Places to stay and things to do in Paris?

[snowgirl1]

I've booked Eurostar tickets to France for the May bank holiday weekend with DH and DD (10). Does anyone have any recommendations on where to stay? I always get a bit confused by the arrondisments in Paris and where they're near too.

Any suggestions of things to do would be great too, thanks.

If you're on a bit of a budget, we stayed in Hotel Joyce Astotel and really recommend it. It's 9th arrondisement which if you check the map is walkable to most big tourist attractions, but is more of a local residential area, which means it had some great local bistros (take note you need to book popular restaurants in advance for dinner). The rooms were small, but the whole place was stylishly decorated, clean, friendly and they had a free spread of pastries and coffee in the afternoon. Location was the big selling point though, felt very safe. If you can blow the budget then I'd go for 1st arrondissement for super fancy or 5th for classic Parisian character.

Hopefully somebody who knows Paris better will come along with suggestions re sightseeing, but we enjoyed Montmartre, coffee at Les Deux Magots (big literary history there), moulin rouge, the louvre and visiting the parks. Spent most of our time walking and people watching, but it was our first time so by no means experts.

We’ve had good stays in two Best Western hotels.
BW Aramis St Germain has a great location. Triple rooms (2 twins and 1 sofa bed) and quadruple rooms (2 twins and 2 sofa beds). Steps from St Germain des Pres metro station.
BW Louvre Paris Opera is in the 1st arrondissement. Family suites are 2 interconnected rooms each with twin beds or a double. It is on a nice back street but only a 15 minute walk to the Louvre and the metro is even closer.
Treasure hunt at the Louvre
Boat tour
Musée Grévin is great fun and way better than Madam Tussaud’s

My top top tip is to buy The Lonely Planet Guide. You will find it’s split into areas and you need to take a view on what sights are what you want to see most of all. The most important thing about a hotel is to be near an underground station. Like London, this is the best and fastest way to get around.

Ws have stayed in a number of hotels but by far the best have transport options nearby. As you get to know Paris you can finesse what you want to see. A trip on the Seine is pleasant and lots of people want to go up the Eiffel Tower. The Musee D’Orsay is a must and Opera Garnier is amazing. There are lots of museums and galleries. I think Notre Dame is still closed but the Left Bank is wonderful for waking. As is the area around The Ritz in Place Vendome and Rue Cambon. Galleries Lafayette is beautiful too.

So many fantastic things to see, you need to plan your days so everything is doable. Lonely Planet has great suggestions so check out their recommendations to get you started. We find hotel recommendations are usually well researched. Conde Nast Traveller and Mr and Mrs Smith will have chic options. Also when you arrive at Le Gare du Nord, how far do you want to travel to a hotel? It’s a slog if you don’t get a taxi.

When I went to Paris, I stayed in Best Western Latin Quarter. It was a very good rate for June and such a good location! The hotel itself was nice but the rooms were very small

Places to visit
The Orangerie (Monet large scale painting)
Musee Marmatton (more Monet)
Musee D'Orsay (but you may have to queue)
Arc de Triomphe for the view.

Check whether things are all open as it may be a bank holiday in France.

Musee D’Orsay: book in advance. It’s best to plan your days.

Thank you so much everyone for the suggestions.

@Catch32 - thanks for the Hotel Joyce recommendation - it didn't have triple rooms, but I've booked Hotel George which is part of the Astotel Group also in the 9th arrondisement.

Thanks also to @llansannan21 for mentioning bank hols - the Sunday we're there is May 1 which is a bank hol, which means we're going to have to plan carefully.

Rough plan at the moment:
Saturday: morning: bike tour; afternoon: Musee D'Orsay (will book in advance, thanks @TizerorFizz)
Sunday: all the museums see to be shut, so maybe a day wandering/eating up to look at Sacre Couer
Monday: Louvre or L'Orangerie

Any suggestions on what to do on Sunday May 1 (public hol) in particular welcomed. Does anyone know if whether most restaurants/cafes be open? If so, we might try doing a bit of a DIY food tour, snacking our way around and people watching on the Sunday.

Bike tour? Paris is pretty busy.

Arc De Triomphe, Trip on Seine and left bank should all be possible on a bank holiday.

Opera Garnier is in the 9th. Worth a trip. I would definitely go to Galleries Lafayette.

For the Sunday, look at churches in addition to the Sacre Coeur. You may have to go to a service though- I got roped into reading when I was in one, first time I have read aloud in French since school!

The 9th is a beautiful area of Paris definitely take a wander up to the Sacre coeur to the view point for fab views of the city then amble back down through the streets taking in all the sights. We went last November and absolutely fell in love with the place after always thinking it wouldn't be our thing! Rue des Martyrs is food heaven 😍

May 1st is the only bank holiday which is strictly respected. Almost everything will be shut.

Sacre Coeur is in the 18th. Depends where you are in the 9th but it might be quite a trek.

Galleries Lafayette opens on bank holidays.

Novotel Tour Eiffel. It's only a few minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower and has a big pool.

I recommend buying the DK Eyewitness Family Travel Guide Paris:

www.wob.com/en-gb/books/dk-eyewitness/dk-eyewitness-family-guide-paris/9781409376965?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwYDftbH99QIVB7LtCh3i4QBvEAQYAyABEgIP7PD_BwE

Go to the top floor of Galeriee Lafayette and go outside - you get an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.

1st May is also traditionally a day for marches and protests. On the 1st:

Avoid between Place de la republique and Nation (passing by Place de la Bastille). Also avoid Place des fetes, the Pantheon and Montparnasse. Place de la Bourse, and Place de l'Odeon.

Avoid taxi/buses that day and use the metro (but be warned some stations will be closed if there are protests). Protests are generally from 2pm onwards so metro stations concerned are closed at 12. However in the morning you can move around fine.

I live in the 16th and almost never see protests.

A lot of the big shopping centres are open.

We went a few years ago and bought city passes. It lets you queue jump lost lines for museums and included wine tasting in Louis IV wine cellar near the Louvre as well as a boat tour. It was around £300 for both of us I think but well worth the money, and we used it over 3 days.
As an aside, we also went to the moulin rouge and thought it was a waste of money. If you like to look at teenage tits (some of which had to be covered with a bra top as they were so young) it would have been great but did nothing for us.
Be careful of pickpockets at the Eiffel tower.

*most lines

Glad you booked to stay in 9th @snowgirl1, we really liked it. The next time we go to Paris will be with children so would love to hear how you find the George hotel