Rs_travel

Hello!,

We are going to be in Paris from 23rd to 27th May (4 nights). I would like to know if it is worthwhile to buy the Paris Attraction Pass (http://www.parispass.com/how-it-work...ions-pass.html) or any suggestion on such passes that are really useful and good for budget travelers?

Also, any suggestions on any bus tours that are nice to explore Paris?Are the hop-on-hop-off buses a good way to explore the city? We would like to do a one day trip to Versailles or some wine county around Paris if possible..Any suggestion on any bus tours that offer this?

With the limited time we have, we will probably not visit too many museums, probably just one museum (may be Louvre?)

Thanks as always for all your inputs..

Rs_travel

Also, I was just trying to check the prices on Eiffel Tower on http://www.tour-eiffel.com/preparing...g-your-tickets and it shows that it has no tickets available for 24th, 25th and 26th. Is this possible? Or we will be able to get tickets/entry into Eiffel Tower once we get there? or should we buy advance tickets?

Michel_Paris

With only 4 nights, you IMHO should not do any trips outside of the city. You can easily fill your time. But...if Versailles has always been a dream...Look at the actual time you have in the city (by subtracting time to get to/from hotel, to/from train/airport, jetlag on first day,etc..)


People here have used the HO-HO bus as a good way to see the main sights. Coach companies like Parisvision and Cityrama also offer various Paris tours.

Paris Walks offers quite a few 2 hr tours of different neighbourhoods

Vedettes du Pont Neuf have nice Seine cruises. I would make a night time one mandatory

If you are not visiting museums, and with such a short visit, I would only recommend buying a carnet (book of 10) Metro tickets,.

The Louvre is very big. If you visit, go prepared. There are many smaller museums, depending on your interests.

Christina

YOur budget is pretty big if you are considering buying that pass which costs a minimum of 99 euro for two days. I think that is roughly $150 nowadays, so that means you intend to spend $75 a day on tourist attractions. There isn't any way you could do that that I can think of, you wouldn't have the time to visit them all even if you wanted to. Now I admit it appears to include some metro pass (Paris Visite) AND the hopon-/off bus and those things may be worth $30 or so, I'm not sure. But still, how could you be visiting all those museums and attrractions plus doing the hop-on/off bus, etc.

Anyway, it might be a decent idea if you could use it over many days, but you can't. And if you actually wanted to buy all those things separately, which you wouldn't, so why pay for things you would never want anyway (ie, winetasting, Dali museum, etc). If you want those things, go to them and pay for them separately, a Seine cruise only costs about 10 euro, for example. YOU won't have time to do more than a couple a day, I presume and would have no interest in some of them.

There is no pass like that which is good for budget travelers as they require you to spend a fortune on things you likely don't want.

YOu don't need a bus tour to go to Versailles, it's right on the RER (light suburban rail) line, you can get there in about 15 minutes. AS for wine country, really, Paris isn't wine country and you don't have any time anyway.

There are a couple companies that do good bus tours. This is one http://www.grayline.com/Grayline/des...d=1436&sid=488

this is the other http://www.pariscityrama.com/

alsoo, a couple companies doing the hopon/off thing

Rs_travel

Thanks Michel_Paris and Christina for your inputs. You are right, I dont think the pass is worth, specially since I have only two real days in Paris, if I allocate one day to go to Versailles.

I can very much do all the main attractions like Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Cruise for approx 50euro per person, so no need to buy the 99 euro pass.

Is it easy to get to Eiffel Tower? Or do we have to do advance bookings? I'll take a look at the bus tours you mentioned. May be we can do a bus tour for a day, just so that we can get to see more of Paris by road, rather than by train.

Thanks

StCirq

I highly doubt there's any sort of full day tour of just Paris - that would be an inordinate amount of driving around what is a fairly compact city. Besides, you can use a simple 1.70 euro bus ticket on line 69 and pass by many of the major sites, and any number of other public bus lines to get elsewhere without having to go underground on the métro (if that's what you mean by "trains."). Anyway, IMO the best way to see Paris is on foot, not on trains or buses.

