Paris in 3 days: itinerary, where to eat and what it costs
Three days, three neighbourhoods and 2026 prices checked one by one. An itinerary for anyone flying in from Lisbon or Porto who wants to see Paris without spending the day in queues.
In short. Three days is enough for the essentials of Paris: the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower on day one, the Île de la Cité and the Left Bank on day two, Montmartre and the Marais on day three. Excluding flights and hotel, budget around €90 per person per day, with one paid entry a day and simple meals (October 2026 prices).
- metro, RER or train ticket anywhere in the region
- €2.55
- the Louvre for EU citizens; €32 for non-EU visitors
- €22
- per person per day, excluding flights and hotel (example)
- €90
There’s a way of seeing Paris that wears you out: crossing the city three times a day to tick off a list. And there’s another, which is to give each day a neighbourhood and let the monuments come to you in order. The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower fit into one day, joined by a single walk along the Right Bank. The Île de la Cité, the Orsay and Saint-Germain fill the next. Montmartre and the Marais take the last.
Along the way, we’ve done the maths. Paris has a reputation for being expensive, and sometimes it deserves it: a coffee costs 70% more than in Lisbon and a beer more than double. But a simple lunch costs practically the same, entry to the big museums stays under €25 and some of the best views in the city are free.
Where should you stay in Paris on a first visit?
Inside the Périphérique ring road, in the low-numbered arrondissements. That’s where the monuments are, and where almost everything can be done on foot or with a single metro line. For a first visit, these are the areas that suit a three-day itinerary best.
Le Marais (3rd and 4th arrondissements)
Narrow streets, the Place des Vosges, galleries and restaurants that stay open late. Notre-Dame and the Louvre are within walking distance. The hotels are small, and so are the rooms.
Saint-Germain and the Latin Quarter (5th and 6th)
The Paris of cafés and bookshops, next to the Luxembourg Gardens. Quieter at night than the Marais, with a good choice of three- and four-star hotels.
Opéra and the Grands Boulevards (9th)
Less picturesque but very practical: department stores, theatres and metro line 14 (Madeleine, Saint-Lazare), which runs to Orly airport with no changes.
Gare du Nord and Gare de l’Est (10th)
Prices drop and the RER B goes straight to Charles de Gaulle airport, but the area is less pleasant at night. Fine for a short stay.
How do you get from the airport to the centre?
It depends on the airport, and with low-cost airlines you could land at any of the three. A warning that will save you a fine: the standard metro ticket isn’t valid. Orly and Charles de Gaulle have their own ticket, €14 per journey in 2026, which you load onto your phone or a Navigo Easy card.
| Airport | How | Time | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orly (14 km) | Metro line 14 to Châtelet, Pyramides, Madeleine or Saint-Lazare | about 25 min | €14 |
| Charles de Gaulle (25 km) | RER B to Gare du Nord or Châtelet; in the small hours, Noctilien night buses to Gare de l’Est | no changes | €14 |
| Beauvais (85 km) | Airport coach to Porte Maillot, with tickets sold on the airport’s website | over 1 hour | see website |
The direct Orlybus stopped running on 3 March 2025. If anyone tells you to take it, their information is out of date.
What can you do in Paris in 3 days?
Closing days set the order: the Louvre is shut on Tuesdays and the Orsay on Mondays. Fit the first two days around that and the rest falls into place.
Morning
The Louvre at opening time
Arrive before 9am with a timed ticket and go in through the glass pyramid that I. M. Pei designed in 1989. Inside, do the opposite of the crowd: see the Mona Lisa first, while only a handful of people stand in front of her, and then walk away. In the Richelieu wing, the Napoleon III Apartments, all red velvet and chandeliers, are usually far calmer. Three hours is enough for a first visit; stay longer and the museum wins.
Practical. €22 for EU citizens (€32 for non-EU visitors), free under 26. Closed on Tuesdays; open until 9pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Afternoon
From the Tuileries to the Arc de Triomphe
As you leave, the Tuileries Garden leads you in a straight line to the Place de la Concorde, where the guillotine stood during the Revolution. From there you walk up the Champs-Élysées, about half an hour at an easy pace. At the top, the 284 steps of the Arc de Triomphe are worth the climb: from the roof you look down on the star of twelve avenues that Haussmann redesigned, with the Eiffel Tower close by, the one thing you can’t see from the tower itself.
