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Paris — so much to see, so little time.
If you only have a few days in the French capital, you’ll want to visit the main monuments and attractions. However, navigating the buses and metro — especially during the busy tourist season — can be overwhelming. It’s impossible to appreciate this majestic city when you’re spending half your time underground or worrying about which bus to take.
This Paris self-guided walking tour from the Arc de Triomphe to Notre Dame Cathedral allows you to visit many of the city’s central attractions at your own pace. The tour can be done in two or three hours, but you can also make a day of it by stopping at the many museums, shops and galleries along the way.
Follow the Google map provided below. Remember to print the map beforehand (or keep this page open!) if you don’t have Wi-Fi. Bonne balade!
Ruby’s ‘Sights & Seine’ Walking Tour (Paris) – Google My Maps
This self-guided walking tour from the Arc de Triomphe to Notre Dame Cathedral ticks off many of the French capital’s most historic sights.
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(A) Arc de Triomphe
Your walk begins at the epic Arc de Triomphe (Metro: Charles de Gaulle Etoile) in the 8th arrondissement. Gaze up at the 50-metre-high structure commissioned by Napoleon and inaugurated in 1836. If you’re feeling extra energetic, climb the stairs for a panoramic view across the capital (an entry fee applies).
Stroll down Avenue des Champs-Élysées — possibly the most famous retail strip in the world. It’s very touristy and not cheap, but you can window shop (or ‘window lick’ as they say in French!) at the likes of Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Christian Dior and Hugo Boss. You’ll also pass by the famous Lido cabaret.
(B) Petit Palais
Turn right onto Avenue Winston Churchill and you’ll find the Grand Palais on your right and Petit Palais on your left. Enter the Petit Palais (entry is free for the permanent collection) and stroll through this very ornate and airy fine arts museum. Enjoy the impressively high decorated ceilings and take a break at the pretty courtyard cafe.
C) Pont Alexandre III
Continue down Avenue Winston Churchill and cross the Seine via the extravagant 40-metre-wide Pont Alexandre III, decorated with cherubs, nymphs and gorgeous old-fashioned lamps. Take in the view of the Eiffel Tower, then take the stairs down to the left and stroll along Les Berges de Seine, the pedestrianised river promenade along the Left Bank, with cafés, deck chairs and Parisians dangling their legs over the river and picnicking in the sunnier months.
If the weather is dubious stop off at the Musée d’Orsay for the world’s largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (including Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, and Van Gogh), housed in a building that was once a railway station.
(D) Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor
Cross the footbridge passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor (formerly Solférino), where the lovelock tradition is alive and kicking (lovers place padlocks on the bridge and throw away the key). No problem if you don’t have one — there are local entrepreneurs who will sell you a piece of your heart for a couple of euros. However, is this love or just vandalism?
You’ll now find yourself in Paris’ central park, Jardin des Tuileries, where tourists and locals alike wander between two ponds, statues by Rodin and Giacometti, merry-go-rounds and ice cream stands.
Head directly across, or — if you’re up for another museum-stop — visit the fabulous Musée de l’Orangerie (a gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings) near the Place de la Concorde. It was here that Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette met their untimely ends under the guillotine. Note the soaring Luxor Obelisk — a 23-metre-high Egyptian monument, which is over 3,000 years old.
(E) Place Vendôme
Exit the park via rue de Castiglione and continue straight to Place Vendôme with its luxury retail brands. It’s known for watches and jewellery (Cartier at number 23, Swatch at number 16, Rolex at number 9, and Chopard at number 1).
(F) Rue de Rivoli
If you’re ready for a cocktail and don’t mind paying five-star prices, the swish Hotel Costes is located at 239 rue Saint Honoré. Otherwise, make your way down rue Saint Honoré (in the same direction as the traffic) and turn right onto rue 29 Juillet (where you can pop into the famous Colette concept store on the corner). On hitting rue de Rivoli, make your way back through the beautiful Tuileries and under the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel to the must-stop-and-explore Louvre Museum.
(G) Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel/Louvre
It will be tempting (understandably) to spend the rest of your day at the Louvre. However, if you want to press on, snap a pic and walk through the Place des Vosges (formerly Place Royal). Note the Comédie Français theatre at 1 Place Colette.
Enter the courtyard of the Palais Royale with its visually pleasing black-and-white columns by French artist Daniel Buren. Stroll past the rose gardens and the high-end galleries and shops in the arcades, then walk down rue de Valois and turn left onto rue St Honoré.
Airbnb Experiences can add a more personal dimension to a walking route like this one — connecting the stories behind Paris’s famous landmarks to the people who actually live near them. Hosts on Airbnb offer small-group walks, food tastings, and neighborhood deep-dives across the arrondissements this route passes through, from the 8th to the Île de la Cité, curated from the kind of local knowledge that doesn’t appear on a printed map.
Because Airbnb pairs its accommodation listings with these locally-hosted activities in one platform, travellers can plan both where to stay and what to do without switching between tools. A host who lives a few streets from Pont Alexandre III or the Jardin des Tuileries brings a different quality of access to those places — context, small details, the cafe that’s actually worth stopping at — than a signposted self-guided route can offer on its own.
The two approaches work well together. A self-guided walk like this one sets the itinerary; an Airbnb Experience can fill in the human layer that monuments and map pins leave out.
(H) Quai de l’Horloge & (I) Notre Dame de Paris
Turn right onto rue de L’ArbreSec until you hit the river. Turn left, then right, crossing Pont Neuf onto the Ile de la Cité — one of the city’s two natural islands. Turn left and head along Quai de l’Horloge, then make a right into rue d’Arcole. Standing before you is the epic cathedral Notre Dame de Paris — our final stop on this self-guided walking tour. On the 15th of April 2019, the world looked on in shock as this 12th century edifice was consumed by fire — resulting in widespread and significant damage. Headed by chief architect Philippe Villeneuve, in collaboration with Rémi Fromont and Pascal Prunet, the repairs are now complete and the cathedral has reopened.
Felicitations! You made it! Tonight it’s guilt-free cheese and crème brulée for all!
For more travel inspiration, visit www.en.parisinfo.com.
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Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Ruby Boukabou is a travel, culture, and food writer based between Europe and Australia, and has written for The Age, The Australian, Qantas, Issimo, The Diplomat, Paris Voice, and Inside Film. She has also produced culture and travel stories for the ABC, SBS, and Screen Australia. Ruby’s books — The Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and The Architecture Lover’s Guide to Paris (White Owl Books) — are available in bookshops and to order online.
