Would you suggest a double decker bus tour in Paris to get oriented, in November?
 

In the past I have found double decker tours in London to be helpful in giving a quick over view of the city. Only going for a short time (6days), wondering if this would be helpful in Paris too? Do you even see these types of buses on Paris. Sitting on a top level is probably not too practical in November but its the bus idea I am considering here not the type of bus necessarily. Thinking about doing this on the first day, hopping on and off.

Yes, there are several hop-on/hop-off buses in Paris (Cars ROuges, L'Open Tour, etc.). I've never taken one because I know Paris better than any city in the world, but I suppose they are a good introduction to the city (I enjoyed the London equivalent very much). However, if you're on a strict budget, there are regular bus lines in Paris (#69 and #24) that will take you by many of the major sites for a fraction of the cost (albeit without commentary).

L'Open Tours has more stops than Les Cars Rouge, thus more options to get on and off. If the weather's bad, the lower section is enclosed just like a regular bus.

Thanks StCirq and CatFan. I know this is something I could have easily have looked up. I appreciate you taking a moment to answer.

We used L'Open Tours on our first trip to Paris, it was great. Really gave us an overview of the city and we could take note of what we wanted to see more of. It's a good way to get oriented while letting someone else navigate! (but do follow along on the map so you have a general idea of the layout of the sites etc.

L'Open is great and worth the money, especially since this is going to be your first trip to Paris.

For the heck of it I took it on my 3rd trip to Paris and saw sites I normally wouldn't have and got a wealth of information from the commentary. Got to go up and down some beautiful, quaint side streets.

We took the L'Open tour with my sister this July (her first visit to Paris/our 12th) and were surprised how much we enjoyed it. If the weather is good, sit upstairs, it's amazing the amount of architectural detail that you'll see.

http://www.paris-opentour.com/en/parisgt.htm

If it has been helpful to you in the past, then this probably would be too.

Personally, my husband and I like to have our map studied thoroughly before we leave so that when we arrive we already know where everything is situated that we want to go see....we like to walk a lot.

Thanks this is my 3rd trip but I have not been in 20 years! I find its just helpful to have a visual idea of the neighborhoods in the beginning so that we can identify areas we want to return to.

Good to hear where you all have had success.

Here's the cheapo DiY bus tour:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568214

We took the L'Open Tour on our first visit to Paris, and enjoyed it. It provides a pleasant overview of Paris' main sights and attractions.

We received headphones and the commentary did a good job of pointing out places (and describing their significance) that we might have missed if we tried to do it on our own. Because it is a "hop-on, hop-off" bus, we were able to visit the places that interested us, then catch the next bus to continue our tour.

The L'Open Tour is similar to the Guide Friday bus tours offered in other cities. We went on a Guide Friday tour in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the ticket stub even has a discount ticket for tours in other cities, including L'Open Tour in Paris.

Woody

When you say that you might have missed places if you hadn't had the audio, did you mean things that aren't on the Open Tour routes on the RATP map?

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/f_plan...aux&fm=pdf

<< When you say that you might have missed places if you hadn't had the audio, did you mean things that aren't on the Open Tour routes on the RATP map? >>

No. I was referring to secondary sights and monuments that the commentary points out along the way.