One day in Paris definitely isn’t enough time to visit Versailles–but you can get a small taste of Parisian glitz and glamour at the Palais Garnier (also called the Opera Garnier) all the same! If you’d like to add more context to your visit, this 2-hour guided tour is highly recommended. Save time during your one day in Paris & purchase a skip-the-line ticket for the Louvre! Regardless of whether you choose to take a guided tour of the Louvre or not, like with Notre Dame, we absolutely recommend purchasing a skip-the-line ticket for the Louvre before arriving–the lines can be insane, and even with a skip-the-line ticket, you’ll still have security to worry about! There’s also, of course, always the option of a guided tour for maximum context and direction!
If you’d like some structure and a timeline to your visit, we recommend taking a look at the Louvre’s own website–they have multiple museum trails outlined that you can follow. Today, Shakespeare & Company is stuffed with beautiful books and is worth visiting during even a one day trip to Paris–be sure to check out the view of Notre Dame through the second floor window, say hello to the cat who lives upstairs, and purchase a book (they’ll stamp the title page with their seal at checkout for the ultimate Paris souvenir).īe sure to avoid taking photos inside–they are explicitly forbidden, a fact that seems beyond the grasp of many patrons. Scott Fitzgerald, and later (in its current location), the gathering place of writers like Langston Hughes and Ray Bradbury, Shakespeare & Company has a storied history that includes many famous names, an eccentric owner or two, and even a closure during the Nazi occupation of France. Known as the haunt of Lost Generation writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Just a short walk over the Seine from Notre Dame sits Shakespeare & Company, which is easily the most famous English-language bookstore in Paris. If you’d like to get the most “normal” view of Notre Dame possible at the moment as you start your one day in Paris, we recommend heading to the corner of Rue de la Cite and Quai de Montebello, near the Pont de Coeurs, where you can photograph the tops of the towers and some of the front of the cathedral. At this point, the church is closed indefinitely.
We continue to recommend to starting your one day in Paris here for a couple of reasons: Il de la Cite is still an incredibly central spot to start a day in Paris, and Notre Dame, though wounded, is still a beautiful structure.Īs of September 2019, the entire area in front of and surrounding Notre Dame is closed to the public, and the damage from the fire is obvious from most angles. … But while those words that I wrote in 2018 are still true, sadly, the nature of this one day Paris itinerary has shifted due to the awful fire at Notre Dame in April 2019. Iconic, beautiful, and centrally located, Notre Dame is an excellent starting point for any trip to Paris. Located on Il de la Cite (the island in the middle of the Seine), there’s no better place to kick off your one day in Paris than at Notre Dame.
The Complete Guide to One Day in Paris Start at Notre Dame (though you can no longer go inside).