Which arrond. to focus on during my 5-days in Paris?
 

I will only be in Paris for 5 full days (Mon. 8am-Fri 5pm). People recommended focusing on one or two arrondissements while there so as not to find it too 'overwhelming' (that was my post earlier). We're staying across from Notre Dame on the Left Bank. It seems like we'll have plenty to see there. However, I was wondering if one day in 5 arrondissements would work as well. We want to visit Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur, so should we stop there and leave or is it worth spending a day in? We also want to visit the Tour Eiffel but I don't remember thinking the area was that interesting to walk around in (but that was a long time ago and I was young and ignorant). Is that worth spending a day in? I've also heard Montparnasse is nice...worth a day? I guess I'm wondering if we should make our hotel neighborhood our base, and just make trips outside of it, or if each day we should visit a different neighborhood. We love just walking around and going into churches...thanks for all the help so far and to come!

Hi mp,

Do not go more than two blocks from your hotel, but study the neighborhood in-depth.

Seriously,

Paris is not overwhelming. By all means don't stick to the one area.

Check out the mini guide to Paris at fodors.com. See the recommended walking tours.

Make a list of 'must sees'.

Plan a day around one or two of these sites, keeping within a geographical area, ie, don't do Montmartre and Luxembourg Gardens the same day.

You will find a good map of Paris at www.multimap.com where you can look up addresses and see where they are.

http://www.ratp.fr/ will give you a transportation guide to Paris with routes and schedules for buses and metro.

Have a great trip.

Hi
Yes, take ira's advice about itineraries suggested here at fodors.com (click on Destinations at the top of the screen) or itineraries in most basic guide books. ricksteves.com also has some very good walking routes.

I'd divide each day into halves.
Pick a primary destination (Sacre Coeur, for example) and make it your business to explore that area for the half day. Have a relaxing lunch, even pop back to the hotel for a short nap if so inclined. Then spend the other half of the day either finishing what you started earlier, or going to a new destination.

No need at all to limit yourself to such a small area. Central Paris is relatively compact, and you can take the metro for longer distances.

Do some advance reading and website visiting, so that you will know what is near what, and when primary sites are open or closed.

Study a good map. Streetwise Paris, available in most chain bookstores, is good for a general overview and most walking itineraries, though it does skimp on Montparnasse and on Montmartre.

I have a long file on Paris, if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

don't worry, 5 days isn't bad for a visit. You won't see everything, but you can see a lot.

I think you're working yourself up about something for which there is no need. You seem to still feel that Paris is so overwhelming. Relax.

There is no need to concern yourself with "arrondissements" or even thinking about which one you are in at any given time. Visit the attractions you want to see and I suspect you already know about and your days will be filled. When you go to Sacre-coeur and Montmarte, if you feel compelled to linger a while, do. If not, head back to your own area. Of course you will be doing the Eiffel Tower and you will want to visit Champs-Elysees and the Arch as well as some museums. Just think in terms of the attractions, it is totally unimportant what arron. they are in. The arrondissements are not something you need to make a list of and say, "good, now I've done six of them".

If you are the person I think (I remember the post about being overwhelmed by Paris), it does seem like your trip is getting back to the thing that you found overwhelming. Maybe now if you plan better and have a guidebook it won't seem that way this time, however, and you are older.

I think you might concentrate on 4,5,6 and Montmartre. I agree that the Eiffel Tower area is not a place I'd recommend you spend a lot of time in, it may not be that interesting to you.

As for Montparnasse -- I like it for various reasons, but I don't really think I'd recommend that for a neophyte Paris sightseeing destination. I myself mainly like it to stay there, not that I spend a lot of time around it in the day time. Its appeal is a little more focused and subtle, to me -- and may depend on personal interests. You might find it fun to go up there one night for cafe-sitting and a dinner, though, but probably not for daily sightseeing. There are exceptions, such as if you were fascinated with the 20s-30s expat/artist community in Montparnasse and wanted to see some of those haunts and the cemetery, etc. But I don't think that describes your interest.

I think MOntmartre is interesting in some areas aside from Sacre Coeur, and I do recommend the Montmartre museum which is not far from the church and gives you a flavor of the area and its history. But you have to have a plan and a guidebook to tell you what's around there, the interesting streets, etc.

I think it seems less overwhelming when you don't have a rigid itinerary. I would pick something I wanted to do each day, figure out what else was in the neighborhood, and explore that neighborhood until you just don't feel like it any more. Don't worry about missing things, whatever you do will be good.

When you've had enough of that neighborhood you can decide whether to go back to the hotel and regroup or to strike out in another direction. Nothing is really so far from anything else that you can't get there within a short time.

By all means go up the Tour Eiffel if you want to, but there probably isn't enough in that neighborhood to occupy a day. You could go somewhere else afterward. I would also not recommend Montparnasse as a must-see area, but if you do decide to go there you will probably find plenty to occupy you.

And if, after all this planning, you find yourself so entranced with the area in your immediate neighborhood that you never leave it, you still will have a great time.

by all means begin your visit with one of those double decker bus tours. you will see the layout of the city and where the sights are and then you can decide where you would like to walk to or take the metro to. you can hop around very easily and change plans accordingly. what you do not want to do is to get too stuck into a set schedule because this is a city with a lot of wonderful diversions!

If you are interested in the museums, then I would pick one to see each day and then focus the rest of the day walking around the area. For example spend a day in the 6th St. Germain area and visit the D'Orsay. Vistit the Pompadou Center and vistit the area around Les Halles. Visit the Picasso and spend some time in the Marais. If you go to the Tour Eifel, walk around the 7th to the Rodin, Rue Cler etc. Enjoy! There is nothing better than walking around Paris.

