Our 1-day itineraries should help you get started - and once you have the feel for it, you‘re certain to be back many times.
1. Shopping Itinerary
This route begins at the splendid Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, the pulse of French fashion. The district is home to classic designers such as Dior, Gautier, Versace, Hermes, Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin or Maz Azria.There are also trendy shops like the exclusive Colette, where you can buy limited luxury products.
Our next stop is the nearby Avenue des Champs-Elysées and the graceful buildings of adjacent Avenue Mountaigne.
These two avenues are fast becoming Paris’ hottest fashion junctures and luxury brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Swarovski and Louis Pion all have a presence here.
This area is also a major shopping spot for high-street chains like Zara, Sephora, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch if your wallet doesn‘t quite stretch to the high end fashion boutiques.
While some people believe these streets are more than enough to cater for every need, we recommend you to extend your shopping stroll to Avenue George V.
On this opulent avenue, you will find exquisite high fashion boutiques such as Armani Collezioni – frequently visited by Armani himself – and the more classic Balenciaga.
Last but not least, you can head to Boulevard Haussmann – close to the start of the route – to visit the main department stores of the city – Galeries Lafayette and Printemps – where you can find almost anything from designer clothes to high-tech gadgets.
2. Sightseeing Itinerary
Start at Île de la Cité, the small island in the river Seine where Parisian life began. Here you can admire Sainte-Chapelle and its stained glass windows and the iconic Notre Dame cathedral and its famous gargoyles.Cross the Pont de Notre Dame and walk up the Rue du Renard and Rue Beauborg to visit the innovative George Pompidou Centre.
Then walk down Boulevard de Sébastopol and head to the Louvre, where you can admire its glass and metal pyramids in their own right as well as its many artworks.
Cross Pont Royal to walk down to Les Invalides and the wonderful Musée d’Orsay. Afterwards cross the river once more, but this time walk along the impressive Pont Alexandre III, one of the most beautiful bridges of the city.
Take a moment to admire the Winston Churchill Statue before you walk straight on towards the Champs-Elysées. When you arrive to this impressive avenue, be sure to look behind you so you don’t miss the Luxor Obelisk.
If you walk towards it, you can reach the popular Place de la Concorde. However, if you walk in the opposite direction, you will arrive at L’Arc de Triomphe.
Take a good half hour to enjoy all the details and history of this colossal monument before you march down Avenue d’Iéna towards Jardins de Trocadéro.
Here, you can visit the palace or relax in its gardens before you cross the river for the last time to end this route at the French landmark par excellence: the Eiffel Tower.
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