Where should we stay in Paris?
 

My wife and I are going to Paris for 3 days in early September and I’m looking for some advice on where to stay. We are relatively young and like to walk but we don’t care for bars and night clubs. We are there to explore Paris, so we want to be close to all the main sights and have some good restaurants nearby.

Hi Cesar9- You're in luck because another poster, Guenmai recently started a thread inviting everyone to recommend a Paris left bank hotel that they particularly liked. If you search that poster's name, you'll find the thread and there are LOTS of recommendations.

Cezar9: The thread that stricky is referring to I started in 2008, but it's still going strong. My Left Bank thread is linked to my Right Bank thread and vice versa. Below is my thread.

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...thread-447122/

Happy Travels!

thank you stricky and Guenmai. This thread looks very helpful but I was hoping to narrow down to a couple of arrondissements first before I start looking at hotels. Hopefully I will post there after my stay.

Cezar: Starting at post #171-Dec 2010, I have categorized all of the recommended hotels above that post by district to make it easier for reading. Then, another poster more recently did the same. But, that post you will need to jump to the bottom of my hotel thread and scroll up to find it as I don't remember where it is. So, after you have decided on a district then if you need to look at the recommended hotels, then you have extra information on my thread to do such. And by the way, there's no one place to stay in Paris to be close to all of the sites. So, after you have done some independent research on districts of interest to you, then it will be easier to select a hotel.

Happy Travels!

cezar - Paris is not that big a city, and as long as you stay somewhere with easy access to a Metro you should be fine. There are interesting, non-bar/club sights throughout the city so we could perhaps help you narrow down if you tell us what things you do like to do/see. Museums? restaurants? Shopping? Music? History? Architecture? etc.

There is no busier hotel month in Paris than September. Wherever you decide to stay, I would make a reservation as soon as possible.

September is our favorite month to visit Paris.

My advice is to stay as close to The Seine as possible.

Left Bank....St. Germain, Latin Quarter, Ile St. Louis, or near Notre Dame. Very easy to walk around, lots of pedestrian streets, close to lots of places you’ll want to see. Walking along The Seine may be touristy but it’s still magical, especially at night. Definitely do a boat ride, our favorite is Vedettes at the Pont Nuef, on the 1/2 hr. at dusk or night & you will get to the Eiffel as it sparkles on the hour.

Get a good guide book and read trip reports here to maximize your 3 day time. Our first visit was 3 days and we have since been back 12 more times.

There are more restaurants than you can imagine. Check out some of the restaurant threads here.

We like beautiful architecture, history, galleries, and museums. Shopping and music would not be main factors in selecting a location. Also, we wouldn't mind eating while exploring the city, but it will be good to have some good food options in the area for breakfast and dinner. We would prefer walking over using the metro or bus, so walkability is important.

For fit adventurous people who enjoy walking I think the usual advice of staying in a central arrondissement near the river is overrated. I'd recommend the opposite so you see more of the city on your walks and can enjoy the metro system for farther explorations.

One of the best days I had in Paris of many over the years was the last day of one visit when I'd planned to do some gift shopping. I was staying near Sacre Coeur, not miles away but not close to the shops I'd planned to include near the river and there was a surprise transit strike. I walked all the way down hill then shopped my way back up and along the route found all kinds of things in shops I'd never have found if I'd taken the metro. So staying off the beaten path has its rewards, on a 1st trip or for more experienced visitors. Unless you're just not into off-the-beaten path, no criticism if that's the case.

BUT....with only 3 days I’d maximize my time and stay near The Seine where you can walk to
many of the sites. Our first stay was around Montparnasse. While we loved the area we found ourselves always heading to The Seine
Just sayin’

Given your interests and 3 day time frame, I agree with TPAYT about staying close in. The 7th arrondissement would be a safe bet for you all.

You might consider taking a look at. The Paris Museum Pass website to map out the museums and monuments that are of the most interest to you. Once you map them out, it might help you choose an arrondissement to stay in.

if your top interests are Musee Rodin, D’Orsay and the Eiffel Tower, you would choose the 6th or 7th arrondissement. Or if you have to choose between a few things to see, you may ise location as a way to pare things down. Central Paris is somewhat compact so that helps.

paris is a great walking city but alao has wonderful public transportation. With only 3 days, you mau want to consider using the Metro some to save time so that you can see more.

Enjoy your trip.

Your desires point to being in tourist central, actually. Because you say you want to walk to everything. And you talk about liking museums, etc., basically the same stuff everyone likes, but I'm not clear on what that has to do with your hotel UNLESS you also mean you must be able to walk to these museums.

If that is true, then I do agree you should probably stay in the Marais, the island, St Germain or Latin Qtr. Even then I am not sure you understand there is no way in the world you can walk to everything, Paris isn't some teensy town. Unless you want to walk 3 miles to something. Maybe you do. Just walking from Notre Dame to the Musee d'Orsay, for example, is over a mile (or over 2 km). the Arc is over 5 km from there, probably bout the same as the Eiffel Tower. But from the island or the Marais or other side of the river, you can walk to the stuff in the center islands, the Louvre, Hotel de Ville, and a few other attractions as well as the oldest neighborhoods in Paris.

