I'll be arriving in Paris with my boyfriend on New Year's Eve and am trying to make some plans ahead of time. If I have a budget of about $100 - $150 per person, what is the best thing I can do for New Year's Eve? I heard that there may not be specific events going on that night and it is typical to go to a restaurant to eat and it may be accompanied by entertainment. If so, where should I make reservations at? Can someone refer me to a good list or some recommendations?

Which areas of Paris are most lively on New Year's Eve? We will be staying in the St. Germain area, so it would be nice to just walk around after a big meal.

Dear AJTravel.

Im in the same boat as you. I will be in Paris for New years and have no idea what to do.. I will be with my boyfriend too. We are staying in an apartment in the 4th arrond. Where are you from? We should communicate and maybe help each other out?? We were just thinking of making dinner at home to avoid the crowded expensive restaurants and then venturing out towards the eiffel tower or river seine to see some fireworks?
I am canadian but living in Los Angeles now.

Since you already have reservations (?), then I suggest you contact your hotel to see what they can do for you. Your choices are rather limited at this time since there are only a small number of restaurants that will be open on NYE and they will be on the expensive side. $150 may not cover most places. You can figure that your cost will be closer to $200, + wine, unless your hotel knows of a smaller, neighborhood restaurant that still has an opening.

You also have to consider New Year's Day, when most restaurants are closed, so be prepared.

We will be in Paris for NYE as well. Have checked out many restaurants and its going to be VERY EXPENSIVE (250-450 euros per person). Our concierge sent us a list of restaurants with menus and prices (not on their web page any longer). After the shock of dinner prices, your idea of cooking at home and wandering is a great idea. As here, I don't expect the best service & quality on a very busy night so we're not looking for the perfect place -- even though its our 10yr anniversary. And from the other posts, the fun will be walking the streets -- champagne in hand-- wishing 'bonne annee' to everyone!

Have a great trip!

John Talbott, a forum leader on egullet has just posted a list, sorted by price. JP

Wow, so many Fodorites in Paris on New Years. We were there a couple of years ago and I agree that the fun is outside. There are plenty of places you can pop in for dinner but they are crowded and many have small menus with set prices for the night. The most festive areas will be on the Champs and at the Place de Concorde and the Eiffle Tower. There may or may not be fireworks. One thing to keep in mind is that it is likely to be VERY cold! The metro is free on New Year's eve, but there were big bands of noisy, raucus young people, which made me feel a little uncomfortable.

Have fun and Happy New Year!

Well, here's anotgher Fodorite who will be there, too. (Self, wife, and 3 daughters).

Jennifer, like you, we'll be in an apt. and have decided to eat in, grab a nap, then head out for a couple of hours to see the NY in. Our youngest is six, so we probably won't venture too far afield, and plan to be back at the apt. by `12:30 or so.

Who knows, we may run into some of you while in Paris. Just look for the foot-weary party of five speaking French badly and having the time of their lives!

Bon voyage!

I thought my family and I were the only American's foolish enough to go to Europe this year with the USD vs. EURO. Looks like there will be several of us.

I'm surprised that dinner reservations will be difficult to find in Paris, considering many Americans won't be there, and many Europeans are taking advantage of the currency and traveling abroad themselves.

I made a reservation at Bofinger at the end of November, the first day I could make one for NYE at their website. I wanted 9PM but ended up taking a midnight seating. My friend and I will be at the bar before then.

Bumping this up to NYE 2005/6... I will be solo in Paris and while I was not looking for a fab gourmet experience, I would like to find a quiet place to have a bit of dinner earlier in the evening. I'll be at the Park Hyatt Vendome-- so someplace walkable would be great. Then I thought I walk or metro over to the areas of fireworks etc ??
Also are shoppes open on New Years Day in Paris? In the US most malls/stores are open, but wasn't so sure about France.

New Year's Eve in many Paris restaurants means a reveillon, a celebration with a special dinner and Champagne, lasting for quite a few hours. That's why the meals are on the expensive side--it's dinner plus the celebration.

My Bf and I will be in Paris this year for NYE also, and we are desperately trying to find something to do for the evening. We are interested in Tango Dancing, so anything along that genre' would be wonderful, but would love any other suggestions also. Thanks

You could try the French/Russian restaurant Kniaz Igor (http://kniaz-igor.com no www). It has live music and is a very fun place with good food and friendly service. I'm pretty sure they're doing something NYE that would be in your price range (the normal prix fixe dinner price is around 30 euro; the St. Sylvestre [NYE] dinner will probably be more, but not likely to be more than 100 euro pp). Although it's in a good location in the 7th, most tourists don't know about it. The diners are usually Russian expats, journalists, French-Russian families, etc. A Fodorite recently celebrated her 30th birthday there and had an excellent time. We really enjoyed ourselves when we were there. You could walk back to St. Germain from there pretty easily...should take about 20 minutes down the rue de Grenelle or rue St. Dominique until you get to the Blvd. St. Germain.

I picked up this idea from a fellow Fodorite a few years ago: the view of the Eiffel Tower from Monmartre (sp) on New Year's Eve is spectacular. The "light show" emanating from the tower began at 5PM, so one could take that in and then get back comfortably to one's hotel to change (and get warm) before embarking to one's restaurant for dinner and celebration. For that reason, knowing that we would have already traveled to Monmartre in late afternoon/early evening, I chose a restaurant that was pretty close to our hotel. We were also close enough from that spot to take an easy stroll to the Seine, to watch midnight unfold from a bridge. Remember to wear warm shoes!

Letour, what a great idea!! I think I'll take your suggestion and take in the view from Monmartre early in the evening then find a small bistro somewhere in that area for a lite dinner before heading back to my hotel and then (possibly??)back out for the NYE fireworks

You have to have pretty decent weather for that Montmartre view. We were in Paris for NYE a few years ago and it was so foggy, you couldn't see anything unless you were practically on top of the Champ de Mars or the Trocadero.

They don't usually have fireworks on NY eve in Paris. They did for the millennium (1999) as a special thing, and then I think they did last year because they were trying to impress people for the Olympic bid. I wouldn't count on it, but you never know -- they were around the Tuileries last year.