4 Days in Paris: Montmartre or Versailles?

Spend your first afternoon by the Eiffel Tower, your second day at the Louvre and Palais-Royal, and your third around Notre-Dame and the Marais. For day four, choose Montmartre if you want more time in Paris, or Versailles if the palace is something you have come to see.

This version includes a morning arrival on day one and sightseeing through day four. If you fly home on the fourth day, use the Montmartre morning only if your departure allows it. Versailles needs its own day.

Four days gives you something a shorter visit struggles to offer: an afternoon that can belong to shopping, a long lunch or a smaller museum without squeezing out the Louvre. You still have to choose. This plan leaves Orsay out; art lovers can swap it for Montmartre using our two-day museum guide.

• Choose your fourth day before buying tickets. Montmartre keeps you in the city. Versailles adds a train journey and a large estate, with much more walking than the palace rooms alone suggest.
• Move whole days around closures. The Louvre closes Tuesdays; the Palace of Versailles closes Mondays. Swap the museum day with the Marais day rather than trying to fit a museum into arrival afternoon.
• Pick one big museum. The Louvre is the default here. Choose Orsay instead if nineteenth-century painting matters more to you, then keep that afternoon on the Left Bank.

Lunch: near the tower or in Saint-Germain

La Fontaine de Mars, 129 rue Saint-Dominique, suits a proper lunch near the tower, with southwestern French cooking. Look for cassoulet or chicken with morels on the menu. Coutume Babylone, 47 rue de Babylone, is the coffee-led alternative if you are starting near Saint-Germain: it roasts its own beans and serves a seasonal brunch and lunch menu. Choose by where you are starting, rather than crossing town for your first meal.

Afternoon: start outside

After a morning flight, make the Eiffel Tower your first outing. Walk toward the river and enjoy the view from the ground. You can stop here if you are tired; there is no ticketed attraction holding the afternoon together.

If going up the tower matters to you, use the official ticket office and put it into another day's schedule. The ground-level visit in this plan does not include an ascent.

Later: a cruise or a walk

A river cruise is an option if you would like to sit down and still see the city. Bateaux Parisiens operates sightseeing cruises from the Eiffel Tower area. This is a round trip, so do not treat it as your ride to dinner in Saint-Germain.

Otherwise, walk a stretch of the river and stop when you have had enough. Save the ambitious sightseeing for tomorrow.

Evening: Saint-Germain if you still have energy

CRAVAN, 165 boulevard Saint-Germain, is an option for a cocktail if you continue into Saint-Germain, Tuesday to Saturday. For dinner beforehand, Les Antiquaires, 13 rue du Bac, keeps you in the same neighborhood. Choose it because you want a cocktail-bar evening, not because it happens to be beside the tower: getting here is a separate move. If you are ready for bed, leave this for the third evening.

Breakfast: choose by where you are staying

BO&MIE Louvre-Rivoli, 91 rue de Rivoli, works for a quick bakery stop. Café Compagnon, 22–26 rue Léopold Bellan, suits a slower breakfast if you are coming from Montorgueil. Its coffee is roasted at Courances; the red-marble and oak interior is a reason to sit down. These are alternatives, not two stops to squeeze in before the museum.

Morning: the Louvre

Book through the Louvre and decide what you most want to see before entering. Give those galleries the morning. Trying to cover every department usually means spending more time navigating than looking.

Keep lunch after your museum visit. An exit is final, so a restaurant outside cannot be a break between two sessions on the same ticket.

Lunch: a bistro, vegetarian plates or takeaway

Juveniles, 47 rue de Richelieu, is the sit-down choice for a weekday lunch with wine. Both Paris by Mouth and David Lebovitz recommend it. Look for the terrine on the changing menu. Lunch service ends early, so this suits a shorter museum morning.

Maslow 1er, 14 quai de la Mégisserie, is the vegetarian alternative, with continuous service from noon Monday to Saturday. Sunday has a separate brunch schedule. It sends you east toward the river rather than directly toward Palais-Royal.

BO&MIE is the quicker option for sandwiches or quiche. Our Louvre food guide explains the opening times and tradeoffs in more detail.

