One Week in Paris: The Itinerary That Actually Works

A week is the first length of stay where Paris stops being a checklist and starts being a place you live in. Four days force choices; seven let you keep the icons, add a day trip, and still have a morning with no plan at all. Here is a seven day itinerary that real clients actually follow, with the booking windows that make it work.

The shape of the week

The trick to seven days is clustering: one area per day, so you walk minutes between stops instead of crossing the city twice before lunch. And one deliberate empty morning, because the best Paris memory most travelers bring home is the one nobody scheduled.

Day 1 — Arrive, and stay near home

Whatever your arrival time says, count on being at your hotel two hours after landing. Keep the first day within a short walk: a cafe, an early dinner near the hotel, one golden-hour stroll. If you land in the morning, resist the museum temptation. Jet lag always wins the first afternoon.

Day 2 — The Louvre, then the Tuileries axis

Go at opening with a timed entry, spend two focused hours (not five), then let the rest of the day unroll outdoors: Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, maybe the Orangerie for the Water Lilies if you still have museum energy. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays; plan around it.

Day 3 — The islands and the Latin Quarter

Notre-Dame (book the free timed entry a couple of days ahead), Sainte-Chapelle early before the stained glass gets a crowd in front of it, then cross to the Left Bank: Shakespeare and Company, the Pantheon, the Luxembourg Gardens by late afternoon. This is the best pure walking day of the week.

Day 4 — Montmartre in the morning, and a slow afternoon

Be on the butte before 9am and you will meet the village; arrive at noon and you will meet the crowd. Walk down through the ninth for lunch, and keep the afternoon slow. This is a good evening for your one big dinner reservation of the trip.

Day 5 — The day trip

Versailles is the classic (closed Mondays, go early, book the timed entry the moment you have dates). But with a full week you can be more ambitious: Giverny from April to October, Champagne, or the Loire. If you take the Versailles option, keep the evening free; the palace takes more out of you than it looks.

Day 6 — Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower done right

The Musee d'Orsay in the morning (closed Mondays, like most of what Versailles-day skipped), then the seventh arrondissement, rue Cler for an unhurried lunch, and the Eiffel Tower at your booked slot late in the day. Summit tickets open about 60 days ahead and the good slots go fast; this is the single most time-sensitive booking of the week.

Day 7 — The empty morning, then the goodbye

No plan. The market street near your hotel, the cafe you liked on day 2, the bridge you crossed too quickly. Buy the things you pretended not to want. One early dinner, one last walk along the Seine after dark.

The booking calendar that makes it work

Eiffel Tower summit: about 60 days out. Sought-after restaurant tables: 30 days out, sometimes to the minute. Versailles and the Louvre: as soon as you have dates. Notre-Dame: two or three days ahead. If your week is inside the next two months, the clock has already started on some of these.

This is exactly the kind of week we build and book at Chic Trip, day by day around what you love, every table and ticket at face price. If you would rather have it handled, tell us about your trip, or check what is realistic first with our free Grade My Paris Plan tool.

paris itinerary one week planning