http://www.english4france.com/ FRANCE GUIDE TO DISNEYLAND 2
Most cities in Europe have tours to see the main monuments, landmarks and points of interest and Paris is no exception, with different excursions and tour operators that are a great way of getting to see the main sights.
With most tours only lasting an average of one hour this can be a pleasant trip for all members of the family, no matter what their age, and with documentaries supplied in different languages, you can even find out some very interesting facts along the way.
Within Paris there are two bus firms that provide these tours and also a hop on and hop off service, so for the one payment you can utilise the buses as many times as you like during the day.
Les Car Rouges was the original tour bus firm in Paris, which are the red buses that provide one specific route with pick up and drop off points around the city, and although varying according to the time of year, arrive at these stops on an average of every 15 to 30 minutes.
The second tour operator has four different routes around Paris, which will get you to see a lot more of the different tourist attractions. Called l’Open Tour Buses they are very easy to spot in their yellow and green colour, yet are slightly more expensive for a pass. But because they have more varied destinations from one side of the city to another, you can hop on and off different buses to go on different routes, which will get you covering far more of the incredible monuments and landmarks that Paris has to offer.
You can purchase tickets in advance, via selected outlets or in some cases from the bus drivers themselves and both of these tour operators have an open deck at the top of the bus, which is a great place to view the sights on a pleasant day and audio guides in different languages for additional information on the famous sights.
The Batobus service is another great way of getting around Paris and runs along the River Seine, although you would have to be mobile in aspects of negotiating stairs and steep inclines at the banks of the River Seine. It has specific drop off and pick up points and by purchasing a ticket you can go right round the route or do as with the buses on a hop on and hop off aspect using the ticket throughout the day. Some places the Batobus takes you are the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Louvre and other famous places situated along the Seine.
However, if you are an energetic and an environmentally friendly type of person, then you may wish to consider using a bicycle to get around Paris, and if you do not have your own cycle with you, then the city has a great system in place called the Velib plus cycle lanes amounting to around 350 kilometres.
You can hire a bike with the Vélib’ Self-Service Bike Scheme, with pick up and drop off points all over the city of Paris only around 300 metres apart. There is an initial set up charge and only a small fee when you use your cycle, but the first 30 minutes of every ride are completely free and you can choose the duration of your ticket from one day, five day, even a yearly pass.
Unfortunately, you do have to be over fourteen years of age to take advantage of this service, but it is definitely a great way of keeping fit and a pleasant alternative from the metro, so you actually get to see the sights on route and you can obtain these passes online or at any of the Velib Service Points.
Even when you have children with you, travelling around Paris can be fun, and although the rush hour times are always going to be hectic, taking the more touristy type options can be a lot more fun for everyone and you get to see a lot more of Paris from above ground!
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Martyn Davis European Traveller, Author, Photographer and Business Development Manager, For all your French holiday needs and travel guide to France, with tourist information, landmarks and attractions – http://www.placesinfrance.com/transport_and_tours_in_paris.html
The best guide to the sights of Paris is probably the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel Guide to Paris. You can order one from their website http://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780756615475,00.html Its just vastly better than the usual Rick Steve's/Frommer/Fodor's junk.
I know this sounds silly but being a "good" tourist is hard work and you should spend almost as much time preparing as you do actually being there. So don't just get a guide book but read thru it very carefully BEFORE you go.
Make a list of what you want to see based on your personal interests and the amount of time you have. Of course, its fine to come back to this forum with more specific questions after you have had the time to do some research of your own.
There's also a lot to Paris that is beyond the tourist sights. Its the ambience and the attitude of Paris which need to be lived and felt.
You should spend some time just strolling around the city to appreciate its architecture and to get a feel for its medieval layout, the Belle Epoch improvements of Baron Hausman, and the modernizations seen in places like the Les Halles Forum and the new Opera in the Place Bastille.
You should take a little time to just sit in a cafe in the Latin Quarter or St. Germaine and people watch. Go the Luxembourg Gardens and feed the pigeons. Watch little kids sailing toy boats in the big pond there.
Be a bit courageous about food. Go to places that don't cater to tourists and don't have English menus. Just point to things on the menu or, better still, walk into a cafe at lunchtime and ask for the daily special which you'll almost always see displayed on a chalk board. don't worry if you don't know what it is! Try it! The worst that will happen is that you'll have a hilarious story to tell about how you got served a calve's head with cream sauce or something else too weird for you to eat.
