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Paris in 2 days: a weekend itinerary
Two days is the most common trip to Paris and the easiest to plan: enough for the essentials without rushing, as long as you resist cramming everything into day one. The trick is to separate the river axis from the hilltop neighbourhoods.
Day 1: the historic axis and the river
Start on the Île de la Cité with Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle, cross to the Louvre along the embankments and carry on through the Tuileries to Concorde. Walk up the Champs-Élysées and finish the afternoon on the Arc de Triomphe terrace, where you take in at a glance everything you have walked. Head down to the river and close the day with the sunset cruise.
Day 2: Montmartre and the Marais
Morning in Montmartre: go up early, when the Sacré-Cœur is quiet, then come down through the neighbourhood streets rather than the main staircase. Afternoon in the Marais: the Picasso museum or Place des Vosges depending on your mood, then wander until aperitif time. If you had energy to spare yesterday and skipped the cruise, now is the moment.
The usual two-day mistake is doing the Louvre and the Orsay on the same day: between them they eat a full day and you leave without having walked the streets. Pick one, or save them for a third day.