Paris in the fall
 

We are planning a trip to Paris in the fall. I sort of would like to go in Sept but hoping that in October we may see some fall foliage.
Your favorite month in the fall?
We are going with a tour (8 days) but having the reservations made by AAA. Is that a mistake? The trip is going to cost much more than we had hoped. And we have not bought any insurance yet. AAA and Trafalgar both have 3 ins plans. Suggestions, please?
Any other comments would be appreciated too.
Thanks!

First, forget the tour. I really, really hope you have not already booked it.

Make all reservations yourself. It will be much cheaper. You will get what you prefer in hotels. You can get all the help you need to do it right here on Fodor’s. Going to Paris is incredibly easy, I promise you. Thousands of people visit Paris on their own every year. Have you visited any major city in the U.S? Paris will be just as easy.

There are many good private travel insurance companies. You want to know what each covers and what you might actually need. Then, you can compare the policies. Get the trip itinerary lined up first. You can decide on insurance then.

Sure, Paris has trees and parks, but that is not what most people travel to Paris for. I would go in September because I like sitting outside at cafes to eat when weather is nice and warm still, but not hot.

Are your eight (8) days total time on the ground, not counting arrival day and not counting departure day? How many nights will you have there? That is actually a better way of looking at it. Eight (8) nights gives you seven (7) full days. That is how you will plan your sightseeing. Seven full days would be great in Paris, but you could easily spend three days in another area of France and four in Paris, or do several day trips from Paris.

Do not book flights until your itinerary is pinned down because you might possibly want to do multi-city flights, into one city and out of Paris.

Sassafrass is correct. You can search for good airfares on search engines like Google, Kayak etc. Booking.com is a good site to look at hotels in your price point and standards. I use Insure my trip for travel insurance. If you can give us some ideas as to what you want to do, your interests, your time and budgets we can be helpful. Do however, educate yourself by reading some guide books by buying some or checking them out of your library.

Re fall foliage.

If what you have in mind are the bright colours as one sees for example in New England where it truly is spectacular, you may be in for a disappointment, The tree species around Paris are totally different, and the leaves of those for the most part tend to simply turn a dull brown, dry out and fall. There are some which take on some small amount of colour, but nothing like the fireworks scenes with screaming bright hues as found in certain other parts of the world.

My Parisian friends are always in awe whenever they visit me here in the fall; in fact some of them purposely schedule their trip to coincide with the peak colour season as it is such a draw for them.

September is my favorite month to be in Paris, weather-wise and vibe-wise. That said, it is sometimes hard to find a hotel, at least during fashion week, so book early.

Used Trafalgar ONCE for booking in Paris in the mid-'80's when I lived in London, and that was a huge mistake. I don't even know why I did that, because I'd already been to Paris many times, but I think it was a spur of the moment thing where I got a good deal. They ended up putting us in a rather seedy hotel in the Pigalle area!

As everyone else on this thread has said, no tour necessary for Paris. So easy to plan on your own and book, especially these days with the internet. Geez, it was easy to do even when I went at 19 years old in the early '70's and the French were loathe to communicate in English!

You'll find the Bois de Boulogne very pleasant in Autumn and in Paris. Vincennes is also open and has a botanical garden of high merit.

Paris is easy, where else is this tour going to?

Since good insurance covers the needs of cancellation it makes more sense to buy the insurance before or at the time of buying the holiday rather than after the purchase.

Astotel is a chain specializing in Paris properties. Their hotels are very reasonable. The decor is new and modern with classic touches, and the buildings are older classic ones that have been restored. Snacks and soft drinks are free throughout the day and if you are a guest in one location, you can use the snack bars at any of the locations. Their properties are scattered throughout the city. We have stayed at the Hotel Joyce in the 9th several times and visited a few other of their properties. They have very positive reviews too.

No need for a tour. Paris is a very do-it-yourself easy city to visit.
September is always very nice, still summer and even too hot part of the time. This will not prevent it from giving you a cool and rainy surprise from time to time.

October should be better for what you want, and there is some fall foliage worth seeing, but you have to know where to look for it. In places like the Parc de la Villette, the Jardin Nelson Mandela or the Parc Martin Luther King, many trees have been planted with seasonal changes in mind, but the older parks were created before this came into consideration, so you won't see much foliage of interest at the Luxembourg, Monceau or the Tuileries. The big cemeteries have a huge variety, so Père Lachaise and the Montmartre cemetery could be worth a visit, and in any case they are very atmospheric in the autumn.

No need for a tour. You will not need one, you already have those who know Paris well to advise you. I would not have someone else book hotels for me, particularly someone who may not be selecting objectively.

Let us know what it is you want to visit and what you want to spend for hotels, in euros. You should know that high season in Paris is September, early October so you will want to book as early as possible.

IME a tour to just Paris would be a huge waste of money, especially depending on what 'we' means. Is it just two of you or a family? Even if it is just a couple, with a tour you pay double for everything. And don't get your choice of hotel. Booking R-T flights and hotel on your own lets you control the costs and where you stay/what you do. Plus Paris is totally 100% flat easy to visit without a tour.

And if it is a tour of Paris + other areas - then I suspect it is really REALLY rushed.

An '8 day tour' really only gives you 5.5 days on the ground because they count day one starting from the gateway airport in the States, then you arrive at your Paris hotel half way through day 2, then day 8 is what they cal 'farewell to Paris' which is really just taking a bus to the airport and flying home. You say it is really expensive - how expensive does it seem when you realize it only covers 5+ days in Paris or 'Paris and'???

