aliced

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.

suze

What did you see in the outer arrondissements?

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

MmePerdu

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

suze

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.

cezar9

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?

StCirq

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.

Iwan2go

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.

Guenmai

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!

kerouac

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.

schnauzer

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.

kerouac

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.

TDudette

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.

kerouac

"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.

walkinaround

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?

Belinda

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.

AJPeabody

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.

janisj

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

suze

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.

kerouac

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.

suze

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.