I'm going to be in paris for 2 days in August. What is the best way to see as much as I can?

Question

Should I do a guided tour (if so, which one?), or use the metro, or the hop-on-hop-off bus tour? Is there something else I'm missing? I want to see as much of Paris as I possibly can as cheap as possible!

Answer 1

As in all things, there are trade offs to be made between costs, convenience, and personal effort (sort of the sweat equity of travel).

Obviously the easiest way to do things is to pay for a guided tour. At the high end of costs you hire a private guide who gives you a personal tour of the city. Group guided tours are the next step down in costs and so on until you get to the point where you lay it all out for yourself by researching the city and determining what you want to see before setting out with a map in hand and a good pair of shoes.

Frankly, my personal opinion is that the best way is to figure it all out yourself before hand. Its certainly not as easy as having it all spoon fed to you but its not only cheap (at least in cash outlay) but the preparation is part of the fun of the trip and means you'll have a much better understanding of what you are seeing.

Two days is a very brief time for seeing Paris but you can certainly at least glimpse a majority of the big tourist sights.

The hop on hop off bus tour might be a good compromise if you do some preparation before hand. Both L'OpenTour (in partnership with the RATP) and Les Cars Rouges run double decker buses. The buses of L'OpenTour cover four sightseeing routes: "Paris Grand Tour," "Bastille-Bercy," "Montmartre-Grands Boulevards," and "Montparnasse-Saint Germain." The buses of Les Cars Rouges cover only one route, which stops at nine locations in the city center. Check their websites for more details:

L'OpenTour: http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng....

Les Cars Rouges: http://www.carsrouges.com/uk/index.html

The Batobus extends the "hop on, hop off" concept to a boat that runs along the Seine. Website: http://www.batobus.com/english/index.htm

The RATP also operates the Balabus, a special tourist bus that operates on Sundays and holidays only from mid-April to mid-September, with a particularly scenic route along the Seine between La Défense and Gare de Lyon. http://www.parisvisite.com/en/Carte_Bus_...

Answer 2

If you want to see museums, there is a museum pass you can buy that will get you into any of the museums or sights (the Louvre, Napoleon's tomb, etc.) That will save you big bucks on entry fees. I am not sure about this, but I think the Eiffel Tower is not included in the museum pass.

If you're good with maps and can figure out the metro ahead of time, use the metro because that would be cheapest. I found it confusing at first (and got really lost a few times) but quickly got the hang of it. The hop-on, hop-off bus tour sounds like it would be a good deal if you don't want to risk getting lost (which can waste a lot of time). Also, the hop-on, hop off tour bus drivers may be able to help you with questions.  

I found the Paris metro staff to be extremely cordial and kind, however, their jobs are to keep people moving whereas the tour drivers are in the tour business.  

I would skip the guided tours because they are expensive, however, they also will give you more information than you ever thought you'd want to know (or could remember) about a city (if that's what you like). However...you're also with a group and usually the time you spend at each of the sites is not enough to really get a feel for it.

I did a hop on, hop off bus in London and enjoyed it. I think the metro would be a faster way to get around but, then again, there is the "getting lost" factor you might want to consider. If you do choose the metro, definitely study the map ahead of time and decide your itinerary if you can. That should help. Good luck and have a blast! Paris is awesome!