Can You See Paris in 24 Hours?

Can You Get Everything You Want Out of Paris in Just One Day?

Of course not. That’s a ridiculous question. However, sometimes circumstances arise where you’re only given a precious few hours to explore a particular city or location. For me, this was Paris, and while I fully intend to return someday and dive much deeper into all the awesome sights, sounds, and foods, my trip this time only allowed me to see the city for about 24 hours.

Was it worth it to stop in Paris for just one day? I can absolutely positively say yes, and I’m going to share with you why I was only in Paris for a single day, as well as my thought process for seeing as much as I could without going bananas during my visit. Paris is a city that you could live in for years and not experience everything, but this isn’t surprising, right?

I mean, think about it for a second. Do people who live in large cities really ever see absolutely everything, even though they live there every day? I live in Los Angeles, but I’d be hard-pressed to say I’ve seen and experienced everything despite having lived here for nearly 25 years. There’s just so much to see when you’re in a huge city, and Paris is no different.

But that doesn’t mean you actually have to move to Paris to appreciate it. Although I would. I would definitely move to Paris. I’ve only been there for a single day, and I can already confidently say that I’d sell everything I owned for a little studio somewhere. But until that day comes, let me share with you what I did for a single day in Paris and why I think any time spent in the city is worth it, whether you have one day or ten.

(note: some of the links here are to websites with which I am an affiliate, and your purchases help fund my website!)

Should You Skip the Iconic Sights and See the Hidden Gems of Paris?

You might assume you should just book one Paris tour after the other to see as many of them as possible. And while you might feel up to the challenge of walking around Paris nonstop for an entire day, I’d advise against that strategy. My timeline saw us arrive around 11 AM and reach our hotel at about 1 PM. We stayed one night at the hotel and then departed the next day for the airport at about 4 PM.

So, technically, I was in Paris for a little more than a calendar day, but realistically, I had about 24 hours to set tours up, find places to eat, and experience the city. I ended up booking two Paris tours, each of which was designed to show me a different part of the city, as well as ensure I got to see a lot of the iconic sights of Paris by using the Paris metro system.

I know there are some who would suggest that you don’t need to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, but let’s be serious. If you’ve only got one day in the city, dedicate some time to seeing those iconic sights. If I was visiting Los Angeles for a single day, would I skip seeing the Hollywood Sign because it’s always full of tourists?

Of course not. Just because everybody wants to see the Empire State Building, the Seattle Space Needle, and the Alamo, does that mean you should skip those sights and opt for lesser-known sights? Well, let me tell you a secret: even if you only have one day in Paris, you can do BOTH and still have time to relax on the sidewalk in front of a cafe. Yes, you can explore the little streets of Paris and see the Eiffel Tower, too.

What Was My Itinerary for a Single Day in Paris?

I’m going to give you a step-by-step rundown of how I spent my day in Paris. My traveling partner had already been to Paris, so it was mostly my decision on where we’d visit, and it was my decision to stick that one day into our overall itinerary. Our main trip was to Morocco, but all the flights had us go through Paris. After researching tickets and the best international flights to Paris, I realized it would be really easy to arrive in Paris one day and leave the next on a plane to Marrakech.

So, we arrived on a United flight on Saturday morning and then took a taxi to the hotel I booked for a single night. We arrived a few hours before check-in, though, so the hotel I found held our luggage until we could officially check in. After dropping our luggage off at our hotel, which was in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris (the hilly neighborhood on the northern side of the city with all the cafes), we wandered out to find a place to eat.

After lunch, we had our first tour, one that took us around Paris via the metro to see many of the famous locations. After spending just a few hours going back and forth on the Paris metro, I can confidently say it’s the only way to get around in Paris unless you’re on a bicycle. As long as you’re fully ambulatory (unfortunately, Paris isn’t the friendliest city when it comes to physical limitations), taking the metro to all the different neighborhoods of Paris is super duper easy.

