Tips for Paris please

[bendmeoverbackwards]

Off to Paris for 3 nights with my 22 year old daughter next week.

So far we have booked Musee D'Osay for the afternoon after we arrive. We also want to book the Louvre - can you do both in one day?

Booked Moulin Rouge show (at great expense), they only have the 11pm show available so that will be one late night.

What are the other must sees? I've been to Paris before but dd hasn't. She wants to do the Eiffel Tower and I want to go to Angelina's for hot chocolate!

Montparnasse Tower for a view of the city with the Eiffel Tower - lovely on a clear day. Bateau Bus was great for hop-on hop-off along the river. I liked the Promenade Plante - raised walkway with plants/ trees along a disused railway line; and the Pantheon was also a really worthwhile visit.

Personally I'd avoid Sacre Coeur and Montmartre - lots of people will recommend but I found it really touristy.

I don't think I would do two museums in one day, that would be overload! In what area are you staying? Why don't you find a nice shopping area and just wander? Saint Germain-des-Pres, Galleries Vivienne or LaFayette and just browse, stop for lunch, etc. I would do a museum in the morning, and a shopping walk in the afternoon. You can do a walking tour, they have many different interests, fashion, food, wine, etc. Try Viator, we have used them for tours when travelling.

Find an area to explore for example the Marais, go to the Musee Picasso / canavalet and wonder around find some of the amazing boutiques, then maybe wonder over to either the Bastille or the other direction to the Pompodou. Or go to Notre
dame and wonder around the .isle Saint Louis and the shops there, the best ice cream, go to Shakespeare and company. If you choose a small area and enjoy it, people watching and walking. Paris is so much smaller than London you can find a route and walk it.

This restaurant is stunning!https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d695218-Reviews-Bouillon_Julien-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
Art nouveau, original pictures by Mucha, absolutely gorgeous. I went there years ago, but I see it's still going strong.

Thank you, really helpful. Is Luxembourg Gardens worth a visit?

I wouldn’t do The Louvre and Musee d’Orsay in one day. You will be exhausted and won’t appreciate them. The Louvre is massive and will take hours even to see a fraction of the collection. Much preferred the Musee d’Orsay that is in a lovely calm building, plus it had all the art I was obsessed with as a teenager. We really enjoyed wandering around near Norte Dame. La Chappell is a beautiful old church with a fascinating history and near the law courts which was interesting to see all the comings and going there. Also enjoyed The Marais although the teens were getting exhausted by that point so didn’t wander much there.

@bendmeoverbackwards if you can get a refund on the moulin rouge tickets then please do it is abysmal. It's been on my bucket list for years finally did it last year and was beyond disappointed and the queue to get in is horrendous. It's basically the most bonkers old fashioned circus with topless women

Watch out for pick pocketers, scammers and being harassed to buy brackets outside all tourist attractions

I personally love the view from the top of the arc de triomphe

I would do the musee d’orsay, then cross the Seine and have a wonder through the Tuileries, place de Concorde, outside of the Louvre. Then walk up towards Galleries Lafayette through the Place Vendome to admire all the super posh people and shops. Past Opera…

Then shopping at the Galleries and early cocktail/late hot chocolate.

Honestly, I think Paris is great for just walking around and admiring the architecture, people watching. One famous site a day is enough. Got to leave space for shopping! I’ve just been with teen dds and thats what we did.

Musee d’Orsay, walk along to notre dame and cross there. I love the interior (top floor especially) of samaritaine department store

I agree with PP not to do two major museums in one day- and that Paris is a great city for wandering!
Personally, I'd combine Musee d'Orsay with walking through St Germain to the Luxembourg gardens. You could go to Rue Mouffetard afterwards which is very pretty (and I think lots of touristy restaurants possibly now?).

I'd walk around the Tuileries on the Louvre day.

