My teenage daughter and her friend are traveling to Pairs in June of this year. What advice is there to give for sightseeing and buying tickets to places like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre ahead of time?
Second, can she buy an international phone there, or would it be better to buy one before her trip?
Should they take a mixture of cash and credit cards both?
Is the Metro, or the buses the best way to travel?? More questions to come
Worried Father
Trip to Paris
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1. She can get a Museum Pass, if that's what she wants, when she's in Paris. Smartest thing to do is pick one up at a museum nearby where she's staying at the end of a day and validate it for the day she wants to start visiting museums. She can also get one at FNAC.
2. The Eiffel Tower has issues with elevator construction now - waits can be insanely long. Have her look into that before she buys a ticket. Only one elevator is working for the foreseeable future, which can mean she'll have 3+-hour wait to get on it.
3. She can buy a cheap quadband,unlocked phone on e-bay ahead of time and then get a SIM card for it once in Paris (at Lebara, Orange, and other places). I think Lebara lets you get one online ahead of time that's a bargain.
4. No need to bring cash - bad idea. She should have a credit card for big expenses and a debit card to get cash for daily expenses out of an ATM once she gets there. She should let her card holders know ahead of time that she's going to be in Europe making foreign transactions.
5. She should use the métro and buses and RER, and know what it's all about ahead of time: www.ratp.fr explains it all.
She and her friend should get the Let's Go Student guide and look at the Thorn Tree section of the Lonely Planet website. They also need good street maps of Paris - with major sights and metro stations marked as well as a map of the Metro.
But - they should assume they will be doing a LOT of walking - many miles per day. So comfy shoes and a sturdy folding umbrella are the things they need most. Also they should practice their basic French If they have none there's plenty of time to learn a little - when we took our daughters to paris part of what they enjoyed most was that they could do thngs on their own and practice their French at the same time.
They need credit cards and an ATM card to pull more cash for walking around money. If they want to start out with 100 euros they can simply get them at the bureau de change in their departure airport. Carrying a lot of money is NOT a good idea.