Paris tour?

Question

I am transferring from Paris to another flight and I will be reaching Paris at 6:15AM and waiting till 1:30PM in the airport what is the best suggestion for me if I want to take a small tour or go in Paris to look around, and come back to catch my flight.

Answer 1

Well it will take you a 1-2 hours to get to the heart of the city by taxi and cost about 65 euros. I suggest taking the day seine cruise, it takes you everywhere and you get a good look at the city and it is rigt beside the eiffle tower. The tour I believe is 2-3 hours.

Answer 2

Realistically there is little you can do in such a limited time.

It will take you time to deplane and time to pass thru passport control. That can take and hour or more. The trip into the city will take 35 minutes plus the time to find the RER station , buy your ticket and wait for a train. The trip to the city and back will therefore absorb about 1.5 hours. You are required to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight.

At best, you can take the RER to the St. Michel stop. Take a look at Notre Dame, have a glass of wine in a cafe, and then head back.

Answer 3

The others have given you some good ideas.  I am a bit more optimistic for you for the time you have there.  One of my colleagues joined me for exactly the same amount of time as you have last April.  Because she had a connecting flight, she didn't have to worry about luggage.  She breezed through customs, got in a taxi and was downtown by 8:30 AM.  Taxi downtown is about E 65.

We went to the Sunday market in my neighbourhood, had coffee at a cafe, walked by the military school and over to the Eiffel Tower, walked around there a bit and took pictures.  We walked for a while along the Seine, then took the metro to the Opera.  She had time to walk around the Opera and take pictures from the outside.  Then she got on a ROISSY bus back to the airport (outside the Opera at the angle of rue Scribe and rue Auber).  Cost E 8,50.  It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, about as fast as a taxi.  The buses leave about every 20 minutes to the airport.

All the monuments have line-ups, so we didn't go inside any of them, we just enjoyed walking around and seeing things informally.

You could consider taking a Red Bus (les Cars Rouges) tour.  You can get on at any major monument.  You can get on and off and the ticket is good for two days, but in your case you would stay on the bus and listen to the information.  If you decide to get off and look at something, the next bus will come along in about 15 minutes.  It is a two hour tour, cost about E 24,00.

Another option is a Bateaux Mouches tour (the Seine river boats, they have guided tours with headphones too.  People tell me they are nice, but I have never been on one.  It is a one hour tour, cost about E 12,00.

I am not usually a fan of organized tours, but I enjoyed the Cars Rouges tour.  It touches on just about everything, and it would give you an idea of what to see in more depth the next time you are there.

A couple suggestions.  Hope you enjoy your time there.