Hi Everyone, Thanks for all the help you have given us regarding our trip to Paris. Everything is booked....except now we need help planning our days (4) in Paris. We arrive around 8:30 am Friday morning (mid April) we hope to leave our bags at the hotel, we were thinking we will probably want to have something to eat near our hotel then try a bus tour to get an idea of what Paris is like. With only four days of sightseeing we want to see all the major attractions but we don't want this trip to be an "outward bound" experience, if you know what I mean. I understand that no one can see all of Paris in four weeks let alone four days, we just want to experience Paris and hopefully return again and again. So...what attractions should we see and in what order? I don't understand the museum passes or the metro passes. Are they something I should purchase before we leave? Everone has been so helpful to us. We cannot tell how much we appreciate all of your advice and tips...Thanks ptm

You might want to get the Michelin Green Guide. I have not seen the Paris guide, but the guides covering other areas offer varying itineraries according to the number of days traveling. I would not be surprised if it did the same thing for Paris.

You need a map of the city and a good guide book to plan how best to use your four days. Once you've done your homework, I'm sure the many Fodor's francophiles can help you tweak your daily plans.

You can get 'canned' itineraries from the websites for Fodors.com and Frommers.com, under "Destinations". They will cover the most-visited sights. Just compare to a guidebook to ensure your days coincide with sights' open days.

A couple of hop on/off buses:
http://www.carsrouges.com/uk/index.html
http://www.paris-opentour.com/en/open.htm

Rick Steves has a good book for Paris. Checkout his website. I have used it in the past.

Thank you all!!! I will pick up a tour book or two and plan from there...now what about the museum passes should I buy them here or when we get there? Love all the great advice..Thanks Ptm

I recommend taking one of the boat tours along the Seine to familarize yourself with the layout of the city. My husband and I took the Bateaux Les Vedettes du Pont Neuf tour. We had literally just arrived into the city so it was nice to recover from a long flight and just relax cruising down the river.

As I am a consummate planner (almost to the point of anal, LOL), I purchased my museum passes in advance from this site http://gotoparis.net/citypasses.html. Since I speak only basic high school French, I wanted to get all of my questions answered prior to arriving in France. (And it helped their office is located in the same city so I was able to pick them up the same day.) The museum passes are worth it because we were able to skip to the front of the line.

Buy this book: "Paris for Free or Extremely Cheap" It is the best travel book ever, and it's only made for Paris. I spent 2 months there, and never ran out of things to do. I wish there was one of these by this author for every city.

There's no need to buy museum passes in advance, and doing so costs extra money. The Paris Tourist office locations sell them and speak perfectly good English. Or get one at the first museum you want to see. In fact, you should cost out the museums you want to see on such a short trip against the passes b/c you may not save money with the pass. The minimum is now a 2-day pass.

Thanks again eveyone....Love the idea of taking a boat tour when we first arrive...I couldn't think of a better way to see Paris for the very first time. So excited ....take care ptm

The passes may not save you money, but it definitely saved us time in the long lines.