The Perfect 5 Day Paris Itinerary
Paris is one of the most surprising cities we’ve visited thus far. Big cities such as a place like Paris so often feel dominated by modern architecture and a complete lack of charm with just a few charming places scattered here and there. Prior to our trip, I was of course so excited to finally visit this iconic city, with a slight bit of reservation in case it was more modern than charming.
But oh my goodness gracious my friends, did it surprise me. There is a teeny tiny section of modern sky scrapers off to the side of the city center, with miles and miles of enchanting Parisian charm, clean streets, and corner boulangeries with the most welcoming atmospheres. The food was incredible, more than a week’s worth of activities, and all around a city I would definitely return to.
So, in this blog I thought I would give you our exact itinerary, what we did, where we stayed, where we ate, and everything you need to know when planning your next trip to Paris!
Let’s dive in shall we?
Day 1
On our first day we landed in the city in the late morning. By 12pm we’d grabbed our luggage, called a taxi (we actually used their version of Uber, “Free Now” with the code GMAPS30 for a discount), and arrived at our charming hotel. We have a few connections to Marriott, so we often check to see if they have any worthwhile properties wherever we are going. This time, we totally lucked out. We found Le Dokhan, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel by Marriott just a 10-15 minute walk from the eiffel tower, set in a more local neighborhood just outside of the touristy hustle and bustle. This hotel was everything you could dream of for an alluring Parisian hotel. With gorgeously decorated rooms, a Louis Vuitton elevator (how fun), and an adorable sitting room equipped with a fireplace, it was an immediate yes for us. We ended up loving this hotel option.
The breakfast area at Le Dohkan
The Louis Vuitton Elevator!
We first headed to Bistrot Poincare for lunch while they finished preparing our room. After setting our bags in the room we headed to our first site: the Eiffel Tower of course! What a cool experience to see such a world famous landmark in real life.
Originally, our itinerary included the famous cabaret show, Moulin Rouge at 9pm. Unfortunately, the day before we arrived all cabaret shows were canceled due to COVID. We’d originally planned to go to Le Vrai Paris for dinner since it was right around the corner, a recommendation from the hotel.
Instead of dinner and the show we spent the afternoon into the night walking around the city. Using the metro is really convenient and popular in Paris, but we preferred to go by foot. We always find that’s how you find the really charming shops and restaurants. Mind you, we walked A LOT. We’re talking 60 miles in 5 days. But, so so worth it.
We then walked from the Eiffel Tower all the way down to Tuilerie Gardens along the river, where they were having one of their many Christmas markets. From the Eiffel Tower to the gardens we passed Pont Alexandre III bridge, Place de la Concorde, and the most beautiful hotel, Hotel de Crillon A Rosewood. From the gardens we walked over to the Louvre, which is an incredible building itself to see even from the outside. From here we walked across Pont des Arts into the neighborhood, Saint Germaine and walked up and down the cozy streets.
We found so many adorable boutiques, cafes, and restaurants in this area. I’d definitely check out staying in this area if you’re not staying at Le Dokhan. One of the stores I loved is a custom shoe store, Chatelles Paris.
A few restaurants we didn’t end up making it to but I’d saved in the Saint Germaine area are:
Ralph’s Restaurant - gorgeous courtyard
After wandering through this part of town, we headed to our dinner restaurant of choice, Fitzgerald. This one was recommended to us by my friend and definitely did not disappoint. With a gorgeous atmosphere, modern and chic bar, velvet chairs, and a dark an intimate vibe, we loved it as soon as we walked in. The drinks were delicious, and so was the food. Definitely recommend you head here for dinner one day. Their lunch also looks delicious!
We then headed back for the night to get ready for an early morning.
Day 2
Early this Christmas Eve morning we woke up to have breakfast at our hotel before heading to our 9am tour of Versailles Palace. It was about an hour away by train, or 30 minutes by car, so we opted for the car to be sure we didn’t miss our tour.
Versailles was enchanting and I can definitely see how you could spend an entire day there, especially if you are there in the summer and are able to walk the entirety of the gardens. Our tour lasted about 2 hours, we headed to the palace cafe for a cappuccino, and then headed outside to see the vast gardens. They even have golf carts for rent if you want to see all of the gardens without having to take the time to walk! If it was a tad warmer and the flowers were all bloomed, we definitely would’ve stayed and wandered the gardens much longer. So, I’d reserve about 3-4 hours for the palace itself at least. P.S. be sure to book your palace entrance tickets beforehand.
