When google flights shows you a roundtrip to Paris for just $500 ($250 using my credit card points) you have to book it! All the roundtrip flights to Europe are significantly discounted in the off-season, so traveling between the months of January and March is the best time to go see some of those major tourist destinations with less crowds. Keep your eyes peeled for these deals in November and “travel tuesday”- the first tuesday in December when many companies offer travel deals for the late winter/ early spring time.

I went to Paris from February 4th to 9th of 2025, here’s my 5 day itinerary:

Tuesday Feb. 4

6:50 PM- Fly out of O’Hare, Chicago, we had a direct flight through United airlines which fed us dinner and breakfast. i highly recommend overnight flights with such a big time change as it’s easier to adjust to the jet lag if you can push through the first day before sleeping.

Wednesday Feb. 5 DAY 1

9:55 AM- Land in Charles De Galle, Paris
Train to city center approx 45 mins : Train $11 euro

RER B Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse
our Stop was Saint-Michel Notre-Dame
Once you land in CDG, there will be signs directing you to the train station though you might have to transfer terminals. Once you reach the train station there are kiosks where you can purchase your one way train ticket for the RER. To enter the platform you have to insert your ticket at the turn style to “verify” it, it stamps the time so you can’t reuse the ticket.
Enjoy a scenic ride into Paris!

11:30 AM- Drop off bags at airbnb
our airbnb was in the 6th district of Paris, south of the river and by the “latin quarttters.” i highly recommend staying in this are as it is very centtral to many atttractions like Notre Dam, Musee d’orsay the Louvre. But PAris has great public transportation so as long as you’re near a metro station you can easily get arround.
1:00 PM- saint chappell tickets booked (stained glass) 13 euro entry, worth it! we booked our tickets in advance but honestly the line for no reservations went faster.

Stop for lunch

Walk over to Notre Dame nearby (free entry)
Notre Dame was freshly restored inside and so bright!

Walk down Champse de lessae to the Opera Garnier closes at 4:00 PM (15 euros), the interior is gorgeous and grand!

Next door is the shopping mall Gallery Lafayette Haussmann, we just popped in to see the beautiful glass dome. It is a bit of a maze inside, you have to go up a few floors to get to a view point where you can see the dome. There is also rooftop access but we didn’t go.

Back to the 6th for dinner and early bed. I went to Entrecote, a extremely popular restaurant that does not take reservations but will accrue a line out the door. they only have one meal on the menu: Streak and frites- and all they will ask how you want your steak cooked. They also bring you second helpings automatically! I’ve heard it was so the second half of your steak stays warm? The meal ran me about 30 euros.

Thursday Feb. 6 DAY 2

9:00 AM- Louvre, we got there about 10 minutes to opening and there was only a small line to enter. We started out in the Richelieu wing and had the Napoleon apartments to our selves. The Denon wing is where the famous Mona Lisa is but we went over to that side around noon and it was crazy. You can’t even get close enough to really LOOK at the painting as everyone tries to take a photo, I hated it. The louvre is a maze inside, we got lost many times looking for a restroom, and many artworks were hard to see stacked up high on the wall… it wasn’t the best visitor experience. I much preferred Musee d’Orsay.
Snacks? Food? Break? We ate in the museum and kept going until we were burnt-out around 3:30pm.

4:00 PM- Leave the louvre, walk to the arc de triumph
We didn’t go up the arc because you have to go through security scanners and I had my film camera with me which I had already put through three scans!! :(
Went back to our room to get ready for Moulin. We dressed up nice but there were other people dressed casually.

9:00 pm- Moulin rouge - BOOKED 9pm show $130 euro each ( for no dinner no drinks just show) It’s a pretty long show with a lot of different talent acts (strong men, singing, dancing, acrobats, endless costume changes) so I’d say it’s worth the price. I think it was almost 2 hours long?

Friday Feb. 7 DAY 3

8:00 AM - take the RER yellow line train to Versailles, about an hour ride
9:15 AM - get your guide tour tickets we had a small group tour guide and she was amazing! I didn’t remember any of the history I learned in high school so the historical significance was much more interesting with the tour guide refreshing my memory. Also our get-your-guide tickets had skip the line access. Around 30 euros each and you get access to the gardens after.

take the train back into the city
walk around and souvenir shop, Shakespeare book company
Dinner

Saturday Feb. 8 DAY 4

9:30 am- Musee d’orsay
We got there at opening again. This time I knew I wanted to see a particular piece in their collection and planned where it was on their map so we BEELINED for it upon entry. I stood in front of it alone for- no joke- 30 minutes.

I loved this museum so much, I want to go back. I felt so inspired.

2 pm- we were too hungry so we left the museum to get lunch

Take the train to Montemartre, such a cute area
Walk up the hill to sacred heart church, best view of the whole city.

nearby is a square called the artist quarters, known for artists setting up their easels to draw your portrait from life. I did'n’t patron an artist but one of them told me he charged 80 euros for 30 minutes.

Dinner

9:00 PM- see Eiffel tower sparkle at night, the sparkles only happen for 5 minutes on the hour.

Sunday Feb. 9 DAY 5

Leave for airport 8 AM
Take the train to CDG
11:55 AM- plane departs from CDG Paris
2:05 PM- Land in chicago

Paris in five days itinerary

How do Galleries find their artists?

My Paris Film Photography