How to Spend 2 Days in Paris, France: Tips for Visiting in Spring

For my Europe trip in March, I’ve already covered Germany and Amsterdam with complete travel guides to both places so far on the blog. My last destination in Europe? Paris, France. 

My sister and I took the train (Eurostar) from Amsterdam to Paris. The entire trip was roughly 3 hours. We sat comfortably on the train and took the time to get some much-needed sleep! The train had Wi-Fi and snacks for us to purchase for the duration of our trip.

I was so eager to get to Paris! I’ve dreamed about visiting this city for years. I’ve watched it on TV, but to see the city come to life from my own eyes was going to be such an exciting adventure. My sister and I exited our train at the Central Station and headed over to our Airbnb apartment.

Where to Stay

For my sister and I, we chose to stay in an apartment instead of a hostel for the final leg of our European vacation. Our Airbnb was close to the main Metro lines which made finding it a breeze as soon as we entered the bustling city streets.

I was OVERJOYED to walk inside our nice Airbnb apartment to find a huge bathroom, complete kitchen, TV, and a comfy queen-sized bed. It made a difference to have such a wide-open space for us to hang out in before we trekked over to the Eiffel Tower for the evening! My sister and I completely felt right at home inside this Airbnb studio apartment along Grenelle street.

The area of Paris we stayed in is referred to as the 15th Arrondissement. We lucked out with our location. This southwestern arrondissement has shops, restaurants, markets, and hotels. This location made things easy for us to get to and from the major attractions within the city, too.

What to Do

If you only have one or two days to explore Paris, I would take advantage of some of the things I outline in this post. My sister and I had a night and a full day to take in the sights and I do wish to come back to see even more!

For our night exploration, the two of us checked into our lovely Airbnb and headed straight down to the Eiffel Tower. Depending on where your accommodations are located, you can either hop on the metro or walk to it. Luckily, it was an easy 15-minute walk for us.

Sweater | Jeans | Beret 

Trenchcoat | Sweater 

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Before we embarked on our Eiffel Tower visit, we stopped by Pizza Amalfi for a Hawaiian pan pizza to split. This restaurant was yummy and the waitstaff spoke English! Our meals took no time to appear and we quickly finished the entire pizza between the two of us.

Our night view of the Eiffel Tower was breathtaking! At first, we couldn’t locate the Eiffel Tower, but then upon turning around we finally saw this huge monument in all of its sparkling glory. This iconic monument truly is something you need to experience for yourself. We walked around the tower for an hour before heading back to our Airbnb to recharge for our early wake-up call to embark on another free walking tour of Paris.

Free Walking Tour

If you’ve read my other travel guides on Munich and Amsterdam then you can probably assume we took yet another FREE walking tour while in Paris. Well, you guessed correctly!

As tourists visiting a foreign land, these walking tours simply get you around the city on foot in a way that makes sense. Our tour guide for Paris was a charming and lively young British man who took us all throughout the best city highlights. He loves living in Paris so it was easy for him to navigate the tour group in and out of the magical Paris streets.

I feel like walking tours are the way to go in Europe, especially if it’s your first time visiting. I would be completely lost and frazzled without the guidance of someone who lives in the city and understands the best cultural attractions to point out along the way. You can also pay for exclusive sightseeing boat tours and chocolate pastry tours (yum) if those interest you, too.

The Louvre Museum

Museum lovers rejoice! The Louvre contains several important masterpieces (like the Mona Lisa) inside its walls. The eight collections available to visit inside The Louvre are open to view every day of the week except on Tuesdays. Don’t even try to wake up and visit on a Tuesday, folks! It will be 100% closed.

The Louvre recently underwent a major revamp that has it looking even more historic and beautiful from the outside. You should buy your tickets in advance as a tip! Unfortunately, the two of us did not have the opportunity to explore the museum from the inside.

Luckily, our walking tour ended up taking us near the Louvre Pyramid for a quick lesson about the museum’s history from our tour guide. I would recommend visiting the museum on one of your 2 days in Paris. The museum can honestly take up a HUGE chunk of your time, so choose your attractions wisely. It comes down to personal preferences. If you are a museum buff, it would be smart to buy tickets to the Louvre in advance and spend most of your day inside visiting the eight departments. However, museums are not for everyone!