MY favorite room - Marie Antoinette’s bedroom
After this we headed into the nearby neighborhood to Positive Cafe for lunch. Oh my lanta, it was SO good. I ordered the beetroot burger and homemade strawberry kombucha, and T ordered the pad thai, both were absolutely to die for. If you enjoy plant forward food, this is a must after a morning at Versailles.
After driving back into the city we went directly to the Arc De Triomphe. Now here’s a pro tip, there are no crosswalks to get to the actual Arc. But there is a tunnel through the train system that will lead you there instead of running for your life across the multiple lanes of roundabout traffic!
We took the site in, and then headed down the famous Av de Champs Elysees full of shops, and an endless view of the Arc De Triomphe. By this time it was already time to head back to our hotel to get changed for our Christmas Eve dinner!
We chose to spend Christmas Eve at Cafe de la Paix, a gorgeous elegant dining room, in the beautiful Intercontinental hotel. The perfect spot for a date night. We ordered the french onion soup, veal, and filet mignon and it was all absolutely to die for. Not to mention the dessert. We shared the mille-feuille carmaelise by recommendation of our waitress, as she said its an iconic Parisian dessert. Wow, I wish I could have it again!
Cafe de la Paix
And it was then back to the hotel for a good sleep before the best Christmas day!!
Day 3
What’s better than spending Christmas day at DISNEYLAND?! Absolutely nothing my friends. We had such a blast being kids. We took the metro from our hotel to the parks, and it was really easy to follow. You take the RER line all the way from the city to the parks and it takes about 45 minutes.
Don’t forget, you have to either purchase your park tickets on a specific day, or register your tickets for the day you want to go. You can’t just buy a ticket and go any day that you want. We got the 1 day park hopper so that we could go from one park to the other throughout the day. Both Disney Studios, Disneyland Park, and The Villages (the shopping/restaurant area between the two) are all located right next to each other, which makes going from park to park really easy! I’d also highly recommend making dinner reservations as their sit down restaurants fill up up to 2 months in advance. They allow you to begin booking two months from the date of your visit on the Disneyland Paris app. Our top choices for dinner were Remy’s, or Walt’s. Unfortunately Walt’s was under renovation, and Remy’s filled up within minutes! We reserved The Steakhouse instead.
Since Disney Studios is the smaller of the two parks, we decided to head there first, which I’m so glad we did. When we arrived the wait for rides was quite low, as we arrived right when the park opened at 9am. So we hopped in the line that had the longest wait, Crush’s Coaster, assuming it was one of the most sought after! It ended up being our favorite ride of the day! We stopped at the Ratatouille ride, grabbing a ham and cheese crepe for a little breakfast. We then had to head to Tower of Terror to compare it to the one in Disney World. Hot take, but I think it’s better than the one at Disney World! We then wandered the rest of the park. It is quite small, so we actually were done with Disney Studios by 11am.
Then it was time for Disneyland Park! There were so many similarities to Disney’s Magic Kingdom, yet quite a few differences! So it was fun to just wander around. We didn’t really go on many rides, just whatever looked fun with a shorter line! We went into the shops, T tried a few desserts, and before we knew it it was time to head to dinner in The Villages. And of course, a day in Disneyland isn’t complete without staying until the fireworks!
Day 4
By day four we were absolutely zonked! So we opted to have a slower start to our day by heading to brunch at the Kozy Bosquet for brunch. We arrived around 9:45am and there was already a line snaking down the sidewalk. Since they don’t take reservations, I’d definitely be sure to get here early! It was well worth the wait. I went for a dirty chai latte with oat milk, the avocado toast, T went for the latte as well and the pork breakfast sandwich, and we shared the fruity pancake stack. Definitely a must do if you like breakfast food.
After this we headed to the Lafayette Galleries to see the Christmas display in the center of the shopping area. Even if you’re going outside of the Christmas season, you definitely have to head here for such a beautiful building as it is, specifically in the makeup area.
It was then time to head to the Louvre. Be sure to book your tickets in advance!
Okay, I knew it was a massive museum, but I didn’t really comprehend it until we started walking through. We spent about 3.5 to 4 hours here and hardly even scratched the surface! We headed into the exhibits that sounded interesting to us, like the rooms holding all of the original King Louis the XIV things we’d seen from when we went to Versailles, the ancient Egyptian areas, and of course the art area near the Mona Lisa. If I could go back I would have started in the painting area because that’s what most interests me, but we ran out of time to look at most of it!