Yes, it's easy to get to the Eiffel Tower by métro or RER (probably bus, too, though I haven't done that). I would suggest you get yourself a street map of Paris that has the bus and métro stops on it and figure your routes out in advance so you don't waste precious time. As far as I know you can walk up to the ticket window at the Tour and buy a ticket, but you risk long waits and I suppose the possibility it will be sold out. Get there really early or go as late as possible.

apersuader65

Buying the eiffel tower pass on line was difficult for us as well, so we opted for getting there early and getting in line. The online passes are limited, that's why it's already sold out. I'd recommend getting there 30 minutes before it opens to get in the front of the line.

While there are numerous things to see and do in Paris, a trip to Versailles, IMO is worth it. Many will disagree that you should just stay in Paris, but then recommend you go all over Paris proper. Never myself understood why they recommend seeing say Sacre Coeur and the Eiffel Tower, as they are not even in the same arrondissement! The train from Champs de Mars (eiffel tower area) to Versailles Rive Gauche takes 27 minutes. It's 11 minutes from the same station to Cite to see notre dame. I guess the extra 32 minutes (round trip) is too much time to waste going to see Versailles, when you could use that valuable time to sit in a cafe and people watch!

As for Versailles, once again, get there early, you might be able to get in before the tourist buses arrive and the inside fills up. Don't miss the gardens, Trianon and Marie's Hameau. I'd recommend buying a pass for the Tram service on the North side of the Palace. It's a mini hop on-hop off of the entire grounds.

Rs_travel

Thanks all. I think the responses give me a fair idea of what I should be doing and not be doing in Paris. Thanks as always for the inputs..

I guess once we get there, we will probably do 1 day of Paris by metro/bus/foot and see some of the places like Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Cruise on the Seine etc..We are staying in an apartment on Rue Rivoli, very close to Louvre, so should be able to see atleast the outside of it anytime!

Depending upon how tired we get, we might do a HOHO bus the next day.

And we will then go to Versailles on the last day, probably the first half or the last half of the day..

Any other day trips from Paris that are possible? and better than Versailles?

Michel_Paris

I'll be repetitious and say...you are going to need more than 2 days to see Paris. If you are making a trip to see Paris...you need to see Paris.

But...Giverny is another place for a day trip (Monet), Rheims (champagne), Chartres (Cathedral).

Rs_travel

Michel_Paris. I agree, I guess I am just too excited about the very few days I'll have in Paris. I read enough about day trips to Paris, and it looks like this being my first trip to Paris, I should just enjoy Paris and if I really intend to do a day trip then go to Versailles for 1/2 a day..

Thanks

Michel_Paris

I know where your are coming from

For Versailles, one way to optimize your visit is to do it on your own. The bus tours leave mid-morning, come back mid afternoon. By taking the RER train to Versailles-Rive Gauche station, you can plan on getting there before the buses, when the doors open. Visit the inside, then relax in the huge gardens.

It is not very far by train ~30 mins, and the walk from the station to the Chateau is about 10 mins.

We can help you plan your time in Paris. Are you arriving jet-lagged or fresh?

Rs_travel

@Michel_Paris - We will be leaving Amsterdam arnd 7/8AMish on 23rd May, stopping at Brussels for a few hours and then heading to Paris. I think I'll reach the apartment rental in Paris only by 6PM'ish...

We will be staying in an apartment rental on Rue Rivoli close to Hotel de Ville, I think very close to Louvre/walking bridge to Ile de la carte island..so may be the first night we will only be able to stroll the near by area by foot and grab some dinner

Then we have 24th, 25th, and 26th in Paris and 27th morning we have a train to Nice..

Michel_Paris

Hotel de Ville is not really next the Louvre, but a decent walk or quick Metro ride (2 or 3 stops). Location is good for going over to the Islands (Cite and St Louis), Village St Paul area (narrow lanes, antiques), etc..

I'd include Place des Vosges as a nice place for lunch. The Islands have some good restaurants, as well as the Left Bank right across from the Islands, walking heading east.