In person guided Walking tours in Paris

Have you taken a look at www.paris-walks.com ? They do scheduled group walks on a theme or in a neighborhood for 25€ each but you can also book them privately.

What do you want to see in particular with a guide?

That seems like quite a high price for 3 hours. What is included?

Seems like just the walking tour itself is included. I talked to her for about 30 mins on the phone. I’d really like to see lesser touristy places in Paris some lesser known church’s. I figured it would be expensive, just, not that expensive

You could do a walking food tour, the one we did with Secret Paris that took use to some really touristy areas but also to local markets, the neighborhood cheese shop, meat shop, macaroon store, wine store. I especially liked the narrative on normal Parisian life, food philosophy, food sourcing etc it was eye opening on how different we source and eat in the US. We did the one in Montmartre.
I second Paris-walks. You learn a lot of history and go down streets you would not normally walk down.

Congratulations on your first trip! I haven’t been to Paris in 53 years. I’m visiting for four days in September. It’s my first solo trip. I’m taking several tours using
Paris Walks
Take Walks Paris
Eating Europe Paris
Unless your tour is all day or you’re paying for a private guide, your tour sounds expensive. I looked for two to three hour tours for about €100.

I think the 2CV tour will be fun at night.

Sister-in-law and I had good experiences with Take Walks and Eating Europe in Italy three years ago..

That's awfully expensive for a 3-hour tour, and I don't see how 3 hours translates to "in depth." You could see a lot in one or two neighborhoods, and certainly benefit from what a knowledgeable guide can tell you, but the idea of a "walking tour of the city" doesn't really make sense. It's too big.

I agree about Paris Walks, see the link above. Pick one or two that appeal to you and fit your schedule. The guides will be very good. If you want more you can do more, if not then your investment is minimal.

It might help to know how much total time you have for Paris. If just a day or two, that's one set of choices. If a week, that's another.

The tour would be private and it would be condensed on the south bank? The side of the river not with Notre Dame. yes I have a lot of reading to do!

I’m going for 8 days, at the end of august beginning of sept. So far you guys have been so much help! Thank you! I’m really nervous as I’ve never left the US.

Left Bank. I would try to get some more details what we be covered. I've had a lot of fun just wandering the left bank with a good guide book.

That's really expensive. Like the others, I really liked my Paris Walks tour. I did Montemarte and it was wonderful. They had quite a few to choose from. If you want a private guide, I'd look in the RS guide, he typically recommends a few. You could also check Adventures with Sarah's blog. She was just in Paris and raved about some guide named Julien. Also look at the Guide Collective which is a bunch of guides that have and some still worked for RS as local guides. If there isn't one for Paris, I would think they'd recommend one. Lastly, check out the "Travelphile", Trish Feaster. She calls herself a "francophile". She just ran a tour in Paris. I bet she'd recommend a local guide. I've interacted with her in the past and she was very helpful.

Charlies_girl, since this is your first trip, be sure to read the Rick’s trip tips on this site and on the forum. Especially about wearing a money belt.

Are you visiting more cities? If so, packing light will be helpful. Keep asking questions. We’re here to help you.

I'm going in September (first trip was 2017...beeb cancelled 2x's since) I want to do a cycling tour. This guy looks good

https://www.frenchmystiquetours.com/all-our-tours

Go on a Paris Walk tour. Less expensive and you can go on a tour of different neighborhoods. I'd never pay that much for a guide in Paris.

I’ve done a couple of tours with Cory Frye. A french Frye in Paris. He’s great at history and he has some really interesting tours. For example I did one in Saint Germain that focused on the resistance and the liberation of Paris. I’ve done the same topic with Paris walks and it was boring and cookie cutter but Cory‘s was great. He has a website and he also there’s a bunch of YouTube videos so you can look and see if he might be something you’d be interested in

Thank you all so much!!! Right now we are planning on Paris only with a trip to Versailles. I’d like to see Senlis but it seems really hard to get to and I’m nervous enough about flying and being there in general. I thought for the first time it would be good to take it easy.

Check out what other private guides are charging per hour. 350€ for 3 hours is overpriced. This is 115€ per hour basically. That is too high, even for Paris.

Here's a link to Corey Frye's youtube channel. You can watch some of his live streamed walks.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfrkg0WfgjM_rh9YOoXfuhw/videos

He's got some on the Left Bank which would probably be arrondissements 5, 6 or 7 that the other guide was going to take you to. You can put those numbers in the search box on the youtube page to see what it's like.

Here's a random one of the Latin Quarter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmrCy-zMlG8

I've done tours with Florent. He is great. He knows the history and loves his city. He goes as indepth as you want. He also does virtual tours on HeyGo so you can see him in action. He is also very reasonably priced. I usually do an hour tour for e80.
https://meet-thelocals.com/welcomers/florent/
https://www.heygo.com/florent

Definitely take one or two ParisWalks tours.
The guides are extremely knowledgeable about the areas they are taking you to, and I'm sure some of them have some background history education.
I've done two in Paris, and three in London with LondonWalks...same company I think.

Have a wonderful first trip to Europe!

Yes that is too high. Try florent….link above. We paid 100€ for 2. Hours

We just returned from Paris a week ago and took several tours (boat, Louvre, walking, and Bustronome) and can strongly recommend Paris Walks. Our tour was in the Montmartre area and the guide was terrific - knowledgeable and entertaining. He also pointed us to an app and game by one of the Parisian street artists that made the trip for my eleven year-old son.

This forum has a wealth of information and generosity - enjoy Paris!

I found Claudine Hemingway who seems extremely knowledgeable and very
nice... It’s going to be $350

On her website it is a price of 125€ which is offered in what she calls "Walking Paris with Me Live in Person tours"

https://www.claudinehemingway.com/store/walking-paris-with-me-live-in-person-tours

She may be from the Hemingway family, but I noticed that on her website there are quite a few spelling errors with names of streets or famous French characters...

I noticed, too, Jolui. I'd also want to see the French government license around a guide's neck because it means the guide has taken the demanding coursework and passed the exams in French. Iris Amin, a US expat, has A Day in Summer and holds that status. Too many people declare themselves experts. See our personal unfortunate experience at the end.

People seem to like Tours by Locals.

For a neighborhood experience, Paris Greeters is a volunteer organization whose members take people on tours of their areas. Authentic and free. Donations to the organization accepted.

To pay a price like that, I expect a certified guide with a specialization that others don't have. We paid a Rick Steves' guide 80€ for a half day tour, in a different country, a few years ago. It's probably 120 now.

On the other hand, we paid almost 300 to a guide in Alaska who claimed to be an expert on totem poles. It turned out that his favorite tours were to take cruising ladies shopping. Lesson learned, I hope.

I will also ring in with the Paris walks. We just did the Paris during the occupation tour a couple of weeks ago. Our guide was very knowledgeable and witty. We really enjoyed it. They have several different themed walks.

The French fry in Paris guy seems good. Never done one of his in person but have enjoyed some of his YouTube videos. Watching those would help give you a sense of if it would be a good fit for you. Enjoy!

Have you checked TripAdvisor for reviews of the other gal? That can be helpful too

A vote for Paris Greeters. We had a lovely 3 hour tour with a lovely Parisian lady of the Canal St Martin area. I donated 40 euros to the Paris Greeters site as the greeters are all volunteers.

For 350 euros I'd expect lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant!