Notagoose

Hi there - I could use your expertise on an upcoming trip. We'll be in Paris for the first time in late April, and I'm trying to make sure I maximize our time while not cramming in so much that we can't enjoy any of it.

Some background - This is the last stop on a 4 city tour (Amsterdam, Brugge and London and then Paris). We'll arrive on the Eurostar at around 3pm on a Thursday from London. We've rented an apartment in the 2nd arrondissement, off rue Montorgueil.

We intend to buy 4 day Museum Passes, which we'll have to use from the Friday to the Monday, as Tuesday is a major holiday and most attractions are closed (May Day).

Here's what I came up with as a tentative itinerary:

Thursday - arrival around 3pm. Get settled in, poke around neighbourhood, perhaps check out the Eiffel tower by night and take an evening cruise on the Seine. (no intention to actually go up the Eiffel tower..just look around, take some photos when the lights come on)

Friday - go up the Arc de Triomphe - stroll the Champs Elysees -visit the Louvre in the evening

Saturday - d'Orsay - Orangerie - Invalides - check out the daytime view of the Eiffel - jardins de Trocadero

Sunday - Versailles - maybe check out the Pompidou centre in the evening if time/energy allows

Monday - Notre Dame - Pantheon - Conciergerie - Ste Chapelle

Tuesday (holiday) - Père Lachaise cemetary in the morning - bum around Jardins Luxembourg in the afternoon

Wednesday - Montmartre and Sacré Coeur a.m. - shopping pm

Thursday - head back home

Is this itinerary too ambitious? Are there some of the sights that you would eliminate? Also, I'm thinking we can walk quite easily to most of these places from our location in the 2nd, with the exception of Versailles, Montmartre and Père Lachaise, for which we'd use public transportation. Does that sound right?

Also, we're staying on a pedestrian street, so when we head home, will it be difficult to get a taxi to the airport? Is it just as easy to use public transit, since we'll have to lug our bags a ways in any event?

Any tips/suggestions appreciated! Thank you!

Bianca_P

Hi there I think your itinerary sounds ambitious, but feasible - provided you use public transport more than you are currently suggesting. You'll have to use carnets or Mobilis tickets as you won't be able to use the Navigo Découverte for the scale of your visit. While some of the sights you suggest are easily walkable from where you're staying, others, like the Eiffel Tower, could easily be a 2-3km walk from the 2nd arrondissement. Depends how fit you are/how much time you want to spend walking.

There's no real 'pedestrian' area in Paris so taxis can get around easily enough. The taxi would cost about €60-€80 to go to the airport from where you are, whereas the train would cost you about €10 per person. Totally up to you!

Hope this helps a bit

qwovadis

eurocheapo.com/paris great budgetcity guide tips
parisvoice.com current happenings

Couple of good sites for you.Looks fine but might pare back a bit relax pretty ambitious. My wife and I also headed over there will be at at the Intercontinental Le Grand. It does not
get any better than spring in Paris.

Happy Trails!

Notagoose

Thank you both for your replies!

There are a few sites that we've got on the list that we can probably cut back on, and I fully appreciate that there are some that we won't be able to see in their entirety (like the Louvre). I'd be happy to skip Versailles on this trip but my friend has his heart set on going, so we will make the trip. I would have preferred to not go there, or to d'Orsay, on the weekend, but our options are a bit limited given the timeframe and the holiday. I guess we'll just have to plan a second trip. ;-)

ira

Hi NG,

Nice plan.

Suggestions:
Mark down one "must see" each morning and one each afternoon and do those two things.

Let serendipity guide you for the rest. You might find that you wish to spend another 1/2 hr here or skip going to there.

When you are down by Notre Dame, walk across the Pont St Louis and stroll through the Ile St Louis. Get a gelato at Amorino and an ice cream at Berthillon.

Take a walk along the Seine from the Musee d'Orsay to Notre Dame. Stop on the Pont des Arts. Investigate the book stalls.

Enjoy your visit.

Notagoose

Get a gelato AND an ice cream - I like the way you think, Ira.

StCirq

I don't think it's ambitious at all. For example, going up the Arc de Triomphe takes about 15 minutes. Strolling the Champs Elysées (which to me is a waste of time), maybe a half-hour tops. You could do half a dozen more things on that Monday. Most other days you could as well. Of course it takes time to move around, and you definitely want some "down time" at cafés and such, but even so, I think you'll find you can do a lot more than what you've assembled here.

You generally can't hail a taxi on the street in Paris. You either have to call ahead for one (get the number for Taxis Bleus - if you text them you get a discount) or find a taxi stand, which are clearly marked.

Notagoose

Thanks, StCirq - one of my problems is that I don't have any real concept of the time it takes to do some of these things. I had figured closer to an hour for the Arc de Triomphe, since I want to go to the top and take photos, etc. but I can't see how it would take much longer.. Invalides - my friend wants to see Napoleon's tomb but again, I'm thinking an hour and we'll probably be done.

The museums can take as long as you want them to, I suppose, but I tend to get cross-eyed after a couple of hours. I'm hoping I have enough time built in for strolling and cafes and other pleasant distractions, but we can always rejig the itinerary as needed.

Christina

The only day I don't consider ambitious is Tuesday. Which is fine since you have so much scheduled otherwise, but I wouldn't really expect you to spend all afternoon bumming around Luxembourg gardens. What do you think you are going to do in that park all afternoon?