Afternoon: Palais-Royal and shopping

Walk around the Palais-Royal gardens and arcades. Then try Merci's rue de Richelieu shop at number 19 if you want to browse without moving to another neighborhood. This is a different address from its original Beaumarchais location, which fits tomorrow's route.

For an evening glass, Verjus wine bar, 47 rue de Montpensier, opens Monday to Friday from 6pm and does not take reservations. The restaurant has a separate entrance; choose the wine bar for this stop.

Morning: the island

Start with Notre-Dame. Use the cathedral's own visitor information for reservations and access. Walk around the outside as well as visiting inside, then cross toward the Right Bank for the Marais.

This is deliberately a neighborhood day. You do not need another major museum between the cathedral and lunch.

Lunch: galettes, then shopping

Breizh Café Le Marais, 109 rue Vieille du Temple, is the galette option. Choose a savory buckwheat galette for lunch and a sweet crêpe if you want dessert. It works particularly well when the afternoon is about browsing the neighborhood rather than another timed entrance.

Continue toward Merci, 111 boulevard Beaumarchais, for clothing and homeware. If you visited the Richelieu branch yesterday, choose whether you actually want a second shopping stop. Otherwise, turn toward Place des Vosges and spend the afternoon around the square and neighboring streets.

Evening: stay east or cross back for cocktails

Stay in the Marais if you would rather keep the evening easy. If CRAVAN appealed on day one but you were too tired, make tonight your Saint-Germain evening. Do not work your way back west merely to complete the list.

Morning: the museum and the hill

Choose this day if you want smaller streets, a little art and time to browse, rather than another large attraction. Musée de Montmartre, 12 rue Cortot, gives the neighborhood more context than a quick photo stop. Its published access options include line 12 to Lamarck-Caulaincourt or line 2 to Anvers followed by the funicular. Choose the approach that fits where you are staying; either still involves walking around the hill.

Visit the museum, then walk toward Sacré-Cœur and the surrounding streets. Café Renoir opens at 11am, so it is a later coffee stop rather than an early breakfast destination. There is also a garden-only ticket if the garden appeals more than another collection.

Lunch: down toward Pigalle

Bouillon Pigalle, 22 boulevard de Clichy, is an option as you come down from the hill. Its continuous service makes it useful after a late museum finish: it opens at noon on weekdays and 11:30am on weekends. Choose it when you want to eat without making the morning revolve around an early lunch slot.

Leave the afternoon open for the place you wanted more time in. Four days does not require four afternoons of new sights. If shopping was the highlight, return to the Marais. If you rushed Palais-Royal, go back and have the slower afternoon you wanted.

Morning: the palace

Choose Versailles for the palace and estate, not as an extra stop after Montmartre. Use the official planning page to select admission for the parts you want to visit. The palace opens at 9am and closes Mondays; Trianon opens at noon and also closes Mondays.

The RER C serves Versailles Château Rive Gauche, followed by a walk to the palace. Check the actual destination on your train: Versailles has several stations, and they are not interchangeable for this approach.

Afternoon: gardens or Trianon

After the palace, choose how much of the estate you want. A garden afternoon is enough if you are already tired. Add Trianon if its smaller palaces are part of the reason you came, rather than because they appear on the ticket.

Use the estate's visitor map for lunch options close to where you finish the morning. Gardens may require paid admission on fountain-show and musical-garden days. Check the day's ticket coverage instead of assuming palace admission settles everything.

Return to Paris for the evening. This option replaces the entire Montmartre day.

Hôtel du Louvre suits someone who wants a central full-service hotel, a bar to return to and a gym. The Officine bar and naturally lit, 24-hour mezzanine gym give it more appeal than its museum address alone. Pay attention to the room category if a view matters to you.

Hôtel Londres Saint-Honoré is the smaller, more intimate choice near rue Saint-Roch, with old stone and beams. Choose it for character and the address. It is not the pick for someone who wants spacious standard rooms or extensive hotel facilities.

Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Prés suits travelers who want a kitchenette and more independence. The river address makes the islands and Saint-Germain convenient; the apartment setup is the reason to choose it over a hotel with a destination lobby bar.

Only have two days? Our shorter Paris itinerary pares this back to an arrival afternoon and one full sightseeing day.