Whenever I go to Europe, I like to fit in as much as possible. If I’m traveling across the world, I want to make the most of it and see it ALL! So, when I plan a trip abroad, I don’t usually stay in one spot.
With that being said, this is the 11 day itinerary of a trip to France I just went on, but this itinerary can be altered in pretty much any way you want. Want an extra day in Paris? Go for it!! Want to go up north to Belgium instead of south to the French Riviera? You can definitely make that work! You can pretty much make this trip anything you want it to be—just do your research!
Just a forewarning… this post is LONG, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible! Hope you enjoy 🙂
Day 1: Paris
Arrive in Paris, check in to your hotel, get your negative Covid test (if you don’t already have a French Health Pass/ Pass Sanitaire), and explore!
When it comes to flying from the US to Europe, I HIGHLY recommend taking a nighttime flight—make the flight as late as possible! In my experience, this significantly helps with jet lag because it makes it easier to sleep on the plane and you’ll be more aligned with the European time zones once you arrive. Another plus is that it’s one day less that you have to take off of work!
On this past trip we took to Paris, our connecting flight to Paris left Dallas around 5:30pm. It ended up working out fine, but a few years ago we took a flight overseas that didn’t leave until 9:30pm and I MUCH preferred that.
Once you arrive in Paris, you’ll have to go through customs, which will likely take awhile. Because of COVID, there are certain documents that you currently need to be able to get to France. Check out my blog post, Traveling to France from the US During Covid, for more information!
Plan on customs taking about an hour, and then allot another hour for getting from the airport to the city center (if you fly into CDG). You can take the metro straight from the airport to the city center, but we chose to Uber because we thought it would be too stressful to deal with all of our luggage on the metro.
We took an Uber straight to our hotel, the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel, which is located on the right bank, near the Opera. If you’ve read my previous travel blog posts, you’ll know that I try to stay in Marriott family hotels whenever possible because I am a Marriott Bonvoy member and like to rack up points that go toward free stays! Anyway, I wasn’t sure how I would like this hotel because it is one I booked kind of last minute since we weren’t sure whether we would be able to make the trip due to COVID. However, we were SO surprised!! We ended up loving this hotel. It was clean and modern, our room was cozy and not too small, and we had a distant view of the Eiffel tower from our room! The service at the hotel was great, too. Right before our trip, we had to evacuate from New Orleans due to Hurricane Ida. We rushed to pack for the France trip before we evacuated, and, in our rush, we were unable to locate our European outlet converters. When we arrived at the hotel, we asked the front desk where we could go buy a converter, they said don’t worry about it, and they gave us one (still in the packaging) for free! We were truly impressed. Another thing we were impressed with was the hotel location. The Opera Area is more sleepy and seems less touristy than some other areas in Paris, but it’s actually super close to a lot of prime locations (for example, its less than a mile from the Louvre).
With all that being said, there are A LOT of hotels in Paris (and a lot of rentals, too)! Like I said, I definitely recommend the Opera area, but if there’s another location that suits you more, go for it! There are so many wonderful areas in Paris.
Right after you check in to your accommodations, head to a pharmacy for a rapid COVID test if you haven’t yet received your French Health Pass (we went to Pharmacie de l’Opera on Rue Auber). You can apply for your French Health Pass in advance, but that doesn’t mean you’ll actually get it. We followed the guidelines and applied before our trip, but we never received the pass! That meant we had to get a negative COVID test every 72 hours to be able to do pretty much anything. There is more information on that in my blog post, Traveling to France from the US During COVID-19.
Once you have your negative test, you can go anywhere! Because you’ll likely be tired after your long travel day, I recommend spending the rest of the day just wandering around whatever area you’re in, getting acquainted with the city, and grabbing food at a cute cafe. There are so many idyllic cafes around the city— it isn’t hard to find one!
Day 2: Paris
Spend this day adjusting to the time difference and knocking at least one major thing off of your Paris “To-Do” list!
We spent the beginning of this day sleeping in and adjusting to the time difference. Once we woke up and got ready, we wandered around the Opera area some more, and headed to the Notre Dame area! Notre Dame isn’t currently open due to the fire that partially destroyed it a few years ago, but it’s still a sight to take in. So, we saw the church, walked along the Seine, looking at all the little shops lining the river, and strolled around the streets surrounding the church. We grabbed crepes at a little place near the church and then took the metro to the 7th Arrondissement (aka where the Eiffel Tower is)!!
