First trip to Europe, going to Paris for 4 days and I%26#39;m in charge of itinerary! We are a young married couple, early 30%26#39;s. We want to hit the big stuff, but have a fun, romantic and memorable time - please help! We have a 2 day museum pass and are staying at the hotel du cadran (close to eiffel tower). I tried to do things by location, and we need more night life ideas.
Day 1 - arrive around 10AM - I bet we will be tired. All i have on this day is a fat tire bike tour and eiffel tower?
Night 1- Bercy Village? Read about it in rick steves%26#39;
Day 2 - North/Northwest Paris - Monmarte, Sacre Couer, Opera Garnier/shopping
Night 2- Seine cruise.
Day 3 - Activate Museum Pass. Louve (famous walk from Louvre to Champs) Orsay, %26amp; Notre Dame
Night 3- Crazy Horse cabaret (reco by friend)
Day 4 - Versailles 1/2 Day Trip with museum pass and any last museumes we missed.
Thanks in advance, did we miss anything big? Would you skip anything? Any suggestions? THANKS!!!!
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Hello,
About Montmartre and Sacre Coeur, the last time I read, the funiculaire that takes you from the bottom of Montmartre to the Sacre Coeur area is down, and so it%26#39;s more than 200 stair steps!
About the Louvre Museum and the Musee d%26#39;Orsay, unless you really have specific ideas of what and which areas of those museums to visit, I can%26#39;t see how you can visit both of those in the same day.
Also, there are so many museums, big and small, to visit in Paris. To make a choice would all depend on what you like and want to see!
and when are you planning on coming to Paris?
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Hi there, you sound just like my wife and I. We%26#39;re early 30%26#39;s people, just married and spent our honeymoon in Paris for 4 days, then headed to Italy this past Feb.
This was our itinerary. We didn%26#39;t feel one bit rushed and there was plenty of time each day to do things here and there(including shopping, as you have down). If you walk, you will get to experience the neighborhoods and Parisian life.
Day 1(we arrived at our hotel around 10am also)
Arc de Triomphe / Champs-Elysee
Evening: Eiffel Tower(went to the top)
Day 2: Centre Pompidou(visited outside only), Basilique du Sacre-Coeur(walked from our hotel near Arc de Triomphe)
Evening: Dinner Cruise along the Siene River(not the best of food but good. Also very romantic) You get to see many of the Parisian mounments lit up.
Day 3: Lourve(about 4 hours here) / Walked along the Quays of the Seine / Pont Neuf / Cathedrale Notre-Dame
Evening: Moulin Rouge(great show, mix of Vegas showgirls and Cirque de Solei)
Day 4: We planned for Versailles but they went on strike. We played it by ear and ended up visiting the Pantheon and Hotel Invalides(Napolean%26#39;s Tomb).
Evening: we took a trip into Venice
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willemchea
How did you go to Venice. I am also making a trip from Paris to Venice in August and trying to decide on Night train, or go by air, looks like Ryan Air is cheap.
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I would skip Bercy Village. To me, it was just like being in a suburban US strip mall!
Do the Eiffel Tower the first evening - first, because it%26#39;s absolutely amazing (and incredibly romantic) to see the twinkling lights at night; and second, because from the top of the Eiffel Tower you can really get an excellent idea of the layout of the city, which helps you figure out where you are over the next three days!
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JadepearlToronto,
We took the overnight train. It was actually quite comfortable and both my wife and I slept well. It%26#39;s not the biggest of rooms(we did book a private sleeper). It was about $600+. It was something we wanted to try out, and we have no regrets.
You%26#39;ll get strong opinions on both flying by cheap local airlines or by train. Me personally, I took the train because the overnight train leaves in the evening. It gave my wife and I one whole day in Paris.
At the train station, 2nd floor(Gare Lyon for overnight trains), we found a private lounge for overnight train guests that are booked in private sleepers. VERY clean, complimentary drinks, we ended up eating our food in there.
From my own research, the local airfares are cheap but there are taxes and fees that are tacked on, making it a little more costly. Plus, you might loose out on time with airport procedures. The overnight is your hotel and transportation so hence, the higher cost.
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IMO the best low cost options for getting from Paris to Venice are the italian budget airline, MyAir and the Spanish budget airline, Vueling. Unlike Ryanair they actually fly from *real* Paris airports to Marco Polo, not from the middle of nowhere to Treviso. IIRC they have much more liberal baggage allowances than Ryanair and they do not expect passengers to pay for the privilege of being allowed to place a suitcase in the baggage hold.
www.myair.com
By the time you have paid for accommodation with reasonable privacy and modest comfort on the train it is not a low-cost option as the previous post indicates.
Still, if the night train floats your boat...
(OK, that was bad. I apologiz.)
If I wanted to make the trip by train I would do it in two days via Geneva or Lausanne and Milan, spending the night in either Montreux or Martigny. There is some splendid scenery along this route and both the Swiss towns are worth a visit.
www.myair.com
www.vueling.com
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10:00 AM arrival from Chicago? I%26#39;ll bet you have more endurance than you give yourself credit for! My 1st trip - same age, 9:00 AM arrival @ CDG (expect 2 to 2-1/2 hours to clear customs, gather baggage, arrange transport, check into hotel), we stayed at Best Western Derby Eiffel (wasn%26#39;t ready to explore due to jet-lag from L.A. until 2:00 PM) - in the same neighborhood. Easy enough to visit the Eiffel Tower, but I wouldn%26#39;t want to peddle myself into the ground on a Fat Bike Tour on the first day.
I see you read Rick Steves%26#39;.............
