Paris in 48 hours fails in one specific way: chasing the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and Montmartre, which are spread across the city and cost 25 to 35 minutes each to reach.
Pick one axis per day
Day one — the right bank axis
The Louvre at opening on a booked slot. Two hours in one wing; the Richelieu wing is nearly empty while Denon holds the crowd.
Out through the Tuileries, past the Orangerie with Monet's water lilies in two oval rooms built for them.
Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, and up the Arc de Triomphe — the best view in Paris, because it contains the Eiffel Tower and shows the twelve radiating avenues.
Evening: the Marais, ten minutes back east.
Day two — the island and left bank
Sainte-Chapelle early on a bright day — it is walls of thirteenth-century glass and needs light. Then Notre-Dame's exterior and the island.
The Latin Quarter, the Panthéon with Foucault's pendulum, the Jardin du Luxembourg.
The Musée d'Orsay in the afternoon — the Impressionists, in a converted railway station, and the museum most people prefer to the Louvre.
What to drop
Montmartre, unless you swap it for one of the above. It is 35 minutes from the centre and deserves a half day of its own.
Going up the Eiffel Tower. See it from the Trocadéro at dusk, which is where the photograph is anyway. Going up costs two hours including the queue.
Versailles. Most of a day.
The Catacombs. Timed entry and an hour's queue without one.
Book before flying
| Site | Note |
|---|---|
| Louvre | Timed reservation required, pass or not |
| Eiffel Tower summit | If going up |
| Sainte-Chapelle | Timed entry |
| One dinner | Good places book ahead |
Everything else in Paris is walk-in, which is unusual for a major capital.
The museum pass, briefly
Not worth it for 48 hours. The break-even is three to four major sites and one full day rarely gets you there.
It also does not remove the Louvre reservation requirement, which catches people out.
Where to stay
The Marais, the Latin Quarter, Saint-Germain, or around Bastille.
Paris's metro is dense enough that almost any central address works, and on a two-night trip the walking saved beats the money a peripheral location saves.
Eating
Lunch as the main meal. The formule midi — two courses — costs roughly half the evening equivalent at the same restaurant.
Coffee standing at the bar is a third of the terrace price, and both are legally posted.
Eat away from the sights. The 11th, Canal Saint-Martin and the Marais's side streets are where the good cheap food is.
Transfers
CDG — RER B to the centre in about 35 minutes.
Beauvais, sold as Paris, is 75+ minutes by coach each way. Price that against the fare saving before booking.