Paris Travel Guide for First Timers — What to See, Skip and Spend in 2026

Paris has been the world's most visited city for decades — and for good reason. It is extraordinary, over-photographed, occasionally overwhelming, sometimes frustrating on the surface and genuinely magnificent once you stop trying to see everything on a list and start actually living in it for a few days. The Eiffel Tower is more beautiful in person than any photograph shows. The food really is as good as people say. And the museum collections — the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Rodin garden — are among the greatest in human history.

This guide is for first-time visitors who want to do Paris properly — not rush the highlights, not overpay for tourist traps, not spend three days in queues. Here is exactly what to do, what to skip, what to eat and how to move through the city the way Parisians do.

Paris at a Glance

🗼 The Eiffel Tower — How to Actually See It

The Eiffel Tower is worth seeing from every distance and angle — from the Trocadéro across the Seine (the classic view), from the Champ de Mars below, from the top (book the summit in advance at toureiffel.paris — queues without a booking are 2+ hours). The light show at night (every hour on the hour after dark, 5 minutes of sparkling lights) is free from any viewpoint on the bank. The best free Eiffel Tower views: Pont de Bir-Hakeim (the bridge with the pillars — where Inception was filmed), the rooftop bar at the Shangri-La hotel and the steps of Sacré-Cœur from Montmartre with the tower on the horizon.

🖼️ The Louvre — How to Do It Without Dying

The Louvre is the world's largest art museum — 73,000 works across 35,000 square metres. Attempting to "see the Louvre" is impossible in a single visit. The correct approach is to pick three things you genuinely want to see and spend real time with them. The Mona Lisa (smaller than expected, behind glass, in a room of people trying to photograph it — give it 5 minutes and move on), the Venus de Milo (one of the world's great sculptures — give it 20 minutes), the Winged Victory of Samothrace (at the top of a staircase, genuinely magnificent). Buy tickets at louvre.fr in advance — no queue, enters directly. Go on a Wednesday or Friday evening (open until 21:45) when day-trippers have left. Budget 2.5–3 hours maximum on your first visit.

🎨 The Musée d'Orsay — The Unmissable Alternative

The Musée d'Orsay is housed in a converted railway station on the Left Bank — the world's greatest collection of Impressionist art, including Monet's Water Lilies series, Van Gogh's Self-Portrait and Starry Night (Rhône), Renoir, Degas, Cézanne, Gauguin. It is smaller than the Louvre, more manageable and the quality is extraordinary throughout rather than concentrated in a few highlights. Book at musee-orsay.fr in advance. The clock rooms at the top of the building — looking across the Seine through the old station clock face — are one of Paris's great views.

🥐 What to Eat in Paris — The Actual Guide

Morning

• Croissant from a boulangerie — specifically one that is just out of the oven (ask "ils sont frais?" — "are they fresh?"). A good croissant in Paris is deeply, memorably better than anything sold as a croissant outside France
• Café au lait at a zinc bar — stand at the bar, pay the bar price (significantly cheaper than sitting), drink it quickly the way Parisians do
• Pain au chocolat — not a croissant with chocolate inside but a fundamentally different pastry. Try both. Choose a side

Lunch and Dinner

• Steak frites — the quintessential French brasserie dish: a well-cooked steak, thin crispy frites, béarnaise sauce. Le Relais de l'Entrecôte (various locations, no reservations — queue) serves nothing else and is excellent
• Onion soup (soupe à l'oignon) — slow-cooked caramelised onions, beef broth, crouton, gruyère — at any traditional brasserie
• Duck confit (confit de canard) — slow-cooked duck leg, crispy skin, served with lentils or potatoes. One of the great dishes of French cuisine
• Crêpes at a street stall — Montmartre and Marais street crêpes — butter and sugar, ham and cheese, Nutella and banana
• Oysters at a street market — Rue Montorgueil and the covered markets have fresh oysters shucked to order for €1–2 each

Suggested Paris Itinerary

Paris Cost Guide 2026

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