The Picasso museum is great. I also love the Rodin museum, which has lovely gardens you can access separately.
If you do go to Montmartre, the Montmartre museum is in a beautiful building with gardens with great views.

Definitely wear comfy shoes for Paris!

I wouldn't advise Musee d'Orsay and Louvre in the same day tbh. Musee d'Orsay is amazing tho.

I love Paris and have been there many times. Last time I went we climbed the Arc de Triomphe which was surprisingly good. We also went up the Eiffel Tower which I had never done and it was great - but I believe it is very difficult to book and at this late stage, probs impossible.

I also suggest the Sainte Chapelle which is astonishing esp on a bright sunny day. Even DS2 aged 15 at the time was impressed.

Jardin du Luxembourg is lovely for a relaxing walk and a coffee amid the trees. The fifth and sixth are nice for a wander if you like walking, as is le Marais (4th). Worth getting on the buses and touring round as well. Monmartrobus if it still exists is amazing.

I have never been to the Moulin Rouge and would very much not like to go - agree with PP that unless you enjoy watching topless women that's one to miss. How much was it out of interest <nosy>

Bateau Mouche river trips are fun. If you like a cemetery lots of v famous French people are busied at Pere LAchaise. Oh and Jim Morrison.

Book the Eiffel Tower online asap. We were there last week and the queue for people without a ticket was crazy.

I lived in central Paris for a few years, so got to see the touristic places, and the non-touristic spots too. Loved it at the time.
The Louvre needs an entire day, and you'll probably be exhausted by the end of it. D'Orsay is my favourite, and can easily be done in a good half day, and is next to the river and some beautiful walks, and a short walk away is Place de la Concorde, which is worth a look.

I liked walks around the Père-Lachaise cemetery, finding famous graves. Butte chaumont is a beautiful park built on an old quarry. There's also the catacombs, which is a little macabre, but fascinating. Then of course you've got the Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, and I recommend a stroll around the Latin Quarter to see more of the Old Paris.

When I was a "local" I would go to other places though, such as Parc André Citroën, Bois de Boulogne (chilling out on the island) or visiting the beautiful rose garden there, as it was walkable, but not so practical in terms of getting there on public transport. Just on the other side of it is Parc Saint-Cloud and Parc Albert Khan which has some stunning Japanese gardens.
Gustave Moreau's home/studio is a beautiful place if you like his style of painting, located in the 9th district.

I just randomly tried to book a summit ticket for next Friday @bendmeoverbackwards and the only time was 10.30pm. Mind you that might be fun!

Sacre coeur at night is lovely. Yes it's busy and touristy but still worth a visit. Dinner in Montmartre afterwards.

The other thing my teens enjoyed was walking the length of the Champs-Elysees, visiting the Arc d’T then walking back down to Sephora, their flagship store.

Brilliant tips thank you.

Have now booked Musee D’Orsay, Louvre (different day), Ard de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower. And the Paris Catacombs as that looks interesting. Will allow time for shopping in the beautiful shops.

Dd has this idea to spend a day at Disneyland but I don’t think it would work logistically and it would be £££ for a day.

I think Disney would be adding too much into the time you have

@MojoDojoCasaHouse Im looking forward much more to Musee D’Orsay than the Louvre. Any recommendations for the Louvre if we just wanted to spend a few hours there?

Montmartre is touristy for a reason though. The Paris that is in most people's imaginations is there.

I love Jardin des Plantes (a lot of it is free), Musée de l'Orangerie, Musée Picasso and Musée Rodin.

Go up to the top of Centre Pompidou on the escalators.

You definitely can not do both in one day Louvre and D'Orsay

The Louvre is massive but amazing

The bateau boat is a must

Don't bother climbing the Eiffel Tower there's absolutely no point and the queues even with tickets are very long

I went for 5 days with DD and we saw so much and enjoyed just walking around and exploring as you do

We didn't waste our time climbing up things I mean who wants to do that when there's so much to see and do