6 Days in Paris in January

So you’re considering going to Paris. Is it your first time? Do you hate crowds? Do you hate planning? Do you prefer a little chill to being too hot? Then Paris. In January may be the best idea yet.

In less than a week you can see so many of the iconic places, art, and enjoy so much food. And if you follow the plans below, you don’t really even have to plan too much.

Foundational info before you visit Paris

Here are a few things to consider about visiting Paris in January.

It is cold. It is gray. It can be sunny. It is far less crowded. It is very spread out so if you don’t feel good walking or taking public transit, you will spend a lot of time and money sitting in traffic in Ubers.

Even if you’re “not that into museums” you may be surprised by how much you may like the museums in Paris. We were surprised at how much we enjoyed spending time in them, although 3.5 hours was our max before either hunger or tired feed made us move on to the next activity.

Taking the metro around town and even out to Versailles was extremely easy and accurate using Apple maps, it took the guesswork out of navigation completely which gets me to things worth buying for Paris.

We ended up just getting one-way metro passes each time we took the Metro and (other than Versailles) it was $4.57 for 2 one-way tickets each time. This totaled up to $36.56 for all six days for both of us. Which I believe is less than we would have spent on any other option! We also clocked about 8 miles each day in walking, so this may be less than you should budget if you don’t enjoy walking in chilly or possibly rainy weather!

Speaking of Versailles, we used Apple Maps to plot the course from our hotel to the Palace and our round-trip tickets using the Metro was $30.43, that was for 2 roundtrip tickets from near our hotel in the 9th to Versailles and back!

Our Metro expenses were some of the lowest spending of the trip, I kept thinking if we were in any other large city (without a Metro system) we’d be spending $50+ for Uber trips everywhere that cost us less than $5 on the metro! And again, using Apple Maps worked perfectly for navigating from point-to-point!

LANGUAGE

Every time I travel to a new country I try to familiarize myself with a few key phrases before arriving. It always helps to be able to say hello, ask how much something costs, where something is, and place simple food orders, not to mention saying “thank you” and “goodbye.” If you can get these basics down, the response from the locals is always much warmer than if you start the conversation with “parle angle?”

I recommend using Google Translate (it works well, typically) and the little pocket book phrase book (below) was helpful when I didn’t have service.

Things you’ll want to have in Paris

So before you head out, make sure to pick up these helpful items:

So my husband is the tech support behind this section of the blog. He did research and found the Orange virtual SIM cards that we each had for the week in Paris. We both used the service primarily for navigating and a bit on social media during the 6 days in Paris. When all was said and done, we ended up each using far less data than the 20 MB allowance we pre-purchased. We definitely could have gotten away with just one of us having service, but it was nice to know that we could call or text one another if we wanted to split up.

I’ll cover the Paris Museum Pass next, but on the topic of tech, it was my husband who pointed out if I wanted to use any hair appliances (i.e. flat iron) in Paris then we’d need to bring both a power converter along with power adapters for phone/watch/accessory charging. He researched and picked out both of the above linked adapter and charger, and both worked great in Paris. Most importantly, my flat iron is still working back at home.

Technically, we could have survived without the adapters because our hotel, Maison Mère, had so many in-room USB ports in our room (2 on each side of the bed). So we could have survived with just the converter for the flat iron–if you’re staying in a nicer/newer hotel this is something to consider.

Was the Paris Museum Pass worth it?

So we really debated getting the Paris Museum Pass and then once we decided we’d get one, we debated between the 4 or 6 day pass.

We ultimately decided to go with the 6 day Paris Museum Pass after we totaled up how much money we estimated we would spend seeing our top Paris attractions and museums; and while we could have squeezed it all into 4 days, we wanted to have the flexibility to go to a museum or attraction on any day of our trip, just based on what we were able to cover in the first few days and also weather.

Ultimately, I think the 6-day Paris Museum Pass was worth the $229 per person. I’ll highlight how and were we ended up using the pass below in the itinerary-by-day.

A sample 6-day itinerary in Paris

So this is essentially our itinerary, except I’ve made a few tweaks so you don’t end up running back and forth across Paris like we did a couple of times… We wanted to be in Versailles on a Friday and we planned to hit up the Louvre and the Orangerie Museum on Monday–because both of them are open on Mondays. And that’s where we started.

