7 Days in Paris: A Full Week Without Rushing

Use the first five days for the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Marais, Montmartre and the Left Bank. Take one day trip, then keep the final day for the part of Paris you want more of. A week works because the famous places no longer have to compete for the same afternoon.

This plan assumes seven full days and one hotel. Move the museum days around weekly closures, and treat the order below as a route rather than a contract. If you arrive from the United States in the morning, begin with the Marais or a river walk. Save the Louvre for the first morning after a real night of sleep.

The Louvre normally closes Tuesdays; Orsay normally closes Mondays. Move those two days around your actual dates. If Versailles is the day trip, the Palace normally closes Mondays. Use the museum-day planner to see the weekly pattern, then book on the official sites. The tool does not check ticket availability or holiday exceptions.

I'd settle the museum days before booking meals. The Monday and Tuesday museum guide explains how to arrange those two days.

The Louvre now keeps late hours on Wednesday and Friday. That can work well after a slow morning, but do not use a late opening to add another major museum first. Paris museums usually close on Monday or Tuesday, and public holidays create exceptions. The official Paris tourism guidance explains the weekly pattern. Check the institution again before the cancellation window closes.

Book a morning Louvre entry and choose a wing or collection before you arrive. The Louvre ticket guide explains timed admission, free-entry reservations and which entrance to use. Two or three hours is enough for a first visit that still leaves you curious. Afterward, leave the museum district for lunch. The Louvre food guide gives nearby choices by mood and budget, including a fast meal if you would rather keep walking.

Cross the Palais-Royal garden, browse its arcades and follow the Tuileries toward the river. The rest of the day should be outdoors or at a table, not another major museum. If this is an arrival day from the US, swap it with the lighter Marais day.

If you want the Mona Lisa, go directly and then leave the most crowded route. Egyptian antiquities, the decorative arts and the Richelieu courtyards can give the visit a completely different pace. The museum is open late Wednesday and Friday, according to the current official schedule.

Start with breakfast on the Left Bank or near Rue Cler, then make the Eiffel Tower your one timed booking. If you only want the view of the tower, skip the lift ticket and spend that time walking the river. The ticket guide explains summit versus second floor.

For a contemporary-art afternoon, check what is showing at Palais de Tokyo. If the exhibition is not for you, take the riverbank or a cruise. Check the cruise boarding point and return point before reserving dinner; the boats do not all leave you where you want to eat.

Begin around Marché des Enfants Rouges, then walk east through the smaller streets toward Place des Vosges. Have lunch before you start shopping. The Marais is better as a neighborhood day than as a corridor between two museums. The shopping route separates design stores, books and gifts, so you can choose what is actually interesting.

Stay for dinner or cross to the river at dusk. If you arrived exhausted the morning before day one, this is the day to move to the front of the trip.

For lunch, decide whether the market itself is the meal or only the beginning. A few things from different counters make sense when the weather is good. A seated reservation is better when shopping will fill the afternoon and you want one calm hour. The official market guide helps you check which markets run on your actual day.

Go to Montmartre early, before the Sacré-Cœur steps become a queue of people taking the same photograph. Walk west through Abbesses and down Rue des Martyrs for food shops and a more useful sense of the neighborhood. A casual lunch at Bouillon Pigalle suits a quick, lively meal; the restaurant at Grand Amour is for a longer table and a different room.

Spend the afternoon browsing rather than adding the Eiffel Tower from the other side of the city. If you want a late museum, check a current exhibition and its hours first.

Give the Musée d’Orsay the morning. Its former station building is part of the visit, but choose galleries before arrival if the collection matters to you. Cross into Saint-Germain for lunch: L’Avant Comptoir suits small plates; Breizh Café is a galette lunch. Check the relevant location before you go.

Walk to the Luxembourg Garden afterward. If you already had enough art at the Louvre, make this a full Left Bank day instead. A second major museum is a choice, not a requirement.

Choose Versailles if architecture, court history and the scale of the estate are the point. Give it a full day if you want the gardens and Trianon, not just the Palace rooms. The Versailles route covers the visit and lunch.

Choose Giverny if you came for Monet and gardens in their open season. Check the foundation’s dates, then plan the train and onward connection with the Giverny guide. Do not try to combine both excursions in one day.

Return somewhere you wanted more time. Canal Saint-Martin and Belleville give you a different city texture. The covered passages and Palais-Royal keep you central if the weather turns. Fondation Louis Vuitton changes the art conversation entirely. Pick one direction and let lunch be part of it.

Stay in the Marais for energy, Saint-Germain for classic Left Bank evenings, or the 9th for restaurants and useful Métro connections. The 1st is convenient but can feel emptied of ordinary life after the museums close. The 7th is quiet and beautiful but spreads dinner choices farther apart. The official neighborhood directory and the Paris hotel guide spell out what each area costs you.

A good week ends with a repeat: the bakery you liked, a second walk along the river, or another drink at the bar near the hotel. That is what the seventh day buys you.