What to Visit in Paris in 1 Day
What to see in Paris in 1 day? With the exception of the Louvre and other famous landmarks? Not the most popular, but interesting places in Paris and possible travel routes for a tourist who is going to see the capital of France in 24 hours – in our material!
Imagine that you are traveling with a transfer through the largest airport in Paris, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle. And so it turns out that it is located at a significant interval of several hours between flights.
It is unlikely that you will sit drearily in the transit zone, waiting for an invitation to land, when such a city is nearby?! Especially if you have 8-10 hours of free time left.
Our subjective guide may also be useful to those who, for some reason, come to see Paris for a day. But he is not going to get hung up on common and, to be honest, sights that have set a fair amount of teeth on edge. Visiting which, in addition, is associated with movement in a crowd of people talking in a hundred earthly languages.
Route 1
A ticket for the RER train from Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2022 costs 11.40 € for adults and 7 for children 9 and under. We are moving along the blue line, getting off at St-Michel station, if you intend to explore the Left Bank of the Seine, the Ile de la Cité and look at the restored Notre Dame Cathedral.
By the way, even in this capacity, he is immensely beautiful and eye-catching. You can’t go inside yet, but a good guide will color your walk with the necessary facts.
You can also get off at the next stop Châtelet les Halles – if your plans still include a visit to the Louvre. The latter, due to lack of time, we obviously do not recommend.
Although you can purchase an online ticket that gives you the right to enter without a queue. Yes, and become a member of the tour led by a guide who will have time in a couple of hours to show and tell.
One way or another, leaving at one station and returning to the belly of the RER at another, you will have time to see all the most significant in Paris. Except perhaps the Eiffel Tower and Montmartre.
Walking time? At your discretion – from 3 to 5 hours!
Route 2
From the St-Michel station, we go along the bridge of the same name to Cité, admire the famous Orfevre embankment, where many detective commissioners wandered (and wander), we go to the Palace of Justice. For in his courtyard lives a real treasure – the “Holy Chapel”.
According to architecture experts, Sainte-Chapelle, built in the 13th century, is the purest example of French Gothic. What is called: neither add nor subtract.
And even Notre Dame de Paris loses a lot to her in terms of concept and laconic, strict beauty. The main decoration of the chapel is stained-glass windows, many of which have been preserved since the time of construction.
A ticket to the chapel costs a little over 10 euros. Paying 15, you will get the right to visit the Conciergerie (persons under 18 go free).
The same royal palace, in the courtyard of which Sainte-Chapelle was once erected. At the time of Philip the Handsome and the massacre of the Templars, the Louvre did not yet exist. And it was the Conciergerie that was the main residence of the monarchs.
Then the castle was turned into a prison. And during the French Revolution, those sentenced to death were kept here. We suspect that it is the cell of Queen Marie Antoinette, who spent the last 2.5 months of her life in the castle walls, that is the main attraction for tourists.
The view of a pair of elegant houses of the era of Henry IV on the Place Dauphine, a walk along the banks of the Seine and admiring the vibrant life in the open spaces of the river will be a worthy end to an independent trip to Paris in between flights.
Route 3
It implies a much smaller share of amateur performance. You agree in advance with the guide, arrive, walk around the old Marais quarter, and return satisfied.
Why not? You saw Paris as people of the 17th century saw it. All these musketeers and guardsmen, the nobility, the cardinal and the king. Absolutely, by the way, they did not suspect that people in crumpled clothes with some kind of indistinct backpacks on their backs would wander exactly along the same streets centuries later.
Route 4
It does not mean visiting the right bank of the Seine with the Louvre and the Champs-Elysées and even the Île de la Cité. All attention is on the Left Bank, and specifically on the Latin Quarter. It is here that the very real, extremely authentic Paris is located.
And by the way, one of the best museums in Paris – Orsay. His Impressionist collection is unparalleled in the world!
In conditions of lack of time, it is more reasonable to walk around the Latin Quarter with an individual three-hour tour. For those who feel the strength to study everything on their own, we list the main points of application of attention.
The powerful Gothic church of San Severin and the classic Saint-Sulpice, along the axis of which the reference Paris meridian once passed. Monastery of Cluny – now there is a museum of the Middle Ages.
Sorbonne University and St. Ursula’s Chapel, where the remains of Cardinal Richelieu are buried. National Pantheon, where the great people of France were buried: from Voltaire to Curie. The church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont is a very interesting example of the superimposition of a classical architectural style on a gothic foundation.
And also – of course – the Luxembourg Gardens. And the palace, where the meetings of the French Senate are now held. You can get inside the latter only on the Days of Cultural Heritage (the third weekend of September) and standing in a decent queue.
There is no time left for the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides. As well as trips to the suburbs – to Versailles and Disneyland, according to the proposed plan.
But it does not matter. Because you will have an incentive to come to see the sights of Paris again. Or even several times!
