Need help planning trip to Paris
 

Hello! I need help with planning a trip to Paris for May of 2026. Not sure where to begin at all. Looking at 7-8 days. I had googled planning Paris trip and saw this sight. I enjoyed seeing how people posted questions and how others responded back with suggestions. Interested in Paris and an another location. I love to sightsee, great food, and major landmarks. Any suggestions on how to plan this trip, from airfare to lodging to sightseeing. Also transpiration as well.

I urge you to consult a good guidebook! For example, the Michelin Green Guide to Paris is excellent, Once you've done some research and identified some priorities, you will (I think) be much better prepared to ask questions and to benefit from suggestions. Enjoy your planning!

From you other thread: As already noted: Start with a good guidebook.
For flights, start with google flights and then book directly with an airline, NOT a 3rd party booking site.
For train information: seat61.com
For lodging: booking.com
Paris is delightful: Enjoy!

I have not been for 15 years and much has changed. If you are young and a couple, or solo, and want to go as economically as possible, some thoughts. Please, pack reasonably. Get online and learn how to pack a week or 10 days into a single carry on bag and take another smaller carry on. It can be done. Do not check anything if at all possible, it is a huge bottleneck and time wasted in customs and immigration. You DO NOT want to be dragging huge luggage around Paris, I beg you, trust me. Get TSA pre clearance and Global Entry if possible. From the airport take the RER or whatever train into the city. You will arrive at a hub where you will change to a Metro subway line that will take you to your hotel stop. Get a map and see where you arrive and what line/direction you need to go and where to get off. We stayed at a very cool and affordable hotel in a great area...Hotel Danemark. Google it there are also hundreds of others but I can vouch for this place, a place to start. Cool neighborhood lots of good food choices. Get breakfast included at hotel or go out grab coffee and a croissant on the street. For lunch grab a French bread and meat sandwich on the street, or rotisserie chicken. Evening, Chinese or an affordable French cafe. Get a subway pass for as many days as you need. Metro is in the fastest way, cabs and buses are slower and streets are very congested. Many Metro stops smell like crap but that's part of the charm. Major tourist sites will be crazy mad crowded and busy. We didn't mess with going up the Eiffel Tower, hanging around looking up and messing around in the park was ok with me...long lines!! Louvre, see about getting tickets in advance...again, super long lines. Things have changed so much in so few years. Frankly I try to get out of the cities and into the country where you really get real, honest experiences food etc. Many feel the need to do the obligatory tourist sites and I sure did...but the fun and richness lies outside the cities! So much fun is planning...have at it. Hope some of this is helpful...did I mention..pack reasonably??

It looks like you are doing a first trip to Paris and are probably not an experienced traveler. With this much time for planning, don't start with details. I would suggest a trip to your local bookstore, if there is one, or public library. Look through a few guidebooks and pick one or two for study. Rick Steves is good for first timers. Make a list (or mark the guidebook) with things you might like, then come back here for more advice --we LOVE giving advice.

If you’re younger you might want to think about staying in the 11th or haut Marais (3rd). Hungryonion.org has great threads on Paris restaurants. My favorite thing to do there is walk and walk and walk. I would pick out one or two things to see and then wander the streets. Cramming in tourist sights all day just burns you out. We stayed at Hotel Jeanne D’Arc a couple times but mainly have rented apartments. Good luck.

Actually, I'd argue against the Rick Steves book ... JMO!

Regarding guidebooks, don’t forget your local library where you can check out anything or everything they’ve got on Paris & France, free. It won’t matter at this point if they’re a bit out of date. Decide on which you’d like to own & buy the latest editions. Except Lonely Planet guides - the latest suffer from lack of detailed information because of new owners so a previous edition of a Lonely Planet guide will be better & are my favorites.

After you pin down the general form of your days in Paris using the guidebooks, go online for up to date information before you start booking. And then, as mentioned, you’ll have the basics to ask better, more specific questions here.

Oops was going to suggest lonely planet guidebooks. I’ve been out of the guidebook world for a long time so actually have no recs.