Settle into your hotel (shower/wash if you need to wake yourself up) and stroll Champs du Mars toward Eiffel Tower (tres romantique! - not covered by Museum pass). Take Seine River cruise to Notre Dame, decide if you feel up to more %26quot;explorations%26quot; or just want to find a cafe to sit down in and absorb the Parisian %26quot;ambiance%26quot;. Have dinner, Metro back to the 7th and %26quot;crash%26quot; at a slightly earlier than normal %26quot;local%26quot; time to adjust for any jet-lag. Other options, the military museum at Invalides (including Napoleon%26#39;s tomb and a great military museum), or the Rodin Museum for romantic bronze sculpture (google %26quot;the kiss%26quot; - also tres romatique!).
I love Rick Steves, but Bercy seems a bit out of the normal tourist circuit, and w/ only 4 days, you want to hit the %26quot;greatest hits%26quot; right?.
Use day 2 %26amp; 3 for your museum pass
I%26#39;d spend Day 2 w/ Notre Dame %26amp; St. Chappelle (%26amp; Concergerie - if you are interesed in Marie Antoinette). If you have a lot of energy, check out Musee D%26#39;Orsay in the afternoon for it%26#39;s collection of impressionist works. Any remaining time can be spent in the Latin Quarter (including Cluny Museum) or you can stroll th Luxumbourg Gardens.
Day 3, (Louvre is closed on Tuesdays) include Rick Steve%26#39;s Louvre iPod download from iTunes music store (free). I myself did not like it, I found it disjointed (it follows its%26#39; own agenda - I got lost using it) - I%26#39;d rent the audioguides instead so that wherever you go, the commentary applies to the work of are you are viewing (not so w/ the Rick Steeves audioguide). Allow 2-3 hour for the Louvre and you are left the afternoon of the 3rd day to explore the Latin Quarter, take the Rick Steeve%26#39;s Marias walk, etc........ Or you could explore the Place de Concorde, Tuilleries and stroll west towards the Champs Elysee %26amp; Arc de Triomphe. Wander off the main streets and find a good restaurant somewhere in the 8th Arrondisement near the Arc de Triomphe.
Skip Crazy Horse %26amp; Moulin Rouge on night 3, overpriced entertainement/food - despite your friend%26#39;s reccomendation - go to Vegas and see Cirque du Soleil, (even if you read Rick Steves%26#39;) use the money you would have spent on these overpriced tourist-traps on a good dinner.
I%26#39;ve said this in several posts - %26quot;Versailles is not worth the TIME for a 3-4 day Paris trip%26quot;. I love Versailles - I want to go every time I%26#39;m in Paris, it just takes me most of the day to RER to Versailles, tour the Grand Apartments (no guided tours of the other Apartments included) see the Gardens/Trianons%26#39;/Hamaeu, etc, without getting back to Paris by 2:00-3:30 no matter how quickly I try. On only 3-4 days, I would concentrate on Paris, there%26#39;s plenty to see/do. But on your 4th/last day, if you really, really want to go, I%26#39;d go to Versailes then.
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Just a quick note on Versailles. If you are fortunate to visit on a sunny day, the outdoor gardens are strikingly beautiful for strolling and enjoying quiet time. However, portions of the palace facade and some of the interior spaces are currently undergoing major renovation. The hall of mirrors was a bit of a mess with scaffolding (and sharpie marks on the mirrors!), and the large central exterior courtyard nearest the palace is off-limits due to a construction project. Most other rooms were intact and lovely. We visited on a Tuesday at 1PM and the wait to get inside was at least an hour long - and we had museum passes! However, when we were leaving at 4PM, there were absolutely no lines and the sunlight was sensational. Perhaps arriving later in the day (3PM?) might help avoid the tourist crush. This would still give you a solid 3 hour visit. The RER train from the Invalides metro station took 35 minutes and was easy.
Musee D%26#39;Orsay was a highlight, but they aren%26#39;t kidding when they say the galleries start closing 30-45 minutes before the museum closes. They nearly pushed us out the door!
St. Chappelle is certainly gorgeous and worthy of a visit. Go later in the day to get the full effect of sunlight on the windows. The Conciergerie is right next door and worth about a 30 minute visit if you have spare time - but it is more creepy than romantic.
The Rodin museum is a special place worth a compact 2 hour visit. It is very well maintained, in a conveneint location and the gardens are romantic.
Montmarte is spectacular. The night scene here is something you%26#39;ll want to check out. The top of the hill has been somewhat marred by kitschy touristy shops and restaurants, but the narrow twisting streets and views can%26#39;t be beat. The lower area near the Abbesses Metro stop has a more %26quot;real%26quot; feel that was enjoyable. The funicular was closed as of April 3, not sure when it will be fixed. Walking up the hill really isn%26#39;t that rough.
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Sounds like you know what you want to see and do!
You will love Crazy Horse.... just the show no dinner !
There is a bus to take you up to Sacre Coure so if you don%26#39;t want to walk don%26#39;t worry.
You will love Versailles and it can be done in 1/2 a day.
Are you going late night to the Louvre? If so you will have time to see the highlights.
Have a great time use your plan as a guide and take time to just sit in one of the parks if the weather is nice or a cafe.
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Irish Rover,
I just checked Vueling and myair for Paris to Rome
vueling goes out of CGD and total 165 Euros for three (flies out at 6:45 a.m.
myair goes out of Orly total 197 Euros for three (flies out at 9:40 a.m. , more reasonable time)
Is this reasonable, much cheaper than the night train fares mentioned by others.
Do you recommend one airline over another?
Should I book now for August travel or wait a little?
Thanks
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