We visited Paris Sept. 2017. Fabulous trip! Most helpful hints have already been shared. Here a few added thoughts:
Take advantage of the Paris Museum Pass, and try to see few of the smaller lesser known museums. We spent the last day of our pass visiting some of these, and were delighted.
We skipped climbing the Eiffel tower, and I don’t feel we missed a thing. It was great to see it from below, and to picnic with the locals in the park, when the “twinkle lights” started.
Do your feet, and your soul a favor, by just sitting for a break in the magnificent parks. Explore and discover some of the smaller quaint neighborhood parks as well.
We took the train to Versailles on a Thursday morning, and went directly to the Queen’s hamlet (Trianon) when it first opened. It was delightful, and the grounds nearly empty of tourists! We then walked back to tour the main palace around 3:30 or 4pm, when the crowds were starting to thin.
Sept. is not low-season, and we happened to be there during “Fashion Week”. Check daily the sites you want to visit. Due to Fashion week, some were closed on different days than normal because of special events. We also found most of the cafes to be very crowded for lunch (approx… 12:30 – 2), and happy hour (approx… 5pm – 7). Dinner hour is typically late. Best to make dinner reservations if you know in advance.
I loved the view from (and in) the Notre Dame bell tower. Free with the Museum Pass, and you can reserve a time on the same day that you want to visit, with a newer app called “out of the line”.
“I have opinions about the Eiffel Tower…it is not worth it to wait in the huge long lines to go to the top. There are better places to view Paris without the cost and long lines. The Jules Verne restaurant is extremely expensive”
Agree. For a breathtaking view of the city, go here instead:
Talking about museums - Cluny is amazing, Jacquemart-Andre is a nice small one and Arts et Metiers if you like history of technology (plus no lines at all). To visit Louvre, come from the underground subway entrance, the lines are much shorter, and then you can buy a ticket in a machine inside with a credit card.
Check out Paris Greeters, they have volunteers who give custom tours for free (small donation to the organization expected).
Visit a farmers market, the one on Bastille is amazing.
Eat crepes on Rue Mouffetard.
Sainte-Chapelle is my hands-down favorite church building in Paris.
If you have time, you can visit towns of Chartres, Fontainebleau, Provins, Senlis etc.
Or for a closer view of Paris (especially at night) go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Stunning view down the Champs Elysee and the Eiffel Tower. Best view of the tower itself is directly across the Seine river in Trocadero Park.
Or you can enjoy some time in the Opera area and visit Galeries Lafayette Department store (a full visual Art Deco experience) or Printemps and go to their rooftop decks and enjoy a snack with huge views.
In September it would be fun to take the Seine river cruise about sunset or a little after to watch the Eiffel light up and see the lights of Paris
Since you are staying near the Champs Elysee I just want to warn you that the Champs is a huge tourist trap now. You will see McDonalds, Ferrari dealerships (I have no idea why car dealerships are there), tourist restaurants, etc. and lines of people waiting to go into the Yves St Laurent flagship store. Because real estate sq footage is so high the restaurants are usually serving frozen microwaved food to limit kitchen space requirements. The surrounding area towards the 16th arrondisement is high end residential. Most of the restaurants toward that area are very expensive, high end type eateries. You have to search a little harder (research) to find good moderately priced with freshly prepared food. Way down the side streets
Paris is also good for Uber, if you like using that service. Especially for people who don’t have any French, because it if you can’t do more than say bonjour when you get in the car and merci when you leave it, you will still get to your destination! The Uber drivers in Paris are dressed up, their cars are immaculate, and more than one had water bottles in the cup holders for their passengers!
My tip for everybody visiting Paris is to take a night lights bus tour. You get to see parts of the city all lit up at night that you wouldn’t want to walk through. The buses have glass roofs so you can see everything. They stopped right under the Eiffel Tower and timed it so that it was on the hour when it does a blinking light show.
Also, we ate some pastries but really enjoyed the street crepes with Nutella and bananas.
The Orangerie is, as b@098123Student pointed out, a beautiful museum, especially if you like Monet’s Water Lilies – you will be literally and figuratively surrounded by them. They are breathtaking. The Orangeries, however, far from the most underrated museum in Paris. That distinction, in my opinion, goes to the Marmottan Monet Museum with its collection of some of the most stunning Monet paintings, including “Impression Sunrise.”
