Only place to seek advice for European travel, this forum!
We are going to Paris for spring break with our 10, 12, and 15 year old daughters. We are looking at apartments for rent. Which neighborhood do you recommend for cafes, bakeries, and close to a metro stop?
Thanks!
All neighborhoods in Paris have bakeries, cafes, and metro stations. When is your spring break? What are thinking of doing? Budget? What type of neighborhood do you want? See if any of these broad-brush descriptions strike your fancy: https://worldinparis.com/paris-arrondissement-guide
All neighborhoods in Paris have bakeries, cafes, and metro stations.
Absolutely true. Any neighborhood without bakeries, cafés, and metro stations will not be in Paris. If you are looking for an apartment, insist upon one with an advertised 13 digit registration number. There are still numerous illegally offered apartments on Airbnb and other online platforms.
hey hey karlye
more info needed. what are your dates, what is your budget in euros, most neighborhoods have cafes, bakeries and metro stops. many apartments have been taken off the market years ago for being illegal, must have a license number starting with 75 with 13 numbers. pros and cons about them, most checkins are after 3pm, what to do with luggage if early flight arrivals and waiting hours for a key, read fine print carefully with deposits charged to credit cards, cancellation policy, what's included and not, do you need A/C, some have washers only no dryers (hanging poles/ladders), what floor on, (1st floor is really 2nd there) carrying luggage up how many flights of stairs, how many beds/bathrooms, can your children handle their own bags. sounds easy but lots to think about and research, have all your ducks in a row. good luck
aloha
Thanks, all!
We are traveling 3/11-3/20. Kids can carry their own belongings, so stairs aren't a problem. Ideally 2 bedrooms, and a sleeper sofa would suffice.
Budget around $2000 euros. First glance online, plentiful apartments. Good to know about the licensing number.
I know all have the bakeries, cafes, etc, but looking for any tip of an area/neighborhood that would really be ideal for 10-15 year olds. We won't need playgrounds.
I like the Place de la Republique neighbourhood. It lacks major tourism attractions but has plenty of restaurants and other services. Big advantage is that it is served by five Metro lines, making commutes to other landmarks much easier.
I would suggest the 5th, 6th or 7th...try to hub near Luxembourg Gardens (LG) with your crew. It (LG) is a great spot to decompress, walk, picnic (weather depending) and view Parisians in one of their great parks. If this is your girls first time to Paris, you will be centrally located and can walk or subway to the 'main' Paris attractions....and if like my girls, they will fall in love with the city immediately.
Last time we visited (2019) we rented a two-bedroom apartment near Le Bon Marche in the 7th while my oldest daughter was studying abroad in Paris and it worked out great.
Don't miss the Cluny Museum in the 5th, sometimes overlooked but very cool...and by all means, go to Laduree or Angelina (i think there are a few locations) for the Parisian Hot Chocolate experience....you will never feel the same way about hot chocolate again.
Love this little book - City Secrets - Paris the Essential Insider Guide to help supplement your research...plus its digest size so its easy to pack and carry...Enjoy your trip!
the food court at Bon Marche is really something, as is the level of merch in the store (much too rich for my taste)
hey hey karlye
cross-pollinate.com
tripadvisor.com
vacation rentals. we used this site 3 years ago for 2 places, paris and annecy, with no issues
booking.com
put in your filters and check what there is,
plumguide.com
patiosdumarais.com
pickaflat.com
you may have to up your budget, with 5 people, spring break time, keep checking and hope you find something that is okay for your gang. have fun,
aloha
To check my initial thought that you might have to increase your budget to get your wish list, I just did a search on AirBnB for 2 bedrooms in Paris for your dates. There were four apartments in your budget (and I actually went a tiny bit higher than the stated budget) on the Left Bank. Three are on the edge on town in the 15th, 14th and 13th and one is in the Latin Quarter. There were 14 on the Right Bank. Same basic result with booking.com. There were a few more apartments but none on the Left Bank north of Montparnasse. I think that instead of looking by neighborhood, you should look by price and identify some acceptable choices and come back here to ask about the specific apartments. There is no point in falling in love with the idea of staying in some of the neighborhoods suggested up thread when there is nothing there in your budget. In you can increase your budget, that will be great. If not, there will be something but it probably will not be in Saint Germain or near Luxembourg Gardens. I know you saw many apartments online at first glance but I bet that when you really start to look at them you will find that the number or bedrooms or the number of beds is not going to work for you or the place has awful reviews. And goodness do I hope that you do not have two bathrooms on the list of wants. Why do you want an apartment? Finding one is not as easy as you might think.
https://www.booking.com/Share-57TKIDW
Thanks for all of your help! This would work for our family, and looks like in the 7th. Thoughts on location?
I have used two companies when renting an apartment in Paris. Cobblestone Paris, https://cobblestoneparis.com, frequently mentioned in Rick's books, (wife & husband business) who have apartments throughout the city. The other company, family ran, is Apartments du Louvre, https://www.apartmentsdulouvre.com. They have two buildings, one located not far from the Louvre, St. Honore, and Le Marais, not far from Les Halles mall/metro/RER station. Both buildings have small elevators. My mother and I stayed at the Les Marais building last Nov/Dec due to its location to the metro/RER station.
Enjoy your trip.
Some people on this forum do not like the 7th and it is true that portions of it are very quiet, expensive, and residential. Rue d'estrees is not a bad area to be in. You would be very near a metro stop on Line 13 and about a 10 minute walk from a stop on line 10. You have not said what you want to do in Paris but if the Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum, Le Bon Marche or Invalides are on your list, all are within walking distance and by that I mean less than 15-20 minutes. Other sights will probably require a taxi, the metro or a 45-minute walk except the Musee d'Orsay which is probably about 30 minutes away on foot. Maybe if you have not done so already take a look at reviews of nearby hotels to see if any comments on the location raise issues for you do a Google maps walk around the neighborhood to get a better sense of the area.
I agree with JHK, seems like a good location between two Metro stations serving different lines, plus a bus line that might be handy for some purposes. Google Earth shows a bakery on the corner and a few restaurants within a block. The listing shows an elevator, which will help if it's on a higher floor. The kids may not care about stairs but you will! ;-)
The reviews (14 total which is not a lot) of that apt are mixed. The one in French said bedrooms not clean and no curtains or shutters on windows in both bedrooms. Also notice it’s a bathtub with a hand-held shower and you will have water on the floor if the hand-held shower is used.
With 5 people will you be OK with just one bathroom? That's pretty standard in European apartments, I think, but most American families that can afford a trip to Europe have multi-bathroom homes.
@ Karlye, the toughest time I ever had finding accommodations was when I brought my niece with me to Paris and London and that made us a group of five. It’s tough. Have you looked on AirBnB? Take a look at these and see if any work for you.