Our tour took us to see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc du Triomphe, the Moulin Rouge theater, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. Now, we didn’t tour inside any of those locations, but with my limited time in the city, I knew I couldn’t really set aside an entire afternoon to stroll through the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa. I was very satisfied with the experience though. I saw some amazing sights in just a few hours.

That evening, we went out for dinner and then came back to the hotel to sleep. In the morning, we had a small breakfast at the hotel and then went on a bicycle tour of Paris through the southwestern side of the city. Virtually everything we saw on that tour wasn’t something we had already seen the day before (except for Notre Dame – we were in the vicinity of the church on both days).

(that bicycle tour I linked above is the actual tour we took – I HIGHLY recommend that tour! It was so good!)

After the bicycle tour, we returned to Montmartre to eat lunch, and then we returned to our hotel to pick up our luggage and get a taxi to the airport. We left Paris on an Air France flight around 7 PM. So, in all, we were in Paris (not counting the time we were at the airport) for about 28 hours. On that one day, we ate in three restaurants, saw all the amazing and biggest tourist attractions, and rode bicycles like true Parisians.

Where to Stay in Paris for One Day

So, my advice on where to stay in Paris is that you should choose an area that’s close to at least one of the tours you book, assuming you hire someone to take you around the city to show you the sights. Yes, you can certainly book a tour that focuses on one particular tourist attraction, but I would try to make sure your hotel is in the neighborhood or within walking distance of the starting point of one of your tours.

If you’re confident that you can ride the Paris metro without instruction, this requirement isn’t as important; however, staying close to something you want to experience can help with timing. For example, our metro tour of Paris started at a cafe in Montmartre, so it took us less than 10 minutes to reach our meeting spot from our hotel.

For the second day’s adventure, we had to get to the other side of Paris, but since we’d learned how to use the metro (there is a mild learning curve) on Saturday, we were able to get to that second tour’s starting point within minutes on Sunday. I found staying in Montmartre was a great choice because the neighborhood is iconic in and of itself, but there isn’t a neighborhood in the city where you can’t find a hotel or rental of some sort.

When planning my international itineraries, I usually try to map out the travel and tours first, and then I choose a place to stay. Usually, I try to pick a place where I can walk to food and reach my tours on foot, but I’m not averse to taking public transport or a taxi to my starting points. Fortunately, there are places to stay all over Paris, so even if you’re not touring the neighborhood where you’re staying, you can still reach anywhere pretty easily, especially if you venture onto the metro.

(Just for clarification – the Paris metro system is a train system in Paris that runs above and below ground! It’s super fast and convenient, not like a bus that sits in traffic)

Why on Earth Would You Only Stay in Paris for One Day?

I stayed in Paris for just a single day because that’s all I could fit into the time I had available to me. We left Los Angeles on a Friday and were in Marrakech by late Sunday night. My original plan was to leave Los Angeles on Saturday and arrive in Marrakech by Sunday, but when I found out virtually all of my flight options went through Paris, I just decided to YOLO my itinerary and stop in Paris for a day.

Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely. If you’re headed somewhere that’s not Paris, but your flights will take you through the city, I would definitely look into arranging a day for a stop. Our day in Paris was at the very start of our journey, and it was sublime to stroll around, use the metro, and cycle through the city. I’d always wanted to visit, and experiencing Paris for even a single day was absolutely worth it.

We stayed in a beautiful Paris hotel that did cost a little more than I was used to paying, but I think you could probably set this visit up pretty affordably if you were able to find a small short term rental. Technically, you could even set up a flight to arrive in Paris at the crack of dawn (there were flights from the United States that would get us in at 6:30 or 7:00 AM) and just spend the day there before departing on an evening flight.

However, I would recommend spending at least one night in the city, if only to ensure that you get to stroll around a bit and experience some French food without having to race around from your flights at the airport to the city and back to the airport in one day. Yes, my 28 hours wasn’t exactly a lifetime, but I felt like I was able to see quite a lot and experience so much inside of that single day.

Need help planning your time in Paris? Let me help with an itinerary or some suggestions on your travel options!

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