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Are you looking to visit the City of Lights soon, but only have time for a short 48 hour visit? If so, you’re in luck! Below you’ll find the perfect 2 days in Paris itinerary to make the most of your time without burning out.
Is 2 days in Paris ideal? Technically, no, as there is so much to possibly see in this beautiful iconic city. However, sometimes life only gives you a couple days, and you’ve got to take them.
Seeing Paris is totally worth it, even if just for a day!
I actually just did a similar short stint in Paris with my husband while in town for a wedding. Due to how we scheduled our travels, we only left ourselves two whole days for sight-seeing even though we wished we could do more. After my planning mistakes in London last year, I was very nervous about jam-packing our schedule. This time, though, I worked hard to make a better plan while also scheduling in downtime. I’m happy to say it ended up being an amazing trip and we both fell completely in love with Paris.
This goes to show that a 2 day itinerary for Paris is 100% doable. It just takes a little strategy and realistic expectations. You certainly don’t need to try to “do it all” to feel like you got enough out of your trip. There is so much more to experiencing Paris than museums and tours, after all. So let’s get into it now and talk about how to plan the perfect 2 days in Paris itinerary.
Planning Your 2 Days in Paris
Getting to Paris
First off, I recommend building a travel day into your schedule that is completely separate from your 2 full days in Paris. Factoring in travel days is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done when planning a trip. It helps prevent travel burnout and meltdowns, and preserves your sanity and sightseeing motivation.
Ideally, you’d think you could do some sight-seeing on your arrival day. However, it’s all too often that the many variables of travel get in the way. For that reason, it’s nice to leave this day open.
If you fly into Paris, you’ll likely land at Charles de Gaulle Airport. From there, you can catch a taxi, bus, or more commonly, the RER B train to Gare du Nord. From Gare du Nord, you can take the Metro to the station closest to your lodging.
Getting Around Paris
Paris is extremely walkable, and we certainly got our steps in during our visit. However, staying in the Marais, we were too far out from the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysees and opted to take the Metro instead. The Metro, or Paris’s underground subway system, is cheap, easy to use, and usually arrives in less than 5 minutes.
You can buy tickets at machines for 1.90€ each or 14.90€ for ten tickets (we went through two sets of ten). I highly recommend utilizing the Metro to give your feet a break.
Where to Stay
There are many great neighborhoods to base yourself in Paris, with some being closer to tourist attractions than others. What I learned from staying very close to heavy tourist areas on a recent trip to Italy, is that I’d rather be a little further removed from that scene. Picture crowds, lots of tour groups coming through, and street hawkers trying to sell you hats and light up Eiffel Towers every time you walk by. It gets old very quickly.
We stayed in a lovely flat in the Marais, and fell in love with this neighborhood. There are more Parisians, the scene is more chill, and there are plenty of good shops, restaurants, and cafés. If given the chance, I would absolutely choose to stay in this neighborhood again.
2 Days in Paris Itinerary
Arrival in Paris
While I don’t recommend planning much sight-seeing upon your arrival in Paris, you still gotta eat. Plus, you’ll probably be pretty hungry by the time you get your bearings after all that travel.
If you are staying close to the Marais, I highly recommend checking out Glou. It is very atmospheric, with tables right on the sidewalk where you can watch the world pass by. It also has romantic views, with a small park and the lovely Picasso Museum across the way. We enjoyed their menu, with my excellent fried octopus dish and my husband’s delicious ribeye. Obviously, we couldn’t eat this without a little wine too.
Glou was the perfect intro to Paris, and a welcome place to slow down for a couple hours after a long travel day. We liked it so much, we actually popped in here for wine two more times during our stay!
2 Days in Paris Itinerary: Day 1
Morning
Every morning in Paris should be started by finding a café for coffee and probably also a croissant or pain au chocolat if you know what’s good for you. These places are everywhere, so just hit up the one where you see the most locals and move along.
Now it’s time to start exploring Paris (said like Paree). I like to start a lot of my trips with a walking tour if I can. They really help with getting oriented to a new city, while also educating you about each sight. Since we were being cheap, we did Rick Steves’ self-guided Historic Paris Walk using his free Audio Europe app. The only price to pay is listening to all of Rick Steves’ cheesy jokes (nothing’s free, right?).
That being said, it’s a scenic walk, and it takes you through the Île de la Cité passed the Notre Dame Cathedral, Île Saint-Louis, down the Seine and the many vintage book stands, etc. Rick Steves suggests using 4 hours for the walk. However, the app has not been updated since the fire at Notre Dame, which unfortunately is closed to the public indefinitely. Since you can’t go inside, this probably shaves about an hour off the tour. If you’re like us, and don’t actually enter any sights, it’ll probably be closer to two hours.
If you don’t want to do a self-guided tour, there are plenty of group tours available as well. A popular company is Take Walks, which we used for two tours in Italy and had great experiences both times.
Crepe Break
You’ve just done a bunch of walking and burnt off some calories, which means you can take a crepe break. There is an awesome take-away stall in the Marais called La Droguerie that makes them fresh and puts them in a cone for you to eat and walk.
I caution you though – if you are like me and bad at eating neatly, you may want to be a little weary of the whole walking and eating thing. I got the banana and Nutella crepe, and ending up wearing some of it on my outfit. From now on, I think I’ll just eat them standing in one spot, since I can barely even handle eating sitting down.
Afternoon
Plan a visit to the Louvre Museum on your first day, and absolutely purchase your tickets in advance. The lines to buy tickets on site are horrendous and will unnecessarily waste time during your precious 2 days in Paris.
