Three Nights in Paris
PARISSSS!! I have dreaming of this city for years and I spent a great deal of time creating the most perfect Itinerary for our trip. We spent three nights in Paris and if you’re someone who doesn’t mind being on the go 24/7 it’ll be enough time. Although I am also going to include spots we didn’t make it to but I would absolutely go when going back.
The number one struggle I found when planning this trip was trying to decide what to do when. Paris is a decently sized city and I wanted to hit to most in one area so we didn’t spend our entire trip on the train. Thus this guide is going to be a little different as it is going to be our exact itinerary.
A lot of people thinks Paris is overrated but after experiencing four days in Paris I would argue it is severely underrated. However, I think we had an unusually good experience in Paris as I’ve heard from friends a lot of negative experiences, I didn’t have a single complaint. We went February 20-23rd which I personally thought was perfect. Nothing was too crowded and some days it was actually pretty warm. My best friend was in Paris two weeks prior (& I am sure due to valentines day), it was a lot more crowded when she was there. We did not have to wait in many queues which I was shocked by. I am going to include days, dates and times as well because we always happened to get to places right before they got super crowded.
First some “need to knows”
Trains: Paris train system isn’t too complicated once you get the hang of it but if you’re not used to the system of trains as a whole it can be tricky. USE GOOGLE MAPS - I cannot recommend this app enough for traveling anywhere in Europe, I truthfully would not survive without it. The trains run at about 2.50 per fare, which adds up quickly. We purchased the Navigo Pass which ran for about 32 euros for the week. This pass gets you unlimited transportation on the train + busses. The only thing it does not include is the train to & from the airport which is 11 euros a fare (on the way back we got as close to the airport as we could with our passes then split a $15 uber instead).
Safety: If you’re traveling with a group of girls I would definitely recommend the Navigo Pass as some areas of Paris can be unsafe — we did not run into any issues whatsoever & never felt unsafe but I think part of that was due to researching the areas & taking the train instead of walking for anything away from main areas. We were told to avoid areas 10th arrondissement, 18th and 19th.
Where to stay: no matter where you stay, stay near a train station, it will save you a lot of time + headaches. Also make sure to avoid the arrondissements above. We stayed at Joe & Jo Hostel in Gentily and got a private room for 4 people. For three nights it came out to about $120 per person, which for Paris is pretty good!! We also felt incredibly safe in this hostel + area.
Phone: you’ll need an intentional phone plan or an international SIM card when traveling abroad. I mostly used Airalo, which is an online eSIM where you can buy a SIM card for a week, two weeks for a low price.
Day 1
We landed in Paris at 3pm on a Monday. Checked into our hostel and ran immediately to the Eiffel Tower to get ready to watch her sparkle. The tower sparkles on every hour after dusk for five minutes - so make sure you spend some of those minutes just sitting there enjoying her. I was also told I would be underwhelmed by the tower, but when we got off the train, we turned the corner, saw her and all three legit gasped so loud people turned to stare at us.
We hadn’t eaten since our afternoon in London so we just wandered into Le Den which was a quant Italian restaurant a couple streets over from the tower. If you eat around the Eiffel Tower be careful because many restaurants add extra random charges (like Le Champ de Mars), where we initially ran into because it looked really good until we read through the reviews of people warning against extra charges. Le Den had some amazing carbonara and pizza which made for the perfect start to our trip of eating our way through Paris!
Afterwards we just took the train back as we had an early start the next morning.
Day 2
6:30 wake up for the first full day in Paris, let’s get it!!!
Les Deux Magots: Simply, go!! The food is incredible and it just feels like Paris. I did LOTS of reading up about the best cafes in Paris and because of that I actually skipped Cafe De Flore, which seems to be the most instagramable cafe in Paris. However, I read they had subpar food with a heavy price tag. Les Deux Magots immediately became my favorite place we went in Paris, so much that we went out of our way to go back the last day.
Notre dame: the cathedral is still closed to the public but just being able to look at it is a must. It is so beautiful.
Shakespeare and company: this was the book store of our dreams, I think we might of spent an hour here. They had old newspapers and unique books that I got lost in. We waited in about a ten minute queue after arriving around 10:20am but when we exited it was MUCH longer.
On our walk over to the Lourve we wandered into a cathedral and another book store. A lot of the doors to churches might just be open and if they’re not in service go spend some time in them, they are just incredible and make me sad America has nothing to even remotely compare.
We also walked the Sienne and crossed over to the Lourve by the Love Lock bridge, which has significantly less locks on it nowadays.
Lourve & Tuleries Garden: we only spent a little bit of time around the Lourve and the gardens, although it was beautiful it was of the most crowded place we had gone.
59 rivoli: this was one of my favorite places we went all trip & was a recommendations from a friend who lived in Paris. If you enjoy art at all, go.
Carette + Palace de Vosges: I just simply had to try the famous hot chocolate and it honestly lived up to the expectation. The Carette near the Palace de Vosges was way less crowded and we were able to immediately get a table at 3:20pm. If you’re going for just hot chocolate this time is great, but if you are wanting pastries go early because they were sold out of all croissants by the time we ended up here.
After drinking some yummy hot chocolate we hung out in the courtyard of the Palace de Vosges and just people watched while reading quotes from a CS Lewis devo from Shakespeare and Co.