Take a taxi from the airport and avoid the hassle of train and metro and walking to your hotel. The fares are fixed but be careful and get an official taxi. Great info on this subject and other Paris info on the Youtube channel LES FRENCHIES

I like the Rick Steves guides as a starting point, especially for first time visitors.

Welcome, sivy! I'm with bigtyke about taking a cab from the airport.

Yes, do read up, but what do you like to do when you travel??

If you are a novice traveler, you could take the Hop on Hop off bus but do not get off take the​​​​​​ full circuit and then you can decide how and where to visit on your own. Paris is easy to explore.

Get tickets in advance when possible to avoid long ticket lines.

Again, please share about your interests.






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I too like Rick Steves for novice travelers as he gives a lot of information about the actual mechanics of travel. The Michelin green book is much more informative about history, architecture, what to see and do. Hard to give advice as to another stop other than Paris.

Rick Steve's gets a bad rap. We used him a lot for our first trips.

We're each allowed our opinions. I find the RS guidebooks so superficial as to be useless. IMO, even beginners can benefit from knowing their options in some detail.

my #1 bit of advice is not to traipse from monument to monument seeing all the big sites that everyone else is trying to cram into. You will spend a good deal of your time in crowded places and waiting on lines. Go on a walking tour (easily could be done self-guided) of the Mariais or St Germain de Pres neighborhoods. Learn about the history as you go, and go into shops. Go into a fromagerie, boulangerie, patisserie, traitteur, salon de thé, chocolatier. By some Bordier butter, a baguette, fresh fruit, and some paté and have a picnic in a beautiful garden.

Off topic, but I have great personal memories of the Rick Steves books and beginning travellers. It was 1990 and I got a $2500 performance award from work and we set out to find The Beatles. First trip to Europe. Planning is such a joy, and we studied Rick's Europe Through the Back Door religiously...there was no "intra-net" /s/ or "web" where
​​you got instant answers online from experts worldwide. You read, you got books. Many books. Rick was one. We even sometimes stayed where Rick recommended, ate where he did. It was fine but we soon.learned with experience how we could forge our own way.

Such a fond memory of hauling my wife's four suitcases and Rick's Back Door book through London and Liverpool on our very first trip. It was one of many Europe trips to come, we became more confident, and we were hooked...and each time we took one less bag, found one better hotel, one better way to travel, one better off the wall venture...and needed Rick less and less. In time we found him to be a bit corny, a bit outdated, elementary, politically obtuse and it was easy to goof on him. But my wife is now sadly gone and that memory of our first one or two Rick trips still burns bright. Through the Back Door. I try not to be too hard on him. For beginners, he's quite good. You graduate. That's what travel is all about. Thanks for the therapy.

My best advice, stay in the center of Paris.

I’m a bit of a novice traveler myself, and have received wonderful suggestions from this forum. A couple of suggestions. If your local library has a used book store see if they have travel books on Paris. We are a small community and ours currently has 3 for only $1 each. They are not always current, but the sites have not changed that much. We rode the Hop On Hop Off bus as suggested. Then went back and “hopped off and on”. We also went on the Paris By Mouth tour. They have a couple different ones and it was excellent. We chose an afternoon tour which with our purchases along the way covered our dinner for the evening. Enjoy!

I travel to Paris annually for 4 nights. I didn't go up the Eiffel Tower until my 6th or 7th trip because it would take up too much time. We finally went up right after covid rules became a bit more relaxed and there weren't any lines. The boat tour suggestion is perfect for a first timer. Time it with the sunset so you can see the monuments begin to light up. When you buy your tickets, you don't have to commit to a time slot which makes it very convenient to be flexible with your itinerary.

I don't think Rick Steves is best for Paris/France, but I did use him for Switzerland. I think he does some areas better than others. However, even though I don't use him, I agree that for total beginners, which the OP is, I think he can be very worthwhile.

I don't agree that everyone has to take a taxi, it depends on how much baggage you have and where you are staying. Mass Transit is much better for the environment and a lot cheaper. IN this case, though, it depends how used to public transit (bus, metro/subway, etc) the OP already is.

