Eiffel Tower
Four days is a good amount of time to experience the best things Paris has to offer, including dining, shows, nightlife, wine, museums, vineyards, national monuments and much more.
Here is an estimated itinerary for a visit to Paris on a budget.
Instructions
1. A recommended hostel is the 3 Ducks Hostel, which is very close to the Metro and about a 10-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. This hostel is connected to a bar that offers good deals on drinks to hostel customers, and offers complimentary Internet access. With a fun and cultural atmosphere, the hostel is an ideal place to meet other travelers.
Start your first day with a visit to La Pere-Lachaise Cemeterie, a major cemetery where many wealthy and famous French icons are buried. You could walk around for three hours and see beautiful tombs and recognizable icons graves for free. Maps in the cemetery indicate certain graves' locations, such as those of Jim Morrison, Charlemagne and Oscar Wilde.
For lunch, next to the cemetery is a cheap French bakery with any cheese, bread and wine you can imagine. Buy a bottle of red wine, three types of cheese and a loaf of bread for a only $4.
For dinner, The Frog and the Princess restaurant within the city brews their own beers. The beer is cheap, but the food is a little pricey and it is better to buy some French snacks from an outside vendor.
At night, take a personalized free night tour through the hostel for two hours, seeing the following monuments lit up at night: Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Fountains St. Michele, the Louvre and fountains. The experience of seeing the monuments lit up and deserted at night eliminates the hassle of dealing with crowds during the day.
2. On the second day, from the hostel, you can walk for about 15 minutes to the Musee D'Orsay. If you go after 1 p.m., the prices are cheaper. See paintings of Claude Monet, Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, Renoir and dozens of other great artists.
Afterward, walk to the Notre Dame, the stalls of the Latin Quarter, the River Seine, the street St. Michel and the fountains there, St. Germain street near the Sorbonne, the French Pantheon, and Sainte-Chappelle. These are all not too far from the Musee D'Orsay, and an afternoon walking tour is a great way to exercise and experience the culture and everyday life of France.
For a break to relax for awhile, take the Metro to explore Luxembourg Gardens and Palace, where you can settle down with a bottle of wine, bread and cheese and experience the landscape, fountains, statues and wildlife.
From there, you can walk to Les Invalides nearby, where Napoleon is buried and the Senate buildings of France are.
Finally, check out the Place de la Concorde, where you can see lots of street artists and performers.
At night, the hostels often offer free walking tours. The 3 Ducks Hostel offers a 2-hour walking tour of the Montmartre and PIgalle areas of Paris.
See the first Moulin Rouge, where many French artists hung out, and the house Van Gogh lived at with his brother for a few years, which was across the street from the oldest windmill in Paris.
You can visit the La Lapin Agile, which means the "frolicking rabbit" in French. It is one of the oldest hangouts for artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso who used to exchange their artwork for food.
To end the tour, walk to Sacre Coeur, the highest point in Paris.
After dark, another night tour can be taken, during which you walk to Arc de Triomphe and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
All of these sites can be walked to and experienced for free, but sometimes the fees to enter vary if you decide to go inside the monuments or museums.
3. Many agencies offer tours of the homes and studios of artists and important figures in history. On your third day, try an all-day bus tour for about $100 that takes you to Versailles and Giverny, the artist Claude Monet's gardens and home.
Upon return to Paris later in the afternoon, walk through the Tuilerie Gardens to the Musee de L'Orangerie, a small museum featuring Monet's famous water lily paintings from the gardens you just experienced at Giverny. In the late afternoons, entry is free.
4. Experience your fourth day at the Eiffel Tower. Purchase a snack from a vendor of traditional French crepes for only a few dollars.
After having a picnic, lounging around and people watching for a bit, go to the Louvre to see an endless array of artwork and sculpture, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and Napoleon's Apartment Quarters.
Tags: Eiffel Tower, bottle wine, Claude Monet, Ducks Hostel, Latin Quarter