Early Birds in: Barcelona, Paris...or anywhere; share your tips!

You can get coffee at 7ish in Paris. I am an owl who for over 30 years has been married to lark, who I truly believe cannot stay in bed past 5:30 AM. What does he do in the early hours when we are in Europe? He tells me that takes a very quiet shower, gets dressed, does a little bit of research on the weather, etc. and by that time it is just about 7 and he walks to a bakery and buys me something to eat and a coffee and walks back. In Paris, for example, I know of several bakeries that open at around 7 AM: Du Pain et des Idees, Ble Sucre, Boulangerie F. Hilaire, Boulangerie St. Antoine and Carette are ones that he walked to from our accommodations in Le Marais but I feel confident that every neighborhood in Paris has a boulangerie that opens at 7 AM that also serves coffee.

First, solar noon is about 1 hour later in Paris or Barcelona than in Denver, Colorado. In other words, those cities are in the wrong time zone, and if your body clock is sensitive to light, you might find that you'll have no difficulty whatsoever shifting your usual times by one hour. Just treat it like an extra hour of time difference.

Coffee at 7.00 AM sharp is difficult in Paris, but 7.30 is very doable, and 8.00 is no problem. Bakeries usually open at some point between 7 and 8 depending on the bakery.

It is immensely helpful if you can wait until 7.00 PM for dinner because most restaurants are not open for dinner before then, except all-day brasseries.

I was going to ask where you're going, but looked at your home page -
"2024 meeting friends in the northeast France / Belgium area July 5 - July 12. Flying Denver to Reykjavik June 8th (arrive 9th) and back to Denver from Reykjavic July 13th. Currently have tix from Paris to Reykjavic July 12th. Insistent on seeing Iceland, Barcelona and Paris."

I never had a problem getting breakfast at 7:30 (croissant & espresso) in Paris when I worked there decades ago, and I imagine it's the same elsewhere, locals have to get to work so some places will be open. You can look up things on Google maps, in fact I would start a 'saved' map for each of your destinations as you find places to eat / munch along with things you'd like to see when you're out and about. As a general comment, the further south you venture the later in the evening people eat dinner, HOWEVER, you can usually find places that open earlier, especially in the tourist centers where some people like to eat earlier. I would check the blogs for Barcelona & Paris. We had no trouble getting fed at 5PM, or a bit later in Rome over NY, so I suspect the same would be true for your destinations but ask at your hotel. I was shocked to be fed so early in Rome. And there's always the appetitive bar for a lighter dinner, seem to recall that's what we did in Spain.

Personally, I would go to places with the maximum crowds as early as you can drag the teens out. For example the Louvre museum, Orangerie & Eiffle Tower, prior tickets are a big plus. If there are areas you just want to stroll, go ahead and plan on heading out early, you may have some of them to yourselves. No comment on Barcelona, looks like the Segrada Familia opens at 9AM according to the website but wonder if there are masses you could attend earlier?? Some churches open early and have great services, soak up some ambience! A very brief search pulled up these ideas. No comment on Iceland.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/early-morning-coffee-and-croissant-in-paris
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/early-morning-coffee-and-croissant-in-paris

For Paris:

The only time I've seen special access to museums is for those who have a "Friends of the ??" and that is generally just a half an hour before. If one of the France posters says otherwise, go with their answer.

At home I'm on the same evening schedule as you are. I generally can find a place to eat by 630 or 7 at the latest and yes, I can be in bed by 9, lol. AMs are difficult. I take Starbucks Via packets for my coffee fix in the AM which I want about 6, lol. SOMETIMES your hotel may allow you to get coffee from their machine before their actual breakfast starts.

If the weather is good, I go to gardens in the AM. They usually open around 730A. I was vastly entertained one spring morning in the Tuileries watching the Police and Firemen doing their morning runs thru the garden. I really needed more coffee, though!

Museums open 9-930 depending on the museum.

I too am an early bird and that's one reason why I almost always stay at an Air BnB - I want my coffee when I get up, and I don't want to have to get dressed to get it or wait until something is open.

If you are anywhere near a train station or larger metro station, you will find something open early where you can get coffee. I find this to be the case in any large city in Europe. Bakeries and coffee shops in the neighborhood are not open yet, but the places in the train or metro station are.

I love going for an early morning walk wherever I'm staying. The last time I was in Paris I wasn't too far from Trocadero and I walked to see the dawn behind the Eiffel Tower. I love seeing whatever neighborhood I'm in begin to slowly wake up.

I'm an early bird too. If you have a kettle bring some instant Via coffee packets and make an initial cup, plan to have a better one later [edited: Pam and I apparently do the same thing!]. I also buy a few breakfast type snacks to tide myself over until real breakfast (or as I call it, second breakfast).