This sample 6-day Paris highlights itinerary is listed out below. But if you’re visual like we are, here’s a Google map with each layer in its own color for each day, plus a bonus layer (in blue) for “extra” recommendations. I added (PMP – details) for each place where we either needed a reservation or were able to walk in using our 6-day Paris Museum Pass.

Day 1 – Orienting yourself around main attractions
1. Check into your hotel (or bag drop if you’re there early as we were)
2. If you’re staying in the 9th, hit up Mamish for breakfast (amazing)
3. Walk over to pick up your Paris Museum Pass (10 am to 5 pm) – you’ll need to pick up the physical card which is important to note and seemed to throw a lot of people who left negative reviews about using the pass. Read more here and check out the FAQ.
4. It’s also outside the PMP office that you can catch the hop-on hop-off bus every 15 minutes (PMP – one day only)
5. Hop off to the Eiffel Tower (PMP – requires reservation)
6. Hop off at the Arc de Triomphe (PMP – no reservation needed)
7. Stroll the Avenue des Champs-Élysées
8. Hop back off by the Eiffel Tower for a Seine River Cruise (PMP – need a reservation)
9. Get dinner near your hotel or at Chez Fernand Christine near Saint Germain
Day 2 – Saint Germain des Prés & Val-de-Grâce
1. Get breakfast near your hotel or First, grab (a full) breakfast at Les Deux Magots – don’t forget the hot chocolate
2. Then check out the Musée d’Orsay: Tuesday to Sunday 9:30am – 6pm (PMP – no reservation needed) or stroll the streets of Saint Germain for great views, shopping, and food
3. If you stop by the YSL on Grenelle tell Hisham that Gina sent you
4. Then continue to stroll eat, drink, and shop for the afternoon
5. Walk or take the metro down to the Pantheon daily: 10am – 6pm (PMP – no reservation needed) for incredible frescos and unique art installations in a gorgeous cathedral setting
6. Eat dinner at Les Papilles. This was one of our favorite restaurants and dining experiences; we didn’t know what the menu would be and all 3 courses were amazing!
Day 3 – Versailles
1. 7 am – leave for the Chateau Versailles via metro (Versailles entrance is covered in the PMP – requires timed reservation)
2. Recommended: plan for about 9 am – 3 pm in Versailles
  1. We highly recommend doing the 9:30 am King’s apartment tour. It was an extra cost but so worth it–oh, but the entrance for this was on the opposite entrance from A where we booked our 9 am entry!
3. Once you’re done with the palace, if you’re lucky enough to be there on a Tues, Fri or Sunday, head out of the palace grounds to visit the local market before it closes down at 2 pm
  1. Pick up some fresh cheese, baguette, and walk back over to the Versailles gardens to picnic or take them on the train for a movable feast
4. If you head back into Paris toward the Montparnasse station, it’s a great time to head up Tour Montparnasse – the tall skyscraper open 9:30 am to 10 pm daily (PMP – no reservation required)
5. Then grab dinner around there or if you’re in the 9th, get pizza at Da Giuseppe (incredible pizza, tiny restaurant)
Day 4 – Le Marais and/or Ile de la Cite
1. Get ready for some walking along beautiful shops and streets by fueling up with espresso and pain au chocolate (chocolate-filled croissants) then…
1. Option 1: If the weather is bad:
  - Head over to the Louvre (PMP – time reservation required)
  - Then book time to go underground at the Louvre Wine Cave for a tour and tasting (PMP – reservation needed)
  - Then get dinner at nearby yam’Tcha (it and the boutique a couple blocks away) were on Chef’s Table and so we had to try it! The restaurant was booked up, but we went to the boutique and really enjoyed their tea with milk and all 5 savory bao buns and the chocolate dessert bun!
2. Option 2: If you’re not into museums and the weather is great:
  - Stroll more through Saint Germain into the Latin Quarter and the Ile de la Cite (center of Paris island) to check some more historic sites off your list including,
  - Sainte-Chappelle for gorgeous stained glass (PMP – timed entry required)
  - Walk around the outside of Notre Dame or do the guided tour (PMP – requires reservation)
  - Get sweets at Odette
3. Option 3: We didn’t get to do this but I’m still so curious to see more of La Marais
  - Head up toward the 3rd (La Marais) by 11:30 am to take the Le Marais Walking Tour (PMP – reservation required)
  - Then get sushi at Les enfants du marché
Day 5 – Montmartre
1. It’s morning so of course it is time for more baked goods. Start off in the center of Montmartre with some incredible croissants at Boris
