What are the best places to visit for a short trip to Paris, France?

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dhbemis

The MusГ©e d'Orsay has some of the world's most recognizable impressionist paintings. The Louvre is much much bigger and has older objects in general. If you want to do a 2-3 hour museum blitz, d'Orsay might be a better choice than the Louvre.

for more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay

Rillifane

Three days is a very short time for a place as big and filled with "must see" sights as Paris. However, Paris is a very compact city and has the best public transport in the world so you can actually see quite a lot if you plan your itinerary carefully.

You'll have to skup most of the museums and, at best, do a quick run thru the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and a few other mega-masterpieces. You can leave the rest for your next trip(s) to Paris.

February can be quite chilly with daytime temperatures in the mid 40's and dipping towards freezing at night. Snow and rain are both real possibilities. So weather will also put something of a crimp on your sightseeing.

When you say three days do you mean three full days or are you counting the day you arrive and the day you leave?

I'm going to assume, just to play it safe, that you mean the latter and therefore figure you have two half days and one full day in the middle. If I'm wrong then please let me know.

After you're settled in your hotel on day one take the Metro (or walk if you're close) to the Place St. Michel. You'll be on the Left Bank and as you face the river you'll be able to see Notre Dame to your right on the Ile de la Cite. Head over and see this beautiful example of Gothic architecture. When you exit the church go to Sainte Chapelle which is just a two block walk. Then walk towards the Right Bank but don't cross the bridge. Instead turn left and walk to the Conciergerie, a medieval fortress that was used as a prison during the Revolution. Marie "let them eat cake" Antoinette was imprisoned here. When you exit walk in same direction to the very end of the island. this is where Jacques DeMolay, Grand Master of the Knights Tepplar was burnt at the stake. Retrace your steps and you'll notice the dock for the Vedettes du Pont Neuf on your left. They do boat rides up and down the Seine. Go to their website and get a discount coupon (http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/). The ride takes about an hour and you'll get a good orientation to the city.

On day two head for the Louvre and do a quick tour of the most famous works. If the weathers nice you can then walk thru the Tuileries Gardens to the Place de la Concorde where the guillotine used to stand that beheaded the King and Queen during the Revolution. there's now an Egyptian Obelisk on the spot. From here you can either walk up the Champs Elysee or catch the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. From there take the Metro to the Tocadero and the Palis Chaillot. From here you get the most fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower that will be across the river. Walk to the tower and decide if you want to stand in line to go up (the line shouldn't be too bad in February). From there take the RER (direction: Saint-Martin d'Etampes) to the Invalides where you can see the tomb of Napoleon. You can skip Invalides or continue on the RER to the Musee d'Orsay after it). If you have the time to see the Musee d'Orsay its well worth a visit. If you don't have time then just continue on the RER back to the St. Michel stop. At St. Michel walk down the boulevard to see the Cluny Museum and Roman Baths (wich are worth a look even if you don't enter the museum) and then continue walking to the rue Souflot. Turn left and you'll see the Pantheon or look to the south on your right and see the Luxembourge Gardens and the Medici Palais which now houses the French senate. After checking out the Panteon you can walk around it and down the rue Montagne St. Genevieve to the rue Descartes and have dinner at my favorite little restaurant, La Methode at 2 rue Descartes.

On day three head up to Montmartre, see Sacre Coeur, the place du Tertre, and the Moulin rouge. If you still have time then take the metro to the place Bastille and walk thru the Marais district and see the Place de Vosges, rue de Rosiers (the old Jewish Quarter), the Hotel Carnavalet, and end up at the Centre Pompidou.

paraka

I'd say have a look at the Arc de Triomphe,Montmartre, the Louvre, the Invalides, the Eiffel Tower, and Eurodisney. Just remember to check the weather for the Eiffel Tower,though : If it's rainy or foggy, you won't be able to see much, and that would be a bit of a waste of time. And enjoy French food-you won't be disappointed.

ctelly22

Also the sacre Coeur is great to visit. It offers excellent views of Paris. If you are into museums check out the orsay museum. To me it was better than the louvre. I also enjoyed the catacombs, something different. Make sure you check out galeries lafayette for shopping. Paris has a good metro system, it can make getting around the city fast and allow you to see multiple sites. Yahoo trip planner is a good source to use in creating an itinerary.

