maureenw

We will be renting a condo or apartment in Paris. Any suggestions for the best neighborhoods in which to stay? Thanks.
Maureen

opaldog

My favorite arrondisement is the 4th, Marais. I have also stayed in the 3rd which is considered the northern Marais. We have stayed in apartments as well as hotels. We prefer apartments, however.

tod

Maureenw - that depends. Is it your first, or 10th visit?
First visit - stay in the 5th or 6th, close to most major attraction except the Iron Lady. It's crammed day and night with tourists and I suppose in a strange kind of way, offers up some excitement.
For travellers with a more decerning taste, the 7th is a good choice. Close to the Eiffel Tower and numerous restaurants but without that closed in feeling you experience on say Blvd. St Germain.
Its all a question of experiences in Paris. We for instance have chosen the 11th arr. to rent an apartment. Simply don't need the crowds any longer.....

Michel_Paris

Agree for a first timer, 5th/6th and 4th would be fine. More bustling areas, good access to sites, plenty of restaurants, etc..These are the tourist areas, and as such, you may pay a bit more.

I've not heard of condo rentals.

VRBO is one good site to look at.

Christina

I haven't heard of condo rentals in Paris, either, nor that they even have them. I think I have heard of those vacation-type timeshare things in Paris, you might call that a condo. they are all out in the burbs, I think. But if they have condos in Paris, they would like just like a regular vacation apt. rental, anyway.

I would say the 4th through 7th arrondisement would be pretty foolproof in terms of places to look for a first-timer. If you don't know what that means, an arrondisement is the French term for a particular section of the city (ie, district, whatever) and is notated by that postal code. 4th arr. has postal code 75004, 5th has 75005. 4-7 are most central (1-3 are also, I think 1-2 more business-y than others, 3 would be okay probably but you'd probably like the others better).