Need Suggestions: Paris in a day and a half please!
 

What can my friends and i do to see/do Paris in a day and a half?

Take a bus tour, a boat ride that will take you by the sights and many bridges. Reserve your dinner atop the Eiffel Tower, or if it's summer have fun at all the outdoor cafés and then there's all that shopping :)

a sample of an itinerary :-) please....

What dates/times will you be arriving and leaving? What are your interests (art, architecture, history, city life)? Give us that and we'll be able to better help.

Having said that, in just one day (and I've done Paris - not well - in just one day), I would focus on riding to the top of the Eiffel Tower, eating a good meal, and just walking around and enjoying the city. If seeing some art is on your list, you could spend a half-day at the Louvre and see the well-known stuff like the Mona Lisa. Also, Notre Dame is a major landmark.

thank you!

one possibility is we arrive in Paris around 10am on Apr. 6....most likely, we'll be able to begin our own "tour" around 1 or 2pm after checking in to our hotel.

if possible, we want to see the eiffel tower, champs elysee, l'arc de triomphe, notre dame, louvre, and others.... also, we'd like us to have a nice dinner in Paris

another possibility we might arrive in Paris Wednesday night, so we have the whole day Thursday...

what do you think?

With only a day and a half, I wouldn't go up the Eiffel Tower, unless the line was non-existent and you simply felt it is a "must-do" tourist experience. I would stay on the ground and enjoy walking about. The food is great on the ground. Follow your nose. (In fact, I dare you stay out of the bakeries!)

A ride up and down the Seine on the Batobus is magical, and allows you to see many legendary sights, including the Eiffel Tower.

A walking tour of Le Marais takes you into the atmospheric heart of Paris.

Perhaps the very greatest artworks of all in Paris are its public gardens. I would walk through any of the large ones in the center of town and sit down and enjoy watching Parisians enjoy them too.

Entering St. Chappelle (if it's sunny) may be the best sight to see. It's worth the wait on line.

If it's chilly, go to Montparnasse and enjoy sitting in one of the "fishbowl" cafes on the Blvd. Montparnasse for tea, and watch the world go by. If it's nice, go to one of the legendary cafes in the 6th and do the same.

At night, I recommend a walk down the Champs-Elysses, and a walk past the Louvre to see it lit up.

However much time you can add to Paris, do it.

Where is your hotel located? All your required sites are within walking distance, if you're ambitious. The Arc, Champs Elysees, and the Louvre are in a straight line... you'd actually walk along the Champs to get from one to the other.

My suggestion is to find a good online map of Paris, map out all those locations, and figure out how much time you want to spend at each.

I would do the Eiffel Tower the night you get there - I think it's better at night!

I will plagiarize myself..

Here's a nice walk. Take Metro to Arc de Triomphe. Look around, climb it...then, walk down Champs Elysee. At Place de la Concorde, take in the vistas, Eiffel Tower in distance..nice. Your are now on Rue Rivoli. You could go up to see Place de la Madeleine, walk past famous Maxim restaurant...then back to Rivoli. Can go right, into the gardens and pool of Tuileries, or perhaps keep going, take a left up to Place Vendome...here you see the Ritz, the ultra high end jewelry shops..perhaps a little walk down Rue Faubourg St Honore and the fashion shops...back to Rivoli..enjoy the ancient arcaded walkway (there is an english bookshop along here), perhaps a left turn into gardens of Palais Royale. Fomr there, go up rue de l'Opera and you come to Opera Garnier (aka Phantom of the Opera home). Very nice interior, some good cafes around it for lunch. Back to Rivoli...The Louvre is here, a quick visit? If not, pass around the east side of it, and cross the Seine to the Left Bank via the scenic and romantic Pont des Arts bridge..Walk along the street above the Seine, until you see the front of Notre Dame Cathedral on the island to your left. Cross over and visit. Once done, exit, go straight, zig a little right, and you will see the Justice building (golden gates). On your left will be a nice street cafe for a break. As you look at the front of the Justice building, turn left on the street and you will see the entrance to the St Chapelle. Once you've visited there (note there are two levels), perhaps get a ticket for an evening candlelit concert, exit and go back to Notre Dame..go around to the back of Notre Dame and cross over the tiny bridge to Ile St Louis. Very nice stores, restaurants, Berthillon world famous ice cream, views along its main street. Eat here, or cross over to the Left Bank on L'Archeveche or Tournelle bridge, and you will see many restaurants on the street above the Seine, some with views of the back of Notre Dame. This is a full day...


..then throw in Eiffel Tower and a Vedttes du Pont Neuf Seine Cruise..., done.

Hope this helps,
Mike

We just spent a day and one-half in Paris. We were originally scheduled to spend two and three-quarters days but a series of adventures reduced our time. My daughter and I volunteered our seats on not one but two overbooked flights to Paris; we figured $3,600 in vouchers was worth losing a day in Paris. We travel there three or four times a year. Our flight was then delayed due to deicing and we arrived two hours late.

