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Where to stay in Paris for 3 days: the area by length of stay
Where to stay in Paris for one night, a weekend, 3 or 4 days or a week: median transit times to the Louvre, Notre-Dame and both airports for thirteen areas. Checked October 2026.
© Maksim Sokolov (maxergon.com), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons
For a few days in Paris, the question is less where the right hotel is than where the minutes go. A short stay is decided by three numbers: the time to the Louvre and Notre-Dame, the time to the airport you arrive at, and whether the shops are open on the day you have free. This page gives those numbers for the thirteen areas we compare, then reads them by length of stay. All times are medians for public transport, walking included, on the IDFM timetable of Tuesday 13 October 2026, from one reference point in each area.
Thirteen areas, three numbers
| Area (reference point) | First visit | Louvre | Notre-Dame | Eiffel Tower | CDG T2 | Orly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louvre / Tuileries (place du Marché Saint-Honoré) | Recommended | 11.5 | 16 | 30 | 56.5 | 35 |
| Opéra (place de l'Opéra) | Recommended | 11.5 | 17 | 26 | 54.5 | 37.5 |
| Saint-Germain-des-Prés (place Saint-Germain) | Recommended | 13 | 11.5 | 30 | 56.5 | 37 |
| Le Marais (place des Vosges) | Recommended | 17 | 19 | 37.5 | 60.5 | 40 |
| Montparnasse (place Raoul Dautry) | Recommended | 22.5 | 21 | 22.5 | 63.5 | 38 |
| Latin Quarter (place de la Sorbonne) | Recommended | 24 | 12 | 30.5 | 56.5 | 41 |
| Bastille (place de la Bastille) | Possible | 17 | 19 | 36.5 | 57.5 | 37 |
| Bercy (cour Saint-Émilion) | Possible | 18.5 | 18.5 | 35.5 | 58.5 | 23 |
| Pigalle (place Pigalle) | Possible | 19.5 | 26 | 34 | 55.5 | 44.5 |
| Champs-Élysées (avenue George V) | Possible | 20 | 26.5 | 19 | 65.5 | 50.5 |
| Eiffel Tower (rue Cler) | Possible | 20.5 | 26 | 14 | 67.5 | 46.5 |
| Montmartre (place des Abbesses) | Possible | 22.5 | 27.5 | 36 | 56.5 | 45.5 |
| Canal Saint-Martin (quai de Jemmapes) | Possible | 25.5 | 25 | 41 | 55.5 | 47.5 |
Minutes. The first-visit column is our reading of the sheet for each area (a deduction from lines and distances, not a survey). In the six recommended areas, the Louvre is 24 minutes away or less and Notre-Dame 21 or less; the Eiffel Tower is farther in five of them, at 26 to 37.5 minutes, and level with the Louvre at Montparnasse (22.5).
Photo: Uoaei1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
One night
For one night, travel time is the whole decision, because you arrive and leave on the same day. From Orly, line 14 runs direct to Châtelet in 24 to 25 minutes on board and to Gare de Lyon in 21 to 22; that is why Bercy, at 23 minutes door to door, is the fastest of the thirteen areas from that airport. From Charles de Gaulle, RER B to Châtelet-Les Halles takes 34.5 to 46 minutes on board from terminal 2, with a median of 39, and the Gare du Nord is 30.5 to 42. In the table, Opéra is the closest to terminal 2 (54.5 minutes), then Pigalle and Canal Saint-Martin (55.5).
Photo: Ali Sabbagh, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Paris Region airport ticket costs €14 (€7 reduced) in 2026 and is valid on RER B, line 14 and Orlyval; the ordinary metro-train-RER ticket is not. A flat-rate taxi from the right bank costs €56 from Charles de Gaulle and €45 from Orly, and from the left bank €65 and €36. CDG Express, from the Gare de l’Est, is announced for 28 March 2027 and does not run in 2026. For a hotel next to a station, see the lists of hotels near the Gare du Nord and near Orly.
A weekend of two nights
A weekend adds Sunday, and in Paris the shops are open or shut by zone. Twelve international tourist zones allow retail to open on Sundays and until midnight on weekdays, under a collective agreement: Saint-Honoré–Vendôme and Les Halles in the 1st, Le Marais in the 3rd, Rennes–Saint-Sulpice in the 6th, Saint-Germain in the 7th, Champs-Élysées–Montaigne and Haussmann in the 8th, Montmartre in the 18th and four others. None lies in the 5th or the 10th arrondissement, so the Latin Quarter and the Canal Saint-Martin have no general Sunday opening. Outside the zones, food shops may open on Sunday morning, and the mayor can allow up to twelve Sundays a year.
Photo: Alexandre Prévot, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Five of the six recommended areas are covered by a zone: Louvre and Tuileries by two, Opéra by Haussmann, then Le Marais, Saint-Germain and Montparnasse, where Rennes–Saint-Sulpice reaches the station surroundings. The Latin Quarter has none. Opening is a possibility, not an obligation, so each address should be checked.
Three or four days
On three days the ride time counts every day. The first four recommended areas keep the Louvre and Notre-Dame within 19 minutes and the Eiffel Tower within 37.5; Montparnasse and the Latin Quarter, also recommended, put the Louvre at 22.5 and 24 minutes. If a long ride bothers you, Louvre and Tuileries and Opéra both reach the Louvre in 11.5 minutes; of the six recommended areas, Montparnasse has the shortest ride to the Eiffel Tower (22.5 minutes, then 26 at Opéra) and Saint-Germain the shortest to Notre-Dame (11.5, then 12 in the Latin Quarter). If the Eiffel Tower is the main goal, its own area puts it at 14 minutes, but the Louvre at 20.5 and both airports at 46.5 minutes or more; our sheet rates that area possible for a first visit and not recommended for nightlife.
Four days leaves room to stay a little off the centre. Bastille and Bercy keep the Louvre at 17 and 18.5 minutes, and Pigalle at 19.5. Montmartre costs 22.5 minutes and a hill. The page on where to stay for a first time in Paris gives the verdict for each area, and the page on staying close to everything shows what can be done on foot.
A week
Over a week the commute is repeated seven times, but so is the setting, and the ranking changes. Bercy is rated recommended for families and budgets, with the parc de Bercy, Bercy Village and a direct line to Orly; it has no five-star hotel. The Canal Saint-Martin is rated recommended for couples and budgets, with 112 classified hotels and RER B at the Gare du Nord. Montparnasse is rated recommended for budgets and shopping, with 31 hotels rated 1★ or 2★ in the 14th and 15th and four metro lines at the Gare Montparnasse. For a smaller budget, see where to stay in Paris on a budget.
What not to book for a short stay
Our sheet advises against La Défense for any short tourist stay. It is a business district outside Paris, described as quiet once the offices close, and it is 27 minutes from the Louvre, 25.5 from Notre-Dame and 32 from the Eiffel Tower, with no direct line to either airport. The page on areas to avoid in Paris gives the other places that sources name.