I was in Paris for a month but my sister came to visit me for a week. If you're interested, I could send you that week. Just e-mail me at [email protected]. I wanted to hit the highlights during her short visit (and the beginning of mine) and we did. We whizzed around on the metro which we quickly figured out so you can go everywhere and not be confined. Please, don't feel pressured. Even after a month there I'm collecting places to go next time. There's so much to see that you need to pin down what really interests you. I highly recommend the walking tours in Rick Steves' Paris and Steinbicker's Day Trips France.

I don't think approaching a visit to Paris from the standpoint of selecting one or two arrondissements each day, or during a 5-day period, makes much sense at all - unless you are Degas. The types of meanders I make in Paris on a typical day cross several arrondissements. For example, I'll start out in the 7th, take the métro the the 6th, walk to the 5th and 1st, and go "home" to the 7th in a typical day. Just get a good map of Paris and select what you want to see and plan accordingly. It's NOT a big city in terms of geographical area. If you insist on doing it by arrondissement, get one of thos Paris par Arrondissement booklets and check off places in each one you want to see and plan your excursions that way.

As far as I am concerned, visiting a city like Paris and basing where I go and what I do on the particular arrondissement would be like going to New York city and basing my itinerary on the various zip codes. The only thing "overwhelming" about Paris would be you allowing yourself to think you have to "do it all" and you don't. I agree with those who have advised you to pick the things that interest you the most and do those, regardless of where they are located and also regardless of whether or not other people have said "you have to do it." If it doesn't interest you, don't waste your time on it.

When I read a lot of hype about "which arrondissement is the best" here I begin to smell a snob. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for all the replies. I am not trying to be rigid, nor to have each minute of the day planned (though I will admit that I really enjoy reading about destinations), and it is upon the suggestion of people on this board that I planned to go neighborhood by neighborhood. I hardly find it snobby to ask for suggestions on what neighborhoods to focus on or what to do in them! I simply cherish my time abroad and want to use it wisely, that's all. It's easy to say you can just wander around aimlessly and enjoy it--and I certainly would--but I would like to have some plan, even very rough, so I get to see as much as possible. As I said, we both love just walking around, but it's also nice to have an idea where you are so you don't accidentally walk past things you would have wanted to see.

Christina, from what you and others have said, it seems like 4,5,6, and Montmarte will be our 'walking' areas, and we'll make excursions to other areas for specific destinations (such as Tour Eiffel, etc.). Thanks much for your advice!

mp413,click on my screen name and you can find some Paris exploration walks I drafted up over the past week: Latin Quarter, St.Germain, Marais, Notre Dame and Islands, and Right Bank. They layout some good places for sightseeing, eating and shopping. Try some or all of them if you want.

You don't have to follow them step by step. They do, however, give you some structure and awareness of interesting places and things in each particular area. Good luck.

Thanks Degas, they're great! I'm taking notes...enjoy your trip!

Degas, I'm paying close attention to your walk posts as well.

I really hope you reach the point where you realize that Paris is not at all overwhelming. In fact, it can be very relaxing and manageable if you don't try to do it all. Pick the things you most want to do, consult a map, group sites into geographic areas and start with the most important to you each day. That way you can be sure to leave time to just wander the neighborhoods. Paris is a fairly compact city if you limit your sightseeing to the Arrond. around the Seine, 1 through 8. And by the way, I have been to Paris six times since the last time I visited Montmartre, it can easily be done in half a day.

mp413, I suggest you get a copy of Daytrips France by Earl Steinbicker (ISBN 0-8038-2006-2) and forget about reinventing the wheel. There are 5 excellent walking tours of Paris, maps, places for food and drink, etc.

One of the walks starts at the Trocadero, goes to the Eiffel Tower, continues to Napoleon's Tomb and the Museum of the Army, heads for the Rodin Museum, then to the Musee d'Orsay, then to Place St-Germain-des-Pres.

Started this walk with our 2 grandchildren 2 years ago and we ran out of time at the Rodin and headed back to our hotel in Montparnasse. We like Montparnasse as a base because it is non-touristy and we have found some excellent, inexpensive restaurants when we are often the only non-Parisians.

St Cirq mentioned this a few days ago, but I suggest that first timers take a ride on the #69 city bus. We like to catch it westbound from the Marais to the Eiffel Tower. Look for the Rue San Antoine which turns into the Rue de Rivoli and find a bus stop along there. You will pass by the Hotel de Ville and the Louvre, then cross over the Seine at Pont Royal and go right by The Musee d' Orsay, Rue Cler and Invalides and get off at the Champ de Mars. Look for the sign for the 42 bus, because this is a good one to catch after seeing the Eiffel Tower. It will take you back across on the Pont de l'Alma, down Avenue Montaigne, then on the Champs-Elysses, through the Place de la Concorde, by the Madeline and the Opera, which is a good place to get off and look around. From there you can catch the Metro to your next destination.

In 5 days Paris will have infected you, changing your perspective on travel forever. All further vacations/trips will be spent considering Paris as an option and answering the "what if" question ("I can take the family to Orlando next March, but what if we go to Paris instead....it will be a good experiance for the kids"). So, my advice is simple. Live by one moto "there is always next time". Don't over plan your days. Pick one thing for each day, as folks have suggested and then freelance your day until you are tired.