Hints & Tips For Paris Please

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Help, I’ve booked 6 nights in Paris leaving in a week’s time so my time to research & plan an itinerary is limited!

It will be me, dh and our 2 teen dd s nearly 14 &17. We fly into CDG and are staying in Porte Des Lillas in 19th Arondissment.

We will want to see the usual landmarks, Palace of Versailles, there’s a Game of Thrones Exhibition on that dd1 and dh want to see, we’re not great art buffs but will do the Louvre.

Was considering one of the access all public transport passes for zones 1-5 for 5 days but that costs nearly £300 so think will just buy car nets for zones 1-3 and pay ad hoc for airport & Versailles visits.

I really can’t work out if Paris Pass is a good idea for us as would still have to pay to go up the tower & kids

Bumping in case the evening crew can help

Use City Mapper for getting around.

The kids will get in free as EU citizens to many of the galleries.

No idea about passes etc.

Best tip I got from MN was to go up Montparnasse tower in the evening to see the Eiffel Tower light up. Fantastic views across Paris.

Bateau bus along the river was good for sight seeing.

Is that the boat you can get on and off rather than a “cruise”?

Thanks for Montparnasse tip

If you can, have your main meal at lunch. Many restaurants will do a 2/3 course daily menu that's really good value. Then you can have more snack based evening meal. Saves a fortune and you get nice food.

The best advice I was given about Paris is it will always be there. So don't rush around. Pick a couple of things and do them well. It sort of took the pressure off us.

Honestly I found the Louvre a bit much, if you go just pick a couple of zones to visit i think. I know that makes me sound awful but it's huge!!! We were really impressed with the war museum, so interesting to hear it from the French perspective.

Have a great time

The kids want to see the Mona Lisa but I have heard that the zone it’s in is pretty underwhelming

La Joconde (Mona Lisa) area is heaving and it is pretty small as well! Musée d'Orsay is better imo. Or Musée Rodin.

Le Marais is a good area for going out- bars/cafés etc as is around Bastille.

Champs Elysées is just for shopping really.

Sacré Cœur area is a nightmare for people hustling.

Sainte Chapelle is beautiful.

When are you going? Paris Plage may still be on?

Père Lachaise cemetery is interesting.

Order wine by pichet (jug) - cheaper

Yes the Bateau Bus you can hop on and off and the ticket lasts 24 hours so you can use for 2 days if you time it right.

Mona Lisa very underwhelming but the Water Lillies in the Musee Orange (?) were amazing.

We found transport very reasonable when buying a 10 journey ticket. There was only one day that we did 3 trips so £300 sounds extortionate to me.

The ques at the Eiffel tower were non-existent at 9 am. On the way out a totally different story. Don't take anything you could not have in your hand luggage on a plain. They checked inside lunch boxes even.

Lots of museums are closed on a Tuesday and Free on a Sunday.

Water was €3.50 for 500ml so take your own reusable bottles.

i’d advise against “doing” the Louvre if you’re not bothered about anything but the Mona Lisa. we’ve never been despite both being very into art - put off by the queues, cost and crowds. there are lots of other & better museums and galleries in paris you might prefer.

the funicular in montmartre is like a land-based cable car which gets you up towards sacre couer for the price of a metro ticket and is fun! speaking of metro tickets, bulk buy them in sets of 10 (a “carnet”) from the self-service machines - it’s 1 per person per trip no matter what changes you make. keep it until you finish the journey then through it away to avoid getting mixed up with unused ones.

These are great, thanks.

We are arriving Tues 14th evening and leaving on the 20th early evening; actually, that’s a thought, need to investigate where we can leave luggage between checking out and heading to the airport

The best advice I was given about Paris is it will always be there. So don't rush around. Pick a couple of things and do them well. It sort of took the pressure off us.

This is great advice. Pick an area/neighbourhood and enjoy exploring.

We've never made it into the Louvre either, the queue each time has put us off! I have also recommended the Montparnasse Tower, the Eiffel Tower starts sparkling on the hour when it goes dark so quite late in the summer but the Montparnasse is great for views of Paris.

There is a Left Luggage place in the train station connected to the airport (CDG), allow time for queuing for both drop off and collection - we left a few cases there a couple of years back for a few days! The hotel might be able to help with the cases though, check with them.

Mine are mainly heat based as we visited in a heatwave and maybe you will be?

Loved the Louvre as its air conditioned(!) but also fabulous to see some of the statuary and famous works.
Eiffel tower interesting and iconic and great childhood memories.
There are lots of people selling cheap bottled water (which we did buy and were fine) but realised later it may have been stupid as the bottles are sometimes stored in unsanitary places like in the drains. Or may have been shoplifted I guess. Drinks in cafes were expensive.
The bateau bus was a good way to get around but hot inside, ok on deck.
The queue for Notre Dame was insane as free. We didn’t go in.
The journey to and from the arondissement where we parked and caught the train was educational as we seemed to end up in the middle of an actual fist fight and much wider atmosphere of tension (hundreds of people out on the street) which on further research may have been related to the banned-by-the government but regularly held Friday street prayers.

You can buy lunch and dinner reservations at the Eiffel Tower. If I remember rightly you get priority getting up there and obviously slightly more interesting than seeing the view for 10 mins.

I thought the Mona Lisa was amazing. Very small but looks almost 3D. I would look on Tripadvisor for the best time to visit..early or late is the usual advice.

Boat trip was great. Saved lots of walking and so pretty. They do snacks and drink on board.

Saint Chapelle is fantastic.

Agree with just do the bits that interest you and not a tick list.

Yes EvaHarknessRose, I am a bit worried about the heat...

Do you think you can do the Palace of Versailles in half a day or do you think you need to devote pretty much a full day to it? Dh is proposing to do that early in the day then GoT exhibition in Porte de Versailles as they are on the same side of the city.