How to Thrive in a Whirlwind Trip to the City of Lights
Getting all of the Youthful Adventurers together for a family trip is increasingly challenging given their hectic schedules, so we decide to make our journey to France a quick one. Attempting to do Paris in four days, we appreciate that there will not be time to see everything. To get the millennials engaged (the youthful ones on this trip are ages 17 through 24), we ask each of them to pick one must-see, and then plan accordingly. We all have our quirky interests: mine is Marie-Antoinette, the Brawny Sherpa just wants to see the Mona Lisa, and the Youthful Adventurers select Napoleon’s Tomb, the Catacombs, and Père Lachaise cemetery as their first choices. We all agree we must visit the Eiffel Tower. Here’s how we manage to hit all of our highlights and more and still have four days of fun.
A Four-Day Paris Itinerary
Paris in Four Days: Day 1
- Arriving at 9 a.m. at Orly Airport, we buy Paris Museum Passes then jump in a cab and head for our hotel in Arceuil, a suburb, or banlieue, just three miles from the center of Paris. Not all of our rooms are ready, but we are able to stow our luggage in one. After a biological break, we head for the RER train and our first stop, the Catacombs.
- Arriving before our ticketed time (we are able to purchase tickets online before we head to Paris), we duck in to the nearby McDonald’s for some pommes frites and a Royale with Cheese (the French metric version of a Quarter Pounder). Yes, the entire family is a Pulp Fiction fan. The vegetarian among us opts for a macaron and cappuccino and wishes McDonald’s back home was so good.
- Still having some time to kill, we walk to the Cemetery of Montparnasse to set the mood for our upcoming journey underground to see stacks and stacks of skulls and bones in the Catacombs.
- Afterward, we walk to the Panthéon, initially intended to be a church but turned into a tribute to champions of liberty after the French Revolution. Here, we appreciate the Foucault pendulum and, continuing with the theme of our day, more graves in the basement.
- We hope to see the unicorn tapestries in the nearby Cluny but are not speedy enough to reach them before closing time. We opt for dinner before heading to the Eiffel Tower. After, too tired for more Metro and train rides, we splurge on a taxi back to Arceuil.
Paris in Four Days: Day 2
- After an 8 a.m. breakfast at our hotel, we walk to the RER and head for the Louvre. Catching all the high points—La Jaconde, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the Venus de Milo—we slow down a bit for more of the subtleties of the place before walking to our next destination—Île de la Cité and Notre Dame Cathedral, to be followed by Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie.
- In need of some energy, we head to Le Zimmer for an early dinner. One of the Youthful Adventurers bravely orders escargot, a first for him. All of us appreciate the luxury of being able to linger before we take the Metro to our next stop: the Arch of Triumph.
- At l’arc de Triomphe, we head to the top for some fantastic views of the City of Lights and of the Eiffel Tower. Then it’s back on the subway and RER as we head to our hotel for the night.
Paris in Four Days: Day 3
- This could be our most busy one: We start with a visit to the Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, and then follow that with a visit to the nearby Rodin Museum. We allot an hour and a half for each of our destinations of the day. The time we have gives us an introduction, but we will always want more Paris.
- Next, we get back on the Metro for our journey to Père LaChaise. We have all done our research and have a list of graves we want to see. Père LaChaise is notoriously challenging to navigate—lots of narrow walks—but we find what we are looking for all one our own: Jim Morrison of Doors fame, Colette, the late-in-life novelist, and James Mayer de Rothschild who, surprisingly, has a very humble resting place. Typically, we get a little lost here but still enjoy the spooky stillness of the place
- Then, because we cannot get enough of the Eiffel Tower, we head toward it for a quick dinner and some final photos.
Paris in Four Days: Day 4
- Our last day in Paris is actually spent outside it—we dedicate our final day in France to Versailles. We once again take trains to our destination; Versailles is about a 10-minute walk from the train station. We spend the day here and eat in town before heading back to our hotel and an early-morning flight.
Tips for Bashful Adventurers
- Orly Airport is not quite so glamorous as its Charles de Gaulle airport competitor, but it surely is convenient and is desirably uncrowded at the times we are in it. Given a choice, I would opt for Orly—even though many seem to prefer the much bigger de Gaulle.
- If you are trying to do a lot in just four days in Paris, plan well beforehand and coordinate your itinerary to see attractions that are close to one another.
- Purchase as many tickets as you can beforehand to minimize waiting in lines.
- If taking youthful adventurers along, be certain to establish a meeting place at each site (“if we lose each other, meet here at 1:30) and have a plan in case anyone jumps on a train or doesn’t get off with the rest of the group at a stop. Coach the kids on what to do if they do become separated from us and make sure they have pocket money and the name and address of their hotel.
Lori Tripoli
Planning a trip to Paris? You might like these posts:
- Living in Paris vs. Visiting Paris
- The Book to Carry while Cruising Paris
- Art Tourism at Notre Dame Cathedral
- A Stay at Hotel de La Tulipe