Sunset photos at Av. de Camoens: this was one of the best spots for photos at sunset and on a Tuesday night there was not too many people there!
Address: 75116 Paris France, right by the Monument á Luís Camões
Watch the tower sparkle on the Seine: walk directly down to the river from Av. de Cameons in order to get a beautiful view with nobody around. The closer you walk along the river towards the tower there will be SO MANY people. We were able to enjoy the tower in the perfect spot with nobody besides a few bikers around.
Address 68 Avenue De New York, 75016 Paris, France (location of Pinky Bloom Paris but it gets you close enough)
Dinner cruise with Bateaux Mouches: this night was full of magic and we cruised down the Seine sipping Champagne and eating like queens. We booked the Excellence Dinner which was a four course meal + wine. Bateaux Mouches also has lots of other packages, including a brunch cruise which will absolutely be my next stop when I make it back to Paris. Book here — https://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/en I am currently running a giveaway, giving away an excellence dinner for two. Make sure to check out my instagram for more details.
Day 3
Boulangerie Raphaëlle: the best croissant I have ever eaten in my life. Do you need more? To put it in simple terms, the croissant tasted like a work of art. No queue here, got here around 10:30am.
Pink Mamma: I tried to make a reservation here THREE WEEKS in advance and could not get one. Once getting there I realized it was due to trying to book for three people — I guess that wasn’t really an option oddly. We got there at 11:20 and waited in line to try our luck to get a table when they opened at 12pm. We made it in no issue but they did seat up at a high top bar seating. I honestly did not mind, as I was there for the truffle pasta + pizza. If you are wanting a table make sure you book two - three weeks in advance (& maybe don’t book for three people). The truffle pasta was amazing and has been the hype of tiktok but honestly the PIZZA!!!! The caprese pizza was the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life. It also was fairly priced (which is shocking for Paris + a place that has blown up on tiktok).
We then walked from Pink Mamma to Montmartre
Get ready to get your steps in today…
Sacre Coeur: entry into this BEAUTIFUL monument is free however the line was so long. They open at 6am daily and on my next trip back to Paris I would love to actually go inside. The outside of the monument + the view from the top was stunning even on a rainy day. Make sure to go to this area during the day for safety :)
Photo booth at Montmartre: we got here around 1pm and waited about 30 mins to take photos. Honestly, it was cute but it had so many issues for us + other people. The Photo Booth in Galeries Lafayette Beaugrenelle has a Photo Booth as well for cheaper + no line.
Address: 53 rue des trols freres
Dior Gallery: We didn’t get to go to the Dior Gallery as it was sold out but my best friend did it, so I am throwing in some of her photos to give you an idea.
Cafe Kitsumé: I was in need of an evening cappuccino and theirs did not disappoint.
Happy Caffé: Apparently I was also in need of an afternoon pastry. Picked up a caramel muffin + some doughnuts while making friends with the very happy cafe worker here.
Tuileries Garden: one of my favorite areas in Paris. We sat by the fountain and ate our pastries, I could only imagine this area in the springtime.
Dinner: We ended up at Le Bon Pecheur & it was probably my least favorite meal of this trip, although still good. If we were not starving and willing to wait I would’ve chosen Le Petit Bouillon Pharamond for some affordable, authentic French food.
Another recommendation for dinner would be Liberto, if we hadn’t just eaten Italian for lunch we would’ve gone. It looked beautiful and was rated super highly.
Day 4
Final day in Paris, cue to the TEARS!!!
Les Deux Magots: I told y’all we’d be back. We looked up other cafes and even considered Cafe de Flore but we just loved Les Deux Magots so much we needed to go back one more time before leaving.
Walked the Seine: there was something so peaceful about walking this river.
Tuileries Garden: since we only saw the gardens at dusk, we had to come back.
Angelina: only an hour after breakfast I was craving another pastry, classic. I also had not had a normal croissant yet in Paris, I had been indulging in Pain au Chocolates. We saw the queue at Angelinas the day before and I had read about their hot chocolate as well. When we walked by there was another super long queue but there was no wait to place a take away order for pastries and hot chocolate. A lot of people argued the hot chocolate here was overpriced but with take away orders being cheaper I got a hot chocolate, croissant, and a macaroon for under 7 euros.
Arc de Triomphe: our initial plan was to go on top of the arc but another long queue made this not so worth it for us. We instead decided to go to Galeries Lafayette because I heard the rooftop view was good + free. Unfortunately there are like five locations and we went to the wrong one. If you’re looking for the Galeries Lafayette with a view the address is: 40 Bd Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France
Rue de Monttessuy: my favorite photo spot from the trip as I’ve have had a photo like this pinned for about a decade. We picked up some baguettes from a convenience store (around 1pm) for about a euro each and walked along the street on our way to the Eiffel Tower while inhaling baguettes. Besides dodging some cars, there was nobody else at this spot.
Picnic in Champs de Mars: we went slightly to the left of the tower, found an open space to dance around, eat baguettes, raspberry jam, deli meat chicken??, and macaroons while watching children feed pigeons. It was the last thing we did on our trip and with gorgeous weather it was the perfect ending to a perfect couple days in Paris.