There are pedestrian streets in Paris, I don't know why someone said there aren't. I've stayed on two different ones (Mouffetard and an area near place Ste Opportune)and had to go to the taxi down at the end of the block or some other place we agreed on (which is where they left me off upon arrival, also). You'll probably have to do the same, although I don't know the rules about rue Montorgueil, but as I recall cars are not allowed on it. But you shouldn't have to go very far, in any case. But I really don't know what you mean, you never ever should plan on just walking out to a street to grab a taxi to get to the airport or you will most likely miss your plane. IN those cases, I called and arrange in advance for a certain time and place of pickup. One time I didn't do that but I was within a block of an official taxi stand and I knew from being in that area a while that there were regularly taxis there when I wanted them. There are some like that, but you have to make sure you can easily get a taxi at the one you choose if that is what you do. As some do not always have taxis at them regularly.

Notagoose

Christina - I don't really know quite what to do on the Tuesday since most places are closed! I am figuring we'll just walk around a lot, take some photos, etc. Might be a good day to sleep in a bit if we're exhausted from all the running around the rest of the week.

Re taking a taxi, I did figure I had to arrange in advance, but since they can't pick us up at the apt. itself, it seems like it may be a bit of a hassle to try to arrange a meeting place. It might be just as simple to lug our things to the nearest RER. I think we're reasonably close to the Chatelet-Les Halles RER which has a direct line to CDG airport if I'm not mistaken. I'm assuming there's room for luggage? (1 suitcase each)

Bianca_P

The RER has spacious parts either in the middle of the carriage or at the end of the carriage (depending on how new the train is). These areas usually have folding seats as well. Your best bet is to sit down on one of the folding seats (rather than on a permanent seat) as you will have the most room for your luggage this way (there are no luggage racks). You can then stand up and give people more room if it gets busy and still have somewhere to lean on (you will also thus avoid the evil glares of people having to step over your bags in the aisles between the permanent seats!).

A couple of other comments I thought of - you won't need to specifically schedule a daytime view of the Eiffel Tower, as it can be seen from a number of different locations around Paris. I would also come up with a 'plan B' for the Luxembourg Gardens in case the weather is not very good on that day (we've had plenty of beautiful sunshine lately but it is scheduled to cool down a bit).

As for your May 1st plans, churches will always be open so if you were planning to see any you might consider doing this on May 1st (but do always check websites to see if they are open for sure). The Bateaux-Mouches should also still be running so May 1st could be a good day to do a river cruise (again, weather permitting!). I've also read on other fora that plenty of stuff is still open in Paris' Chinatown on May 1st. Some smaller museums (according to past Fodors topics) are open on May 1st (Maillol, Jacquemart-André...), as is the Eiffel Tower (if you decided you did want to go up it).

So, in short, I'm sure you won't be stuck for things to do

annhig

actually, far from being too ambitious, your Friday is pretty lean, but Saturday is very busy.
you could easily add the Orangerie to Friday [you'll be going past it] as you walk down to the Louvre, and it doesn't really fit into Saturday as it is the other side of the river from the Musee d'Orsay and les invalides, which are going to fill most of your time that day.

also, you could go and look at the palais royale area in the friday - even adding the Orangerie you are not going to be rushed.

on the monday, you ought to group Notre Dame, St. Chappelle and the concierge together before the Pantheon, which is over in the 5th.

on Tuesday, you might add a wander around St. Germain to your list - some things will be closed but many bars and restaurants will be open and being a tourist area, probably lots of shops too. if it rains the idea of seeing some churches is a good one - onour last visit we went round St. Sulpice for the first time - that's up near the Jardins du Luxembourg too so it would fit well into your Tuesday schedule.

finally, our new find is the tour of the canal de St. Martin - here's the link:

http://www.canauxrama.com/e_saint-martin.htm

it's a very pleasant way to pass a warm afternoon and would certainly help to fill the afternoon of Tuesday if it's running.

Notagoose

Thank you so much for all your tips - you are all awesome and such a wealth of information! I've researched the whole trip to death (including the 3 places we visit before Paris) but there's just no beating someone who's actually been there.

mamcalice

When visiting the Invalides, you might want to check out the Musee Rodin which is right across the street. It has a lovely rose garden full of Rodin's sculpture and is a great place for a picnic lunch. The roses should be beautiful at the end of April.

Notagoose

Great idea, mamcalice.. It's covered with our museum pass so we can certainly go take a gander.

janisj

I don't think your plan is ambitious at all . . . far from in fact. Much better than some of the <I>CRAZY</I> ideas we see on here

Some of your days are extremely light - though I wouldn't fill them up more so you have time to just sit at cafes, people watch, wander, and 'serendipity stuff'.

>><i>Monday - Notre Dame - Pantheon - Conciergerie - Ste Chapelle</i>". Not in that order, though. Notre Dame, the Conciergerie and St Chapelle are all on the same island. Maybe do those and wander both islands a bit. Then cross the bridge and explore the Latin Quarter and Pantheon area.

Notagoose

janisj - Yes, we'll see the Pantheon last (or first). I do want to explore the Latin Quarter a bit as well.

I'm going to move the Orangerie to Friday as well, and take a look at the Grand Palais and Place de la Concorde on the way to the Louvre.

We plan to have many lingering meals and cafe stops which will suck up some time (in a good way) too. I'm so excited for this trip! Fingers crossed that the weather mostly cooperates.