Paris tips

[Pumpkinpower]

Hello,
First time post, long time lurker!
Going to Paris for 3 nights soon with 13 year old child. Any tips or suggestions for doing trip budget friendly please. Is Eiffel Tower a must to climb up for view? Thinking of doing a cruise along seine too.
Travel and accommodation is all sorted, it's just sorting day and meal/restaurant places. Thanks

Sorry to add won't have a car, will stay in Paris only travelling by Eurostar

Rather than a cruise, get a much cheaper Batobus ticket and use it as both a cruise and as transport. It stops at the major sights along the river and you can hop on/off as you please.

I much much prefer the Musee d'Orsay to the Louvre if you want an art gallery. The whole visitor experience is just much better.

If you're used to the free London museums be prepared to pay entry into places in Paris, though your 13 year old should get in free.

Musee Arts et Metiers appears to still be free entry and it's great but it's not one of the major famous Paris museums. It's an interesting and enjoyable place to visit though.

To keep eating costs down, buy a sandwich in a Boulangerie/patisserie for lunch.

Re transport, just walk and use the Batobus and that'll get you to everywhere you're likely you want to go for a first visit. The Metro is grotty (worse than the London underground) so I'd avoid it if you can

Amazing thank you so much for these tips, noting it down now, thanks 😊

Do not hover too long under bridges across the Seine.
By the smell I suspect a lot of toileting goes on.

For eating look on the back streets, avoiding the area near arch d'triumph in particular, most have set priced menus, I took mine up the Eiffel Tower but pre book. The river boat with meals was a fun option

Montparnasse tower might be a better option than the Eiffel? Yes to a boat ride and Musee d Orsay .

The street sellers can be hardcore esp round Sacre Coeur.

I forgot about Tour Montparnasse. It certainly used to be free to go up in the lift to the top where the views are fantastic and because it's quiet up there you can really enjoy it and soak it in. I never took visitors up the Eiffel Tower because the queues are bad, it's horribly busy and it costs.

Eiffel Tower is fantastic to look at so am to look at it from various places rather than go up it!

The Montparnasse tower certainly used to be free but that's worth checking.

Brill many thanks all for the tips. Very useful to know.
We are only there for a few days so wanting to maximise it. Going to check out the Montparnasse tower sounds great.

We're going in a week!

I love musee dorsay but museums are free on the first Sunday and all the tickets have gone already for the day we will be in Paris.

We're thinking visit eiffel tower (but not go up). A river cruise. Maybe opera garnier. The louvre still has tickets but I can imagine we'd just go look at mona lisa- I so much prefer musee dorsay!

We're only going for a day but going to join you for tips!

I've just begun to wonder about public loos. I can't remember what we did last time we went to Paris - it was so long ago.

I've just read there's no loos on the batobus - and now googling what's near the Eiffel tower...

Does your 13YO have anything specific they want to do? I think Eiffel Tower is so iconic, but actually, I think it's best at ground level TBH. The first time I went to Paris, I really wanted to see the Impressionists work in the Musee d'Orsay, and The Thinker at the Rodin Museum. In fact, I've been to Paris many times over the years, and only visited the Louvre for the first time this summer! I thought it was amazing, and was pleased to 'tick off' the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the 3 Graces. But your 13YO may be most familiar with Impressionist art, and may really want to see some excellent pieces in the Musee d'Orsay (plus it's a fab building - ex train station).

We enjoyed wandering around the Marais - good shopping, Pompidou Centre (go to Eataly for some food, the deli is amazing). We've eaten in Galleries Lafayette before, it's a great spot for some decent food but reasonable prices, and fab views.

The bus tours are good value, I went round twice! If you are only in Paris for a short time, you get to see all the iconic sites and can hop on and off for whatever takes your fancy!

A few years ago we had a ticket which covered hop on hop off bus plus river boat.

If you do the Eiffel Tower pre book the ticket so you can avoid the queue. I think it’s worth going up

Pre-book the Catacombs. They were spooky and gothic and my teen DD loved it.

Great tips on this thread - going to save it to come back to, hopefully going in January!

Thanks all, this is all very helpful to know in my planning, fab tips thanks so much. My daughter has mentioned seeing Catacombs and Eiffel Tower, she also wants to hit some shops 😂

Oh and eat lots of croissants so she tells me lol x

For really delicious crepes, try Breizh Cafe - there are a few locations around Paris.
www.breizhcafe.com/menus

Try afternoon tea at Mademoiselle Angelina's just outside the Jardin de Luxembourg, also handy for the Pantheon and Musee de Cluny.

Re. the Eiffel Tower: do be careful and alert in the area around its base, as it's one of the most popular haunts for hawkers/scammers/pickpockets (e.g. asking you to sign a petition then demanding money for the usually non-existent "cause"). Sometimes one person will try to distract you, while the other aims for your bag or pockets. That was the first thing I encountered when arriving at the nearby coach park, though luckily I didn't have anything stolen. Don't mean to put a dampener on things, and maybe I looked like a target as I was on my own, but it's worth being forewarned.

Thanks, crepes and afternoon tea sounds perfect will be sure to fit those in ☺️
Also, thanks appreciate the heads up about scammers, pickpocketers etc by Eiffel will be on my guard.
Thanks again everyone for all the tips and ideas is really appreciated and will come in handy for our trip. Bon voyage and appetit lol must learn some more French 🤣

We're thinking of going up arc de triumph instead of the Eiffel tower (we want to see the Eiffel tower but might do that early on!)

I'm so frustrated musee dorsay is sold out as that truly is ny favourite place. We are going to walk from the louvre to palais garnier and have a tour there I think!

We are planning hot chocolates and crepes as and when. I am so excited.

Lots of lovely shops in the Marais district, which is also home to the Picasso museum, if you like Picasso!
I also love St Germain des Près for a wander.