about a 12 minute walk from the Ile des Cités across the river to the Louvre Museum. The former Grand Royal Palace is now a mega monument. The building is shaped like the letter U with the famous glass pyramid right in the middle. The arms of the museum stretch out towards the Tuileries Gardens and the Orangerie. The museum is typically open until six o'clock in the evening and is closed on Tuesdays. For Paris in a Day, we're tackling one of the heavy hitters, the Louvre, which is the largest museum in the world. There's 35,000 pieces of art inside. So what I've done is I've made it easy for myself by joining a tour. This is covered on our Paris in a Day tour. Check the links in the description below. I'm here at our meeting point. Our tour is gonna get started. We're gonna bypass a line, go on in and hear really great stories from a passionate guide and go exactly to the masterpieces that I wanna see. The glass pyramid isn't the only entrance into the Louvre. There are actually many ways to enter the museum. An easy hack is to use the underground entrance. If you're coming from a different place, like our Paris in a Day tour, you can take the Metro to Palais Royale, Musée du Louvre Metro stop and walk through this mall to a different entrance. We've departed our meeting place. We're now at the group entrance and we're gonna sort of a fast route in a little bit. I recommend spending three hours in the museum in order to see all the highlights. That's enough time to see masterpiece paintings by Giotto, Da Vinci and iconic sculptures like the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the ravishing Cupid and Psyche by Antonio Canova. It's such an important collection that we have several videos dedicated to the Louvre. Check out the links in the description below. After making my inner art nerd happy, I'm headed to the Left Bank. The Left Bank of Paris is a place of timeless allure where the very air seems infused with a heady mix of passion, creativity and intellectualism. I want to put this art here in Paris which connects the Louvre to the Institut Francais and this is the very first metal bridge in Paris. You might remember it as the famous Locke Bridge and this whole bridge used to be filled with locks. The French government did away with that. It's now just a really cool pedestrian bridge and I'm taking it to walk over to the Left Bank to head to lunch after my visit to the Louvre. This neighborhood is likely the Paris of your travel dreams. Every moment here is infused with the magic of Parisian life. The charming cafes, art galleries and bookshops that line these streets are a testament to the district's intellectual legacy. If you're hungry after the Louvre, you have several great options for lunch on the Left Bank. These are my top two. So I'm headed to one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, founded in 1686. Luminaries like Robespierre, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson would all eat here. So I'm inside of La Procope over on the Left Bank and it's one of the historic restaurants here in Paris. It was founded in 1686 and luminaries like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Diderot, even Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson would eat here. They have historic dishes and lots to choose from. You know, if you really want some great ambiance and you're on the Left Bank, this is the place to have lunch. What about a steak frite? Yeah, let's do that. And I'll have that a pois. A pois? Yeah. So you say a pois? A pois? A pois. A pois, so that's how you order a steak here in France because you don't want to order it too well done. You order it to the touch, right? La Palette is a beloved spot for both locals and tourists. The outdoor terrace with its traditional green chairs and bustling vibe is ideal for people who just want to chill out and sip on a glass of wine. Inside, the decor is rustic and cozy. Can I have a Croque Monsieur for me? I think Josh is going to try the Quiche Tradition. And then I'm going to have a glass of, how do you pronounce this, Pouilly Fumé? Is that the way you say it? Pouilly, my friend? My French is not good, so Pouilly Fumé. And a bottle of sparkling water, s'il vous plaît. Merci, merci. What I love about this place is that it's over 100 years old and they're still serving traditional French dishes like quiche with a salad and then the Croque Monsieur, which is the king of all grilled cheese sandwiches. It's cheese that's been toasted very nicely with a bachamela underneath and a piece of ham. Can't get better than that. So you can see the goodness. Oh, look at, look at, oh my gosh. Come on, son. This is the best grilled cheese you could ever hope to have. The king of all grilled cheeses, Croque