We meandered around the Arrondissement for awhile, grabbed some coffee and pastries, and made our way to watch the sunset at the Eiffel Tower!
After watching the sunset, we headed to La Fontaine de Mars, a traditional French restaurant. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. In my opinion, this is a “Can’t Miss” in Paris! We got the escargot, duck confit, duck filet, and creme brûlée. It was all SO GOOD! Try to make a reservation in advance for this restaurant if you can. We didn’t, and we had to wait for around 30 minutes to be seated (but it was DEFINITELY worth it).
Once we left dinner, we walked back to the Eiffel Tower in time to watch it sparkle. The Eiffel Tower sparkles for the first 5 minutes of every hour from sunset to 1 am. This is a MUST SEE.
After relaxing by the Eiffel Tower for awhile, we started the trek back to our hotel. Paris at night is magical. We ended up walking part of the way and sprinting to make the last metro of the night. So my advice there is to be aware of the metro times!! The last one of the night is after midnight.
Day 3: French Riviera
Head to the French Riviera the next morning via high-speed train and explore.
We Ubered to the Gare de Lyon train station and took a high-speed train from Paris to Marseilles Saint Charles. It took around three and a half hours. Book the train ahead of time via Oui.sncf.
Once we arrived in Marseilles, we rented a car. We prefer to rent a car in Europe so we’re able to see everything possible, but if you don’t want to, you can easily take the train around the French Riviera and stay somewhere that’s more of a hub like Marseilles! We rented a car from Sixt. This is our second time using them in Europe, and, so far, we really like them!
Once we received our car rental, we drove two and a half hours to Menton, a tiny, colorful town on the Riviera nestled between Monaco and Italy. There are SO many beautiful towns on the Riviera—you can’t really go wrong with any. However, I had seen photos of Menton before and had been dreaming of visiting!
Once we arrived in Menton, we checked into our hotel, Princess et Richmond. Menton doesn’t really have big name hotels. Princess et Richmond is a small, quaint hotel right on the Mediterranean. It isn’t luxury by any means, but the rooms are modern, comfy, and cute and have balconies with GREAT views of the water. I spent a lot of time trying to pick a hotel in Menton, and I ended up being super pleased with my choice.
After checking in, we spent the rest of the day walking around, just exploring the town. We didn’t really have any agenda. Little cafes line the street against the Mediterranean, and we spent a lot of time just relaxing, sitting at an umbrella-covered table overlooking the sea, enjoying cocktails. Another great option would be to have a picnic on the beach!! The beach is mostly pebbles, so you wouldn’t have to worry about sand getting everywhere.
Later that night, we headed to dinner. Online, a lot of people recommended the restaurant “Little Italy”. Like I said previously, Menton is right by the Italian border (it was part of Italy at one point), so there is a lot of Italian influence throughout the town—including the food! Little Italy had amazinggggg food, and I definitely recommend it if you’re in Menton. We got the tomato basil pasta, as well as the seafood pasta. Both were delicious!
Day 4: French Riviera
Spend this day exploring the French Riviera.
After enjoying some time on our balcony overlooking the sea this morning, we headed to Monte-Carlo for lunch (a 20-30 minute drive). Monte-Carlo was GORGEOUS!! I highly recommend visiting if you are able! We walked around for awhile before going to Cafe de Paris Monte-Carlo for lunch. We spent awhile here, and this is a PRIME location for people watching! It is right next to the Casino de Monte-Carlo. Our negative COVID test from France worked to get into the restaurant.
After lunch, we headed back to Menton and spent the rest of the day walking around the old town and walking along the beach.
For dinner, we headed to Italy! The Italian border is right next to Menton, so it took no time at all to cross the border. We went to the town of Ventimiglia for dinner and had dinner at Marina San Giuseppe, a restaurant on the Mediterranean. By the time we got there, it was dark, but we sat on the balcony, and hearing the waves on the beach was super peaceful.
Day 5: Driving to Champagne Part 1
Start heading to your next destination.