It sounds like you've paid a deposit, but I suspect this far out it is totally refundable. Cancel and we can help you have a better, and cheaper trip to Paris.

When people say that September and October a "high season" it is absolutely true for the business clientele. This concerns the 4 and 5 star hotels as well as the 3 star hotels to a certain extent. Visitors who are happy to stay in a 1 or 2 star hotel are not at all affected. (This said, there are very few 1-star hotels left in Paris, but there are plenty of 2-stars, often quite nice.)

The only (and maybe a really good) reason for tours during that brief time period would be the time savings you'd enjoy with someone else getting your tickets and the need to wait in line.

With some companies, you must purchase trip insurance within a certain amount of time...I experienced this with AAA insurance. It was a while ago so do check. And do get insurance.

I was fretting about hotel prices until I read Kerouac. Even so, hotel prices are stiff almost any time. September is lovely; the twilight seems to linger especially long. But foliage in central Paris is dominated by chestnuts whose leaves die and crinkle up brown. And the extensive public flower gardens are governed by civil service work orders and you will see the artisans digging up perfectly healthy displays because the calendar says so. Never mind--Go. It's Paris! Everyone will be returning to old habits of enjoyment after the long summer vacation.

In spite of what kerouac might indicate, I can name a number of 2 star hotels on the Left Bank whose highest prices of the year are in September. I shall yield to kerouac´s knowledge about 1-star hotels.

For the present, the chestnut trees do have a strong presence in Paris in fall but unfortunately, they are all dying. A disease of some type I have heard, similar to that affecting the 200-year-old plane trees which line the Canal du Midi. Replacement trees have already been planted in the Jardin du Luxembourg.

You should name the two-star hotels so they can be avoided. I assume they are all in the tourist ghetto. Nevertheless, even in Saint Germain des Prés, there are places such as the 2-star Hôtel de Fleurie (rue Grégoire de Tours), very well rated, which has rooms in September for 106 euros a night. Yes, most months it is less than 100 euros....

Don't assume anything about hotel prices without actually checking the hotel's website. And decide based on that and if it works for you for what you get.

Why would somebody "avoid" a hotel in Sept just because that was their highest price, if the price was in their budget and very good for what you got? That doesn't make any sense, they must base their prices on supply/demand. H de Fleurie is obviously one example. Not to mention, if that fit your requirements to travel during that time for lots of reasons, why wouldn't you go even if hotel prices were 20 euro more per night?
For example, the Relais Christine in St Germain is a 4-5* hotel and charges 430 euro per night during August (often the lowest period) and yet goes to 470 euro during "fashion week" (which is 9/26-10/4/22). They do have much higher rates on some weekends and other dates in Fall but not during Fashion week. So if you were going to book that hotel, I don't think that small difference matters. Even for the top hotels, the percentage difference in price due to that isn't a big deal if that's the level of hotel you are seeking.

I have gone to Paris in Sept and enjoyed it. I don't really agree that it is hard to find a hotel during fashion week because the majority of folks in Paris have nothing whatsoever to do with that and that includes most business clientele. Business just starts up in September in most major cities, nothing odd about that and it has nothing necessarily to do with fashion shows. I live in Wash DC and it's the exact same thing here, hotel prices go up in the Fall versus summer due to business clientele. And we sure don't have a fashion week.

Besides, museum and metro and food prices don't change due to that, anyway. The "high season" remark only refers to hotel prices.

Paris in the fall—-October!
 

Thank you so much for all the comments and encouragement. We have decided on Paris in October. Plane fare was less expensive.
I probably should have shared that we are in our early 70’s and my husband has never traveled in Europe. I have, but that was 52 years ago and never to Paris. We don’t speak French. I have MS and get easily overwhelmed ( like trying to arrange something like a big trip). We like to DENY all these little things!! If we could have done this years ago we would have just gone for it! However, I’m embarrassed to say we are going on the Trafalgar “Paris Explorer” tour, taking optional excursions so we are able to see everything that we would like.
Any favorite little places we should try to go to on our own? Best croissants? Best crêpes? Isn’t there a large flea market in Paris? (I cannot lie, wandering around there would be very fun for me!).
Anyway, thanks again. Perhaps if I had inquired earlier we would have done things differently!
Happy Travels!

Group tours are often the best solution for people with physical limitations.

There is no such thing as "best" croissants or crêpes in Paris There are very good ones everywhere in the city and there are also pretentious overpriced ones, which will be recommended by some of the people here any minute now.

The big flea market is at Porte de Clignancourt, but it requires a bit of stamina. You might find the Porte de Vanves flea market more suitable.

What kerouac wrote regarding croissants and crepes!

There was a nifty market on Rue Edgar Quinet...a description can be found here: https://www.france-travel-info.com/paris-markets/
These are street markets so might be easier to navigate. And, you could find a nice cafe, and your husband could use it as a spot to people watch, drink coffee, and read. Do note this was pre-covid so check. Hub and I were staying in that area and this is my trip report for possible ideas for your own your own times: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...ndwich-446896/

Do you have the name of the Trafalgar tour hotel?

I assume your package includes a hotel. Where is it located? That will help us with recommendations.

Also consider adding a day or two at your hotel at the end of your stay to do the things you missed during the package days. Also by then you will be more acclimated to the city for moving around on your own, either by public transit or cabs. If If recall correctly, busses can have a handicapped entry method while the Metro often has stairs..

This far out it may also be easier to change your return flight with the tour operator.