We did, of course, see the Mona Lisa. In my opinion, it’s not worth waiting in the long line to see it. You can see it just as well by walking past, and it’s really only worth waiting in line if you want an unobstructed photo of it, or really want to look at the up close details. Regardless, the closest you can get is about 10 feet away, so we just walked past! It was definitely a cool thing to see in person.
By then the day was nearly over and it was time to head out for dinner. This was the only day I didn’t make a reservation for dinner beforehand, so we ended up stumbling upon Cocorico. I swear to you, best french onion soup! It’s a quaint little bar/cafe atmosphere with really amazing food, and only about 10 or so tables. It was exactly what we wanted after a long day of sightseeing.
Now it was time to have an iconic French dessert…a crepe! We went to La Crepe Rit du Clown, a cute little French Waffle House vibe for a homemade chocolate and banana crepe. UH-MAY-ZING. Wow, it was so good. I’d head there for a savory one too, it’d be the perfect lunch spot if you like crepes! And just like that, another day over.
Day 5
Our last full day quickly came. We started the day by heading all the way down toward Notre Dame. Beginning the day at a little bakery to finally have some authentic french pastries and an espresso to start the day. We had just a quick walk over to Notre Dame to admire the historic cathedral. Unfortunately, it’s still under construction due to the fire so we weren’t able to go inside. But, it is still well worth the visit.
We then walked over to the Luxembourg Gardens. These grounds were gorgeous, and if it were summer I think we definitely would’ve sat on a bench for a while to take it all in. Even in the rain I thought it was beautiful!
After this we found ourselves at the Opera House Palais Garnier. We last minute bought some tickets and headed inside, and it was well worth the ticket! Such a gorgeous building inside, I can only imagine what it would be like to actually see a show there!
We stopped at the Meating Corner for a quick lunch before continuing our sightseeing and wandering the city.
We then headed toward the original Chanel store, Chanel Paris 31 Cambon. Elegant and stunning as always! I have to admit, I love clothes and fashion. I definitely would not say I’m a fashion expert, I just like what I like, you know? I feel like Chanel is so timeless. It’s chic, iconic, and elegant, and will forever be my favorite designer. I thought this was so fun.
After this we just walked around this area through the shops ducking in and out of the ones that looked worthwhile. Eventually we found ourselves in front of one of the Laduree stores, of course we had to pop in for an afternoon tea! We ended up also heading to Laduree for breakfast the next day before our flight when we ordered the walnut croissant which was definitely our favorite part of Laduree! This afternoon I ordered a lemon and raspberry macaron, and T ordered a dark chocolate cherry yule log, both delicious! It’s definitely the type of place you go to simply for the atmosphere. Not the most earth shattering food, but a really fun environment to be in.
After this we walked toward Plaza Athene, a beautiful and romantic hotel to see their Christmas decorations. It was right after this that we finally caught the Eiffel Tower sparkling! Every hour on the hour after dark, the eiffel tower lights up and sparkles for 5 minutes. What a magical thing to see, especially at Christmas!
We then began to meander toward our final dinner reservation for the trip, Au Bon Accuiel. I think this is the restaurant I’m most proud of finding. The location is perfect, set just a couple of blocks away from the Eiffel Tower, an elegant and modern french atmosphere, with incredible food. This ended up being T’s favorite dinner of the trip, and I guess you could say it was mine too because quite frankly I couldn’t pick one, I loved them all!
And once again, another trip come and gone too fast.
I did save so many restaurant options that we didn’t have a chance to visit, so I’ll list those below for you to check out just in case you’re near some of them!
Cafe’s/Bakeries
Restaurants
Bars
Given that Paris is so big, there were a few sites we didn’t get to see either. Sacred Heart Church and the Catacombs being the two I would be sure to include next time. I guess that means we’ll just have to go back, right?!
That’s it folks. I hope you enjoyed yet another travel blog. As always, I actually have a“travel hacks” highlight where I explain how to use google maps to save places that you want to visit in the future, whether you have a trip planned or not! Click here to view that, go through these places and be sure to save your favorites! I’d love to hear which ones you end up going to! Never hesitate to DM me on Instagram or shoot me an email here, I love hearing from you!
Until next time, XO,
Di