3 days in Paris with Mother and Wife
 

First time in Paris and travelling with Wife and Mother. Getting into Paris on 25th October for 3 nights. Need your suggestions please on the following:

1. Best way to travel around the city - do we buy a 3 days travel pass or just use the tube and bus and pay for point to point connections
2. Paris Attractions - Do we buy Paris Pass/Museum Pass as not getting good reviews about it or just get to the places and buy tickets. Its end of October so hoping shorter lines
3. Day trips to Loire Valley and/or Versailles - since we are staying in Paris for 3 days only, we can do only 1.
4. B&B - which part of Paris should we stay that can offer budget B&Bs but close to most of the attractions. Any suggestions on a good B&B that is friendly to old age visitors?

Additionally, my mother is flying to Germany after the Paris trip and we are planning to go to Lyon for 2 nights. Any suggestions on Lyon and day trips to Monaco and Cannes?

Would appreciate any other ideas and suggestions. :)

1. I would buy carnets of metro/bus tickets, available at any tabac. Mom okay with the Metro? Walks can be long and there are often steps.

2. This may or may not be cost effective, depends on number of museums you intend to see and days of the week you'll be in Paris. I doubt it is worth it for you.

3. I would not do either with only 3 days but if you really want to, probably Versailles.

4. B&Bs aren't very common in Paris but there are many good, clean, reasonable small hotels. What is your budget? Several threads on here have lists of good hotels but if you provde a budget, we can help you narrow choices.

Day trips from Lyon to Monaco or Cannes? This doesn't make sense, why are you going to Lyon?

1. Buy a carnet - a book of ten tickets good for bus or metro.

2. Don't buythe Paris pass. Museum passes work most effectively and economically if you plan to visit a number of museums. Don't bother if you plan to visit only one or two. The major benefit of a museum pass is to allow you to bypass lines.

3. With only 3 days, stay in Paris.

4. Can't understand day trips to Monaco and Cannes from Lyon. I wouldn't recommend visitin either. Not sure why you chose Lyon unless because of the wonderful food. If you want to see the Riviera, go there instead of Lyon. Nice would be my recommendation.

Going to Lyon (without Mom)as a friend stays there (and can provide accommodation) and next destination is Geneva which is closest to Lyon. But going to Lyon is really not that important. Heard a lot about Monaco and Cannes, so was just wondering. If we dont go to Lyon, please suggest what we can do for 2 additional nights before we depart for Geneva.

If you don't go to Lyon, stay longer in Paris, a day trip or two then makes more sense, then head from Paris to Geneva.

Lyon to see your friend is also fine, it's just the idea of doing Cannes or Monaco as a day trip from there that doesn't make sense. Without looking it up, I believe the train from Lyon to Nice is over 4 hours each way, then another hour to get to either Cannes or Monaco, neither of which is as interesting as Nice, my opinion.

Annecy makes sense as a day trip from Lyon or stop on the way to Geneva. If the weather is good, it's gorgeous and a nice town even if cloudy.

1. I've never heard of a 3 day travel pass so you'll have to give some information on this. I would buy a carnet - 10 metro tickets. BTW - it's called the metro, in case you have to ask for directions, not the tube.

2. Paris Pass is very expensive and over rated. As to the Museum Pass - you'll have to do the math and see if you're visiting enough museums to make it worth the expense. You can buy 2 or 4 days passes (consecutive days) but not 3 day museum passes. October may not mean shorter lines since the city does not shut down after the summer; lots of people travel to Paris all year long plus people live there and visit museums. You can book tickets in advance for most museums by going to their web sites.

3. I would not take a day from your short 3 days in Paris to leave the city. If you feel you need to do this then visit Versailles as it's close to Paris. The Loire is a very long day trip.

4. There are very few B&Bs in Paris and they may not be close to attractions. You'll have to search for some and determine if they suit. I can't think of any B&Bs although I do know they exist. Most people stay in hotels for a 3 day trip.

Monaco & Cannes - I can't imagine a day trip where you're spending 8 hours traveling back and forth but it's your trip. Lyon for 2 nights is only 1 day plus part of another day - not much time.

Why not stay in Paris and do Lyon as a day trip - 2 hours each way.

There is a 3 day Paris Visite travel pass, but those tourist transportation passes are not usually good value for most people.

