Hi, my husband and I are travelling to Paris for 4 nights from 12-16 March next year,we are not interested in Disneyland.
We arrive early on the Wednesday from Australia and catch a train out to Amsterdam on Sunday morning.
We have never been before and probably won%26#39;t get to go back for a long while.
We want to know what we MUST see. We are fit, like to walk and cycle depending on the weather. We are over 40 but not OLD.
We are thinking- the louvre for one day, versailles, one day then the usual places, eiffel tower, Notre Dame, Montemarte. What do you suggest ?
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You%26#39;ve nearly six(6) months to go out to your local public or college library or down to your local bookstore to pick up a good Paris guidebook or few to peruse to find out what there is to see and do in Paris...and then come up with your own %26#39;..list..%26#39; of places and things that attract and appeal to your own personal priorities, preferences, interest, budget, time available etc. Investing some time in a simple Google search, using %26#39;..Paris Tourism..%26#39; and variations will generate even more information, ideas and possibilities. At he very least enter %26#39;..Top 10 Paris..%26#39; and get at least a couple of hundred of the %26#39;..10 bests..%26#39; to choose from.
You can also take some time to scroll back through the the breadth and depth of the Archives of this (and other Paris travel forums) as valuable resarch and planning tools. %26#39;..Tinker..%26#39; with the %26#39;..SEARCH IN..%26#39; feature (located below the Green line of the main %26#39;..Paris Travel..%26#39; topics page) of this TA site for more specific information on a wide variety or general and specific topics.
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Since you may be pretty tired on your first day there, and not able to pack in a full day of sightseeing, you%26#39;ll really only have three full days, one of which will be spent at Versailles. Choose a sampling of different kinds of things to see, rather than rushing around trying to fit as much as you can in. For instance, choose one area of the Louvre, rather than rushing through as much of it as you can; do a walking tour of one area, say from Place de la Concorde, down the Champs d%26#39;Elyses to the Arc de Triomphe; choose one place from which to view the city - Sacre Coeur, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Tower, or Arc de Triomphe - don%26#39;t try to do several. I%26#39;m always one to try to do too much, and I end up feeling like it%26#39;s all been a blur. Afterwards, I wonder why I thought I had to see it all...in hindsight, I always find there was repetition in what I saw, and none of it was critical enough to have justified giving short shrift to it. I started to feel like I wasn%26#39;t really enjoying anything wholeheartedly, rather just keeping my eye on my watch and stressing about making it to the next thing...sort of collecting %26quot;sights.%26quot;
Since you have a short time, maybe you can take advantage of some late opening times; for instance, the Louvre is open late Wed. night. Also, you can go to the Eiffel Tower in the late afternoon, then take a Fat Tire Bike Tour of the city right from the South Pillar - it%26#39;s a fun way to meet people and see some sights in an adventurous way. It includes a bateau mouche ride on the Seine and a stop for an ice cream at Bertillon (best I%26#39;ve ever had...), too. My daughter (17) and I (51) did it and had a blast. Maybe you could do that on the Tuesday night.
Get a 2-day Paris Museum Pass, to avoid wasting time in lines. Plan your days carefully so you don%26#39;t waste time going back and forth from one end of the city to the other. Go the crowded sights early or late to avoid lines.
Whatever you decide to do, try to fit in some time in a sidewalk cafe or picnic in a park on the Pont des Arts. MIght be your best memory!
Have fun!
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you have a very short time -- so to capture the charm of Paris you need to know what kinds of things you want to do -- balance is good -- a church here, a museum there, a walk in the park here, a cafe there
I wouldn%26#39;t try to cover so much geographic territory -- e.g. Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Montmartre are all far from each other -- build a day around a part of town and give yourself some time to stroll around, sit at a cafe -- catch an interesting shop or museum
get an insight guide or other very accessible picture guide and figure out what YOU find attractive -- and organize it around parts of town
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MeCindyLou makes an excellent case and my views are very similar. As for the Louvre: when we went for our first time in Paris I knew I wanted to see my %26quot; Big Four%26quot;: Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and Hammurabi%26#39;s Code%26quot;. We got there at opening time, flashed our Museum Passes, and saw all four in 2 hours. We meant to come back later for a more extensive tour but there were so many other diversions we didn%26#39;t make it back (returning next month to remedy that oversight).
I know you can%26#39;t %26quot;see%26quot; the Louvre in 2 hours. But you can see your own Big Four and on short trips you may find that your particular needs are well met by a targeted %26quot;attack%26quot; like this.
