PARIS - itinerary - 3 days
 

Bonjour :)

This is our (family) 1st trip to the city of Paris....I do not want to rush as I am sure I will be back to explore in the future....however I need some expert advise

Note:
Do not want to climb the eiffel towel
Do not want to explore Louvre and disappointingly small Mona Lisa on such a small tour

DAY 1 FRIDAY
I shall reach Paris by 11am from a scenic train ride from switzerland....will head straight to my hotel.....lunch......I plan to do the following in the exact order:
Arc De Triomphe
Champs Elysees
Tuileries Garden
Eiffel Tower (I would like to know which is the best spot to view it from? Place de Trocade?

DAY 2 SATURDAY
Notre Dame
Sainte Chapelle
Lunch @ Latin Quarters
Jardin De Luxembourgh
Louvre (from outside)
Siene River Cruise (Please let me know where can I book it in advance)

DAY 3 SUNDAY
Monmarte
Sacre Couer Basilica

Please suggest us a few more things to explore on Sunday or in general. We have the whole Sunday to spare. We are leaving for London next day early morning.

Thanks in Advance.
AK

Continuation...
We are interested in some flea market stuff....Please suggest names and ideas to fit in !!
Thanks

There's a parallel thread for the same three day span that might help you also.
On Saturday morning (best time/most stuff) there is a flea market at Porte Vanves, just up the hill from teh Porte Vanves Metro. I don't find it particularly fruitful after about noon on Saturday but it is "there" all weekend.

The famous Marche aux Puces or flea markets in Paris are at Porte Cligancourt - several different ones in buildings and a general junk market surrounding it on the streets. The market at Pte Vanves is relatively small compared to these ones.

This is another thread with same number of days.

It might help u also.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-3-days-.cfm

enjoy!

Fri---I'd move the outside of the Louvre with the Tuilleries as you are right there.
Then the Metro to the Eiffel Tower (view from the trocadero is great, but you can easily walk across the river and see it from the park also.)

Sat---
St. Chapelle
Notre Dame
Ile St. Louis
Latin Quarter (lunch either Ile St. Louis or St. Germain area)
Lux. Gardens
Vedettes cruise from the Pont Neuff
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

Sun---
Montmartre & Sacre Coure in the morning then Metro to
Place Vosges (for lunch) and the Carnavalet Museum(free, small, and charming)
And if it was us, we'd move Lux. Gardens to this time as Sun. they usually have music, etc. and a lot of shops are closed on Sun.so a good time to be in the park)

I realize you wanted to do your itinerary in exact order but after walking around our favorite city many,many times these are my suggestions.

We always use this company for boat tours on the Seine http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

You can buy your ticket in advance to save some money, but no need to book in advance. Boats leave very frequently.

how do I plan my travel to these places?
by foot?
by metro - seems best to me

Depends - some places are easy to walk between...others you will need to use the bus or metro. You can get a booklet of 10 tickets for about €12 that will work on both called a carnet.

<<how do I plan my travel to these places?>>

With a good city map and www.ratp.fr

<<how do I plan my travel to these places?>>

Quite a bit of that depends on personal preference. How much walking do you want to do?

For example, look at Friday. If you take TPAYT's recommendation about moving the Louvre to after Tuilleries; starting at the Arc de Triomphe it is a 2 mile walk from the Arc down Champs Elysées through Place de Concorde, into Jardin des Tuileries, and arriving at the Louvre. That walk is a straight line down hill.

If you don't want to walk the entire two miles, there are about 5 metro stops on line 1 at points in between the arc and the Louvre.

<<how do I plan my travel to these places?>>

With a good city map and www.ratp.fr>
yah and for the under troiseme age crowd a phone with GPS!

there are good discounts available for the seine cruise if you use the vedettes du pont neuf website.

if it would fit into your itinerary, and alternative to the vedettes is to use the batobus which runs up and down the seine to get from Notre Dame, say, to the eiffel Tower or vice versa.

you are making some very precise plans - do allow yourselves some time to just relax and enjoy being in Paris!

I have already bought Michael Brein's Paris Metro map on Amazon. Well worth it!! Very easy to read. I like Rick Steves' Paris map as it's easy to read (included with his France map), includes Metro stations, RER and taxi stands. I also bought Knopf Paris map which uniquely unfolds by area (It's like a little book). Easy to carry along. I mainly bought it because it includes outlaying areas not seen on the other map.

Michael Middleditch's guide to bus and metro is the best--great overlays and ability to see which way the buses are coming so you are going the right way.

Michael Middleditch's guide to bus and metro is the best--great overlays and ability to see which way the buses are coming so you are going the right way.

Akshay, regarding Saint Chapelle – gorgeous but if the line is hours long as it sometime is, I would move on. Time in Paris is too precious. Enjoy …

I just ordered Michael Middledtich's Map guide. Another reason why I love this Forum.

Tour Eiffel viewed in the evening (as darkness emerges) from Trocadero is spectacular. IMO it is much better than standing close-up to it.

I just received Michael Middleditche's map, and it is not my favorite. Metro stops shown, but not lines. Also, so much writing all over it is hard to read. My favorite street map is still Rick Steves France and Paris -- easy to read. Taxi stands, metro stops, RER, boat stops, all easy to read. The Michael Brein metro map is invaluable (shows you the bigger picture. And I just downloaded a free iphone app - Paris Metro map, which will actually program a route for you depending on your station and destination.