B&Bs are generally unregulated in Paris, I believe, I wouldn't stay in one for that reason, because it may be illegal. I don't really understand why people want B&Bs, but Paris real estate is generally too expensive for people to be running rooming houses and having extra rooms in their homes, people live in small apartments. There is probably something advertises on airbnb or whatever. HEre is one website of them, though http://www.parisbandb.com/

After reading the general information on the B&B site that Christina gave, I think you would be better off at a hotel where there is a desk clerk to offer assistance, given that this is your first trip to Paris and you'll be there for such a short time.

If you decide to go the B&B route then ask about elevators if you have difficulty with stairs. Not all old buildings in Paris offer elevators and some that do, have them starting on the first floor (the floor above the ground floor) so some stair climbing is required.

The best way to navigate the City is by Metro or on foot. As suggested, I would recommend purchasing 10 metro tickets at a time so you don't have to stop at the kiosk every trip. Also know that the metro ticket is good for multi train transfers. Keep your ticket until you exit your destination station - it's your proof of purchase. There are hefty fines for no proof of purchase, so keep that in mind. Also understand that the metro is very physical with multi levels of stairs with very few elevators. It can be physically demanding for older folks, if that the case with your mother.

I wouldn't advise purchasing the museum pass since the only selling feature is to bypass the lines, but that is somewhat misleading since the long lines are generally the security lines which you can't bypass. So bottom line, you still have to go through security to get to the ticket line. There is no prices savings.

3 days in Paris will only leave you wanting more and the desire to plan another trip...there is so much to do: eat, shop, museums, 20 districts to explore - it's endless! With limited number of days, hit the museums & tourist points first thing when they open. The City doesn't wake up until 11am, so if you can hit the museums right when they open, you'll have the museum to yourselves & bypass those lines/crowds. I wouldn't advise visiting more than one museum a day, it's too overwhelming and pretty soon you find yourself saying, "oh, another masterpiece, let's move on..."

B&B do exist, but as others have suggested, you made need assistance from reception staff to make dinner reservations, call a taxi or make general recommendations. They know their City and they love sharing some best local places. I would suggest staying in the core districts {1-6} since your time is so limited. This will allow you to literally walk out your hotel door and instantly experience Paris, as apposed to staying on the outer areas that would require metro travel into the sites.

Paris is a large city that requires preplanning and a good detailed map like the Paris par arrondissement by Michelin. To get the most of your time, I would suggest organizing your days by district.

Bon chance et mon journée!

Hi everyone. Plan changed a little bit and now Mother is not travelling. So wife and myself only. I would be okay paying $100 per night and would prefer being close to city center attractions. Please suggest a place.

That's only E73 per night. I don't know any in the center. Even Hotel St. Andre des Arts is E98 for a double. You can try Hotel Port Royal in the southern part of the 5th. You can get a room there for your budget if you don't want an ensuite room.

http://www.hotelportroyal.fr/english...ion/index2.htm

We've had good luck with airbnb.com in Paris, and I recently found tons of inexpensive 2-person options in city center. You'd be on your own, of course, but would have a kitchen.

For instance, and bear in mind I can't vouch for these but they are well reviewed:

www.airbnb.com/rooms/246714
and
www.airbnb.com/rooms/952536

I read the reviews carefully, look at the map and photos.

stokebailey - the first one is above the OP's budget and the second one is not available for his dates.

Both the airbnb rooms seem to have been taken. And the Hotel port Royal seems to be fine in location but Agoda says over $240 per night. Any other suggestions please.

I have a booking for the following Hotels. Can you please suggest on the two:

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/obod...-blockdisplay4

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/eiff...GMN6X7Gie9roAt

First one, booked 5 nights for 350 Euro
Second one, booked 3 nights for 405 Euro

I'd go for the first one, but that's because I love Belleville as an area. I see there's a Velib station just outside. Fabulous!

I like the 15th too, but Belleville is nicer, in my very personal opinion. Better served by metro too. And it's the better deal financially.

And also, I'd grab all the days I could, and then take a train to Geneva.

Can anyone please tell me why the following website is not allowing me to purchase the Passport tickets for 28th October?

http://billetterie.chateauversailles...-lgen-pg1.html

Palace is not open on Mondays.

Then how about Sundays. Its not allowing me to choose 27th either

<< And the Hotel port Royal seems to be fine in location but Agoda says over $240 per night. >>

You're looking at the wrong hotel. Use the link I gave.