Mainly, don't stay in a tight little tourist cocoon. Strike up conversations with strangers, be open minded, put your map in your back pocket and just wander around, get lost, experiment, learn, take the time to really look at things.
Bonne chance!
I have Lonely Planet, Fodor's and Let's Go, but how would I ever be able to send them?
You won't find it difficult to find your way around. Just get a good guide book, like Michelin, and it will tell you the places to go and how to get there. Much of Paris can be done by walking; just plan your days doing area by area so that you're not running around aimlessly.
Bear in mind that the Metro is easy once you know to look for the station that is at the end of the line. (In London, you look for "Eastbound", etc.)
I've done Paris many times, but spent a little time planning.
It's a wonderful city; have a lovely time.
I think this can help you:
http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
just give your start city and your end city and voila! you get all info you need
This is probably not the answer you want to hear but my opinion is that all the travel guides are more of less alike and that no one guide is going to really be good for anything more than the usual tourist trip.
As I type this i am looking at my bookshelf of travel books. I must have something like 150 of which 30 or 40 concern France generally or Paris in particular. These include such obscure things as "Seeing Paris," a guide published in 1931.
I go to Paris just about every year and have been doing so for more than 30 years and yet before each trip I spend several weeks planning things out and researching. I read restauant reviews, check the blogs of ex-patriates in Paris, and make extensive notes. I have a database of Paris restaurants and night clubs with hundreds of entries that I constantly update with whatever information I can glean from the internet.
The bottom line here is that you should consider doing your own research from many sources and compiling your own personal guide book.
It will be better than anything someone else can give you and you may find, as I do, that the preparation for your trip is itself an interesting activity.
Give it a try. I know it sounds like a horrible idea but it really works and its fun.
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The above advice is good, it's an excellent idea to get all the free information you can find. However, if you're shopping for a Guide Book I HIGHLY recommend Rick Steves' guide books for both locations. Rick has specific guides just for the cities of London and Paris as well as books on all of England and France in case you are traveling outside the cities. You shouldn't need to buy all 4, if you are leaving the cities, the country books alone should give you plenty of info.
I've always been a fan of Rick's books because he points you in inexpensive and fun directions that help you travel like a local but see all the touristy stuff. He also designs self walking tours of towns and museums. Saves you the money of paying for a tour and you've got all the info at your finger tips.
The Rick Steves books really are the most thorough and interesting. They also seem to be the only line that takes traveling like a local and costs in mind constantly. You can get used Rick Steves books on eBay, amazon or half. He comes out with a new version each year so you can get used 2005 or 2006 books that will still be accurate but will be a lot cheaper. Check out his other travel tips and info for London and Paris at his web site http://www.ricksteves.com
The Lets Go Guidebooks are also heavily recommended, but I find them a lot more boring and I've had bad experiences with hotels and restaurants they recommended.
Hope this helps, enjoy your trip!
Cheers.
Be sure to request a hotel with air conditioning!!!!!
We stayed a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower and almost died of heat every single night! Because it was so hot during the day, it stormed every single night, which was kind of nice because we opened up our window and caught a breeze.
Be sure to bring a compact umbrella for everyone in your group – you don't want to lug around a huge golf umbrella, but you will definitely need to take one every where you go because the weather is iffy each day.
We visited the American Embassy when we first arrived, and they suggested we buy a pass for the underground train – not a good idea, as the train didn't stop near anything we wanted to see! So…….invest in some really good walking shoes and plan on doing the city by foot. It's the best way to really get close to the Parisians anyway. Remember — it's PARIS, so if you are easily offended, you'll be frequently offended! We witnessed a couple making love on the grass in a park right up from the Louvre! It fascinated my young son, who thought they were wrestling! LOL
Enjoy your stay — and plan to spend several hours standing in line for the Louvre and Tower, but they are SO worth it!
I wish you well!!!
the RER is complicated and sometimes you have to wait a while.
Better just taking the 3 line (green) to Opera and change for the 8 (purple) to Ecole Militaire.
You will be at the other end of the Champs de Mars, making for a fantastic 1km walk and build-up to the actual tower (it's a park built in the tower's perpective, so you admire it all the time you're walking.
I'm not sure where you found this information, but a ticket on the Eurostar is just that, a ticket to travel on the train from London to Paris. There is no tour guide, or anything else, included. Suggest you check the Eurostar website: http://www.eurostar.com