In sum, if you want to narrow your search tools, use arrondisements 4-6, maybe 7 if the part close to St Germain.

I would stay in the 5th or 6th (maybe 7th maybe 1st).

Do you have a map to understand how the arrondisements work? It's like a snail with the smaller numbers in the center.

I will repeat what I wrote years ago, and it was considered valid enough to actually be published in the Fodor's guide to Paris:

If you stay in the outer arrondissements, you will save a lot of money and see much more of the city. Healthy people can walk just about anywhere in Paris, and the journey is just as interesting as the destination. If you have to take the metro from an outlying area, it will only add 10-20 minutes to the trip. In the outlying areas, you will avoid just about all of the pickpockets and scams and save 20-30% on restaurants and accommodations. The "problems" are almost completely in the tourist ghettos (arrondissements 1-7).

If you really want to be close to what you consider to be the major sights, you will pay a lot more and miss quite a bit of the most interesting features of the city. It's your choice.

Thanks for that Kerouac. It seems to me that newer visitors to Paris are most often convinced by other posters whose comfort zone is the cluster of near-the-river locations, from which they don't deviate, to just do what they do. It's not unlike other travel recommendations made by those who've experienced only 1 of the possible choices and because they liked it say it's the best. It may be but, failing other experiences, it could just as well not be. I hope the OP at least considers the larger experience.

A lot of newcomers here don't know that the majority of posters here are somewhat elderly and sometimes disabled. That of course makes them want to stay in the most "convenient" area (or at least they think so). Nothing wrong with that if you have tons of money, but younger people will still be missing out. Nevertheless, I have a British friend who is somewhat disabled if only because he is 86 years old. But he stays in the 19th arrondissement and wouldn't dream of staying anywhere else because he is totally in love with the Buttes Chaumont and the Bassin de la Villette, two places which are rarely mentioned here as desirable sights. And yet he also goes all over Paris on the metro (complaining about being tired later, but hey, he is 86 years old!). He has already been to Paris 2 times this year and is planning his next trip already.

I would be really sad if people who say they are young and "like to walk" would stay in a place where they would walk the least.

I'm not elderly or disabled. And I walked PLENTY staying in the 5th/Latin Quarter.

That is precious, as the Church Lady would say. What did you see in the outer arrondissements?

Hands down, stay in the 6th arr. in St. Germain de Pres. Do check out Hotel du Jardins Luxembourg which flanks the gardens on edge of the 5th, however, been there 3 times. Other 3 were in 1st and 7th but noisier streets. Very quiet cul de sac, and easy for walking; right out on the Blvd is the RER B which we take right in from airport. Also see Hotel Atlantis in the 6th, very nice, awesome neighborhood, fairly quiet. If you want to treat yourselves, check out Hotel D'Aubusson, also in 6th. Regardless, time on the Metro takes time which you have little of, wouldnt recommend outer arrondissements unless getting an apt for a month.

What did you see in the outer arrondissements?

I don't see anything about that in the question from the OP of this thread.

Cezar9, you're unlikely to get a bum steer if you take kerouac's advice in anything Paris. Consider everyone else less knowledgeable.

OP: We would prefer walking over using the metro or bus, so walkability is important.

To me that says more central, not the "outer arrondisements", for the things most people would want to see on a 3 day trip to Paris.

Of course I don't know as much as a resident of the city, but my limited experience in the central area seeing the major site and sights might actually be more similar to what another newbie would like.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Please keep the recommendations coming. We just came back from a trip to Lisbon and London. In both cities we stayed in the most central location possible and we still walked about 6-7 miles per day on average.
Any thoughts about hotel Saint-Paul Rive Gauche?

I have made more than 200 visits to Paris over 40+ years and have never once stayed in the 6th arrondissement, and never will. I'm not disabled, and I'm not that elderly, but I've been on crutches in Paris and still didn't want to stay there. We usually stay in the 11th or 20th and walk all over...and save lots of euros that we can spend on other things.

I think it's a toss-up, really - get a place by the Seine and a lot of what people think of as "the main sites" and walk everywhere and spend a good bit of money, or be a little audacious, spend a lot less money, stay outside those areas...and walk everywhere.

We stayed at Hotel St Paul on our first trip to Paris, in 1999. It’s a fine location, close to the Luxembourg gardens, Cluny, Odeon Metro. When we arrived that year the Metro actually was on strike, and so were the museums (another strike). We walked EVERYWHERE and loved it, because we really saw aparis, not the inside of museums. We got dinner one night at the nearby covered market in St Germain.

Another year we we stayed near there at the Hotel du Pantheon, view on the Pantheon, also a nice hotel. Though I somehow like the location of the St Paul more.

Plenty of restaurants near both.

We’ve also stayed and enjoyed the Hotel Brighton on the Tuileries (close to the Louvre, across the Seine from the Orsay). One evening we walked to the rue Cler and brought back roast chicken, cheese, a baguette and ate in our room. I’d say not as many restaurants as the other location.