I sometimes work on my journal or blog in the early hours if I was too tired to do so the night before. But I've also had some amazing early morning walks and photo safaris in crowd-less places. In Prague I got photos of the Charles Bridge with no people on it! I had a nice stroll through the winding streets of the historic center of Barcelona and watched the street performers chatting and having coffee before the tourists came out. I just loved walking around the canals and back lanes of Venice in the early morning. And I had a very interesting morning walk in Ho Chi Minh City where I ended up in a sea of construction workers heading to work in color coded outfits. They were real surprised to see me there!

For dinner I have always been able to find some kind of early place - tapas in Barcelona, or take away in just about any city (most recently a pretty darn good kebab in Istanbul). Since you have family to consider, I think focusing on the midday meal is a good idea - just make sure to stock up on snacks to keep the hangry for everyone at bay. Grocery stores are fun experiences too, I always find fun things to try.

Good inputs! I hadn't thought about the impact of the sun's position!

I also have a second breakfast, that made me laugh.

We are staying in an apartment in Paris, so I forgot I'll have the option to make coffee there. Grocery stores, for sure!

I'll just plan to enjoy the walks and work on my trip report in the quiet!

Early Birds!

Just found another "thing" to do before the city wakes! Looks like laundromats may open early!

Although we have an apartment in Paris, that has a washer (no dryer), I can take our clothes to a nearby laundromat and use the dryer. It opens at 7am every day.

In Barcelona https://www.facebook.com/xurrerialaietana[Churreria latetana ]1 opens at 7am. It's a cute little churros shop with decent coffee and local crowd mixed in with the tourists(I saw lots of people pop in for a cafecito before work.

photo safaris in crowd-less places. In Prague I got photos of the Charles Bridge with no people on it!

You know who else is up at 7:00 a.m. to capture the morning light? Professional models! I can't tell you the number of photo shoots I've stumbled upon in Miami, Paris, and Milan at the crack of dawn. Now, if (no assumptions!) a certain pair of "teen daughters, 13 and 17" were interested in some perfect Instagram-worthy photos that look straight out of Vogue (OK, maybe not, but still really nice), you might just arrange a family, DIY "models photo shoot" of your own one morning. Even setting aside the modeling aspect, morning photography is wonderful even if photography isn't your thing. Study a city map to see what landmarks would be bathed in morning light from the east, or check some photography blogs/forums. Even with a cellphone camera the results can be stunning.

heather - thanks for the reco! I google mapped it - 11 minute walk from where we are staying! Bonus!

History Traveler - you are brilliant! I'll work on how to let models and photoshoots slip into a conversation about my early morning walk plans for our trip! They'd love that, probably only work once per "place" but I'll take those days!

Fellow early bird here, but the time change really worked to my favor in France last summer.

I was so worried about being able to make it to 10 pm to see the lights come on the Eiffel Tower…the sun sets so late! But had no issues.

You can get a nice meal at a brasserie any time of day, so finding an early dinner is no problem.

Quite a few of the most popular sights in Barcelona are not government-run. They make a lot of money (Barcelona is heavily touristed), and they keep long hours. I think you'll find quite a few options for 9 AM visits as well as some places (possibly the same ones) open until something like 8 PM. Do get tickets ahead of time for any of these places you want to see, because ticket lines are terribly long:

La Sagrada Familia
Parc Guell
Casa Mila/La Pedrera
Casa Batllo
Picasso Museum
Palau de la Musica Catalan (English tours can sell out)

All those tickets will be timed, which makes it hard to be an efficient tourist in Barcelona. Consult a map and think about how long it will take you to move from place to place and to eat lunch so you don't have to leave one sight before you've seen it fully. Tickets are not cheap in Barcelona.

acraven - thank you for this insight! I had not considered private vs government run tourist sights and the associated hours.

meIT,
Regarding Parc Guell, it is a park. If I remember correctly, there is no entrance fee. Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems we just went there and enjoyed the fantastical design!

In Paris look for the words "service continue" outside a cafe or restaurant, which indicates places which offer full meals outside the usual lunch and dinner times.

Due to overcrowding Park Guell now has an entrance fee and compulsory booking for people who are not local residents. The rules are rather complicated - see https://parkguell.barcelona/en/a-park-for-everone/why-are-the-access-points-regulated

The "Monumental Zone" in Parc Guell has had an entrance fee at least since 2016. In recent years they stopped selling tickets at the park, so you need to purchase one in advance. I believe other parts of the park are free; I don't know whether there are any bits of Gaudi design in the free area.