Multi-city itinerary · first-timers
Three days along the Seine, a 3-hour-20-minute Eurostar to Amsterdam Centraal, then three days of canals, the Jordaan and the museum quarter. Book the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Anne Frank House before you fly. Arrive at Gare du Nord 20 minutes before departure.
3 Paris · 3 Amsterdam · trains and tickets checked September 2026
The trip at a glance
Open a day for the stops, the walk and the ticket that belongs to it. Each city day has a full map on its own page.
Day 1 · Paris
Begin at Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité, cross the Pont Neuf for lunch, then spend the afternoon in the Louvre before walking through the Tuileries to Place de la Concorde.
Morning
The Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité reopened in December 2024 after the 2019 fire, with a rebuilt spire and freshly cleaned stone. Look at the three carved portals of the west front before you go in.
Built in the 1240s for Louis IX to hold relics of the Passion, its upper chapel is walled almost entirely with stained glass, much of it from the 13th century. It stands inside the Palais de Justice, so every visit starts with a security check.
Despite its name, the 'New Bridge' is the oldest standing bridge across the Seine in Paris, finished in 1607. It crosses the western tip of the Île de la Cité, where steps lead down to the Square du Vert-Galant at the water's edge.
Midday
Afternoon
A royal palace turned into the world's most visited museum, home to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Pick two or three wings instead of trying to see everything; the galleries hold tens of thousands of works.
André Le Nôtre redesigned this formal garden in the 17th century, and it still runs in a straight line from the Louvre to Place de la Concorde, with ponds, statues and green metal chairs. The Musée de l'Orangerie, home to Monet's Water Lilies, sits at its far end.
The largest square in Paris, where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were guillotined during the Revolution. At its centre stands the Luxor Obelisk, more than 3,000 years old, and the view runs up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe.
Evening
Louvre timed slot. Closed Tuesdays — swap with day 2 if you land on one. Sainte-Chapelle is a timed ticket; Notre-Dame is free with a time slot.
Day 2 · Paris
Impressionists at the Musée d'Orsay in the morning and Napoleon's tomb at the Invalides, then the Eiffel Tower, the classic view from the Trocadéro and sunset from the Arc de Triomphe.
Morning
A Beaux-Arts railway station built for the 1900 World's Fair now holds the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, from Monet and Renoir to Van Gogh. Start on the top floor, where you can look out over the Seine through the giant station clock.
Louis XIV built this complex as a home for wounded soldiers. It now houses the Army Museum, and under its golden dome lies the tomb of Napoleon.
Midday
Afternoon
Built by Gustave Eiffel's company for the 1889 World's Fair and meant to stand for only 20 years, it became the symbol of Paris. Lifts and stairs go up to the second floor, and a separate lift continues to the summit.
Across the river from the tower, the terrace between the curved wings of the Palais de Chaillot, built for the 1937 exhibition, gives the classic head-on view of the Eiffel Tower. The Trocadéro gardens and fountains step down from it toward the Seine.
Napoleon ordered the arch in 1806 to honour his armies; beneath it lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the flame is rekindled every evening. Reach it through the underground passage rather than across the traffic circle, then climb to the roof for the view down twelve avenues.
Evening
The avenue runs almost two kilometres from the Arc de Triomphe down to Place de la Concorde, lined with flagship stores, cinemas and cafés. Walk its upper stretch at dusk, when the lights come on all the way down.
Eiffel Tower timed ticket on the official site. Musée d'Orsay is closed on Mondays.
Day 3 · Paris
Climb to Sacré-Cœur while the hill is still quiet, walk down to the Palais Garnier and the Palais-Royal gardens, then ride the metro east and end the day in the Marais.
Morning
The white basilica at the top of Montmartre was completed in 1914 and consecrated in 1919. The steps in front of it, or the funicular beside them, give one of the widest views across Paris.
The little square behind the basilica has been Montmartre's artists' corner since painters such as Picasso and Utrillo lived on the hill. Portrait painters still set up their easels under the trees.
Midday
Afternoon
Charles Garnier's opera house opened in 1875, a showpiece of gilded foyers and a grand marble staircase. The ceiling of its auditorium was painted by Marc Chagall in 1964.
Built for Cardinal Richelieu, the palace now houses France's Council of State and the Ministry of Culture, but its arcaded garden is open to everyone. Daniel Buren's black-and-white striped columns fill the courtyard beside it.
Inaugurated in 1612 as the Place Royale, it is the oldest planned square in Paris, framed by matching red-brick houses over stone arcades. Victor Hugo lived at number 6, now a museum.
Evening
A neighbourhood walking day. Palais Garnier is the interior that needs a ticket if you go in.
Day 4 · Amsterdam
Leave Paris Gare du Nord after breakfast. Direct Eurostar trains take 3 hours 20 minutes to Amsterdam Centraal, city centre to city centre. Eurostar asks you to be at the station 20 minutes before departure. Book the Anne Frank House for the afternoon so the morning can be the train — tickets are sold only online and are released six weeks ahead.
Direct Eurostar in 3 hours 20 minutes. Be at Gare du Nord 20 minutes before departure.