On Sunday, we went to the Musee Marmatton and then to Musee d'Orsay (read later in trashy tabloid that Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox were also there; Brad was not). We stayed at d'Orsay until closing time. It was redduced price since it was Sunday. We went to these two museums because they are our favorites and both are closed on Monday. When we purchased our tickets, we also purchased two one-day museum cards for us to use the next day. After d'Orsay olosed, we took the metro to the hotel, ate dinner, filled-out our museum cards, and went to sleep around 9:00.

On Monday, we arose early (7:30), got ready, ate breakfast in the room, and took the metro to the Louvre (included in the museums card). We were there when it opened at 9:00 AM. We saw our five favorite masterpieces and left.

We walked along the Seine towards Notre Dame. We stopped in a few pet stores along the way and admired the kittens and puppies (a Siamese kitten costs from 850 to 1,300 euros).

We went to the Conciergerie (included with the museum card) and then to St. Chapelle (also included in the museum card). The sun came out while we were upstairs at St. Chapelle and illuminated the stained glass!

We then walked to Notre Dame and stood in line for about twenty minutes to climb the towers (included in the museum card). We then climbed down (after I banged my head not once but twice in the short stairway). We went inside Notre Dame where I prayed for my sins of cursing when I scraped my head; I even lit a candle. We had a picnic in the churchyard of Notre Dame - just past the playground.

From Notre Dame, we walked to Musee Cluny (also included in the museum card); we saw the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries and left.

We then took the metro to the Marais area and walked to the Musee Picasso (also included in the museum card). There was a new exhibit focusingon Dora Maar; the line for tickets was out to the street. Since we had the museum card, we walked into the museum, showed our passes, and began viewing the exhibitwithini two minutes.

We stopped at a supermarche for a generic coca cola light (only 0.70 euros for a 1.5 liter) and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe to check out memorabilia and to use the facilities.

We then went to the George V metro station and exited on to the Champs Ellyses so that we could window shop at Louis Vuitton and other shops.

We walked to the Arc d'Triomphe (included in the museum card) and rode the elevator to the top (old ladies get to do this). We walked out to the top a few minutes before 6:00 to watch the Eiffel Tour twinkle. It was not scheduled to start twinkling until 7:00 so we looked around and then went to the Napoleon exhibit one floor below the top of the Arc. About ten minutes before 7:00 we climbed the two short flights to the top. It had started sleeting a bit but was not sticking. We watched the Eiffel Tour twinkle and then climbed down.

We took the metro back to the hotel, ate dinner (we had a kitchenette so we cooked), watched television (the Olympics), and retired early.

We got up early on Tuesday, took the Roissybus to CDG, checked-in for our flight, went to the Admirals Club, and then flew home in a half-empty plane. We each had three seats and a power port.

You can do a lot in Paris within a limited time if you really want.

you guys are so awesome.. just reading your posts makes me daydream about our trip! thanks so much. more postings? write away :-)

You might want to familiarize yourself with distances by entering two points at mappy.com (select "pedestrian"). It's an hour from the Arc to the Louvre or from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower.

You can pick up a <i>Mobilis</i> pass good for unlimited public transit on the RATP for 5.40&euro; and a bus map for free:

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan...aux&amp;fm=pdf

You can also ride the batobus.com/english all day for 7&euro; if you have an RATP pass.

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blinkygurl,

One other bit of advice:

It's possible you and your friends may not all agree about what you want to do in Paris in those precious hours.

Presumably you will all be staying in the same hotel, so don't be afraid to break up and go your separate ways. If that seems to drastic, you can all agree to meet at a central place -- like Cafe Flore en Isle on St. Louis Isle at 6pm (with the proviso that if somebody doesn't show by 6:45, the group is free to move on without them). Or you could agree on where you're all going to have dinner.

If you've got more than one cellphone, that would be great.

Remember, leave your passports and return air tix and other valuables at your hotel locked in a SAFE, but carry a xerox of your passport on you.

bon voyage!

Ooops -- that would be Flore en Ile on Ile St Louis. My spelling is miserable today. But anywhere you all agree upon -- the gate to the Musee Rodin at 4pm? -- will do.

&lt;&lt;we want to see the eiffel tower, champs elysee, l'arc de triomphe, notre dame, louvre, and others.... also, we'd like us to have a nice dinner in Paris&gt;&gt;

Get a map and start walking!! Seriously, take the Metro to the furthest away place from your hotel, then start walking back. You can see all of these things you mention (at least from the outside) in 1 day and still have time for wine and lunch in a cafe somewhere along the way.

My one slightly off-the-beaten track, but yet incredibly worth the visit tip:

Climb to the top of Notre Dame. I would recommend doing this early in the morning as the lines quickly grow. The view from the top is amazing as well as becoming &quot;up close and personal&quot; with the gargoyles and chimuras. Some of hte great panaramas (sp?) of the city and Eiffel Tower.

Agree totally about climbing to the top of Notre Dame. Be careful about the low ceiling in the stairway that leads to the very top. I am only 5'8' and was wearing flats but I scaped the top of my head not once but twice and had to light a candle to atone for my sins (amazing what words pop out of your mouth when you are in pain).