Ok, I've seriously searched through the previous threads about Europe I need specific advice for staying in Paris. We want to be in the heart of the action and be able to stay somewhere pretty nice. We are going to be there for three nights and I have about $700 budgeted on the hotel. If I don't have to spend that much great but if it cost that to get something really nice, I'll do it. So far there I have just seen way too many freaking hotels and honestly I have no idea where to stay. Our basic itinerary is as follows: Leave Aug 18th and arrive in Paris on the 19th. Aug 19th - 22nd - Check out Paris Aug 22nd fly to Stockholm Aug 22nd - 30th - Check out Sweden and visit her family Aug 30th fly back to Paris Aug 30th - Sept 2nd - Check out the Loire Valley and castles and crap. We are going to rent a car in Paris and drive where ever, not really planning a whole lot and just doing and seeing whatever we want. Sept 2nd - Fly home If you have any specific suggestions, fantastic, or if you can just point us in the right direction that's awesome too. Also any advice on specifically what to do/see is appreciated as well. Thanks in advance!
I haven't been there in 10 years in my student days alas. But the great thing about Paris is that you can't really go wrong as far as most of the interior neighborhoods go. The most/super expensive places like the Crillon are near the place de la concorde, at the end of the champs elysee near the louver, and more or less the heart of Paris. Other expensive areas are around the opera. If I were you I would check for a cheaper, boutique place in a place like Montparnasse or le Marais - nice neighborhoods with character but not as hot as some of the others. Do you mean 700 a night or 700 total? Cause 700 total for 3 days is barely going to get you a 2 or 3 star, I don't think.
Check out a gelato place in Paris called Berthillon...there fruit flavored gelato is amazing in the summertime (grapefruit was awesome). Even though this place is in France, it still has the best gelato I've ever had (and I lived in Italy for 4 months).
Master it's been a few years but I've never had any problem with Cyber Rentals for a place to stay in Paris. http://cyberrentals.com/France/Paris-city/r1216.htm If your interested in finding a private apartment instead of a Hotel, it's a great way to go and you can find deals for anything from a long weekend to weekly to monthly rates. Good Luck! Man! I'd love to take another trip to Paris!
hotel kyriad (Montparnasse Location). Cheap, good location, clean . . . you can hop the metro to nearly any place you want with easy connections.
Try and stay in the Marais. It is a nice neighborhood located pretty close to everything. There are metro stops near by, but you can walk to a lot of the main attractions. It is also close to some good and cheap eating facilities. I will try and find the name of the hotel I was staying at. The staff was nice, the rooms were small but very clean, and the street was a side street that was pretty quiet. ***edit*** It was the hotel Castex on Rue Castex. Like I said it is really small, but good service, and very clean. The location was perfect.
I'll second this idea. That's what we did for a weeklong trip a couple years ago and we loved it. We felt staying in an apt really allowed us to get more flavor of the city than staying in a hotel.
We have been looking into that today and it looks like the way we are going to go. It looks like a great option. Any suggestions on where in the city to stay? Things to do, can't miss places? Stuff you don't read about in the books?
My favorite way to travel is to build in exploration time. Plan on visiting only one or two "sites" per day. Trying to fit in everything is too hectic and you won't enjoy any of it. Instead, slow it down and walk to your destination. Build in time so you can stop to eat or look at shops along the way. In a city like Paris, you can't go wrong because there are so many interesting things most of which you'll completely miss if you are zooming from one place to another. Where to stay? Find a place that puts you within walking distance (5-10 blocks) of two or three sites. We were about a 10 minute walk to the Eiffel Towel and would go have an evening coffee in one of the cafe's overlooking the tower. It was great. We also walked to the Chants D Dlysee which was a long walk but we had a great time. Saw lots of other stuff too. The Museums are obviously world class but are time consuming. So unless you really appreciate that, I might suggest other things since you'll only be there 3 days. We went to the Louve and walked directly to the Mona Lisa and left and even that took us 45 minutes! (I know somebody just turned over in their grave.) You could blink and spend all day there and we had no idea what we are looking at.
I'll second this! Last time we were in Paris we were there for two weeks so we had a little more time. If you are really keen on seeing the museums, buy a pass that gets you into all (or most) of them. It will save tons of time. But we did what krosfyah suggested. Just planned on two or three things a day and built the day around that. Took our time, walked everywhere (which is not hard to do in Paris). Never felt like we had to be somewhere, just really let the city come to us. We stayed in an apartment in the 17th arrondissement which was a little out of the way of the "touristy" areas, but it was great. About a 20 minute walk to the Champs Elysees. And staying in an apartment instead of a hotel made us feel sort of "in the know". Cheesy yes, but it was great!
I don't know if they still sell them, but one of those 3-day "Carte Paris Visite" thingies will get you into most tourist places you want to go.
tripadvisor.com is what I use. Paris is nto that big so you are always a 10 minute ride from the cnter of the city. They have an unreal subway system so learnt o use that. it is easy and quick.
Some of those Museums are free on certain days of the month. I believe the Louvre is (at least when I was there during the Franc) free on the 1st monday of the month. I stayed at a friends house so it was relatively cheap. But I would suggest the first thing you do is buy a "Plan de Paris: Par Arrondissement." It's a little black book with a complete plan (metro, bus, streets) of Paris. Runs for about $11. Don't worry about not finding a hotel in the most posh areas. They're usually tourist traps. Look around some in the outer quadrents (Paris is broken up into 20) mass transit is excellent so you won't be walking much. Don't go any further out though. I did however book a weekend at Hotel Costes. Cost me about $275 a night in 2000, so it might be about $350 now. Very hip and trendy. You can find good deals depending on when you go. Hotel Costes 239 rue St-Honoré 75001 Paris Télephone : +33 1 42 44 50 00
I know cyber rentals has apts. in the same Le Marais district as the hotel I mentioned earlier. We almost stayed there, but changed our mind because of the deposit, faxing etc. that was required before hand. Our time beforehand was very hectic and while we wanted to do it, we just didn't have the time. The Le Marais district is the oldest in Paris. It is also kind of becoming a hip and vivrant place for the young crowd. On a side street right next to the Opera off the Place de Bastille is a row of cheap restaurants that good for meals on the cheap. Some of the larger streets will offer reasonably priced food that is authentic and good as well. There are also some markets there. You can get some food or snacks and have a picnic in the place de Vosges. I agree 100% with not planning too much in one day. Plan one or two things and then leave time for exploration. It all depends on what your interests are, as to what to do. If you are into the history, pick a time period and find sites of interest for that time period. If shopping is an interest there are a few different places. Shops on the Rue de Rivoli near the Louvre are high priced and good for touristy stuff, Les Halles is discount stuff, and there are good cheap eateries there as well. There are Cinemas, parks, nightlife, etc. All of that is close to Le Marais. You could take a nice walk to the Sorbonne, which will be in a 'college' type neighborhood with Notre Dame nearby, and everything there is to explore in St. Germain. This area will have a ton of old and specialized book stores if any of that kind of thing interests you. Enjoy your trip.
If you're interested in purchasing stolen designer merchandise from shady Arab salesman, let me know! The outdoor market is set up one day a week (every Sunday I think), and you can find tons of name brand and designer merchandise (all of which is real, but stolen). I forgot where exactly this market is, but it's not anywhere close to the touristy areas of Paris. You can take the subway there, though. Let me know if you want more details. So if you have no morals (like me), you can find tons of great deals!
