Weekend in Paris. It is a dream for many travellers. Young lovers come here for a romantic getaway, art-lovers are attracted by impressive collection in the Louvre, gourmets want to try snails and frogs. Paris attractions seem to be countless. So what is the perfect plan for a weekend in Paris? This guide will help you plan your trip 🙂
Check also this practical post: Paris Trip Planner: All You Need To Know
Weekend in Paris: What to do?
Weekend in Paris: Day 1
Start your trip with the most famous things to do in Paris, travel directly to the Eiffel Tower. The closest metro stations are Bir-Hakeim (line 6), Trocadero (line 6 and 9) and RER C train station called Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel. Check my practical post for more information on Paris public transportation:
Eiffel Tower
When you think of Paris attractions, it is the first thing that comes to your mind. Eiffel Tower, the Iron Lady 🙂 Designed by Gustave Eiffel to commemorate 100th anniversary of French Revolution. It was also supposed to be a symbol of economic and technological power of France.
Nowadays, thousands of tourists visit it every day. No matter if you spend 36 hours in Paris, a weekend in Paris, a few hours or a few weeks, you can’t miss it. On the tower, you can visit three viewing platforms. You can reach all of them by lift and two first by stairs.
If you plan to climb up the tower and see Paris landmarks from above, make sure to book your ticket and be there in advance. Queues to the Eiffel Tower are huge and if you buy your ticket online, you’ll skip some. Not all though – you’ll still need to wait for security check. Hard to get mad about that, we all have heard about attacks that took place in Paris. But do plan a bit more time.
The Eiffel Tower is impressive and when I saw it for the first time, I felt slightly surreal. I’ve seen it so many times in pictures and it turns out, it actually exists 🙂 Personally I don’t recommend you to go up the Tower just for the sake of it. You can find better viewing points in Paris. However, if you don’t want to miss going up the tower, consider making it special and grab a dinner on top of the Eiffel Tower 🙂 The price is great – you won’t eat much cheaper in other restaurants in Paris. And trust me, nothing beats this location and experience 🙂
Esplanade du Trocadero
If you’re thinking what to do in Paris, don’t miss Esplanade du Trocadero. It’s a square between two sides of Chaillot Palace, on the other side of the river Seine than the Eiffel Tower.
Each Paris guide will recommend you to go there to see a great view at the tower. Visiting it in the morning results in the sun shining right in your face. This can make taking photos a bigger challenge – but if you try, you can capture great frames 🙂 I hope my photo will be an inspiration for you, you can also check some tips for shooting against the light here.
If you want better light and you have enough time during your Paris mini break, come back here in the evening.
Anyway, it’s a great spot at all times of the day 🙂
Arc de Triomphe
This is another spot you need to see during your trip to Paris. The Arch was built to commemorate soldiers who died for France during French revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The Arch is covered by beautiful reliefs. Under the arch you can see the tomb of an unknown soldier. Moreover, you can climb the arch and see beautiful panorama of the city from there.
If you visit Paris on a budget and you can afford just one viewing point, choose this one.
I think Arc de Triomphe is a much better viewing point than the Eiffel Tower – you can see all most famous Paris attractions, the Tower included, you can see how symmetrical the city is, you see Montmartre hill and modern arch in La Defense.
Highly recommended! It’s worth booking your ticket in advance, I mentioned it here >>
Champs Elysees
During your Paris holidays, don’t miss the most famous street in the city. Back in XVIIth century there was nothing but fields here. Then, a road was built through them and slowly it evolved to a meeting place for French aristocracy living in and visiting Paris. Nowadays, tourists coming for weekend trips to Paris can see restaurants, fancy shops – and also contrasts.
Walk along this famous street and observe people and places. If you want to have a cheap weekend in Paris – don’t stop for coffees and croissants here. Either grab some cheaper and better ones around the corner – or even better, check the local experiences you can have via Eatwith. 🙂
Place de la Concorde and Tuileries Garden
You will end your walk along Champs Elysees on Place de la Concorde. During French revolution it was called “Revolution square” and a guillotine was located here. It executed over 1300 people – king Louis XVI included. Current name was used with hope that times of terror will never return.
Currently, one of interesting things in Paris on Place de la Concorde is a giant Egyptian obelisk which once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. Egyptian government gave it to France in 19th century.
Between Place de la Concorde and Louvre, you will also see Tuileries Garden, which is another place to see during your Paris weekend getaway.
The Louvre Museum
When you wonder what to see during your Paris weekend break, include the Louvre museum even if you don’t have enough time to visit this huge place inside. From the outside it’s impressive too – it’s a building of a king’s palace.
The Louvre’s collection has over 350,000 works of art, of which about 10% are on display. The antiquities department is very famous at the Louvre, where you’ll find works such as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
The painting department is equally amazing. There are numerous paintings from the Middle Ages to 1848, arranged by the country of origin of their creators. You’ll find works by artists such as Titian, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, and Hieronymus Bosch. This is where you can see the Mona Lisa – the most famous painting in the world.
Your visit to the Louvre begins at the famous glass pyramid, inspired by the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built in the 1980s and is located in the courtyard in front of the palace. This is where the entrance to the museum is located. Queues often form here and you must go through a security check before entering.
If you decide to visit Louvre, I strongly recommend getting a skip-the-line ticket as it’s one of the most popular museums in the world. You may get such a ticket slightly cheaper at Get Your Guide here.
Would you like to see something different? A unique art museum which is covered in stunning graffiti? Check these hidden gems in Paris!
Centre Pompidou
Planning a short trip to Paris, it’s worth checking out an interesting building of Centre Pompidou. Inside, you will find National Modern Art Museum.
The reason why it’s worth seeing it during your Paris vacation is that all pipes are installed outside. You can recognize what’s their purpose by their color. Blue are for air conditioning, yellow for electricity, red for communication and green for water supply.
Notre Dame Cathedral
Planning a weekend away in Paris, don’t forget about one of the most famous gothic cathedrals in the world. Notre Dame became famous mostly because of Victor Hugo’s novel – “Notre-Dame de Paris”, also known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cathedral comes from the Middle Ages and its construction took 180 years.
The admission is free but you’ll need to wait in a queue for security control. That’s already normal during most city breaks, Paris pays huge attention to security after terrorist attacks which happened there.
EDIT: I was lucky enough to see the cathedral before the fire on the 15th April 2019. You need to check what it the cathedral’s condition currently. As far as I know, it is still possible to visit the inside.