Practical. €16 from October to March; €22 from April to September (€16 on Wednesdays). Open until 10.30pm in winter.
Evening
The Trocadéro and the sparkling tower
As night falls, take the metro to Trocadéro (lines 6 and 9) and stand on the esplanade between the two wings of the Palais de Chaillot. This is the postcard view, with the whole tower in front of you and the Seine below. After dark, the tower sparkles for five minutes at the start of every hour, until midnight or 1am depending on the season. If you want to go up, buy your ticket online and go once it’s dark: the city lit up below is worth every metre.
Practical. Top by lift: €36.70. 2nd floor by the stairs: €14.80.
Morning
Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle
Start on the island where Paris was born. Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024, more than five years after the fire, and its pale stone interior surprises anyone who knew it before. Entry to the cathedral is free; the towers are paid separately and by reservation only. A few minutes’ walk away, inside the Palais de Justice, stands the Sainte-Chapelle, which Saint Louis had built to house the Crown of Thorns. Its 13th-century stained glass fills almost every wall: go on a sunny morning, when the chapel lights up from within.
Practical. Notre-Dame towers: €16, online only. Sainte-Chapelle: €16 for European Economic Area citizens, €23 combined with the Conciergerie. Security check at the entrance; arrive at your booked time.
Afternoon
The Orsay and a coffee in Saint-Germain
Cross the river on the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris despite its name (it means ‘New Bridge’), and follow the quays to the Orsay. The museum fills the railway station built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, and the giant clock on the façade is still there. The Impressionists are on the fifth floor, right behind that clock, where you can look out at Montmartre through the clock face. Two hours is enough. Afterwards, Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a quarter of an hour’s walk away, for an afternoon coffee on a terrace along the boulevard.
Practical. €16 online, €14 at the ticket desk. Closed on Mondays; open until 9.45pm on Thursdays. Building work is under way at the museum: check access before you go.
Evening
An hour on the Seine
Head back to the tip of the Île de la Cité, to the Square du Vert-Galant, where the Vedettes du Pont Neuf boats leave from. An hour on the river as night falls, with commentary in French and English, is the best way to see the city lit up without tiring your legs. For dinner, the streets around Saint-Michel are packed with restaurants whose menus come translated into half a dozen languages; walk two or three streets away from the square and the food gets better.
Practical. €15 online, €17 at the quay.
Morning
Montmartre before the tour groups
Montmartre is best early. Get off at Anvers station and climb the steps to the Sacré-Cœur, with the whole of Paris at your feet. Then turn your back on the Place du Tertre, full of painters waiting for customers, and look for the rue de l’Abreuvoir, the pink walls of the Maison Rose and the Clos Montmartre vineyard, which still produces wine and holds a harvest festival every October. This is the corner that recalls the village Montmartre was until it was annexed to Paris in 1860.
Practical. The basilica is free to enter.
Afternoon
The Marais on foot
Take the metro down to Saint-Paul and step into the Marais. The Place des Vosges, inaugurated in 1612, is the oldest planned square in Paris: arcades, red brick and a garden where people eat lunch on the grass. Victor Hugo lived at number 6, and the house is now a museum. For a late lunch, the rue des Rosiers, in the old Jewish quarter, has a famous falafel to eat standing up; for the rest of the afternoon, the Musée Carnavalet tells the story of Paris.
Practical. Maison de Victor Hugo and Carnavalet: permanent collections are free.
Evening
Paris from above and dinner at a bouillon
Before dark, go up to the free rooftop terrace of the Galeries Lafayette, on the 8th floor: the view runs from the Opéra Garnier, right next door, all the way to the tower. For dinner, find a bouillon. These were the 19th-century workers’ canteens, serving broth and a cheap dish of the day, and they’re back in fashion. Chartier on the Grands Boulevards opened in 1896, keeps its dining room of mirrors and wood panelling, takes no reservations, and the waiters still write your bill on the paper tablecloth.
Practical. Terrace: Monday to Saturday 10am to 8pm, Sunday 11am to 8pm; closed in rain or strong wind. Chartier: daily from 11.30am to midnight, dishes from €7.
Direct flight from Lisbon to Paris: about 2h30. See the flight estimate for your dates.
