You could spend a week in Paris just walking. And in fact you should plan for three or four half days where you just walk. There is so much to see and it won't cost you anything.
No need to pay for a walking tour, the City of Paris website has the best walks already organised with maps and notes, in English and downloadable. Print them out before you leave home. They are called Paris Heritage Strolls and there are 45 to choose from.
Paris Info, the Paris Tourist Office has 12 themed walks in Paris. Full of good ideas but not as well researched and planned as the City's Heritage Strolls.
Here are my own top 5 walks.
- Walk along one side of the Seine from the Pont d'Iena at the Eiffel Tower to the end of the Ile Saint Louis, then cross the river at Pont Louis IV to the other side and walk back. You can begin anywhere along the river but cross at these two bridges. Walk at water level as well as on the upper quays.
- From the glass pyramid in the Louvre, meander through the Tuileries, across Concorde and up the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe. Return on the other side.
- Get the Metro or bus to Port Royal and discover all the corners of the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg. Walk to the Siene down the Boulevard Saint Michel.
- Get the Metro to Chatelet, take the St. Opportune exit and beginning at 1 rue St Honoré, walk the entire length. It becomes rue du Faubourg in the 8th and ends near the Arc de Triomphe. There are lots of Metros for when you get tired.
- Walk up and down every little street and lane on the Ile Saint Louis and the Ile de Cité. There is only one Metro stop on the islands, called Cité but you can use St Michel-Notre Dame on the left bank or Pont Marie on the right.
Things to do on the Metro.
Metro lines 2 and 6 run above ground. Get on anywhere, go to the end of the line, change platform and go to the end of the line in the opposite direction. All for €1.70 in under 2 hours. Do the same on any bus line but the best routes are those that go along and cross the river. Try the 72, 63 and 24.
There are driver-less trains on Lines 1 and 14. Work out which end of the platform the front of the train will be and get in at the very front. Your heart is in your mouth the first time. The fastest trip we have had is between Gare de Lyon and Chatelet on Line 1, but I am sure there are other long, fast dark, driver-less stretches.
There are several Metro stations worth a close look. In some, the platforms have been decorated to reflect nearby monuments while others have exquisite Art Nouvaeu entrances . Hop off at these stations and have a poke around. Arts et Metiers on Lines 3 and 11, Bastille on Line 1, Palais Royal on Lines 1 and 7, St Michel on Line 4, Pont Neuf on Line 7, Porte Dauphine on Line 2, Varenne on Line 13, Concorde on Line 12, Cite on Line 4, and Abbesses on Line 12.
Paris is a cycling city. If you are able to ride it is a fabulous way to get around and much of it is in safe bike only lanes. The Velibs are very convenient and very cheap and Paul says the actual bikes make riding easy.
So, finally here are my Paris favourites. I love history, stories, architecture, geography, gardens, furnishings, paintings and how things work (well, how some things work anyway).
- Musée du Louvre
- Musée Jacquemart-Andre
- Musée Nissim de Camondo
- Musée d’Orsay
- Chateaux de Versailles et de Trianon (Regional)
- Musée National de l’Orangerie
- Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris
- Chateau de Fontainebleau (Regional)
- Conciergerie
- Musée Marmottan Monet
- Le Petit-Palais – Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
- Saint-Chapelle
- Musée de l’Armée, Tombeau de Napoléon 1 and Musée de Plans-Reliefs – all at Invalides on a single ticket
- Musee National du Chateau de Malmaison (Regional)
- La Tour Eiffel
- Arc de Triomphe
- Musée Galleria – Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
- Musée Rodin
- Musée des Arts Décoratifs
- Visite Publique des Egouts de Paris
- Crypte Archéologique du parvis Notre-Dame
- Les Catacombes de Paris
- Hotel de Ville - Temporary exhibitions
Goodbye from Paris. Next stop, Lyon.
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