23 hours in Paris... What area to stay in?
 

Hello! We have a long layover in Paris on the way back from a Southern Italy trip next August and are trying to figure out the best neighborhood to stay in for easy access to/from the airport and sightseeing. We have been to Paris before and have seen all the "biggies" so this time around I think our sightseeing list includes the Orsay, the very tip top of the Eiffel Tower ( didn't spend the money to go all the way up last time and have regretted it since) and a fabulous dinner. We arrive at about 11:30am into Orly and leave 10:30am out of CDG. Any suggestions for the best area to accomodate all of that? We would prefer to take public transport to/from the airports. Thanks!

Stay in a central area. Based on your list, probably the 6th would be most convenient.

You might also want to consider staying on the Right Bank around Trocadero (the eastern edge of the 16th).

Given you are arriving at one end and leaving the other, it doesn't really matter much, no area is convenient to both.

The only issue is if you mean you want to take light rail (RER) to the airport, you should pick a hotel near an RER stop. At least I wouldn't want to fool around transfering on the metro with luggage to get to the RER. So that pretty much limits you to the Latin Quarter, I'd suggest near the Luxembourg RER stop as I think it is more pleasant there than around St Michel RER stop. There aren't many hotels right near the Port Royal, but actually there is one not too far to the west which would work, the Novanox. http://www.hotelnovanox.com/en/

That's a nice area. But it really depends what you mean about public transportation. The Air France shuttle buses (which are open to anyone and cost a bit more) leave from Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse and somewhere near Invalides, I think. But there are plenty of hotels near train stations. Then there is the Roissybus which only goes to/from the Opera, and there are plenty of hotels there, also. But you can't get there from Orly. The Cars Air France do go to Montparnasse from both airports, however.

http://www.lescarsairfrance.com/en.html

I like Christina's suggestion of staying within walking distance of the Luxembourg RER making it easy to arrive and depart.

There are all kinds of hotels in the area at all price levels. Pull up Paris with Google Maps. Zoom in on the Luxembourg area... erase 'Paris' from the location bar of your browser, type in `hotel` and hit enter. You'll get all kinds of results in red... most will be clickable and will have a link to the hotel's own websites.

Thanks for the latin quarter idea. If we were to do that, what is the best way to get there from Orly? It looks like taking a taxi might not be that much more once you factor in the Air France bus to somewhere downtown and then the subway to the Latin Quarter ( there are 2 of us)

We are arriving at about noon on a Saturday at the end of August if that makes a difference. Thanks!

We took Orlyval to RERB. Very easy and it cost 11 euros. We got off at St. Michel in the Latin Quarter. Taxi is 35 euros.

Was the total 11 euros each? Or was that for just the RER?

I would stay on rue de Rivoli or close by, so you can walk to Orsay and take the 72 bus down to the Eiffel Tower. You will see all the wonderful sights along the way (Concorde, Petit Palais, etc.) and if you get off at Bir Hakeim bridge and walk across, then down to the Eiffel Tower, you will get the best views and photos of the tower!

The total was 10 euros 90 for Orlyval and RER. It was very easy. We just paid once and it coverd both trains.

Just to confirm. That was 10 euros 90 for each person to get from Orly to St. Michel.