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Paris in 3 days: a complete itinerary
Three days lets you breathe: the essentials fit, plus one big museum without rushing and a trip out of town. This layout avoids the classic mistake of leaving Versailles for the last day and racing back for your flight.
Day 1: the centre and the river
The same historic axis route: Île de la Cité, the Louvre from outside, the Tuileries, Concorde and the Champs-Élysées up to the Arc de Triomphe in the late afternoon. Finish with the Seine cruise as the light fades: the best possible close to day one, because it maps the city out for you before you explore it.
Day 2: museums and neighbourhoods
Give the morning to one big museum — the Louvre for the classics, the Orsay for impressionism and a spectacular building — and the afternoon to Montmartre or the Marais. Do not attempt both museums: it is the fastest way to end the day exhausted without having seen the city.
Day 3: Versailles or the other Paris
Versailles takes a good half-day: the RER C is about 45 minutes from the centre and the palace with its gardens needs four hours minimum. If you would rather stay in the city, a third day covers the Latin Quarter, the Luxembourg gardens and whichever museum you skipped, at a far gentler pace.
If your return flight leaves on the afternoon of day three, do not schedule Versailles that day: between the RER and the queues you reach the airport out of breath. Swap it with day two instead.
Paris in one day: an hour-by-hour itinerary Paris in 2 days: a weekend itinerary