Jeffrey

First of get a good Travel Guide to Paris. Review all of the sites and things that you what to then go to Paris.

When I go to Paris I like to see -
Eiffel Tower
Champs Elysees
Arc de Triomphe
Louvre Museum
Notre Dame
Alexandre III Bridge

Things to do:
Walk by the River Seine
Walk around or sit in a Cafe in Montartre
Go to a good French Restaurant.
Rent a motor bike.

Hot Answers - Artemisв„ў

http://www.visitingeu.com/western-europe/france/2007/02/best-short-trips-from-paris.html

SallySweetheart

When I go to paris i don't usually go to all the touristy places. The more local places are lovely. But if you wanted to see the Paris that every one loves you should go to the centre of paris there's loads to see. The Eiffel tower is beautiful, especially at night when you can see all the fireworks which are Fabulous! Also I once went to Chateau de versailles! It was Beautiful. No trip to paris would be complete without a trip to the amazing Chateau de versailles.I would definitely recommend you to go there, it is just a beautiful place to visit.Other places to visit is the louvre and Norte dame. If you wanted to get the best out of paris visit one of the many theme parks, like disney land, parc asterix or saint parc paul. Paris is just a beautiful city and there's loads of places to visit!

kealaniii

Montmarte! That giant church thing on top of the hill. You can see the entire city of Paris. (:

Francienta

Mon Matre, Sacre Cour, Opera, Luxenburg Park, Eiffel Tower, Triumph Arc, Louvre, Vesalles, Orsay, Saint Germain.

I Go to this place with friends and are some of the best in Paris.

Liv

I would say the eifel tower

hotrock321

I'm not much of a museum fan.. I did go to the museums but figured it was a waste of time and money
The eiffel tower, Champs De Elysee (or something like that) at night, Triomphe (or something like that again - it's at one end of the Champs and if you stand at the top of it and look down at the traffic it looks very disorganised and chaotic, ferry ride, eating at the local streets, I don't quite remember the name but there are a couple of islands in the city (man made) - they're quite good.
Also having breakfast at a cafe opposite the river is quite breath-taking.

Emili

it depends on what you like. for the big tourist things, you can go to the eiffel tower and the arc de triumph in one day. if you are into art obviously there's the Louvre or for something slightly different, the Pompidou centre which you don't even have to go inside, just view which is perfect for a quick visit. If you are religious, then you should go to the Notredam cathedral. Just generally walking around Paris is also great

tempofinax

When I take someone for a first visit to Paris, I usually take the person to the Visitparis doubledecker buses in Rue de Rivoli. They organise multilingual tours in Paris and you have a choice of one or two-days visits.

I usually choose a half-day visit that spans most monuments so that we can have a glimpse of nearly everything (see the other answers), than we can decide whether we want to stay longer or come back later and visit more thoroughly (using the underground system).

My children particularly loved the Pompidou Centre and the City of Arts and Industry at La Villette, the Invalids Palace with Napoleon's tomb, my wife loves the Halles, where she "shops till she drops".

Being interested in aviation, I love the Bourget aviation museum and I thought the maritime museum in the Trocadero was absolute top; but I understand it is closed for repairs.

There is an interesting museum at the CNAM (Conservatoire National des Arts et MГ©tiers) but it has been under renovation for so many years that I never had a chance to visit. You might have more luck.

About evenings, I guess you will be interested in dining around the Left Bank, any place around Boulevards St-Michel and St-Germain should be all right. Try to test bistrot food in Paris.

в™Ґ

Definitely take a boat tour of the River Seine. It will show you TONS of landmarks that you might not be able to go see on foot. It's about an hour to two long if I remember right and it's a great way to see the city.

Eiffel Tower...go in the evening before the sun sets. Go up in the day and come down at night. You'll get to see the city in day and the city of lights at night. Buy the tickets to take the elevator up instead of the stairs. It will save you time since you are on a time crunch. There will be a long line to get from the 2nd level to the top. If you don't make it to the top, it's okay. Everything just gets smaller to see and you can see plenty from the second level.

Arc de Triumph

Walk le champs elyse boulevard.

Visit the Lourve and see the most important paintings and sculptures (Mona Lisa, etc)

Notre Dame

Take the metro to St. Michel. Great cheap tourist shopping and good landmarks to see.

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