Climb the Eiffel Tower

Obviously, one of the major attractions to witness in Paris is the Eiffel Tower. My sister and I booked our tickets to climb up this ginormous wrought-iron lattice tower in advance because we know how popular the Eiffel Tower is. I mean, millions of people flock to Paris JUST to catch a glimpse of this towering landmark!

Do your research and book your own tickets prior to standing in line to go up the tower. We stood in line at our estimated time to visit and waited for approximately an hour to get onto the elevator up the tower. The tower has a few levels to explore once you ride the first elevator up. You can choose to buy a ticket and remain on the second floor or you can purchase a ticket that includes the summit.

I am personally scared of heights (wah), but I still sucked it up and went ALL THE WAY up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. What an experience that was! I basically knew this would be a once in a lifetime type of opportunity, to climb up the tower with my sister next to me, so I braved my fear and conquered it.

As soon as we left the summit, we rode the elevator back down to the second level where I picked up a hot chocolate and light lunch. Need a little Parisian dessert after conquering your own fear of heights? Visit the macaroon bar for a sweet and flavorful snack!

Arc de Triomphe

Another iconic spot you must see while in the city of love is the Arc de Triomphe. Warning: there is a SH*T ton of traffic when you attempt to walk up to this monument. Be careful crossing all of the roads, are drivers are notorious for buzzing through this large traffic circle. If you want to capture the best shots, it’s ideal to wake up super early before sunrise!

However, my sister and I casually walked to this structure in the late afternoon, during prime time for tourists. We were able to hang out for 15 minutes, take some cool shots in front of the Arc, and then we headed out to grab some macaroons.

When you find yourself walking along the Champ-Elysees, pay close attention to the cars zipping by to get your perfect shot in front of the structure. This road is a perfectly straight line that takes you from the Louvre down to the Arc.

This is one of the most famous streets in all of Paris which also makes it extremely crowded. When the sun begins to set, you’ll want to see all of Paris from the Arc. Spend some time near this monument before heading out to grab dinner at the end of your day.

Notre Dame

*I am writing this after the major fire broke out at Notre Dame* Wow. I can’t even believe how lucky I was to see the huge cathedral before the fire broke out.

The cathedral is temporarily closed because of the massive fire on April 15th. Unfortunately, the blaze rolled through this 850-year-old cathedral and destroyed this sacred place in a matter of minutes. I am so thankful to have witnessed Notre Dame before the fire happened the following month. 

This Gothic masterpiece would be on any Paris must-see list, and even after the fire, I believe one should stop by and take the space where this cathedral once stood (and parts of it still stand today).

What to Eat

“Let them eat cake!” – Marie Antoinette famously *might* have once said. Well, I say let them eat macaroons. Are you ready to spend way too much money on a bunch of tiny round and creamy cakes? Yes, yes you are.

When in France, stop by the infamous macaroon shop Ladurée for a tasty treat. Maybe have your boyfriend or husband or significant other pay for this meal, eh? Ladurée has Parisian tea rooms you can lounge at for the afternoon or a stand-alone bar where you can wait your turn to order the flavors of your choice. My sister and I ended up picking three tiny macaroons each just because!

Crepes are also a dish popularized by the French.

On our walking tour, we learned that crepes are a traditional French treat. These thin pancakes can be found on every street corner in the city. Late at night my sister and I treated ourselves to fruit and Nutella filled dessert crepe.

We also met up with my friend fellow Tampa area blogger, Ayana Lage and her husband Vagner while in Paris! They documented their trip to Paris over on Instagram.

The two of them were visiting London and Paris and our schedules coincided for one night. We chose to meet up for dessert at a local creperie. The four of us dined at 142 Creperie Contemporaine. We all thoroughly enjoyed our crepes inside this local restaurant. 

This completes my travel guide for Paris, France. 

I hope these tips for visiting the gorgeous city in the Spring are helpful for you if you plan on traveling overseas next year! 

Have you visited Paris before? Let me know in the comments about how your trip went and what attractions you saw/would recommend if I left anything out.