Paris has always been one of my favourite cities. The atmosphere, the buildings, the Eifel Tower, I love it! Despite not being a fan of big cities, Paris just has such a nice vibe that I keep coming back. I would absolutely recommend everyone to visit Paris at least once and enjoy all the beauty it has to offer. On my last trip, I revisited several things to put together the perfect 1-day itinerary. Are you going on a longer trip to Paris? Stay tuned, because a city guide of Paris is coming soon!

Breakfast

A typical French breakfast is a croissant with a cup of coffee. So you can find this everywhere. Is such a light breakfast enough for you? Then I recommend picking it up at a bakery (boulangerie) for a picnic by the Eiffel Tower, while it slowly fills up with tourists trying to take a classic “I’m pushing the Eiffel Tower over” photo. Lovely if you like people-watching!

Want a more filling breakfast? Then there’s plenty in the area in terms of Western breakfasts with, for example, eggs benedict, toast, granola and good quality coffee. Some options around the Eiffel Tower are:

• Good News Coffee shop
• O Coffee
• Kozy Bosquet

Late morning: Museum the Louvre

After breakfast, you can visit the Louvre. Whether you are a museum person and actually want to go inside or not, the building is already worth a visit. The museum itself is of course famous for the Mona Lisa, but there is much more art on display, ranging from antiquity to the 19th century. Highlights include the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the famous wing with Egyptian antiquities. Avoid a long queue by buying a ticket in advance for €17. At the museum itself, it’s €15, but don’t be surprised by an hour wait, especially during high season.

You can take a metro from the Eiffel Tower or take a walk along the Seine towards the Louvre, which is about a 45-minute walk. If you come for the Paris atmosphere rather than a museum visit, I can definitely recommend this walk!

Lunch

There’s no shortage of lunch options around the Louvre. I can recommend Le Pain Quotidien for organic sandwiches, salads and vegetarian meals.

Diner

For dinner, there are again plenty of choices in the area. You can stay on the island or check out the neighbourhoods next to the Seine. I found Sorbonne and Saint-Vincent to be the nicest neighbourhoods in Paris for food and drinks. This is the area around the Panthéon and the Seine.

Some suggestions:

• Le Petit Vatel, for creative French dishes. From fish and meat to delicious vegetarian dishes with lots of vegetables.
• Le Verre à Pied for a mix of dishes using seasonal ingredients. They have different daily dishes every day, always with some vegetarian options, typical French dishes and also pastas, for example.
• Le Berthout for typical French dishes, such as snails, French onion soup and fried camembert.

Evening: Sunset at the Sacré-Cœur

Sunset on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur is one of my favourite things to do in Paris. Firstly, you have a fantastic view of the city here, where you can admire almost all the buildings you’ve seen up close from a distance at sunset. But on top of that, it’s also such a great vibe at this hour. Many locals come here and there are daily street performers who fill up the evening with live music and entertainment. Make sure you’re on time! As the steps are quickly filled with people who come here to enjoy the sunset.

Want to have a drink somewhere in the evening? This area is great for that too! Walking down the hill again, you come across a good selection of restaurants and bars where you can enjoy a drink. You’ll also find the Moulin Rouge here. Looking for a budget option? Then head back towards the Seine, buy some drinks in the supermarket and cozy up by the water. This is another popular activity among locals. From many spots along the Seine, you can see the illuminated Eiffel Tower in the distance.

How to get in Paris?

Of course, you can fly to Paris. There are 3 airports, so plenty of flights. From the airport, you can easily take a train to the city centre. But, of course, this blog wouldn’t be this blog if I wouldn’t give you sustainable alternatives.

There is a night train to Paris from Vienna, which takes about 15 hours and also stops in Linz – Salzburg – Munich – Strasburg.

There are also night trains from other places in France. Among others, from Latour de Carol in the Pyrenees. There’s a direct train from Barcelona to this town, so you could take this night train if you come from Spain. These are the only night trains at this point.

However, there are plenty of fast train connections during the day from:

• Amsterdam
• London
• Cologne
• Zurich

Prices differ, but you could get a € 65 one way ticket with the Eurostar from London or a € 35 one way ticket from Amsterdam if you book early. If you wait until the very last minute, prices can go up to € 160 from Amsterdam and even € 250 from London. So, it’s recommended to book early!

Looking for an even cheaper option? Then you can also take the Flixbus. Of course, this does take a bit more time and you’re more likely to experience delays due to traffic jams. But it could save you about 1/3 of the price of the train. So, especially if you want to book last minute, you can really save money with this.