Source: Eurostar · checked Sep 2026. Fares change with the date — buy on the operator site.Morning
Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis for more than two years in the secret annex behind this canal house, where she wrote her diary. The visit takes you through the rooms of the hiding place; it is quiet and moving, and takes about an hour.
Next door to the Anne Frank House, the 17th-century Westerkerk has the tallest church tower in Amsterdam, and Anne Frank wrote about hearing its bells from the annex. Rembrandt was buried here in an unmarked grave.
Once a working-class district of small workshops, the Jordaan is now a web of narrow canals, hidden courtyard almshouses and brown cafés. Wander north from the Prinsengracht toward the Brouwersgracht, one of the city's prettiest canals.
Midday
Afternoon
Built in the 17th century as Amsterdam's city hall, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age, it became a royal palace under Louis Napoleon. The Dutch royal family still uses it for state visits, and it opens to visitors when no royal events are on.
The flower market on the Singel canal dates back to the 1860s, and its stalls still stand on houseboats along the water. Today it sells as many souvenirs as flowers, but it is a colourful stop between the Dam and the canal ring.
Evening
Anne Frank House afternoon slot. Confirm the Eurostar on eurostar.com.
Day 5 · Amsterdam
Rembrandt and Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum in the morning, a market lunch on the Albert Cuyp in De Pijp, then the Van Gogh Museum and an evening walk in the Vondelpark.
Morning
The national museum of the Netherlands holds Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's Milkmaid and centuries of Dutch art and history in Pierre Cuypers' 19th-century building. A cycle path runs straight through its central passage.
Midday
Amsterdam's busiest street market fills the Albert Cuypstraat in De Pijp with stalls selling cheese, fish, fabric, flowers and snacks. It is the place to try a stroopwafel pressed fresh while you wait.
Afternoon
The world's largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's work, with around 200 paintings and 500 drawings, including Sunflowers and The Bedroom. The galleries follow his life from the Dutch years to Paris, Arles and Auvers.
Amsterdam's best-known park stretches for about a kilometre and a half from the museum quarter into Oud-West, with ponds, lawns and an open-air theatre. Keep to the footpaths: the wide lanes belong to cyclists.
Evening
Rijksmuseum morning. Van Gogh Museum for the afternoon. Albert Cuyp Market is closed on Sundays — swap with day 6 if you land on one.
Day 6 · Amsterdam
A slower last day by the Amstel: the Skinny Bridge, the Portuguese Synagogue and the Jewish Museum, Rembrandt's house, and a drink on Nieuwmarkt as the evening starts.
Morning
The 'Skinny Bridge' is a white wooden drawbridge over the Amstel, rebuilt in its current form in 1934 and outlined with hundreds of lights after dark. Watch from the riverbank as it opens for passing boats.
Consecrated in 1675, the vast Portuguese Synagogue is still lit by candles and keeps its original wooden benches and sand-strewn floor. Across the street, the Jewish Museum tells the story of Jewish life in the Netherlands inside four former synagogues; one Jewish Cultural Quarter ticket covers both.
Midday
Afternoon
Rembrandt lived and worked in this house from 1639 until money troubles forced him out. The rooms are furnished as they might have been in his day, with his studio and his cabinet of curiosities, and there are regular etching demonstrations.
Built between 1603 and 1611, the Zuiderkerk was the first church in Amsterdam built for Protestant worship. Its tower rises over the rooftops of the old Jewish Quarter, and Claude Monet painted it during a visit to the city.
Evening
The square is built around De Waag, a 15th-century city gate that later became a weigh house, and is lined with café terraces. It sits at the edge of the old centre, a few streets from the canals of De Wallen.
A slower old-centre day. Portuguese Synagogue and the Rembrandt House have their own tickets if you go in.
Day 7 · Amsterdam
Six walking days are already spoken for. Use the seventh to linger in Vondelpark, to catch a museum you skipped, or for Haarlem or Zaanse Schans — Amsterdam's own plan already names those as a fourth-day choice. Keep the morning unhurried if you fly that evening.
Only if you leave the city: book the actual day trip, not a generic city ticket.
Before you fly
Questions
Yes for a first trip: three clustered days in each city and a 3-hour-20-minute Eurostar between them. It does not include Versailles, Bruges or Rotterdam. Versailles is a fourth Paris day; Brussels sits on the 10-day Western Europe trip.
Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, Eiffel Tower, and the Anne Frank House (released six weeks ahead, online only). Then the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. Buy Paris Gare du Nord–Amsterdam Centraal on Eurostar; be at the station 20 minutes before departure.
Paris: between the Louvre and the Marais, or Saint-Germain, as the Paris plan already says. Amsterdam: the canal ring, the Jordaan or De Pijp so every day stays walkable.
Yes. Three days in Brussels between Paris and Amsterdam is the natural add-on. That is the 10-day Western Europe trip.
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Ticket, train and opening notes name an official source and the month we checked it. Hours and fares change — open that source before you buy.
Places and coordinates: Wikidata and Tripwoa's open-data place catalog (Overture Maps Foundation, © OpenStreetMap contributors). Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each image. Checked September 2026.