Hop on Hop off in Paris

You can do the hop on hop offfor an overview. But with two and a half days , you do have time for some museums. Look at these small ones: Musee Rodin, an outdoor sculpture garden and l’Orangerie filled with Monet’s large water lilies, located in the Tuilleries. I wouldn’t consider Montmartre a “must see.” The Seine river boats are a very good introduction to Paris as many of the landmarks line the river banks; if you are dealing with jet lag , it’s a perfect way to spend your first afternoon.

Along with above recommendations we enjoyed the Batobus along the Seine with the opportunity to get our introduction to Paris. It has 8 hop on hop off locations to see already mentioned museums, and other landmarks. On our last evening we took our final ride on the Seine to see the Eiffel Towers twinkling lights. Magical! Batobus.com.

Bus #69 & Bus #72 are a nice very cheap overview of the main ARTery of Paris from West to East (preferred engagement). Going East to West is better during rush hour thankfully, since I'm staying Passy on the Rive A' Droite.

On average I've done two museums a day and haven't felt overwhelmed.
Day 1: Les Invalides/Quai Branley
Day 2: Musee Rodin/Musee Orangerie w/ the Jardin Des Tuileries out behind it.
Since the Concorde is the nearby you're getting a massive view of the surrounding area and just a really grand scope and scale of the majesty of Paris.

We love the HOHO bus, do it almost every time we’re there. We really enjoy sitting up on top, in the fresh air where you get a great view. Can’t get that on a regular bus. We do it when our feet are exhausted and to rest but to still be able to “see” everything. We don’t get off and on, we just ride the circuit.

I have used L'Open Tour HOHO bus when I had a limited amount of time in Paris, but mostly because my Mom had limited mobility. We had been to Paris before and had seen the major sights, so on this trip we just wanted to ride around. Frankly, it was slow, got stuck in traffic, and got rerouted. It is not good for getting from sight to sight as a lot of time is wasted waiting for the next bus. It is possible to pack in a lot in 2 1/2 days, but you have to make the most of the time you have. Your best options for getting around are: on foot, Metro, and public buses - in that order. For an overview, rather than the HOHO tour, take a 2-hour narrated tour with a company like Foxity. That will help you get oriented, then with a good map in hand, set off to see what you can in the limited amount of time you have. Stay in a central location - as close to the river as you can afford - to be well situated for walking to many of the sights.

As a frequent rider of the often overcrowded bus #69 that gets so bogged down in traffic it frequently has to cut short its route, I can't understand why this is considered a reasonable alternative to a HOHO bus. Unless one starts the ride at the beginning of the route the chances of getting a seat are slim and in rush hour almost impossible unless one is visibly handicapped and therefore "entitled" to a seat. As a small (how small?) group this is an especially poor idea.

I wouldn't advise the Batobus, because you'll be riding in a "ditch", and it's expensive to boot.

OpenTour is the most popular and you should pre-print your tickets to save time.

It costs 34 EU and is valid for 1 year.
You can go to the Bus 68 nearby, if you are nearby Mouton-Duvernet.