AS for baggage, checking baggage has no effect on how long it takes you to get through "customs" and immigration in Paris. none, unless you are maybe bringing in something illegal and a dog sniffs it or something. Paris doesn't really have obvious customs (unlike some countries where it's quite noticeable, like Mexico). If you are bringing in lots of money or business products, etc., things you'd have to declare, you sort of self-report at a desk over to the side. Anyway, checking bags doesn't have anything to do with how long it takes to get through border control (immigration). In fact, you don't even get your bags until after that, just like in US. I always check a bag for trips to Europe and in Paris, the bag is always already out in the baggage collection area after I get out there past immigration.

Having said that, sure, I agree to try to pack efficiently and not take too big a bag. IMO, too big would be anything over 24 inches. You may not be able to carry aboard a bag of 21-22 inches, either, depends on airline and how crowded they are. I've had bags that size confiscated at the gate sometimes (and checked, which is ok). If you are taking a train, you'll need to handle that yourself at times (going up the steps, etc). I can handle a 24 incher myself, but you know yourself. And don't put in a lot of heavy things like bottles of shampoo, appliances, etc. I hate to be obvious, but I"ve actually seen people on trips who pack full bottles of regular size shampoo in their luggage! I'm a minimalist and only pack travel size of a few things. But I have dry hair so don't have to wash it often, and don't use any hair appliances, and use minimal cosmetics.

The only things you need to work on first are the dates, flight and then hotel. Attractions may need to be booked/reserved, but that's the last thing.

The old saying used to be "Take half the luggage and twice the money".

The luggage part is still good advice, but money is less of an issue now that the world is moving towards contactless payment (and if you really need cash, you may well be able to use your cards in local ATMs). Still, you should check with your bank/card issuer about their rules and charges. Others will be able to advise about cards specially designed for overseas transactions.

And do familiarise yourself with public transport:

https://www.ratp.fr/en/visiter-paris
https://www.parisbytrain.com

(And plenty of videos on YouTube - for one check out paristoptips)

What do you mean by transpiration? I only know this as the French word for respiration but I think you know how to do this already...;)

Lavandula

Transportation? Auto-corrected???

Lavandula

A few thoughts:
1. For your possible 2nd destination, what interests you? Would you like to see a city like London, get into the French countryside, take a train to see the Alps? Lots of options.
2. If you do see two different locations make sure to check the cost of a multi-city ticket. People often think it's cheaper to do round trip in/out of the same city, but then don't realize the time and money involved in getting back to the initial city.
3. Absolutely agree with using a carry-on and a backpack. Wash clothes once in the middle if you need to.
4. I've only read a few Rick Steves books...but would HIGHLY recommend his videos. They're great for getting to know a place quickly. He's got several on Paris with different focuses.
5. Don't fall for the "skip the big tourist things...you'll be back". I've done the Eiffel Tower 3 times and loved it each time. If you've never been to Paris don't feel bad about being a "tourist" :)
6. Don't skimp on a hotel by staying further out. Spend a bit more and be right downtown. I'm not enough of an expert to highly recommend one arrondissement over another, although for our last two trips we stayed in the Latin Quarter just south of Notre Dame...and loved it.

Your first step should be to set a rough budget. Figure out what you're willing to spend on this trip. Once you have an idea of what you're willing to spend, start looking for airfare - keep in mind you'll only be able to see out 330 days in most sites, but you can at least get a rough idea of what that budget might look like. Same thing with lodgings.

As for your trip, if 7-8 days is Paris AND another location, you will be reducing your time in one or the other place substantially, which could also impact your budget. If you want to know ideas of what to do or see, I'd look at the Paris Museum Pass: https://www.parismuseumpass.fr/en to get an idea of many of the sites and places available (except the Eiffel Tower) to see. Personally, you could easily spend 7-8 days in just Paris with a day trip (or two) to places like Versailles or even Fontainebleau and not visit a second location. The pass also will give you a pretty decent understanding of the costs (to help with your budget.