On Day 5, we headed to our next destination—the Champagne region, right outside of Reims. However, we wanted to drive to Champagne so we could have the opportunity to see more of France. The drive from Menton to Reims is almost nine hours (it’s less if you stay closer to Marseilles). We knew we didn’t want to make a nine-hour drive in one day, so we decided to break it up into two days and spend one night elsewhere. If you don’t rent a car, you can take the train to Reims!
We ended up staying in Bagnols, a tiny town in the Beaujolais area of France, at the Chateau de Bagnols, a 13th century castle. I can say with 100% certainty that this is the most incredible property I’ve ever been to. The castle itself is so amazing, full of history, and honestly just stunning. The castle overlooks sprawling hills and the most beautiful grounds and scenery. The restaurant on location was delicious, and we loved having drinks on the terrace. The hotel also has a spa and a pool. We didn’t have enough time to use the spa, but we walked around it, and it is so relaxing and beautiful. There is an indoor pool in the spa and an outdoor pool as well. One thing to note is that this hotel is only open during spring and summer! We only stayed one night but left wishing we would’ve stayed there for a week. 10/10 recommend Chateau de Bagnols!
Day 6: Driving to Champagne Part 2
Head to Champagne and go on a champagne tasting!
The next day, we headed to the Champagne area, to a tiny village outside of Reims called Sacy. We stayed at the Chateau de Sacy, a large, stunning property surrounded by local vineyards. Each room at the Chateau has a different look and a different vibe, and you can request which one you want! We stayed in the Marie Antoinette room, which was gorgeous and had stunning views overlooking the vineyard. I definitely recommend this room! Additionally, everyone at the Chateau was super accommodating. The concierge at the Chateau booked all of our champagne tours and tastings for us. And, at this point in our trip, we desperately needed to do laundry, so we asked the front desk if they had a laundry service there or if they knew of somewhere that we could wash our clothes. They offered to wash our clothes for us. We weren’t sure how much it would be, but we were desperate, said yes, and it ended up being free—such a pleasant surprise!
The day we arrived in Champagne, we had a local champagne tasting scheduled, but it took longer than we expected to get to Sacy, so we missed the tasting. We called the Chateau ahead of time to let them know we wouldn’t make it, and they graciously rescheduled us for the next day. With that being said, though, I definitely recommend doing a tour or a tasting on this day!
That night, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant and drinks on the terrace. The views and the sunset from the terrace were so breathtaking.
Day 7: Champagne
Spend this day touring Champagne houses and going to tastings!
Like I said previously, Chateau de Sacy booked all our tastings/ tours for us. However, you can easily book them online, too!! Because we were only going to be there for a day and a half, the Chateau recommended that we do one tour of a big champagne house in Reims and two tastings at small, local champagne houses in Sacy. We chose Veuve Clicquot for our big tour, but there are tons of other options in Reims (like Taittinger, Ruinart, and Lanson). When we toured Veuve Clicquot, we were taken through the champagne caves and got a little history lesson! It was super interesting. At the end of our tour, we were able to taste one champagne. This tour was 55 euros each.
The two local houses we did tastings at were Damien-Buffet and Mobillion! If I am being totally honest, I preferred these tastings over the tasting at Veuve. Because they are small houses, the tastings at Damien-Buffet and Mobillion are private, one-on-one tastings. You get a lot more information and attention this way, and it’s easy to ask questions!! Also, you get to try a wide variety of champagnes from each house, and the tastings are free!
If you want to take some bottles of champagne home with you, one piece of advice I have is to buy an extra, cheap suitcase at a souvenir shop in Paris to check on the way back to the US!! We contemplated checking an empty suitcase on the way from the US to Paris so we wouldn’t have to buy one, but we ended up not doing that and actually saved money!! Checking a bag (even if it’s empty) is around $75. We were able to buy a decently-sized, hard shell suitcase in Paris for 30 euros. We then filled that bag with the champagne we bought in Reims and Sacy and checked it on the way back home! If you plan on doing this, tell the people that you’re buying the champagne from that you will be bringing it back home in your suitcase, and they’ll make sure they pack it up really well.
