Our family will be visiting Paris June 16-20 . We are a family of four , ( two kids 11 and 15) is a Paris musem pass better to order now or ok to get when we are in Paris? Also it seems that we missed the boat on buying online Eiffel tower tickets, do we still have a chance to go up the tower?
Sorry first trip to Europe .
Thanks!
Keep checking for your tickets to the Eiffel Tower. I will be there the middle of May and the first time I was able to buy tickets they were gone. So bummed, decided we were going to have to wait in line to go up (definitely was not going to miss it). My husband asked me one day (while we were on another vacation) if I had checked for tickets recently and I told him they were gone. He said why not try anyway. To our surprise there were times available. I made the reservations on 2/24/15 for 5/12/15. So keep trying you never know.
I advise buying Paris Museum passes in advance online. In June you would be in a line that seems to circle the globe out in the sun. We have lived in Paris and have seen it. Buy direct from them at http://en.parismuseumpass.com
As for the Eiffel Tower, there are sometimes cancellations but to have a better chance, try this. Many tour operators buy out tickets for popular dates for their city tours to make sure they get to take their guests up to the tower. If you join their tour, they will provide you with a ticket. Here is one source- https://www.conciergerie.com/paris/tour/paris-tour-eiffel.php I know for a fact they can take you to the Eiffel Tower tower during the travel dates you mentioned but check it out right away in case they sell out the tours. They will also throw in free online lessons in French to make you even more at home in Paris and other goodies including a special discount card.
Don't be sorry. This is just the website to ask questions and get the help you need.
If you buy the Paris Museum Pass online, you either pay for shipping or have to pick it up at the central Paris Tourist Information Office. You can buy it in person at any site that accepts the pass, but choose one with less of a ticket line, not the Louvre or Orsay.
If you haven't already, price out the Paris Museum Pass to see if it's worth the price. When I'm planning which museums we are likely to visit, the price has never been worth it to us. (But probably partly due to the fact that we tend to spend a LONG time in museums, so don't hit, for example, 3 museums in one day.)
Remember that your kids will be free. And that regardless, you will still have to stand in the security line. Most museums (certainly the well-known ones), you can buy tickets in advance, so you wouldn't have to stand in the ticket lines at the museum(s). This is what we have done on our last several trips to Paris. As I recall, you then have to pick them up at certain places; we have picked them up at a store near our hotel called FNAC. It looks like now, however, you may be able to buy tickets through ticketmaster - check the websites of the applicable museum.
I was in Paris in July and bought my Museum Pass at the Hotel Des Invalids in the morning and didn't have a line at all. Our hotel was near the Eiffel Tower and we frequently returned to the Tower in the evening. The line was significantly less in the evening. We didn't have tickets and only waited in line for about 30 minutes when we went around 7:00 pm. It was a great time because we saw the view in daylight and watched the lights come on in Paris. I think a lot of people are more concerned about eating dinner than waiting in line.
As noted above, the Paris Museum Pass is VERY easy to buy at a less-visited museum -- I like the Cluny or Rodin -- and is a good deal IF you would be visiting multiple coverd museums (especially if you plan to see Versailles. ) Run the numbers ...
Ditto to above: buy your museum pass at one of the less-visited museums (don't try to do it at the Louvre!) when you get to Paris. A comment if you're from the U.S. ? When you note the date of first use, do it by DAY/month/year as noted on the website for the pass. Americans are more used to dating by MONTH/day/year.
http://en.parismuseumpass.com/rub-t-how-to-use-it-19.htm
With 5 days in the city, I'm guessing you're looking at the 4-day pass? Depending on what time you get into Paris on the 16th, you might want to wait until the 17th to start using it so you get a FULL four days of good out of the thing. You may purchase it when you're out walking about on the 16th but don't date/use it if you would only have a short time on that day to sightsee the attractions it covers.