Last year we stayed in the 6th near the rue de Buci, also a great location. Another time, near Invalides (thought that was a little out of the way). Another time on the Isle St Louis - great! Location. A few years ago we stayed at the Hotel Residence Henri IV in the 5th - I wasn’t as crazy about that location, though the hotel was reasonable, friendly and very nice.

Anyone will have their own favorites, just trying to give a few specific personal experiences, in case it helps.

Youll love Paris! It’s amazing.

I know that hotel very well as I have known the manager for over 30 years as she has managed several hotels in the 6th. It's a beautiful hotel and in a quiet area. Directly across the street is a laundromat and also a Vietnamese restaurant, I think it was and there are other restaurants within an easy walk. I have seen many of the rooms at that hotel and they are beautiful as there was a major renovation some years ago. It's a very popular hotel. That would be an excellent pick.

Happy Travels!

Well, I'm glad that accommodation ideas are all settled now. Cezar9 and wife will stay in the dead center of Paris and go to all of the restaurants designed to please tourists flush with cash. They will not have to worry about getting lost walking everywhere because the tourist track in the area is so deep that it is practically a rut. I'm sure you will have a great time.

More seriously, I'm sure that you will love a stay in that area. It's just that you might kick yourselves on a later trip when you discover what the rest of Paris is like.

Maybe for the first time and only three nights stay where the majority suggest, then come back for a decent length of time and stay in the 18th in an apartment, rue Caulaincourt is my fave! See the 'real' Paris IMO.

Some day I promise to make a video with accordion music and all of the sights along the Seine that people want to "walk" to.

cesar9, that hotel looks good. This is old info but we loved Bistro Perraudin ( https://www.restaurant-perraudin.com/ ). Some Fodorite will need to confirm that it is still special!

DH and I weren't old or disabled when we started our Paris travels but we still preferred to stay in a hotel in a convenient spot and with a restaurant.

Because we were tourists, we often made purchases and it was super nice to be able to get back to the hotel quickly to drop off things, take a toilet break and even take a nap. Even though finding a restaurant is easy in Paris, we loved the convenience of breakfast in the hotel--again, toilet break, toothbrushing without leaving = time savers.

When we did become older travelers, we took a cab to the furthest venue of the day and slowly worked our way back. I think that's good info for almost any aged person.

Please report back and have a super time.

"Shopping and dropping off things" seems to be important for some of you. But plenty of people never shop. It is an important detail to take into consideration.

If arr 1-7 is as dangerous as you say, should visitors avoid this area altogether? Most of the sites that tourists want to visit are located in 1-7 so just staying outside of 1-7 might not be sufficient to keep people safe from "pickpockets, scams and problems". Perhaps people wanting to stay safe from pickpockets, scams and problems should avoid Paris altogether?

These threads are so funny and so NOT helpful to any first time traveler to Paris! So much bickering and judging.

Schnauzer, I LIVE on rue Caulaincourt! My favorite as well. :-)

May I suggest a rational and functional way to select a base for your short trip of just three days? Make a list of the places you may want to see. There probably will be more than three day's worth, but make the list anyway. Then plot them on a Paris city map. Pick a point in the center of the cluster of sites and stay near there. This is advice for walkers. Metro and bus users can stay anywhere.

kerouac and MmeP are right about outer neighborhoods . . . FOR long time Paris visitors. Kerouac lives there, MmeP used to, StCirq lives in France and has been to Paris countless times.

BUT for a first timer on a very short visit, staying in the center is wonderful. Yes - lots of tourist-centric restraurants/cafes -- but MANY that are not. And yes, many things are walkable. I've stayed in several areas close in and in outer arrondissements. The last time I stayed in the 5th it was a 3 day/4 night stay and I only used the metro twice. I walked to Notre Dame, Musée d'Orsay, Luxembourg Gardens, the Rodin Museum, Opera Garnier, and the Pompidou Center and everywhere in between.

So don't second guess yourself

I agree with the AJPeabody's suggestion. Map where you want to go in the 3 days. Then figure out where you need to stay to be able to walk to most of those places. I'm guessing it will turn out to be in the 4-7th.

Living some place is not the same as a newbie wanting to see the highlights in a short time frame. I would not want to spend any part of my precious, limited days on public transportation back and forth to the outlying arrondisements to "save 20-30% on my accommodation". I don't have to have done it to know it wouldn't work for me.

And yet it works marvellously for a lot of people, especially those without unlimited resources. We are all different, which is why we are suggesting different things without always needing to add a touch of disparagement.

No "disparagement". But these folks clearly said they only have 3 days and want to be "close to the sights". It's not an unusual request or difficult to understand why.

Nothing to do with "unlimited resources". That's ridiculous. Even as a budget traveler, a 20-30% savings would not be worth it to me if it meant dealing with time, cost, stress of being tied to public transportation in a city where I don't speak the language and am not at all familiar with how things work.

Especially since we are only talking 3 days (!!) to be able to walk and not use public transportation... like this post particularly specified would be worth the slight up charge. I'd say the same for Amsterdam... Venice... Seattle.