Once inside, you’ll likely see another obnoxious line going across the main lobby. We didn’t know it at the time, but this is the current line for the Mona Lisa (or Joconde in French) during renovations. It must have been recently relocated, because our maps of the Louvre showed it being somewhere else entirely. We spent a good hour wandering all around trying to find it. Finally, when we circled back to the lobby, it clicked what that huge line was actually for.
I would estimate this line to be at least an hour, maybe two, and we chose not to deal with it on our visit. With only a 2 day Paris itinerary, we didn’t want to waste precious time waiting in long lines. Plus, it’s the Louvre – there is plenty of other world class artwork all over the building to look at without a crazy line. For example, there are a number of other Leonardo da Vinci paintings to admire and loads of sculptures, including the famous Venus de Milo.
Right outside the Louvre is the Tuileries Garden that you can check out for free if you want. We passed on it, since we were exhausted after wandering all around the Louvre looking for the Mona Lisa.
Evening
Schedule a climb or elevator up the Eiffel Tower in time for golden hour. The cheapest option is to climb the stairs to the second floor, and it’s also a huge time saver with hardly any line at all. Plus, it’s a pretty rewarding experience, especially if you’re afraid of heights like me. I’m not gonna lie when I say I ran up the steps and pretended the ground wasn’t real…
You could also take the elevator to either just the 2nd floor, or continue your journey all the way up to the top (these are two different tickets). The second floor has an amazing view, and arguably even better than the top, as it’s close enough to the ground to pick out some buildings and monuments. Elevator tickets book up well in advance, so be sure to reserve them online before your trip!
After this would be a great time to do a starlight Seine river cruise, as Bateaux-Mouches and other such tour companies are only a 15 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. Bateaux-Mouches leaves twice an hour until 10:30 p.m. during high season, and you can pretty much show up and buy tickets on the spot. One perk I really liked about them is how long their boats are, with plenty of space on the top deck to enjoy the stunning city views.
Tip – The left side of the boat will give you both the best views of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. Plan your cruise around 10:00 p.m. to catch the Eiffel Tower shimmering on the hour.
2 Days in Paris Itinerary: Day 2
Morning
If you want, you could spend the first part of your day touring the Musée d’Orsay when it opens at 9:30 a.m., and then walk or Metro over to the Arc de Triomphe. It’s about a 2 mile walk, mostly right down the famous Champs-Élysées, versus a 25 minute Metro ride. You could also do things in reverse order, and start with the Arc de Triomphe to get some pretty photos in the morning light before all the crowds. The drawback is that the shops and restaurants on the Champs-Élysées may not be open yet, so this could be more fun to do in the afternoon.
However, if you are like me and get museum fatigue, maybe you’d like to pass on the Musée d’Orsay in favor of a slower morning. Remember, there is more to Paris than hopping between monuments and museums. Plus, I personally prefer not to do back to back museum days, so we opted to sleep in a little before heading out for crepes. The best creperies generally do not seem to open until late morning anyhow.
If you decide to go the crepe route, BREIZH Café is a great sit down establishment in the Marais to check out. The have seating right on the street for people watching, and serve delicious sweet and savory crepes.
Afternoon
If you didn’t go in the morning, it’s Arc de Triomphe time now. From wherever you are, walk or take the Metro to the Charles de Gaulle – Étoile station, and get your signature selfie in the middle of the Champs-Élysées. Follow this up with a stroll past the luxury shops on the Champs-Élysées until you’ve had your fill. I largely ignored these, since peaking into stores I can’t afford is a waste of my precious time.
If you have time and energy, make the 15 minute walk over to Place du Trocadéro for a lively atmosphere and breathtaking views of the Eiffel Tower. This is the perfect place to picnic with some takeout food, or perhaps a baguette with fromage and rosé. Finish off with some macarons, which you can purchase at a nearby shop called Carette.
Evening
End your 2 days in Paris itinerary with a proper slow-paced Parisian dinner at a nice restaurant like Chez Mademoiselle in the Marais. We had a lovely experience there, although clearly our 7:00 p.m. reservation was an early dinner on Paris time. No one else entered the place for at least another half hour! We did not get an appetizer, but instead ate the wonderful bread that every Paris establishment provides no matter what you order.
We sipped on various wines, which were all delicious, just like all the wine we consumed in France and Italy. And believe me – we almost always ordered the cheapest wine on the menu. For dinner I devoured the incredible and well-portioned tartar duo. My hubby inhaled their fish dish, apparently a white fish called turbot, which he loved.
Dessert was the kicker. We ordered the chocolate mousse to split between us, even though we were almost full. What we weren’t expecting was the entire jar of whipped mascarpone cream that was brought out with it. I presume we were supposed to top the chocolate mousse with a dollop?
They didn’t know who they were dealing with, though, because we definitely tried (unsuccessfully) to eat the whole jar. But after they took it away, we still weren’t quite finished. While waiting for our check, a waiter brought us over complimentary limoncello to top off our night. Need I say more? This was obviously an awesome date night spot, and the perfect place to complete our 2 days in Paris itinerary.
• • •
This is where your romantic and memorable 2 days in Paris itinerary comes to a close. Hopefully, you got a good taste of the city and the opportunity to do as the Parisians do, even while going full tourist at their famous sights. Just remember that it’s okay to pace yourself and focus in on seeing a few key places. It’s impossible to squeeze everything into 2 quick days while still doing it justice. Paris is a place one could easily be drawn back to, so might as well start saving for your return trip when you get home!
