3 Days in Paris: A Realistic Museum Itinerary That Leaves Room to Eat (2026)

Most 3-day Paris plans die on day two, in a queue, at 2 PM, hungry. They pack the Louvre and the Orsay into one day, discover the Louvre is closed on the Tuesday they picked, and spend the last afternoon on a metro to Montmartre because a list said so. This one is built the other way round: one serious museum per morning, a neighbourhood on foot each afternoon, and the closing days decided before anything else.

Before you go: what to book and when

Fix the days first. The Louvre and the Orangerie close on Tuesdays. The Orsay, the Rodin and the Catacombs close on Mondays. Lay your three days over the calendar before you book a single ticket.

2-3 weeks ahead: the Louvre, on ticket.louvre.fr. €22 for EEA residents, €32 otherwise, timed entry, and the timed slot is the skip-the-line. If it is your first visit and you want it explained, the Must-Sees of the Louvre small-group tour (listed around €80, 4.7 stars, licensed guide, free cancellation) is the one upgrade on this itinerary that changes the visit. Our Louvre ticket decision guide sorts the rest.

A few days ahead: Notre-Dame. Entry is free but needs a timed slot on the official site, released a few days out. See the Notre-Dame visitor guide.

Day before is fine: Orsay (€16 online), Orangerie (€12.50), Sainte-Chapelle (€22), Rodin (€14).

Skip: the Pompidou. It is closed until 2030. Any itinerary that still lists it was written before 2025.

Day 1: Louvre, Tuileries and the river

Morning (9 AM to 12 PM). The Louvre, first slot. Two hours is enough for the Denon wing (Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, the big French canvases) and one more section of your choosing. Do not try to see it; try to see twelve things well. Our how long the Louvre takes post has the honest arithmetic.

Lunch. Walk out through the Tuileries towards Place de la Concorde and cross into the 1er or the 7e. Budget €15-25 for a sit-down lunch away from the museum perimeter, where prices drop by a third within three streets.

Afternoon. Two options. The Orangerie at the far end of the Tuileries: Monet's Water Lilies in two oval rooms, €12.50, an hour, and from 30 September 2026 to 25 January 2027 it also hosts the centenary exhibition Monet, painting time. Or skip the second museum and walk the Seine east to Île de la Cité for your Notre-Dame slot. Pick one. Doing both is how day one becomes the day you remember as tiring.

Evening. Eiffel Tower at sunset, from Trocadéro or the Champ de Mars, without climbing it. Dinner in the 7e.

Day 2: Orsay, Rodin and Montmartre

Morning (9:30 AM to 12:30 PM). The Musée d'Orsay, €16 online. Go straight to the fifth floor for the Impressionists while the ground floor absorbs the groups, then work down. It is smaller than the Louvre and a better museum to be tired in. Closed Mondays.

Lunch. Rue Cler and the streets around it, ten minutes west. Market street, proper bakeries, €12-20.

Afternoon. The Musée Rodin, €14, five minutes from Rue Cler. The sculpture garden is the point: The Thinker, the Gates of Hell, and benches. Give it 90 minutes. Then the metro north to Abbesses for Montmartre, arriving after 5 PM when the coach groups have left the Sacré-Cœur steps.

Dinner. Montmartre, but off Place du Tertre. Walk two streets downhill in any direction and the menus halve in price.

Day 3: Sainte-Chapelle, the Marais and one last choice

Morning (9 AM). Sainte-Chapelle, €22, first slot, before the groups arrive and while the morning light is on the east windows. The combined ticket with the Conciergerie next door is €30 and worth it if you have the hour. Security is shared with the Palais de Justice, so arrive 15 minutes before your slot.

Lunch and afternoon. Cross to the Marais. Lunch on Rue des Rosiers, then the choice: the Musée Picasso in the Hôtel Salé, or a free afternoon in the Marais and Place des Vosges. On a third day, the free afternoon usually wins.

Alternative Day 3: Versailles. If you would rather trade the city for the palace, give Versailles the whole day: RER C, 35 minutes, closed Mondays, Palace €21 or the Passport at €25-35 for the gardens and the Trianon. Slots sell out 1 to 2 weeks ahead; the Versailles guide explains which ticket fits which trip and what to do when the official site shows nothing. Move Sainte-Chapelle to the morning you arrive or leave.

Evening. The Catacombs if you booked them (€31, 7-day window, closed Mondays, last entry 7:30 PM), or dinner in the 11e, which is where Paris eats on a Thursday.

Budget breakdown (per adult, 3 days)

Frequently asked questions

What should I book before a 3-day Paris trip?

The Louvre, 2 to 3 weeks ahead on ticket.louvre.fr (€22 EEA, €32 non-EEA, timed). Notre-Dame's free timed slot a few days ahead on notredamedeparis.fr. The Catacombs, if you want them, inside their 7-day booking window (€31). Orsay, Orangerie, Sainte-Chapelle and Rodin can be booked the day before. Versailles, if you swap a day for it, sells out 1 to 2 weeks ahead.

Which days are Paris museums closed?

The Louvre and the Orangerie close on Tuesdays. The Musée d'Orsay, the Rodin and the Catacombs close on Mondays. Sainte-Chapelle opens every day except 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. So the Louvre day cannot be a Tuesday and the Orsay day cannot be a Monday: fix those two first and the rest of the itinerary falls into place.

How much does 3 days of museums in Paris cost?

On this route, about €87 per adult: Louvre €22 (€32 outside the EEA), Orsay €16 online, Orangerie €12.50, Sainte-Chapelle €22, Rodin €14. Add €31 for the Catacombs if you go. Under-18s enter all of them free, and EU residents under 26 enter the national museums free with ID.

Louvre or Musée d'Orsay if I only have time for one?

Louvre on a first trip to Paris: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory and the Egyptian galleries in one building. Orsay if you have done the Louvre before or Impressionism is the reason you came. On three days you do both, on different mornings, and the question becomes which one gets the day you are freshest.

Should I add Versailles to a 3-day Paris itinerary?

Only by giving it a whole day, and only on a trip of three full days plus travel days. Versailles is 35 minutes out on the RER C, closed on Mondays, and the Palace alone takes a morning (€21, Passport €25-35). If you add it, swap Day 3 for it and keep Sainte-Chapelle for the morning you arrive or leave. Do not try to fit it into an afternoon.

Three museums in three mornings is the right number. The afternoons are where Paris happens, and they are free.