One of the most enjoyable afternoons we spent was at the Père Lachaise Cemetery where dozens of notable figures are buried, including Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Molière, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Honoré de Balzac, and among others. The #69 bus is a great way to get around – it’s west-to-east route departs from Champs de Mar (Eiffel Tower), and traverses the 7th Arrondissement, passing by Les Invalides, the Orsay, St. Germain, after which it criss-crosses the Seine past St. Germain, Pont des Artes, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Bastille, The Marais, etc. etc. and will take you straight to the Cemetery.
There’s also a very scenic north-south bus route (I think it’s the 42).
I will second and third some of the suggestions here… The Orangerie is a lovely small museum. Sainte Chappelle is one of my favorites. The Luxembourg Gardens and St Sulpice are other favorite spots. Try not too spend much time on the Champs Elysee itself as the street although still a grand boulevard has degenerated into horrible tourist trap places.This may not be of interest to you but there is an outstanding Holocaust Museum in the Marais. Last time I was there the Musee Picasso was about a week away from reopening after extensive renovation. In the Bois the Frank Gehry designed Vuitton museum had not yet opened but the building was a site to view itself and the Bois and the residential area are lovely. The Rodin Museum and Invalides, Napoleons Tomb all worthy destinations and not far from the Eiffel Tower. Also worthwhile to go up the funicular to Sacre Couer and walk down through Montmartre
CoffeeBreak French is a very good on-line instructional program. You can access the audio parts for free and if you want more, can pay for additional audio and written material. Not necessary for short term study IMO. Combine it with Duo Lingo for some basic written instruction - helps with sign reading.
Agree wholeheartedly with #31… Do your taste buds a favor and go for Bertillon Ice Cream on Ile St. Louis. Best ice cream in Paris, bar none. You get it “to go” and can eat it sitting on the nearby embankment of the Seine, with a glorious river and Notre Dame view.
Another thought, Musee Marmottan has a large collection of Monet. The location is by the Bois de Boulogne and often off the radar for heavy tourist traffic. With only a week, it isn’t the first place most would head, but it is a good collection and you can take a stroll in the Bois if that’s an interest.
The charm of Paris is that it has so many options, the visit can be anything you want to make of it. I think that’s obvious with all the wonderful posts of CCers suggestions and favorites!
One way to make large museum touring easy is to use a tour book. We used Rick Steves to guide us through the Louvre and it worked perfect for us as we had limited amount of time. One of our favorite memories of Paris was buying fresh strawberries, cheese,bread and wine at an outside farmers market and having a picnic lunch in Luxembourg Gardens and people watched.
As I mentioned a couple months ago, I will also be a Paris newbie this July. This thread is fanastic–thanks to all. A little worried about the Airbnb comment since we booked, believe it or not, a whole house for the two of us. I’ll just have to hope we don’t run into an issue with the crackdown. Tiny, tiny little adorable cottage tucked away not far from the Canal St. Martin, and cheaper than any hotels we saw.I have heard that’s a fun area–any of you experts have any thoughts on it?
Ditto on Sainte Chapelle. It was my six year old’s favorite place when we were in Paris many eons ago. Also have ice cream (glace) at Berthillon’s it is also on the Isle St. Louis and is to die for. My niece went there every day when she was in Paris a few years ago! I also like the Cluny Museum - they have the Unicorn Tapestries.
If you can get to Versailles on a day when they turn on the fountains - that is fabulous.
You can really get lost in the Louvre. I went a few years ago with my daughter. Armed with a map, our plan was to be very strategic and see only the “top” stuff. We were doing fine until we somehow made a wrong turn (I think some section was closed that we were supposed to walk through) and ended up in the basement with the pacific islands collection (who knew they had a pacific islands collection.) We joke about it every time we are in a museum together.
I haven’t reviewed others suggestions, but I wanted to put my 2 francs in:
The Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature is a very quirky, small museum that I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the last time I was there
Roof of the Printemps department store gives a great view (free, too!) of the city
I see that you have hotel set, but I happen to LOVE Place Dauphine on the Ile de la Cite...there are a number of rentals available on the square if you search online. Worth visiting regardless.
It's slightly touristy and expensive, but I think eating at Jule Verne (in Eiffel Tower) is 100% worth it...and it's a way to get the view without the lines.
A night time cruise is a great way to understand while Paris is called the City of Light.
The flea markets (Les Puces) are great
Don't forget to say hello and goodbye to shop owners, even if you've not bought anything or otherwise interacted with them...it's sort of expected
Ice cream at Berthillon...especially their salted caramel.