Paris First Timer

Zurich and Geneva are pretty low on the list of interesting cities in Switzerland. If your objective is cities, then you could look at Luzern and Lausanne. If you would like to see quite possibly the most beautiful mountains in the world, go to Berner Oberland and stay in Lauterbrunnen or Murren or Wengen. Also, Zurich and Geneva are not at all budget friendly. In Paris I like to stay in Latin Quarter or St. Germaine. How many are in your group? If you are interested in museums and the Arch de Triomphe and other sites, the Paris MUSEUM pass is typically a good value for people. (As opposed to the Paris Pass which typically is not a good value) I have also been to Vienna and Prague. In Vienna, I'd recommend Hotel Austria. It is elegant, friendly, and has a wonderful buffet breakfast. They have a few "budget friendly" rooms which are small and have shared bathrooms.

Recommend the Swiss Pass for Switzerland-details on Rick's website.
Hotel Alpha in Luzern and Hotel Oberland in Lauterbrunnen-great
locations & safe and $110 for a single next June. You'll have a better
time in those two locations than the big cities.

The Marais is a great neighborhood that is in close proximity to many sights. I'd also agree that Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter are great options, although if you're on the ground or first floor, it could get noisy in the Latin Quarter in the evenings. These neighborhoods aren't necessarily the most budget-friendly options, but you might be able to find some good deals on AirBnB. You mentioned that you prefer not to take the "train," but the Metro in Paris is fantastic. Paris is very pedestrian friendly (I love walking the city and always end up clocking many miles there), but combining travel by foot with use of the Metro to connect to different locations around the city makes a lot of sense.

As Jules mentioned, Zurich and Geneva aren't going to be the most budget-friendly options. Switzerland in general is one of the most expensive countries to visit in Europe outside of Scandinavia. If you're set on Switzerland, I'd also say that the the Lauterbrunnen Valley would rank higher on a sightseeing-priority list. (You can view Rick's Switzerland sightseeing priorities in the "At a Glance" section here: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/switzerland.)

Here are some of Rick's Vienna (https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/austria/vienna) and Prague tips (https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/czech-republic/prague) as well. Happy travels!

Buy a good guidebook on Paris (RS has a good one!), and then start reading trip reports and forums on ideas that the book covers but you want to know more on or hear a first hand account of the experience. For as much as your spending on your trip the cost of the book is one of the best investments you can make. On the AirBnb website there are lots of rooms you can rent that go for really cheap in Central Paris, no need for a whole apartment if your going alone. This way you can meet people along the way also.

If you stay in the 4 th ( also known as the Marais) 5 th ( also called the Latin Quarter) or the 6 th ( St Germain ) you can walk to almost most of the main sights . I do .

I have stayed in the hotel Familia in the Latin quarter (or St Germaine??, I think it is on a border) several times. Its not fancy, but its clean, relatively inexpensive, friendly and within reasonable walking distance of the Notre Dame and other sites. I have never found the area noisy or busy. Across the street is a nice Patisserie and a great and reasonable brassiere, St. Victor.
Familia Hotel
hotel-paris-familia.com
11 rue des Ecoles, 5th Arr., 75005 Paris

Zurich and Geneva are also low on my list of good places to visit with limited time; expensive, boring -- If I were you and only had two weeks, I would spend at least 6 nights in Paris and then head to Vienna and Prague for 4 nights each. Definitely fly open jaw to save time and money.

I like janet's suggestion much better than your overly ambitious plan.

If you do choose to do Zurich and Geneva, I would reverse the order to eliminate some backtracking

What to pack depends on the time of year.

Just an FYI but as a first timer traveling alone, a hotel may be more to your liking. As a solo traveler, sometimes it's comforting to know there is someone at the front desk you can call if something goes wrong that speaks English and people to talk to. I've stayed in self-catered flats alone but I don't know if I'd do that on my first trip alone as it could be a bit lonely.

Just my two pence as a fellow solo traveler. I'd also drop at least one of your cities as you will have less than 10 days to see for cities not taking into account the half day or more you lose traveling from city to city.

There’s some decent priced Airbnb to be found in the Marais and a little further out in Belleville area near Canal St. Martin. These are good options as you’re on a good Metro line with easy connections, and kind of younger, edgier vibe that you can roll with. Really, as long as you’re close to a Metro line, you can get anywhere in the city in a jiff. And when you’re not staying in a place like the Latin Quarter that’s constantly jammed with tourists, you’ll get a little more authentic Paris feel. A few days in the neighborhood cafe and you’ll feel like a regular. Also, though I hear the system has fallen on some rough times, I used the Velib bike share a LOT when I was there last. It was a great way to explore and saved me money on Metro tickets.

If you haven't read it already, there's a section of this website devoted to what to pack.
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light

Personally, I take the same carry-on rolling bag for a weekend or for three weeks, but I do use compression bags to jam more in for a longer trip. On a multi-city trip you don't want to be carrying too much - I find my rolling carry-on and a backpack or crossbody bag is plenty to manage. There's a forum on packing tips here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/packing

As others have said, it's a good idea to fly "multi-city" into one city and home from another - usually worth the cost difference in time saved. Between cities you'll want to either fly or train, depending on the distance. My threshold is a five-hour train ride. Anything much longer than that and I'd rather fly (trains usually deliver you to the center of a city and you don't need to get to the station two hours in advance the way you do an airport). You'll have more time for self discovery if you spend more time at fewer stops, say 4-5 nights per location.

Hope this helps. Good luck and have fun!

THANK YOU ALL. I am staying in Marais for 5 days. I am planning (as you have ALL recommended to skip my inital thoughts on Zurich, Geneva) and am heading to Prague and Vienna.

Janet @janettravels44 , what is open jaw?
Thank you all! I now know what to pack and feel immensely better about the journey ahead.

Ri

"Open-jaw" is the same as "multi-city". It means--in your case--flying into Paris and out of Vienna or Prague. It saves wasting most of your last day in Europe, getting back to Paris.