2. Then wander through the fabled cobble-stone streets toward Place du Turtre and admire the paintings by local artists of the part of Paris that inspired movies like Amalie and Moulin Rouge
3. As you wonder over to Sacré-Cœur admire the beautiful city views from the steps and the parks around it. You can visit inside beautiful cathedral (PMP pass – no reservation required)
4. As long as small spaces are not a problem for you, I highly recommend spending the 8 euro to climb to the top of Sacré-Cœur for incredible views of all of Paris!
5. Next, it’s time to grab a quick bite for lunch before meeting up with your tour group!
6. Take the 2 pm Montmartre Walking Tour and don’t be late (PMP – reservation required)
7. After the tour, get lost in the heart of the town, we recommend drinks at Sancerre but there are too many options to pick just one!
8. Finally, enjoy dinner at the Instagram-famous Pink Mamma (reservations strongly encouraged, especially if you want that IG-top floor/stairwell pic)
9. Or get your queso on the iconic Le Refuge des Fondus
Day 6 – Whatever you haven’t done yet!
1. We left our last day open to “catch up” on anything we missed or wanted to revisit from our trip other than my favorite museum stop. This worked exceptionally well and now I’m going to share what we did that ended up being one of our favorite days in Paris!
2. Book a 9 am reservation at Musée de l’Orangerie (PMP – time reservation required) which we highly recommend to beat the crowds, it was crowded by 9:30 am
3. After spending an hour soaking in the water lilies at the Orangerie, we strolled across the Tuileries garden (again, can’t wait to go back in the spring/summer) and let our eyes and stomach guide us…
4. We saw the Ladurée sign and decided since we’d had some great macarons the day before, it was time to try out what we heard were the world’s best… And then proceeded to eat them while we waited in line for…
5. Hot chocolate and more sweets at Angelina Paris which was worth the wait if you’re super into sweets! It was a fun experience, but then we were done with sugar for the day!
6. From here we wandered through the Madeline area and made our way up to walk through the beautiful Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (shopped a bit, but wanted to check out the rooftop views, they were grand) and
7. While we were at l’Orangarie the weather was showing it was going to clear up, so I decided to book a last minute 2 pm lunch at Perruche (reservation required). This restaurant is on the 9th floor of the Printemps Haussmann and it was a bit of a slow journey up to the 9th floor with a little shopping along the way, if you’re in a rush, definitely take the elevator up to the top floor! The views, the food, the decor, all so so worth it! One of my favorite Paris experiences by far!
8. If you’re not up for more food at this point, the views from the roofs of both Galleries Lafayette and Printemps were amazing and accessible without dining
9. So at this point we wanted to be sure that our shopping would all fit back in our carryons, so we went back to our hotel to pack and regroup, with a quick walk through the covered passages — check out more here. We entered through Passage Verdeau and we just continued on through the next few passages from there.
10. After packing we got on the metro for the 3rd Arrondissement where we’d read that Little Red Door was one of the top 50 bars in the world. It was… an experience!
11. I honestly wish we had spent more time in the 3rd–the neighborhood here near Red Door still had the old world Paris charm, but there were a lot of trendy up and coming places to shop and eat.
12. We ended up getting drinks at Cafe Charlot – the “porn star martini” was really delightful, despite the weird name.
13. Then we went to Candelaria which was (maybe because we’re missing our CA-roots) so incredible! The outside was a little restaurant taco shop front (delicious) and through the back wall was the Speakeasy that met all of my Paris/modern/historic vibe expectations that I didn’t know I even had!? We each had 2 drinks here and loved both of them. Would 100% go back.
14. Finally, we hopped on the Metro to get to Septime – a recommendation from a friend with exceptional taste who goes to Paris frequently. It was a delicious little wine bar. All the patrons seemed be local, they all spoke French. It made me want to try harder next time to get a dinner reservation at Septime La Cave!

That’s it! There are 6 days mostly outlined for you with a few options added in.

In my next post, I will attempt to answer arrondissement or neighborhood you should stay in along with how we ended up paying for/using transit! It’s a little confusing until you’re there.