Day 8: Versailles & Paris
Leave the Champagne area and head to Versailles before making your way back to Paris and dropping off your rent-a-car!
Because we had a rental car and were returning it once we arrived back in Paris for the last leg of our trip, we decided to drive straight to Versailles after leaving Sacy. The drive from Sacy to Versailles only takes around an hour and a half (but factor in a bit more for traffic)! We bought tickets to the Palace of Versailles ahead of time—we got the “Passport” so we would also be able to access the gardens and some other areas! Here is the website where you can buy tickets.
Something else to note— if you don’t rent a car, the train from Paris to Versailles is only about an hour!
We spent awhile walking through the Palace and then spent some time in the gardens. I would say to leave at least half a day (if not a full one) in Versailles if you want to have time to walk through it all!!
After we left Versailles, we headed back to Paris. Rick dropped me off at our hotel so I could check us in while he returned our car rental. For this part of our stay in Paris, we stayed in The Westin Paris Vendome, which is located right across from the Tuileries Garden, a block or two away from the Vendome, and only a few blocks from the Louvre. This area is SUPER convenient and centrally located. With that being said though, it is also more crowded, touristy, and honestly a bit dirtier than the Opera area where we had previously stayed. AND—the Westin upgraded us to a room with an Eiffel Tower view, which was wonderful!! However, when I compare The Westin Paris Vendome to the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel, I think the Marriott Opera was overall cleaner, cozier, and more modern. If I was redoing my trip, would I stay in The Westin Paris Vendome again? Yes! For our first trip to Paris, this location truly was so convenient for everything we wanted to see and do. It was in the hustle and bustle! However, next time we go to Paris, I think I will pick a different location and a different hotel. Like I said before, the Opera area really is super close to the Vendome and just feels more home-y.
Once we were settled into The Westin Paris Vendome, it was already starting to get dark, so we set out to explore the area. We wandered around the area, found a cute cafe to get dinner at, and walked to the Louvre so we could see it at night!
Day 9: Paris
Go to the Louvre, go to Angelina for hot chocolate and Ladurée for macarons, and take a pedi-cab to Champs-Élysées for exploring and shopping!
Once we woke up, we headed straight to the Louvre! We bought tickets ahead of time here, and the wait was much, much less than it would have been than if we hadn’t bought tickets. Once we got in, we went straight to see the Mona Lisa!! We did wait in line for around 30 minutes (but I’m sure during normal times the line is much longer). Once we saw the Mona Lisa up close, we spent the next few hours wondering around the Louvre. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the Louvre is SO much bigger than I thought! If you don’t want to rush through, make sure to allocate a few hours to walking around. And here’s a tip—eat breakfast before you go! Rick and I aren’t big breakfast people, so we didn’t eat beforehand, and a few hours in, I felt SO weak and had to get something from one of the cafes in the Louvre. So, the good news is that there are quite a few places to grab a bite to eat in the Louvre, but, next time, I’ll be eating first!
P.S. Did you know that the lady depicted in the Mona Lisa’s name wasn’t Mona?! “Mona” is an abbreviation for “Madonna”, i.e. similar to ma’am or madame. So her name was actually Lisa! I’m sure this is common knowledge for a lot of people, but it was news to me lol.
After we went to the Louvre, we headed to Angelina for tea time! I had heard such amazing things about the hot chocolate from Angelina, and I knew we needed to try it. Luckily, the original Angelina on Rue de Rivoli is located in between the Louvre and the Westin! We got the tea service (only available on weekends), which came with tea sandwiches, pastries, and your choice of tea, coffee, or the famous hot chocolate L’Africain. I opted for the tea, while Rick got the hot chocolate (with the understanding that I would also be having some lol). The hot chocolate is SUPER rich, but delicious. I wouldn’t have been able to drink more than a few sips, but Rick drank the whole pot and was in love lol. It’s definitely a must-try, and we ended up bringing some hot chocolate mix home with us!!
Next, we walked to the Place de la Concorde (where King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded) and took a pedi-cab from there to the Champs-Élysées! Neither of us had ever taken a pedi-cab before, but we couldn’t find the metro stop (lol), saw the pedi-cabs, and thought “why not?!” We actually ended up super glad that we took one! It was a great way to see some parts of Paris that we hadn’t yet seen (like the Arc de Triomphe!), the driver was knowledgable and informative, and it didn’t cost too much. (If you want to go inside the Arc, now would be a great time! Here is the link where you can get tickets.
