How to travel smart in Paris?

Question

Hi all. Im going to Paris next month and its going to be my first time. I'd like to visit Eiffel Tour,Arche de Triomphe,Musee du Louvre and Disneyland. Do u guys have any oppinion on where should I stay? Im looking for like three stars hotel as my budget is minimal.

In the other hand,whats the best way to travel from one place to another? For examples,Eiffel Tour to Arche de Triomphe..by taxi,bus or walk?izzit expensive by taxi?or train instead?

Thanx for viewing my questions guys and many thanx in advance. Im pretty nervous tho since its my first time to france n heard that they dont speak English.Any tips would be much appreciated. Have a nice day!!

Answer 1

I stay at the Citea Auguste. It was good price. Included a kitchenette which help with saving money on food, plus it is very near the metro. I suggest walking and the metro. The metro is great, it is close to every tourist attraction. The metro will cost about 11euros for 10 tickets. I used about 30 and I went literally everywhere for a week. Its the cheapest price for travelling you will get.

Grab any brochure from the hotel. It will have a map with all the attractions. Don't buy a map, the ones in the brochures are just as good and are free.

Buy yourself a 2 or 4 day museum pass. It will save you money, you can see all kinds of stuff with it not just the museums it also includes the Eiffle and Arc Triompe, and you don't have to wait it the lineups. Cost about 30 u.s I believe. You can buy it ahead of time on there site or just buy it when u get there, it near the Louvre I believe.

Lots of attractions are near each other, so you can save on metro by walking. I went in may and I carefully planned ahead what I was going to do, I made sure the attractions were close to each other, and I saw alot in 5 days.

From the Eiffle tower you can walk down to the Champs Elysee(lots of shops and restaurants on this street) which leads you to the Arc du Triompe. The Jurden Tuillieries (huge park a must to go) leads to the louvre. Around the Louvre area its all 15 minute walk from each other is the L'Orangerie, The Concord, The Musuee D'Orsay, and the Notre Dome. The Sacre Coure is not near anything but is must to go, a huge catherderal on a hilltop looking over a spectucalor view. The Saint Chapelle and the Concierge are right beside each other(if you have time I would do it last as it is not as great as the other attractions). The musuee Rodin and Picasso are not near anything but if you have time I would go particularly the Rodin has huge grass maze. Picasso can be hard to find, if you have time do it just to say you have seen it.

Disneyland I didn't go but I would say its a full day and not near anything. I don't think its worth going. I went for the culture not to go on rides but its whatever you prefer.

I suggest going to www.frommers.com. It gives information on all the attractions, include price, location, nearest metro and hours of opperation. It also has a list of budget hotels and cheap restaurants. Also any travel tips and advice you can get there.

Hope this helps, your going to have a great time!

Answer 2

if you want nice cheap hotels visit the link below... i just checked it out and it seems to be very good.

Answer 3

Enjoy it - Paris is a fantasic city. I have walked around the sights and I am sure I was 10cm shorter at the end of the day :-) Walking is great if you enjoy it and you can really take in the atmosphere.

As for speaking english you may find that some people (generally younger) do speak a little english. However do not expect everyone to speak english, take a small phase book and try wherever possible - it will be very much apprieciated! Before you go learn the basics: yes, no, please, thank you, left, right ..........etc

Most of all enjoy this beautiful city!!!

Answer 4

try getting a room on http://www.booking.com/. they have over 800 hotels - you're likely to find something that your budget can cover.

best way to travel around is by metro - check tarif on http://www.ratp.fr/ but you can also walk - many points of intrest are close to each other

some people might talk english - normally they do in hotels. but it's true that many french don't talk english ...

enjoy your stay

Answer 5

Stay in a central arrondissement, they are the safest (except for les Halles) and closest to most attractions and public transportation. I would suggest staying in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th arrondissements.

As for hotels I am somewhat confused by the fact that you want a 3 star hotel yet say you are on a minimal budget. French hotel ranking goes up to 4 stars so 3 star-hotels are not budget hotels. The good news is in July and August hotel prices are often discounted (high season being spring, not summer). You'll find a list of hotels located in the districts I suggested:

1) http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-hotels/hot...

2) http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-hotels/hot...

3) http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-hotels/hot...

4) http://en.parisinfo.com/paris-hotels/hot...

Book online for best fares (or through booking.com). You'll see that hotels in Paris are actually not that expensive for such a great city. Very easy to find a room for under 50 euros for instance if you don't need a lot of amenities or a room under 100 euros in a 3 star hotel. For transportation walk as much as possible, it's the best way to visit the city. To visit sites that are a little further, use the excellent subway system (métro and RER). Arc de Triomphe and Disneyland are on RER line A. No place in Paris is more than a 5-minute walk to a métro station. Her e is a map of the network: http://www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/cv_en/c...

Click on the Maps and Transport link of the tourist office website for more practical info: http://en.parisinfo.com/

Have a great stay in Paris!

Answer 6

If your going to disneyland why not stay at there resort you can also catch the train right there that  can take you to paris and back  less cost as well

http://www.paris-tourism.com/paris/us/pa...

Answer 7

Public transportation will be your best friend. I cannot stop raving about how great public transportation is in Paris...it's the best system I've seen.

La Carte Orange will be your second best friend. It's a bus/metro pass valid from Monday till Sunday ( If you buy it on  a friday, it will only be valid for fri, sat, sun, before you have to buy a new one). Nevertheless, it is the best thing a tourist can have. It allows unlimited bus use and metro use for that monday-sunday. You just have to put a small, passport picture of yourself on and you just show it to the bus driver when you get on the bus. And for the metro, you just pull the ticket about of the plastic sleeve of the carte orange and use it like any other metro ticket. When I went to Paris last summer (2007), la Carte orange was 17euros, a great deal considering how much it can be used! It is used commonly by Parisians, so it's not a weird, hard to find tourist pass. You should be able to buy them in any Tobacco shop (located all over paris).

Buses are definitely the best way to travel...the maps are easy to understand and buses come to each stop approximately every 5-10 minutes. Often, with the metro, you can find yourself walking underground for long amounts of times before getting to the proper tracks. A great bus line is the 72, it takes you along the river Seine and you can see many major sights. It's nice to just  get on the bus and enjoy the ride, without any specific destination.