Favorite district of Paris to stay and why
 

Thanks for the hotel information. Now I guess I have a more fundamental question (probably should have asked this first!)<BR>What is your favorite district of Paris to stay in, and why? My travel mate was in Paris about ten years ago and thinks we should stay in the Montmartre area, and I have heard good things about the Contrescarpe area. We will only be in Paris for 2 nights and want to see as much as we can. I have heard tht the area close to the Molin Rouge is a bit rough, but is all of Montmartre that way? We would like an area close to attractions, plus a bit of nightlife wouldn't hurt! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - hotels included!

I recently stayed in the Latin Quarter and loved the location. It was just a short walk from Notre Dame and a few more blocks to the Louvre and lots of shopping. <BR><BR>I don't know much about the areas you mention except that I visited Sacre Coeur and loved the area and the view from that neighborhood. You can virtually be anywhere in a short time using the metro.<BR><BR>

Have stayed in both areas recently and I loved them both.<BR><BR>We stayed in the 5th in March and spent St. Patrick's day in Place Contrescarpe, which was a hoot. I love the fifth and especially the Place--very atmospheric, very Kieszlowski, despite the Haagen Daz store.<BR><BR>We stayed in Montmarte on a previous trip, at my husband's urging. I was a little hesitant, as I had a bad experience in that area when I was in high school (in fact, the memory of it kept me from going back to Paris for almost 20 years). But I was proved wrong. We stayed quite near the Abbesses metro stop and enjoyed the cafes there (especially Le Sancerre). We spent most of our Montmartre time on the quieter back streets, away from the Place du Tertre. (Although you must brave the crowds for an evening or twilight walk to Sacre Coeur, the view of Paris at dusk is soooo beautiful.<BR><BR>Even though we stayed on the rue Lepic, just around the corner from the Moulin Rouge, we found it quite easy to avoid the rougher element that can be found on the Boulevard and around the Pigalle and Blanche metro stations.

I won't go into my favorite district because it wouldn't be that appropriate for a first-timer with only a couple days. I think you should obviously stay close to the central area where the main tourist attractions are just for convenience. Also, people in that area are used to tourists so language won't be an issue, and they are generally nice areas. I think 4th-7th arr. would all be fine.<BR><BR>There are rough or not-so-nice parts of Montmartre and the area around Moulin Rouge isn't the only part; in fact, other parts are probably worse IMO -- it's just that people seem to specifically ask about that particular area (in terms of going to a show there or I guess a few hotels recently from packages or something), so that's why you've probably read posts saying it's not so nice around there. There are certainly nicer areas of Montmartre, but there aren't as many hotels in them (they are more residential), I like the area around Caulincourt metro. It's just that it is a somewhat inconvenient location, so I don't think you'd want to stay there anyway if you are only there two nights.<BR><BR>I think the Contrescarpe area is great and it's much more convenient than Montmartre, as would be almost all of St-Germain and the 7th just west of St-Germain and then around the Eiffel Tower/rue Cler. Lots of folks like the Ile St-Louis or Marais, also.

Any opinion on the 10th arr. I have been looking into hotels there. It seems to be a good location for the transportation from the airport What about the area?

You might read this Fodor's thread about the 10th:<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...=2&tid=6396103

I love the Marais. The part we stay in is very quiet. There is a lovely little plaza, Place St. Catherine, with cafes and bistros. Around 7pm the area starts to fill up with locals having drinks and dinner later. There are many small musees;Carnavalet, Conacq-Jay,Victor Hugo, Picasso just to list a few. The Place des Vosges is close and also the Bastille. The Rue de Rivoli and Rue St. Antoine are great shopping streets but there are many small streets to explore. Have a wonderful trip no matter where you stay!

I went to Paris for the first time last year and had a fantastic experience staying in St. Germaine. It is more of a "real life" neighborhood than some of the more business centered and tourist driven areas we saw on the Right bank -- less formal, and more day to day, which was nice. Also less expensive, great restaurants and within walking distance to pretty much everything (Louvre, Notre Dame, etc.) We stayed at a small two star hotel (The Regent Hotel) which is located on a residential street, just two or three blocks from the Luxembourg Gardens -- one of my most favorite Paris spots. There are two Paris hotels with similar names, but the other is a 3- or 4-star I believe. Traveling on the theory that we wanted to spend more money on food, wine, and things to bring home than on a hotel where we would spend very little time, this was a perfect hotel choice. It was not fancy, but clean, had huge bathrooms, comfortable beds and was priced very, very reasonably. I found it through an article in National Geographic Traveler on 25 hotels in Paris for under $100 a night -- it included hotels in several areas, several of which book up months in advance. Worth looking into!! If you stay there, be sure to ask for a room toward the back -- there is a school next door and the street noise and children chatter are sleep busters.<BR><BR>As for Monmartre, don't miss Sacre Couer -- it is truly amazing -- but you can take the metro there easily and stay in much nicer, safer, cleaner areas. With the exception of visiting Sacre Couer (skipped Molin Rouge), we didn't spend any time in that area in 10 days. Because Paris is such a walkable city, it would probably be much more fun to stay closer to the center of town to have better access to a broader variety the things you'll want to see and do.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip!! You'll love Paris!!