After our driver dropped us off, we walked around taking in the sights of the Champs-Élysées and did some shopping! Once we were hungry, we headed to the Ladurée on the Champs-Élysées. This Ladurée location has both indoor and outdoor seating and is SUPER cute!!! However, I recommend just going inside quickly to get some macarons and leaving. We chose to sit outside to get food service… and the service was honestly awful. We ended up just getting dessert and leaving, and we were still there for over an hour and a half. After leaving, we walked a few blocks away and went to L’Alsace for dinner, which was delicious! If you go to L’Alsace, get the French onion soup- SO GOOD!
Day 10: Paris
Take a walk in the Tuileries Garden, head to the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area in the 6th arrondissement and spend the day there, then walk to the 7th arrondissement and go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
This was supposed to be our last day in Paris, so we wanted to spend it well. We walked around the Tuileries and headed to Saint-Germain-des-Prés for lunch at Café de Flore. This is a well-known spot, so we expected to wait awhile, but were surprisingly seated outside pretty quickly. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it is such a touristy spot, but it was DELICIOUS!! I got beef tartare, and it was the best tartare I had while in France (and I got it quite a few times lol).
After leaving Café de Flore, we spent the rest of the day walking around the area and the Seine and eventually made our way to the Eiffel Tower. We took some photos (lol). If you’re interested, a good spot for pictures with the Eiffel Tower is the corner of Rue de l’Université and Avenue de la Bourdonnais.
We ended up taking the elevator up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We bought tickets when we got there, but you can buy them ahead of time here. The views were INSANE—we could see all of Paris!!! Usually they have a restaurant and some cafes open on the 2nd floor, but due to COVID I think only one was open.
Then, we went to dinner close-by, bought a bottle of wine from a small grocer, and went to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We drank our wine under the Eiffel Tower while it twinkled, and it was truly magnificent.
Day 11: Paris
Go to Sacré Coeur and the Montmartre and then head to Le Marais and Robert et Louis for dinner.
We were supposed to be leaving this day, but our flight ended up being canceled and rescheduled to the next day (due to a hurricane). It was a blessing in disguise because we were able to explore two parts of Paris that we had wanted to see but ran out of time to do so.
We picked up baguette sandwiches for lunch from Paul (yum!) and ate them in the park. Then, we hopped on some electric scooters and scooted on up to Sacré Coeur. The views from Sacré Coeur were amazing, the church was beautiful, and the area was vibrant. I definitely recommend spending some time visiting this area, and I’m glad we were able to do so!
We then scooted down to Le Marais and spent the rest of the day exploring the area. It was raining, so we hopped into some cafes for shelter (and cocktails), and ended the night with dinner at Robert et Louis. 10/10 recommend this restaurant, regardless of how long you’re in Paris. This restaurant has traditional French food in the cutest setting, with the chefs cooking the food on a giant fireplace in the restaurant. I had duck, and Rick had lamb, and both were amazing. This was one of our favorite meals of our whole trip.
The next day, fly back home. Buy some macarons to eat on the plane. That’ll at least help a little with the sadness lol.
Some final notes:
Remember, you need a Pass Sanitaire to do pretty much anything touristy in France. A paper copy or digital copy should be fine.
Book all museum tickets in advance! It saves time and some museums are requiring that you book a time slot due to COVID.
You’ll see Lime and Tier scooters all over Paris. If you are able and feel comfortable, use them!!! All you need to do is download the app and scan the QR code on the scooter. They are affordable, fun, and a great way to see Paris. Be careful and be safe!
Always order escargot!! Escargot is almost always on the menu. Before this trip, I don’t think I had ever tried it, but it was so good and it was so fun to see how different restaurants prepared it.
Just something else to note— I highly recommend going to France in September. The weather is PERFECT!
If you made it this far, I hope this was helpful!! If you have any questions about our itinerary, feel free to comment below or DM me on Instagram! If you want some more information on traveling to France from the US during COVID, check out this blog post!
XX, Danielle