What if you have one more day?
With a fourth day, get out of Paris. The two classic choices sit at the end of an RER line and take the standard €2.55 ticket, because since 2025 it has been valid across the whole region.
Versailles
The RER C drops you at Versailles Château Rive Gauche station, a few minutes from the palace. The Passport ticket covers the palace with a timed entry, both Trianons and the gardens, which deserve the whole afternoon. Avoid Mondays, when the palace is closed.
Practical. Passport: €35. With the Paris Museum Pass, you book a time slot at no extra cost.
Disneyland Paris
It’s at Marne-la-Vallée, at the end of the RER A, with the station right at the park gates. Ticket prices vary by date and are sold on the official website; with children, arrive at opening time, when the queues are shortest.
Practical. Transport: €2.55 per journey.
Where can you eat well and cheaply in Paris?
You can eat well in Paris at any price, and the trick to not overspending is choosing which meal you sit down for. At lunchtime, many bistros serve a ‘formule’ (starter and main, or main and dessert) for much less than the same meal at dinner. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant costs around €16, practically the same as in Lisbon; dinner for two at a mid-range restaurant, without wine, comes to about €70.
Two house rules surprise visitors from Portugal. Tap water in a jug is free: ask for ‘une carafe d’eau’. And service is already included in the bill, so a tip is a friendly rounding-up rather than an obligation. Coffee costs less standing at the counter than sitting on the terrace.
- Croissant and pain au chocolat
- The local boulangerie opens early and sells them still warm. Breakfast standing at the counter, for a fraction of the hotel price.
- Jambon-beurre
- Half a baguette, ham and butter. It’s the Parisians’ ten-minute lunch and the best test of any bakery.
- Steak frites
- The bistro dish par excellence. Say ‘à point’ if you want it pink in the middle; ‘saignant’ comes rare, and ‘bien cuit’ is well done, with the waiter’s disapproving look thrown in.
- Soupe à l’oignon
- Caramelised onions in broth, topped with bread and cheese browned under the grill. It was the small-hours soup of the old Les Halles market, and it tastes best from October to March.
- Galettes and crêpes
- Savoury buckwheat galettes are eaten in the crêperies of Montparnasse, the district where the trains from Brittany came in. Sweet crêpes, from a street stall, are eaten on the move.
- Falafel on the rue des Rosiers
- In the Marais’s old Jewish quarter, in pitta bread stuffed to overflowing. One of the cheapest meals in central Paris, and one of the busiest.
How much does a trip to Paris cost?
On a day in Paris, the money goes faster on coffees and drinks than on entry fees. The table brings together what you’ll pay on this itinerary, each price with its source, and the comparison with Lisbon shows where the difference lies.
| What | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Transport | ||
| Metro, RER or train ticket within the region | €2.55 | Île-de-France Mobilités |
| Navigo Jour, unlimited travel for one day (airports excluded) | €12.30 | Île-de-France Mobilités |
| Ticket to Orly or Charles de Gaulle | €14 | Île-de-France Mobilités |
| Navigo Easy card, to load your tickets onto | €2 | Île-de-France Mobilités |
| Monuments and museums | ||
| Louvre (European Economic Area citizens) | €22 | Musée du Louvre |
| Eiffel Tower, top by lift | €36.70 | Tour Eiffel |
| Eiffel Tower, 2nd floor by the stairs | €14.80 | Tour Eiffel |
| Musée d’Orsay, online ticket | €16 | Musée d’Orsay |
| Sainte-Chapelle (European Economic Area) | €16 | Centre des monuments nationaux |
| Arc de Triomphe, October to March | €16 | Centre des monuments nationaux |
| Notre-Dame towers | €16 | Centre des monuments nationaux |
| Versailles, Passport ticket | €35 | Château de Versailles |
| Seine boat trip, one hour, booked online | €15 | Vedettes du Pont Neuf |
| Eating and drinking (averages) | ||
| Meal at an inexpensive restaurant | €16 | Numbeo |
| Dinner for two, mid-range restaurant, no drinks | €70 | Numbeo |
| Cappuccino | €4.51 | Numbeo |
| Draught beer, 0.5 l | €7 | Numbeo |
Paris next to Lisbon
| What | Paris | Lisbon |
|---|---|---|
| Cappuccino | €4.51 | €2.70 |
| Draught beer, 0.5 l | €7 | €3 |
| Meal at an inexpensive restaurant | €16 | €15 |
| Dinner for two, mid-range restaurant | €70 | €55 |
A day in Paris, per person
| Navigo Jour | €12.30 |
|---|---|
| Mid-morning coffee | €4.51 |
| Lunch at an inexpensive restaurant | €16 |
| Dinner (half of a dinner for two) | €35 |
| One entry ticket (Louvre) | €22 |
| Total per person | €89.81 |
Example for one EU adult, using the prices in the table. Excludes flights, hotel and shopping.
Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it?
For this itinerary, no. The two-day pass costs €85 (four days, €105), while the paid entries over these three days (the Louvre, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Orsay and the Arc de Triomphe) add up to €70 for a European adult. It starts to pay off once you fit Versailles into the same days. If you’re under 26 and an EU citizen, it almost never pays: many of these entries are already free.
What mistakes should you avoid in Paris?
- Going to the Louvre on a Tuesday, or to the Orsay or Versailles on a Monday: they’re closed.
- Buying single tickets for a day packed with metro rides. By the fifth journey, the Navigo Jour (€12.30) already works out cheaper.
- Using the standard ticket to get to the airport. It isn’t valid: the Orly and Charles de Gaulle ticket costs €14.
- Leaving your ID card at home. Since January 2026, the Louvre and several monuments have charged more to visitors from outside the European Economic Area, and your ID card is what proves your age for free entry under 26.
- Expecting to buy tickets for the Notre-Dame towers at the door: they’re sold online only.
- Forgetting the first Sunday of the month. From November to March, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre-Dame towers are free on that day.
- Keeping your phone in your back pocket on the metro and in the busiest tourist spots.
When is the best time to visit Paris?
April to June, September and October are the most balanced months: long days, café terraces open and fewer people than at the height of summer. In August many Parisians go on holiday and some neighbourhood restaurants close until September.
Autumn brings the Montmartre grape harvest festival in October, and from November the Christmas lights go up on the department stores of Boulevard Haussmann. January and February usually have the cheapest flights and hotels of the year, and the emptiest museums.
Frequently asked questions
- How many days do you need in Paris?
- Three days is enough for the essentials. With four, you can add Versailles or Disneyland, which each need a full day.
- Is Paris more expensive than Lisbon?
- For coffee and drinks, considerably: a cappuccino costs €4.51 on average against €2.70 in Lisbon, and a draught beer €7 against €3. For simple meals the gap almost disappears: €16 against €15.
- Is it worth going up the Eiffel Tower?
- For the experience, yes; for the view, there are alternatives. From the roof of the Arc de Triomphe and the free terrace at the Galeries Lafayette you can see the tower itself, which is exactly what you can’t see from the top.
- Which Paris airport is closest to the centre?
- Orly, 14 km away, linked to the centre by metro line 14 in about 25 minutes. Charles de Gaulle is 25 km out, on the RER B. Beauvais, used by some low-cost airlines, is 85 km away.
- Do I need a passport to go to Paris?
- No. Portuguese citizens only need a valid Citizen Card (Cartão de Cidadão), because France is part of the Schengen area.
- Do restaurants charge for water?
- Tap water in a jug is free. You only pay for bottled water.
Sources and price dates
All prices were checked on 2 October 2026 on the pages below. Restaurant and café averages come from Numbeo, which collects prices submitted by people who live and travel there.
- Île-de-France Mobilités: 2026 tickets and fares
- Paris Aéroport: public transport to Orly
- Paris Aéroport: public transport to Charles de Gaulle
- Musée du Louvre: opening hours and tickets
- Tour Eiffel: prices and opening times
- Tour Eiffel: illuminations and sparkle
- Musée d’Orsay: visiting
- Sainte-Chapelle: practical information
- Arc de Triomphe: practical information
- Notre-Dame towers: practical information
- Château de Versailles: tickets and prices
- Paris Museum Pass
- Galeries Lafayette Haussmann: the rooftop terrace
- Bouillon Chartier
- Vedettes du Pont Neuf
- Numbeo: prices in Paris (updated 2 October 2026)
- Numbeo: prices in Lisbon (updated 2 October 2026)
Lisbon → Paris, return flight with hotel.
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