Monsieur. Ooh, you can see the steam off of it. Chef's kiss. The oldest church in Paris is on the left bank and gives its name to this neighborhood. The original church was founded in 543 AD by the king and a monastery was also built. In 1014, the church and the monastery were largely destroyed by fire. The church was rebuilt and what we see today dates from 1163. The interior of this church features a mix of architectural styles from different periods in its history, including Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance. The painted interior is unique because not all Gothic churches in Paris remained painted. It's a reminder that Gothic churches provided much needed color in a dark medieval world. Right, now we're headed to a very cool place to hang out on the left bank and it's probably one of the most beautiful open spaces in Paris. The Latin Quarter is right next to Saint-Germain on the left bank. It is a vibrant and bohemian neighborhood famous for its lively student atmosphere, charming cafes, and historic landmarks like the Jardin de Luxembourg. If you're honestly looking to escape the business of Paris, then head to the Jardin de Luxembourg. The lush gardens, ornate fountains, and scenic pathways offer a complete escape and an oasis from the city around you. For the last bit of sightseeing today, I'm combining a river cruise on the Seine with Paris' mega monument, the Eiffel Tower. Both of these activities are included in our Paris in a Day tour. Check out those tours in the description below. So I made things easy for myself by booking the Eiffel Tower tour, which includes a river cruise right on the Seine. And the bonus part, which I didn't know about, is you get to exchange your tickets for a glass of champagne, which you know I'm gonna be doing a little bit later. So we made it through the security checks and Remy, our guide, handed us our tickets because it's a rule that everyone has to have their tickets. And over on the right side, you see people who have regular elevator-only tickets. And then over on the left side is the skip the line area, which we're a part of, so we're gonna skip the line and go right on in. Here's to a great time in the Marais. A bistro is a small, casual restaurant that typically serves classic French comfort food. Bistros, like Au Petit for a Chevelle, are known for their warm and friendly atmosphere and often have simple decor. Trying to tell you something, pretty dang good. After unwinding with a glass of champagne, I'm headed to one of my spots in the neighborhood to crush some oysters before dinner. Lalo is one of those places that is trendy because it maintains the friendliness of a family restaurant, while the Mexican-born chef brings an international flair to the seafood. If you want a cool place to hang out in here in the Marais, come to Lalo. They have an excellent wine list, but they also have eats if you're hungry, so you might wanna come here before dinner to have some appetizers. They specialize in seafood, so their chef has prepared some oysters, some ceviche, some shrimp, and these potatoes with a very particular sort of French seaweed. Absolutely delicious. A restaurant in Paris is typically a more formal dining experience with a more upscale atmosphere. Many of the best restaurants in Paris require a reservation, and diners are expected to dress appropriately. Au Bourguignon is one of those restaurants that I eat at every time I'm in Paris, and it's always consistently good. I wish you could smell this because this is the most rich beef stew you could possibly think of having. It's essentially beef cooked in burgundy wine with pieces of bacon. Those are the pieces of bacon. And onions and carrots and potatoes. So simplest dishes sometimes are the best, and this is beef bourguignon from Au Bourguignon du Marais. Get out of here. This is why you come to France. This is why you come to Paris. If you like food as much as we do, don't worry, we got you. Our Marais food tour is a fun way to learn more about French food. Check the link in the description below. The nighttime energy of the Little Red Door bar has kept me coming back for years. What I consider to be my local neighborhood bar in the Marais was recently ranked as bar number five in the top 50 bars in the world. The Little Red Door is my go-to spot to end the evening in the heart of Paris. Well, that concludes an epic day right here in Paris. We saw the Louvre, explored neighborhoods like the Marais and Saint-Germain-des-Prés, had some incredible food, and of course, had to spend time on the mega monument of the Eiffel Tower. I'm Angel Castellanos for the Tour Guide. Don't forget to comment, like, and subscribe, and ring that bell so you can find our next video. Happy travels.