Best Tour companies in Paris

I think we need more information about what you want to see with a tour and for how long. Rick's Paris guidebook recommends several companies for visits within the city by bus, boat, bike, or walking, as well as local private guides.

Paris City Vision,http://www.pariscityvision.com, offers many tours. Use them over Viator.com, Viator is a third party that books you on Paris City Vision Tours. Paris Walks,http://www.paris-walks.com, is another good company as well as Fat Tire Tours. Rick Steves books are a handy tool to have for general information and research.

OR if you would like to spend a week with a company that provides an excellent tour guide, a fun group of tour companions and a solid foundation for touring Paris on your own, look no further than the tours provided by our forum host. I can personally vouch for the Best of Paris tour.

Did the Sandemans free walking tour, hated it and left!

However, my daughters fondest memory of our Europe trip was our Bike About Tours to Versailles, we loved it!

Thank you everyone for your replies. I will look into some of your suggestions. I am going to the Louvre' for probably 1/2 day and using an audio guide. I will see the Eiffel Tower, St Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre-Couere, Notre Dame, the Pantheon, Luxembourg Garden, Cruise on the Seine, Champs-Elysées, Musee de Orsay. I think we will use the Audio Guide at the Musee de Orsay also. These are the sights we would like to see, but I might not be able to do it in 3 full days. Of those sights that I have listed, is a tour really needed? And if so, which destinations. I am hoping we might be able to do something on the first night in Paris. Our plane arrives at 1:00 pm at ORLY. We are going to take a cab to our hotel in the 5th district, check in and then pick something for that evening. Any suggestions?

To my mind, I don't think you need a guide for any of those sites except the audio guides you mention.

Unless you are arriving from an international flight and jet-lagged, you might consider doing your Seine cruise the first night if the weather is nice.

I recommend Context Travel. They have specific, small group tours that are led by scholars and experts on the subjects.

I also would recommend the Paris Charms and Secrets Bike Tour. This was absolutely phenomenal and a great way to beat off the jetlag. So much fun and I saw so many hidden gems that I hadn't seen on my previous visits.