Clueless how to Tour Paris

Its will be our first time in Paris and we will be there for 4 nights. We are so clueless how to tour the city.

We will be there 4 full days and are not sure what to see and how to commute. Really need help here! Thanks so much to you all in anticipation!

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Download my travel guide at http://geocities.com/hiddenparis

It%26#39;s free and there are no ads or promotions.

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Duckie:

I can only give you advice on what worked for us.

Get a Paris Guidebook (Frommers, DK Eyewitness, Rick Steves, Lonely Planet or whatever). There are many good ones out there. Go through it and see what catches your eye in terms of %26quot;things to see/things to do.%26quot;

Get a Paris map (again, there are several -- we like the Streetwise series of maps).

Become familiar with www.ratp.fr - the Paris transit site. The maps are great and will greatly help you in visualizing the layout of Paris. And there is an interactive map that will give you directions on getting where you need to go.

Sit down with your travel companion(s) and talk about what you want to see and do. Once you have some ideas, put together a %26quot;loose%26quot; itinerary. Take note of which attractions are closed on certain days of the week. We find that grouping things by areas of the city is better for us -- no backtracking and spending an undue amount of time getting from here to there (and here to there again ...)

Most of all -- research online. I%26#39;ve visited so many websites that I don%26#39;t really have a list, but I%26#39;m sure a search on here (Paris websites or something similar) will help out a lot. Remember to bookmark anything you find interesting.

Make your trip yours. Only you will know what appeals to you.

Most of all, go with a sense of adventure. You will discover many things in Paris by just wandering and looking.

Have a great trip and take advantage of all the priceless information on this site.

SoundDiva

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Great post SoundDiva...

Once you get an idea on what you want to do, a plan on how to do it will be easier.

Also, like Pixfield, many of the TA Paris Forum posters are very experienced and knowledgeable about travel to Paris and just the city itself, and their postings and guides helped me alot in planning my first trip..Make use of the forum search function, it%26#39;s a great resource!

Good Luck %26amp; enjoy the planning!

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I second the DKEyewitness guide books. They are small enough to go into a messenger bag and contain sections on history, what to see, where to stay by catagory, food and drink, samaple walks and tours, a section on common words and phrases, and a great set of maps and streets alphabetically listed by name and cross-referenced by map co-ordinates. Add the associated fold-out map and you are set.

But if you are there for four days, you could do one Paris Walk per day and get familiar with, for example, the Marais, the Latin Quarter, Hemingway%26#39;s Paris (Place Contrascarpe, etc). Two hour walks, 10€ pp, English-speaking guide. If you think this sounds good you should pre-plan the ones you want to take as not every walk is given on every day.

http://www.paris-walks.com/

hth

Pjk

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For a first visit of only a few days, the Eyewitness %26quot;Paris Top 10%26quot; is an excellent resource. Slim enough to carry around and chock full of info, maps, photos, dining recommendations. Also, it%26#39;s divided by neighborhood.

For efficiency, you can use the metro to get from one neighborhood to another. (We prefer the buses.)

If the weather is nice, l%26#39;Opentour buses are a terrific way to see all the neighborhoods, monuments, etc. They%26#39;re not the most efficient or most economical way to get around, but make it easy for those unfamiliar with the city to maximize their time and easily find all the top sights.

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The main ways to tour Paris are: bus/hop on/hop off bus; Metro, boat cruise, bike tour, segway tour, walking tour, or wandering around on foot.

I agree that once you know what you want to see, you will see how much time you have left for any of the above tours and the best way to accomplish it. If you need help, put somethng together and then run it by us.

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I was in Paris for the first time in June and would agree with all of the previous posts, buy several guidebooks and decide what you want to do. I also downloaded Pixfield%26#39;s guide - and used it quite frequently, it was easy to keep handy in a purse/backpack - thanks Pixfield! What amazed my husband and I was how easy it is to get around Paris (with the Metro) and how beautiful it is! I can%26#39;t wait to go back. I really think it%26#39;s an easy city to maneuver and full of amazing things. We wanted to go to Giverny and Versailles but ended up staying in and near the city because we found so much to do/see/enjoy - we%26#39;ll get there on our next trip!

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Just a shout out to Mr Pixfield - what an amazing Paris guide and so thorough! Thank you from Paris first-timers! Cheers Coco

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