I have been reading the forum for a while now and have put together an itinerary for me and my daughter. We will be in Paris on Friday and are very excited. I would love any suggestions that would help me improve my itinerary. We are staying in the 6th. Here it is.
Friday - D%26#39;Orsay, Ile de la cite, Notre Dame, Ste Chappelle, Bateau on Seine
Sat - Loevre, L%26#39;orangerie, Lunch out, Champs de Elysees, Arc d%26#39;Triumph
Sun - Bastille Mkt, Versaille
Monday - Eiffel Tower, St. Germain, Musee Delecroix, Musee Rodin, Latin Quarter, Pompidou
Tuesday - Sacre Couer, Marais, Place de la Voges
Well thats the general plan. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for your help.
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I have traveled to Paris with my daughter twice, and they were wonderful trips. You are so lucky to be going together--what great memories you will have!
The general %26quot;problem%26quot; with your itinerary is that it%26#39;s very jam-packed. Also I see that you don%26#39;t anticipate any jet lag for Friday, if that is your arrival day after a long flight.
You have several museums scheduled for Saturday and Monday--so maybe you%26#39;re planning just sort of a brief %26quot;scanning%26quot; through of many museums? Certainly your visit to the Louvre will be very brief, considering your itinerary for that day. I think that means you will have %26quot;seen%26quot; a small section of the Louvre, but by no means experienced it.
A suggestion might be that if this is your first time to Paris (and if you have 6 museums to see in your fairly brief stay), you may want to reconsider Versailles. You may find that you want to stay in Paris.
Overall, i think you should decide your absolute priorities, and get around to the other things if you have time. (For example, is one %26quot;impressionist%26quot; museum going to be sufficient for you this trip? Then you could choose between D%26#39;Orsay and L%26#39;Orangerie.) You%26#39;ve really not left much time for getting from place to place, enjoying meals, and enjoying the city itself--walking thru the streets and taking it all in.
You want to make sure that you%26#39;re not just getting to as many places as possible, as if you have a checklist. I think that%26#39;s the way to maximize your time.
I love the 6th. You%26#39;re staying in a wonderful area, and I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll love your trip. (But I think this itinerary is too frantic.)
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Thanks so much for the advice. I know you are right. We will definitely want to spend some time in the Louvre etc so we really need to pick our priorities because as you said we will want to spend time just walking and eating hahaha.
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I didn%26#39;t think it was jam-packed at all. I would move Pompidou to Tuesday morning, then Marais/Vosges, then Sacre Coeur. Otherwise, I think you can do most of it. You can always limit your walking around if you see the day slipping by and you absolutely %26#39;must%26#39; finish a particular museum. Rodin and Orangerie are quite small and need an hour or two. The Louvre and d%26#39;Orsay much larger - you really can%26#39;t finish the Louvre anyway, so allow 2-3 hours there and move on. At d%26#39;Orsay, head for the top level first for the Impressionists then visit the rest as time permits, espec. the Art Nouveau section.
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Hi, honestly I think that your itinerary is slightly overcrowded. Paris is a charming city that should be enjoyed as much as possible without hurry.
I would suggest moving Quarter Latin to the same say as Île de la Cité and Notre Dame de Paris, they are suitable for a pleasant half-day exploration. By the way, I highly recommend buying a ticket to enter the cathedral towers. It%26#39;s an amazing experience, you will not regret it. It will probably take a couple of hours of your time (the line at times is quite long).
Also, I think you should dedicate a full day to Louvre and a full day to Versailles. They both are worth your time.
Have fun and enjoy your stay!
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I too think you are being a bit ambitious. If you are arriving from NY I think you will find your first day exhausting. Big museums are never a good idea on one%26#39;s first day IMO. I agree with travelnutty about moving the Pompidou. I would suggest you go to the Louvre web site and download one of their many suggested itineraries. If you are primarily interested in the %26quot;big three%26quot; thay have a well thought out itinerary covering those and allowing you to experience some of the other art you would otherwise likely walk past without a good idea of the context of what you are looking at. There are several other excellent itineraries there. The place is so vast that to arrive without a plan would be almost the same as arriving in Paris with no idea where things are or what your priorities were.
Incidentally I could (and would) spend a full half day or longer at the Musée d%26#39;Orsay and at least a couple of hours at the Orangerie and the Rodin and I have visited all three several times. I have probably spent the equivalent of a week in the Louvre and I know there is much I still have not seen. Different strokes...
I take it your daughter is an adult...
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I see what you are saying about being too ambitious. We will need to leave out a few museums so we have enough time to do our favorites. Also - i will definitely look for the museum%26#39;s suggested itinerary - that is an excellent idea. If D%26#39;Orsay is too much for the first day - I will have to move that around. Have to think about it. And yes my daughter is an adult.
Thanks sooooooooooo much for your help.
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I didn%26#39;t think the itinerary was too bad. If aren%26#39;t too jetlagged you should be ok. How long you spend in the museums is really dependent on your own tastes. Just be flexible and prepared to skip things if you are running short of time (i.e. don%26#39;t move on to the next sight just because it’s on your list).
Paris is full of wonderful things – you can’t really go wrong as long as you allow yourself to enjoy it.
Musee Delecroix – I’ve tried three times to see it but every time its closed “Je reviens” (back later)!
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Make sure you do the Eiffel Tower early in the morning. Last week we quequed for about an hour and a half to get in. It was certainly worth the wait but you could save a bit of time being there early.
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also make sure you use the metro wherever possible as it saves time too...
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If you are anything like me and my family - your itinerary will work fine. We move fast, and just returned from Paris on Saturday. We had four days in Paris and did just about all that you did, though we chose not to go to Versailles.
The only suggestions I would make is hit the big ones first thing theAM. We went to the Eiffel about 40 minutes before it opened, the line to take the elevator was so very long - probably 1 1/2 hour wait. The line for the stairs - well, we were second in line and it was a pleasure to take the stairs. Saved time for the rest of our day. Same thing with Notre Dame - got there before the stairs opened, toured the interior and then got in line about 20 minutes before the stairs opened. When we got back down - the line was again, very long - and in the rain.
I%26#39;d sort of plan it with one %26#39;biggie%26#39; first then fill in with what you want to do. You can then push anything you missed to the final day where you plan to spend it in the Marais. We stayed in the Marais and we only spent a few hours there, which was plenty.
Enjoy!!
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