Five days in Paris feels rushed if you want Versailles; a full week is overkill for most independent travelers. Six days hits the sweet spot — Eiffel Tower to Versailles in one tight, well-paced loop. This guide refines a Tripop AI-generated plan with real routes, museum-pass math, and food picks for English-speaking visitors.
Why 6 days — the Versailles factor
Intercontinental flights typically eat half of your arrival and half of your departure day. A 5-day Paris trip means choosing between Versailles or thorough central Paris coverage. Six days lets you do both — plus Montmartre and the Marais at a relaxed pace.
- Day 1 (arrival): CDG → city → Eiffel Tower at night + Seine cruise
- Day 2: Louvre + Tuileries + Champs-Élysées + Arc de Triomphe
- Day 3: Orsay + Notre-Dame + Latin Quarter + Marais
- Day 4: Versailles day trip
- Day 5: Montmartre + Sacré-Cœur + Galeries Lafayette
- Day 6 (departure): Final café + CDG
This sequence covers the two world-class museum days, the iconic skyline at night, a UNESCO palace, and bohemian Paris — without backtracking.
Pre-trip: ETIAS, eSIM, money, transit
- Visa / ETIAS: Most visa-exempt nationalities (US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea) get 90 days in 180 across Schengen. From late 2026, ETIAS (~7 EUR, valid 5 years) becomes mandatory pre-registration. Apply at least 72 hours before flying. Check travel-europe.europa.eu for the exact start date close to departure.
- eSIM: A 5GB / 7-day plan runs $10-15 (Airalo, Holafly). Excellent LTE everywhere — Paris, Versailles, even inside the Louvre. Carrier roaming is typically 5x more expensive.
- Money: Withdraw euros from any ATM with your home card (~3 EUR fee). The euro hovers around 1.05-1.10 USD in 2026. Carry 100 EUR cash for cafes and small shops that may not take cards.
- Navigo Weekly: At 30 EUR (plus 5 EUR card fee), the Navigo Hebdo is unlimited metro, RER (zones 1-5), bus, and tram from Monday to Sunday — and crucially, it covers Versailles (RER C) and Disneyland (RER A). For a 6-day Paris trip this is the best transit play. Alternatives: a 10-ride carnet (11.65 EUR) for very light usage.
- Paris Museum Pass: The 4-day pass at 78 EUR is essential if you're visiting 3+ sites. Louvre (32) + Orsay (16) + Versailles (21) + Arc de Triomphe (13) alone hit 82 EUR. The pass also lets you skip ticket lines at most sites. Buy in advance from the official site.
The full plan at a glance
Drop a one-liner into Tripop — "Paris 6-day itinerary including Versailles" — and the AI builds a time-blocked plan in about a minute. Add your flight PDFs and museum bookings by photo, and the voucher cards attach themselves to the right days.
Day 1 (arrival) — Eiffel Tower light show + Seine night cruise
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 18:00 | Arrive Charles de Gaulle (CDG) | Most evening flights from North America |
| 19:00 | Immigration (ETIAS QR) + baggage | 60 min |
| 20:00 | RER B or Uber to central Paris | 40 min, ~50 EUR |
| 21:00 | Hotel check-in (1st, 4th, or 6th) | |
| 21:30 | Light dinner at a neighborhood bistro | |
| 22:00 | Eiffel Tower light show at Trocadéro | 5 min sparkle every hour |
Day 1 tip — Paris sunset is around 9pm in May, even later in June. Don't overpack day 1 — a light bistro dinner plus the Eiffel Tower light show works best for jet lag. The Seine night cruise (Bateaux Parisiens, 15 EUR) can shift to day 2 or 3. Best hotel zones: 1st (Louvre), 4th (Marais), or 6th (Saint-Germain) — all walkable to icons and well-connected to metro.
After dark, 20,000 bulbs sparkle for 5 minutes at the top of every hour. The classic viewpoint is Trocadéro Square (Metro 9, Trocadéro) — directly across the Seine with the tower head-on. Catching it at both 22:00 and 23:00 is worth the extra hour.