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Oops, I meant to say a picnic in a park OR on the Pont des Arts...sorry to be confusing with the typo!
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You have a similar amount of time in Paris to what I did and I saw heaps. I arrived from a week in Grenoble so I hit the ground running.
I would really recommend St Chapelle, it%26#39;s on the I%26#39;le de la Cite and an easy walk to Notre Dame so do those 2 on the same day. The upper chapel just has walls of stained glass - amazing.
At ND take the walk up to the top of the towers. I loved this, not so much for the view but to see all the details in the carvings on the church - it%26#39;s like nothing we have in Sydney. There was a bit of a line when I was there but I grabbed a Crepe from across the street and ate it while in line - kills 2 birds with one stone.
If you want to do these two and the Eiffel Tower later in the day then the Batobus is a good way to get around. This is a hop on hop off ferry and lets you see Paris from the river while transporting you to the various sites you want to see. There are 8 stops including Notre Dame, Louvre, Champ Ellyses and Eiffel Tower. They come every 15 - 20 mins.
I walked from the Louvre through the gardens to the Place de la Concorde and then up the Champ Ellyses to the Arc de Triomphe. This was on a thursday evening which is late night shopping (shops open til 10pm). I wanted to see the ET all lit up so I climbed to the top of the Arc to watch the light show. This was good because, again, it combined two things: the arc and the ET at night and also my shopping spree.
Anyway,that%26#39;s just a couple of the things I did that I thought were really good. If you want more info let me know.
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Those are great suggestions. We also waited in line for the Notre Dame Tower climb, which is really worthwhile. If you get there early, like 15 minutes before it opens, you may avoid the wait, but if you can%26#39;t, and you want to munch while in line, there are all kinds of take-out options very close by around the Rue de la Huchette.
We also combined the Louvre - Tuileries - Place de la Concorde - Champs d-Elysees-Arc de Triomphe, arriving at the Arc de Triomphe just before sunset. We even squeezed in an hour or so for the Orangerie (at the edge of the Tuileries Gardens, right next to the Place de la Concorde). If you like Monet, I think you%26#39;d enjoy his waterlily panels here. They were done especially for the space they occupy and they are stunning; two large oval rooms where you are surrounded by huge canvases.
If you want to have an unobstructed view of the ET light show from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, try to find a spot on that side before it starts and people crowd over to that side.
I brought a small pair of binoculars, and they came in really handy for %26quot;reading%26quot; the beautiful stained glass panels of Sainte-Chapelle.
Right next to Sainte-Chapelle is the Conciergerie - an infamous prison during the French Revolution. If you have the Paris Museum Pass, admission here is included. You might enjoy a quick stop if time permits. They have some Revolution exhibits, including a reconstruction of Marie Antoinette%26#39;s cell.
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Thanks
everyone for the great suggestions, t
hey have helped a lot!
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I knew this would happen if I started reading posts after I got home. MECindy has just mentioned something I didn%26#39;t see - the Monets.
Oh well, now I%26#39;ll definitely have to go back. I really can%26#39;t see any other option (lol).
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Do yourselves a favour and buy some guidebooks, and read them. We all have our favourites in Paris, but this is not our trip you are asking about - so do your research - Google is great, bur it really needs to be used in conjunction with guidebooks.
Paris has, probably, the greatest number of out of the main stream, odd topic museums in the world. There may be one or two of those you would be interested in seeing. They don%26#39;t all make all guidebooks, which is why I used the plural in the first place. If there is one of those that interests you, you should see it in Paris, you probably won%26#39;t find another no matter where else you go.
Beyond that - you probably don%26#39;t need to devote a whole day to the Louvre - and if you leave early enough to be at Versailles when it opens, you won%26#39;t need to devote a whole day there, either. Tour the palace first, then spend as much time as you wish in the gardens. Giverney is closed until the beginning of April, so you%26#39;ll have to go to the Orangerie to see Monet%26#39;s water lillies if his work interests you.
If you%26#39;re interested in the Impressionists, go to the Musee d%26#39;Orsay as soon as it opens. Go immediately to the top floor and view the Impressionists%26#39; work and then make your way back to the main floor seeing whichever things interest you.
You%26#39;ll be able to get more information when you have had a chance to make a start on an itinerary. Get back to us then. We%26#39;re really good when you need hard info and advice. Some of the posters on this forum are such experts, they should write books on touring in Paris.
Enjoy your research - it%26#39;s really fun to prepare for your trip.
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