I’m going to Paris second week of April for a 2 day solo trip. Since I am traveling alone I would be more comfortable doing guided tours. Any recommendations for guided tours for day trips in Paris? Also any hotel recommendations would be great. Thank you!
What do you think you want to see on a guided day tour of Paris?
I've done a number of walks with Paris Walks but they are usually specific areas or have a specific focus (WWII, Writers in Paris, etc).
I am an older solo female. I like to stay in the 7th although many in the forum feel this is not central enough for them. I like that it is a neighborhood with lots of restaurant choices and I can easily have a couple of glasses of wine for dinner and walk myself home, lol. You would want to be able to take the Metro from this area although I often take the Metro to my furthest location in the AM and walk myself back home visiting other sites.
Two of my "go-to" hotels are Hotel Muguet and Hotel Relais-Bosquet. Both have 24 hour front desk staff which is important to me. In both the reception staff recognize you after a day or two which I like because that means they are looking at who comes in and out.
https://hotel-paris-bosquet.com
Have a wonderful time in Paris! Come back when you can stay longer than 3 nights, lol!!
I know 2 nights is a very short amount of time! I’ll be traveling from London via Eurotunnel. It’s my first time traveling alone in Europe and I’m visiting my sister in England so I wanted to keep the Paris trip short but I definitely plan to return with more time.
Paris Walks look like a great option, I am more interested in walking tours.
As far as sights to see in 2 days im still researching. Any recommendations on that would be great too!
This is an excellent way to dip your toe in while you have a longer London visit!
Are you a museum person? Of course there are the biggies, the Louvre and the Orsay. I also enjoy the Carnavalet (City of Paris museum in the Marais that is free) and the Cluny (Museum of the Middle ages where the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are located) as well as the Petit Palais (another free one). What days of the week will you be there? Monday or Tuesday are closure days for most museums.
Notre Dame would be a must for me with it's recent reopening. I am not Catholic I just like to go for the history and now will enjoy seeing the exceedingly hard work of the restoration.
The 2nd week of April the trees will be blooming and beautiful! I would include some gardens (Tuileries, Luxembourg, Jardin des Plants which is the botanical garden) but they may not interest you. ALSO...if you have pollen allergies, load up on your allergy meds. I had no idea I was allergic to Horse Chestnuts but spending time in Paris one April as the yellow pollen drifted down on my head and I started sneezing I realized yes, this causes problems, lol.
Pere Lachaise Cemetery is also interesting if there are people buried there that interest you (Jim Morrison of the Doors? Gertrude Stein (and Alice B Toklas) although not a must do for a short first visit. I'm not big on must do classifications. What might not be an important sight for me might make your trip!
I love to see the Eiffel Tower but I don't go up in it. As mentioned, I stay in the 7th and on my arrival day I always walk over there to remind myself I am in Paris!
Do you have the RS Paris booK? You might be able to get it in your local library if you don't want to purchase for such a short trip.
Yes I think museums are definitely an option, I’d also like a nice outdoor walk so the gardens may be a good idea as well. I am going to get the RS travel guide for sure. I found this guided tour, it’s pretty comprehensive and probably not long stops at any one site. I may do a tour like this one day and then a longer look at a museum or garden the second?
https://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/See-30-Plus-Top-Paris-Sights-in-1-Tour/d479-131689P1
nmarsa567,
Ste. Chappelle! It pairs well with Notre Dame, as they are near each other. Schedule your entry. We were there in late May last year and scheduled our time about two hours before we went. If you can snag a concert there, all the better. Or see if there are any concerts at a church. Have a great time!
Thank you!
I am not a fan of Viator although I know many here on the forum use them without a problem. They are a 3rd party tour reseller. You can go to each listing and under Additional Information click to open and you can see which company provides the tour.
On this one it is listed as Top Site Tours which does not have a hot link in the listing. In doing some research I did find a website for Top Site Tours which is under the umbrella of Fun Time Experiences LLC. They do not describe any of their guides' credentials so you do not know if you are getting someone who has guide credentials or if it's an underemployed actor who has memorized a script.
https://www.paristopsightstours.com/tour/see-30-paris-sights-walking-and-metro-tour-fun-local-guide/
"Explore the City of Lights' most memorable attractions on a comprehensive tour that visits more than 30 sights, including the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Moulin Rouge. Stop to pick up some snacks (own expense) in the Latin Quarter, stroll through atmospheric Montmartre, and admire the views from the Sacre-Coeur Basilica."
The actual listing of the itinerary stops on the Viator listing is a jumble. Hopefully the guide will take the tour in a natural order instead of jumping back and forth (ie: Hotel de Ville->Arc de Triomphe->Louvre->Eiffel Tower->Moulin Rouge (when you started in Montmartre and this is nearby).
There may be other companies that do list the credentials of their guides and you might get a better tour. I will also add that this itinerary is pretty huge for a half day (?) tour even using the Metro to get from place to place.
Thank you for pointing this out, there are some red flags here that I wasn’t aware to look for. Paris Walks was mentioned earlier, I’ll look at their credentials too