Day 2 — Louvre + Champs-Élysées + Arc de Triomphe
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Louvre first entry | Pre-booked, 32 EUR or pass |
| 11:00 | Mona Lisa + Winged Victory + Venus de Milo | 2 hours |
| 12:30 | Angelina lunch + Mont Blanc pastry | 30 EUR |
| 14:00 | Tuileries Garden walk | |
| 15:00 | Place de la Concorde → Champs-Élysées | 1.9 km on foot |
| 17:00 | Arc de Triomphe observation deck | 13 EUR or pass |
| 19:30 | Dinner at Le Relais Saint-Germain | 60 EUR |
Day 2 tip — The Louvre requires booking (ticketing.louvre.fr). 9am first entry is the only realistic window for Mona Lisa selfies — by 11am you're behind 100+ people. Closed Tuesdays — plan your week around that. At the Arc de Triomphe, enter the observation deck an hour before sunset for dusk + Champs-Élysées lights in one ticket.
35,000 works on display. The three must-sees: Mona Lisa (Salle 711, 2nd floor), Winged Victory of Samothrace (top of the Daru staircase), Venus de Milo (Salle 346, 1st floor). 9am entry + 4-5 hours is the sweet spot. Book online at ticketing.louvre.fr — 32 EUR or covered by the museum pass.
Opened 1903, frequented by Coco Chanel and Hemingway. Order the truffle ravioli (30 EUR) and the signature Mont Blanc pastry (10 EUR). The Old Africa hot chocolate (L'Africain, 9 EUR) is so thick it eats like dessert. Flagship next to the Tuileries Garden.
Day 3 — Orsay + Notre-Dame + Latin Quarter + Marais
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 09:30 | Musée d'Orsay | 16 EUR or pass, 2 hours |
| 12:00 | Bouillon Chartier lunch | 20 EUR set |
| 14:00 | Notre-Dame exterior | Reopened Dec 2024 |
| 15:00 | Shakespeare and Company bookshop | Free, English used books |
| 16:00 | Latin Quarter walk (Place de la Sorbonne) | |
| 17:30 | Marais cafes + vintage shops | |
| 19:30 | L'As du Fallafel or Marais bistro dinner | 12 EUR |
Day 3 tip — Orsay's Impressionist collection is the world's best — Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Rodin. The fifth-floor clock window is the iconic Instagram shot. Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024; interior visits require booking (the line for free walk-ins can stretch hours). The Marais is LGBTQ-friendly, vintage-shop heavy, and has the best gallery density in Paris — perfect for an afternoon wander.
A converted 1900 train station, opened as a museum in 1986. Houses the world's premier Monet, Degas, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Rodin collections. The view through the 5th-floor clock window is the signature Instagram moment. 16 EUR or covered by museum pass.
A 120+ year old Parisian working-class restaurant. Onion soup (5 EUR), escargot (8 EUR), beef bourguignon (12 EUR). Three courses for 20-30 EUR total. No reservations — queue at the door. Avoid the 7pm and 1pm peaks.
Day 4 — Versailles day trip
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Paris → Versailles via RER C | 50 min, 7.30 EUR or Navigo |
| 09:00 | Versailles Palace first entry | 21 EUR or museum pass |
| 10:00 | Hall of Mirrors + King's Apartments | 2.5 hours |
| 12:30 | Lunch in Versailles town | |
| 14:00 | Gardens walk or mini-car rental | 8.50 EUR / 30 min |
| 15:30 | Marie Antoinette's Estate | 12 EUR extra |
| 17:00 | Back to Paris | |
| 18:30 | Sunset at Galeries Lafayette rooftop | Free |
Day 4 tip — Versailles requires online booking (often sells out same-day). 9am first entry is the only window where you can take Hall of Mirrors selfies without 100 strangers in frame. Gardens are free but the fountain shows (Spectacles des Grandes Eaux) run Tuesdays + weekends from April to October at 10-12 EUR. The full garden path is 4km — rent a mini-car (8.50 EUR/30 min) or bike (7.50 EUR/hour) if walking everything sounds exhausting.
