Is there an order and specific day we should see: the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, river ride down the Seine and bus tour of the city? We arrive early Friday morning, Aug. 25 and leave Tuesday morning, Aug. 29, 2023. Just want to fit everything in and do it
in an order that is efficient and makes sense. Thanks so much!
Katie
(We wouldn't need to do either the bus tour or boat tour if you think one or both aren't that important and wouldn't be enough time
to fit in.)
Boat tour is much better than bus tour, skip the bus tour!
Otherwise, Eiffel tower and Arc de Triomphe combine reasonably well, being relatively close to each other, but Louvre to Arc de Triomphe isnt' much further, the difference is mere minutes.
Likewise for boat tours: some depart from near the Eiffel tower, others from Pont Neuf near the Louvre. I prefer the Pont Neuf ones (smaller boats), but in the end it is a matter of convenience.
The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.
As long as you could get advance tickets to the ET, there's no reason you couldn't do all of these in 1 day. Start early AM at the Arc de Triomphe, mid or late morning ticket for the ET, then an afternoon at the Louvre. Finish up with a sunset cruise on the Seine. Bus tours are a waste of time in Paris IMO.
If you are morning people, having an opening time reservation at the Louvre is said to be less crowded.
Both the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower are open relatively late, so you can do other activities during the day and then go there in the evening. We enjoyed being at the Eiffel Tower near sunset and seeing the lights come on, although we weren't as impressed by the light show.
I agree with an early AM timed entry for the Louvre, especially in August. To me it gets very close, stuffy and hot in there but I’m not very heat tolerant. The area under the glass pyramid especially heats up in the summer sun. There may be some climate control in the building but it’s not enough to keep me cool!
I’d probably do the Louvre on either the Sunday or Monday just to give yourselves a day to adjust to jet lag if Friday is arrival from an international flight.
I hope you have booked a hotel with AC. I’ve been that time of year and hit a heat wave but of course that’s random and may not be your weather at all!!
Group your sights geographically so you’re not wasting time going from one end of the city to the other.
Are you arriving on Friday morning from the US or from elsewhere in Europe? Jet lag (and heat) is going to impact what you can accomplish. I usually recommend the Seine cruise from Pont Neuf in the evening on arrival day, but in August the sunset will be late. If you are jet lagged, people might fall asleep on the boat!
Don’t waste time (and money) on a bus tour. Traffic is awful. Use the metro to get from place to place.
In case it makes a difference in any of your advice, the OP's group is 11 adults, a 2 yr. old and an 8 month old.
She has not said that they're willing to split up, as recommended in one of the previous threads.
Kathryn, what did you decide about that? Sorry to have brought it up again but it's a pretty big detail to have left out if the intent is to do everything together.
If you are going to haul an infant and a toddler through the Louvre, I hope you have a plan B so you can take them elsewhere when they sooner or later vocalize their objections to seeing any more Grand European Masters.
The good news is that the Louvre sits in the Tuilleries and when the kids need respite, especially the older one, someone can take them into the park. In the past one could trade off because the ticket allowed entry all day, but now that you get only one entry per day it is trickier. The Tuilleries is a wonderfu park with good playgrounds and fountains where you can watch kids sailing small sailboats.
