Paris over Christmas

Posted by cindyvitere on 11/13/22 01:52 PM

Looking for recommendations for tour guides for day trip to Normandy/D-Day from Paris for 6.

Also, recommendations for any specific Paris by Mouth walking food tours

Best way to do Eiffel Tower? The Catacombs? Versailles? Are the bateaux worth it?
My sons have a short attention span when it comes to museums, but want to get to the top of Eiffel and "see" mona lisa. I enjoyed the bike tour of versailles better than the palace but I don't see any running in the winter. Feel like it's a must see for young adults. Suggestions?

Posted by Suki

11/13/22 04:08 PM

11153 posts

The Bateaux Mouches and Vecettes de Pont Neuf are both wonderful boat rides that pass many of Paris’ most famous monuments. I highly recommend that you take one of them, only takes an hour.

Posted by Craig

Chicago

11/13/22 08:23 PM

501 posts

I spent Christmas week in Paris in 2012.

Get advanced tickets through the internet to the Eiffel Tower otherwise you will stand in line for hours. It might be too late to get advanced tickets to the top, but you might be able to get advanced tickets to the halfway point. If you're determined to go to the top, my guess is you'll have a three- to four-hour wait. There is intense security around the Eiffel now.

I strongly recommend the Catacombs for your sons. Try to get advanced tickets through the internet to avoid lines.

Maybe your sons would be awed by Sainte-Chapelle, the church only 2 blocks from Notre Dame, with the dazzling stainless glass. It's not just another church. Everyone is awes by Sainte-Chapelle.

They also might enjoy a visit to Sacre Coeur in part because it's on a hill overlooking Paris. They could walk off a lot of energy.

Maybe they would like to attend a can-can performance at the Moulin Rouge. It's not far from Sacre Coeur.

Maybe they'd like a river cruise on the Seine, especially at night.

The Hop-On Hop-Off tour is made for teens (if they are teens).

And as you mention, a bicycle tour and Versailles tour would be great.

Posted by Pam

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA

11/13/22 08:52 PM

13931 posts

In looking at your other threads I see the kids are 16-23. I'd not actually think Versailles is a "must" unless they think it is. I don't even think it's a must for me as an old person...although I have been a couple of times.

I looked but didn't see how many days you are actually going to be in France? I know you'd previously mentioned Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in relation to eating but wasn't sure about the number of nights you'll be there.

Honestly, this time of year with an extremely short day, I'd not do a day trip to Normandy. The beaches where the DDay landings occurred will likely be windy and not as pleasant as they might be.

The sunrise/sunset times for Christmas Day are:

Twi: 8:06am
Sunrise: 8:43am
Sunset: 4:58pm
Twi: 5:35pm

So you can figure the times for your whole stay are close to that.

Go to the Eiffel Tower official website to see if there are tickets available for your time frame. If not then look at one of the tours that will take you there (Fat Tire Bicycle tours is one although you are not actually on bikes going up the tower, lol!) Here is a link to the official Tour Eiffel website where you can get tickets without going thru a 3rd party. THis is the list of prices based on how high you go with a link to the official ticket site.

https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/rates-opening-times