grneyed78

We will be arriving at 6:30 a.m. from Florida May 5. What is the best way to squeeze in a little bit of it all? (Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, 1st level of Louvre, shops, maybe Versailles)
We are staying at the Hotel de Neuville in a residential district, 5 minutes from Porte Champerret. What can we do at night, that will allow us to safely navigate back to our hotel? I am 26, and the others in the group (4 total) are early 30's.
After Paris, we catch a plane to Venice and continue our vacation throughout Italy (FLorence, Positano and Rome).
Thanks for your ideas!

crefloors

Just my opinion but I think getting the Hop on Hop off bus would be a good way to get around, get to the major sites and not waste a lot of time looking for things. Wandering around and getting lost is a very charming activity if you have the time to spare but it sounds like you want to do quite a bit with limited time and I'm guessing, but I get the feeling you haven't been to Paris before?

grneyed78

It will be a first for all of us. What is the "Hop on Hop off bus"? Excuse my stupity, but is that a pass of some sort or a figure of speech?

keb0503

the hop on/off bus is a tour bus (double decker) that you can get a two day pass for. it's called l'open tour and here is the website.
http://www.paris-opentour.com/en/open.htm
i will be there for 2 weeks in june and plan to do this. i took one in london and thought it was great.

Robespierre

See also my d.i.y. alternative to the €24 buses:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568214