357 mirrors lining a 73m grand hall. Site of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles ending WWI. Ceiling frescos, chandeliers, gilded molding — everything is overwhelming. 9am first entry on a weekday is the only realistic way to photograph it without crowds. 21 EUR or museum pass.
Day 5 — Montmartre + Sacré-Cœur + Galeries Lafayette
| Time | Activity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Metro 2 to Anvers | Or Metro 12 to Abbesses |
| 09:30 | Sacré-Cœur Basilica + Paris panorama | Free, 130m hilltop |
| 11:00 | Place du Tertre (street artists) | |
| 12:00 | Café des Deux Moulins lunch | Amélie filming location |
| 14:00 | Galeries Lafayette flagship | Stained-glass dome |
| 15:30 | Printemps department store | |
| 17:00 | Lafayette rooftop sunset view | Free, 6th floor |
| 19:30 | Final bistro dinner + wine |
Day 5 tip — Sacré-Cœur is free and open 24 hours. Sunrise and sunset are both stunning. The funicular up the hill is included in any metro ticket. Place du Tertre's street artists will do a caricature for 20-40 EUR in 5-10 minutes — touristy but a nice souvenir. Galeries Lafayette's free rooftop on the 6th floor has the best Eiffel Tower + Sacré-Cœur view in the city.
Byzantine-style basilica atop a 130m hill. Free entry, open 24 hours. The view from the front plaza beats the paid Eiffel Tower observation (28 EUR) — and it's free. Arrive an hour before sunset for dusk + city lights. Funicular up the hill costs one metro ticket.
Opened 1893, Paris's biggest department store. The 1912 Art Nouveau stained-glass dome is the Instagram money shot. Foreign tourists get an extra 5% discount voucher and access to the duty-free counter. The 6th-floor rooftop terrace is free — best combined Eiffel + Sacré-Cœur view in the city.
Budget tracking — automatic euro conversion
Throughout the trip, snap a photo of every receipt — café, restaurant, museum, metro top-up — and Tripop logs it with euro (€) → home-currency auto-conversion. Daily and category totals appear in real time. Honeymoon or family trip? Combine expenses across travel companions in the same itinerary.
Sharing with travel companions
Paris ranks among the top global honeymoon destinations. In Tripop, invite your partner (or whole family) to one trip and everyone sees the same schedule. Versailles and Louvre booking QR codes are per-person — sort vouchers by traveler so no one fumbles at the gate.
AI assistant — museum prioritization
Ask Tripop something like: "I have 6 days in Paris with one for Versailles. Should I prioritize Louvre or Orsay first?" The AI ranks museums by travel time, jet lag impact, and crowd patterns. It'll also suggest rain backup plans (Orangerie's water lilies, Musée Rodin's covered sculpture rooms).
Checklist — Paris essentials
- Passport (6+ months validity)
- ETIAS authorization (from late 2026)
- eSIM or pocket wifi
- Navigo Weekly pass (5 EUR + 30 EUR weekly load)
- Paris Museum Pass 4-day (78 EUR)
- Credit card with no foreign transaction fee
- Umbrella (May-June showers common)
- Portable battery (lots of photos)
Wrap-up
- For 6 days in Paris, the Versailles day trip is the key differentiator from a 5-day plan
- Museum Pass 4-day + Navigo Weekly is the highest-leverage purchase pair
- Louvre and Versailles require advance online booking, 9am first entry
- Tripop handles AI itinerary, voucher organization, expense tracking, and group sharing
Free on App Store, Google Play, and the web. Your flight PDF becomes an itinerary card in a second; adding another museum takes 30 seconds.
Photos: Pexels (Jorge Samper — Eiffel Tower, Ludovic Delot — Louvre, Céline — Montmartre, Kirandeep Singh Walia — Versailles) — Pexels License.