You have no idea how nice it is to have NO itinerary on my latest trip to Paris. After more than a dozen visits, we have seen almost all of the museums we wanted to, most of the major sites, most of the areas we wanted to, so this time, its just pick an area to walk around, and start walking.

If we are near a restaurant we like anytime around lunch or dinner, we stop and eat, if not we make a new find. So far I have made it to almost all restaurants we wanted to visit w/o reservations anyway.

Every time I have found that "special" purchase, 9 times out of ten we have just stumbled on it.

I understand that those with a limited visit, want to see as much as they can, but its nice to be able to just have nowhere special to go each day. Took my pedometer, some days we hit 7+ miles, which isn't bad.

Dear Dear index: I'm with you 100%. I've tried itinerary-planning on my first big trip overseas & it didn't work at all,actually it messed me up. Now, I get the common tips, like what to wear, how to???with money, etc. And it works out so much better for me. The very best tip I followed fromricksteves was not to take more than 20lbs. of luggage. There's laundry service all over and it's not a fashion show, other than that making my main goal, I just get off the plan, go to my base, and take it from there.

I mean 'get off of the plane"

I usualy have only on plan - a day rip out of Paris. the rest is as you say, pick an area and walk. If you are not renting an apartment, do so the next time - it adds to the "experiance"

I guess I don't understand. Are you saying you just showed up at the airport and winged it? Or did you plan your air and place to stay before arriving in Paris? If the latter, one would think that is what most people do. Unless I am in a very small village with only one place to eat, I have never preplanned a meal other than the morning meal at my B&B. In any event, glad you had a great time.

Ditto to the above, with a "mild" itinerary.

I went for a long weekend last fall. One sure thing every day was breakfast at local cafe. After reading the newspaper...decided what to do that day.
Wanted to see Jaquemart Andre and Chappelle Expiatoire..so went there. O the way saw the XMAS lights & windows were nearby..went there. While walking, found entrace to covered galleries ....so basically wander and discover.

I did at last minute decide to do a couple of walking tours of Marais. I felt a bit shallow in my knowledge of that area, so fun way to brush up.

I had a list of restos that I brought with me, so either found one nearby or go to the list. That was one of the most pleasurable times of the day.

And then, my hotel was near Seine by Eiffel, so end of evening was standing on bridge (sometime in rain) watching it sparkle.

Ditto to the above. My last trip, I knew I would have breakfast at the local cafe, after that...

I had a couple of things I wanted to see...Jaquemart Andre, Chappelle Expiatoire, but apart from that wander the streets. I also did a couple of walking tours of the Marais

Other than booking the plane there, and the aparetment, I did not plan anything else for ourselves, other than getting my daughter installed in school here . With 6 weeks here, its easier to take it easy and roam around.

No restaurant reservations, no daily itineraries. NO PRESSURE, this is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. Pressure I have at home!

I've only been to Paris once, but planned only as Intex describes (plane and hotel only). It worked out great. Each morning over breakfast, or sometimes in the room the night before, we'd pick one thing and go to that part of the city first, then wander our way slowly thru the day, back towards our hotel.

To spend a substantial amount of money to go to a place for a first time and not have a plan is dumb. To spend a lot of time preparing an itinerary to visit a place that one has visited more than a dozen times is dumb. My point: it is all about perpspective and the type traveler one is. Personally, not having my arms around an idea of what my trip is about is a lot of pressure. I've done the trips where zero itinerary was put together; those were intended to be about relaxing. Again. that's me.

That said, even dumber that poor planning is to try to come up with a general rule that applies to all type travels/all type travelers.

I totally agree with Intex. We've only been to Paris once, for just three nights, and I really HAD to visit certain places: the Louvre, the ET, the Seine at night, the Orsay, Ille St. Louis, Notre Dame, etc. So our days were scheduled rather tightly, with a couple of hours to wander each day.

I certainly don't regret having made it to those amazing sites, but, next time, I vow to spend more time there, and wander/linger more. Maybe next time I won't have to drag the entire family along. . .
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I totally agree with everyone else---wandering is the way to go. We just returned from our 5th Paris vacation. Other than apartment and flight, no plans. It's the best way to find small, wonderful restaurants,etc.

We also learned a very good lesson. Our luggage was lost and we lived out of our carry ons for 2 weeks. I never thought it was possible. Because we had an apartment(rented through France For Rent) with a washer and dryer it was very possible and it was better not to have all that extra stuff.