Tips for traveling in July/August

I assume you mean the Paris Museum Pass, and not some other overpriced pass. The PMP is a good value, if you verify that what you want to see is covered, and if you add up the admission fees per museum to see if it makes economic sense. You can visit multiple times during the same day, and can skip the admission lines, but everyone must pass through Security each time you enter.

Go to the official Versailles website - there is a flow chart which describes the number of visitors per day and per hour. Normally, without a private tour, getting there slightly before Versailles opens is the best idea, and avoiding weekends is best. Buying a private tour will allow you to see parts of the chateau that others can't access, and after the tour, you can go back to see anything that you might have missed. Plan on 6 to 8 hours to see Versailles, including transportation.

Buy train tickets 90 days in advance, and look for periods during the day and week when they are less expensive. The best site is this one (formerly CapitaineTrain)
https://www.trainline.eu/

If you're on a budget, look for hostels and inexpensive hotels in Paris. The best deals will be in the Latin Quarter (75005, 75006) and Bastille/Nation (75011, 75012). If you're only staying a couple of days, it's really not worth renting an apartment, especially since Paris has declared them illegal.

The Paris museum card has the great benefit of allowing you to skip the lines. I am not familiar with the Amsterdam card. I think reserving a tour at Versailles will make good use of your time. I went once in the off season and we waited 2 hours to get in. Also, make reservation for Anne Frank's house well in advance. And even with reservations, it takes awhile to move through the whole house/museum.

It will also be very warm. For me, once the temps get into the high 70s/low 80s, the same temperature always feels warmer to me in Europe when I am out and about all day than at home. Expect to move a little slower and work in some breaks. I make sure my hotels have air conditioning when I travel that time of year. Consider adding a day in each city so that you feel less rushed.

Accept that the crowds are a part of the trip but you can still have a good time. A tip I learned from someone else on the forums: start the day early when it is a little cooler and the crows are thinner. Head back to the hotel mid afternoon, at the height of the heat and crowds. Use that time to cool off/shower/think about the day, and then head out later for dinner.

And above all, have a great trip!

cissy, please add your home area to your profile so we can see it. It would also be helpful to refer to the fact that you've already gotten some good advice. I mean, that my first thought was to ask you if this was your first trip to Europe. Looking back at May posts, I see that it will be your first trip.

Have you bought (at least, a used copy) of a Rick Steves (our host here .... ) book? They are exactly what you need, and information on Paris and Amsterdam is good (except hours and prices, of course) for years at a time.

Another reason for mentioning the books is that your question about "join a tour" isn't really a question of crowding. It's a question of confidence and travel style. Are you confident (as I and a large fraction of other posters here are ... ) that you will study-up and make the most of a visit to Versailles with reference to explanations (on paper) of what you are seeing? I wouldn't join a tour unless the answer to that question is a firm "no."

I might add that I wouldn't spend so much time on the train. I certainly recommend Amsterdam to first-time travelers (and there is no longer any penalty for not speaking French in Paris, as there may have been 20 years ago.) But as long as you have open-jaw plane tickets, it's a defensible plan for a first visit to Europe. As you already know, this is a crowded time of year. At my age (65), I prefer air conditioning in those months, often not available in lower-cost accommodations. But zillions of students and other visitors live without it each summer.

We were in Amsterdam last July and it was a little chilly. We never wore shorts, long pants and a sweater or light jacket. It was the perfect weather for sightseeing. We purchased the Museum Pass. We were there for 9 days and definitely got our money's worth. As Rick said, go to a small museum to purchase the pass that has no line. We stopped in the museum of bags and purses to purchase it, no lines. We spent one half hour there, it was interesting.

Anyway, even though you will skip the paying line at the Van Gogh, you should still "purchase" timed tickets on line. Then you skip 2 lines. Believe me, it was worth the ten minutes it took. Go the vangoghmuseum.nl and click on plan your visit, then book tickets, then click tickets adults and families. Pick your date and time and at the bottom click on tickets (it is in blue). Now the tricky part, under select your tickets click on more options and the Museumkaart option will appear. You see it has €0 next to it. Put in the number of pass holders, decide on the audio guide, a €5 fee and continue. We got there about 10 minutes before our time and went right in before everyone else. It was great. You should do the same for the Anne Frank house if you plan on going.

You will love Amsterdam, we spent the 9 days there with a few day trips and want to go back. This was my second visit and a first for the others in my party. They thought I was crazy scheduling so much time there, but we had a fabulous time. Hope you do too. Oh and try the poffertjes, my favorite snack food, ate them everyday!

There's nothing wrong with going in the summer to Paris or Amsterdam. They are both likely to be crowded with tourists most of the year. I would not plan to be in Paris around July 14, a huge national holiday, if you want to avoid crowds. I don't know if it's still true, but August used to be less popular in Paris than July, so easier to get better lodging.

Versailles is more crowded on days that the fountains operate - Saturdays and Sundays, and often Tuesdays.

Do you ride bikes? Versailles is easier to get around by bike (it's big) and biking in Amsterdam will make you feel like a local.

Paris was unpopular in August for many years because most residents headed out of the city for their summer holidays and many businesses and places to eat and drink were closed down. This is much less of an issue nowadays, although some small independent shops and restaurants may still shut for a lengthy period.

We were in Paris and Amsterdam in August 2015. Paris was pretty hot, but we had chosen a hotel with air conditioning. A few restaurants I had wanted to eat at were closed for vacation, but no big deal really. I didn't find it horribly crowded.... Be sure to read up on the tips to get Eiffel Tower tickets the MINUTE they open, no joke... and there was some glitch about entering the phone number that I can't remember but was significant... they were sold out literally in about 2 minutes.

In Amsterdam be sure to get Anne Frank tickets in advance... preferably with the 30 min intro speech, we really liked that. The line was long morning until night.... insanely long.

Also get your train tickets as soon as they open for max. savings.

Have fun!

Crissy - Our family was in Amsterdam this past June(our oldest daughter is a teacher also). I didn't find the city very crowded, but there were a lot of people. If you plan on going to the Anne Frank House and/or the Van Gogh museum, I would strongly suggest getting you tickets ahead of time and try to go early in the morning.

Also for train travel to Paris from Amsterdam, I would suggest the Thalys website (www.thalys.com). If you can commit to a date and can purchase your tickets at least 90 days in advance, your fare can be as low as € 35,00 per person.

zillions of students and other visitors live without it each summer.

So do zillions of residents.

(Although gosh I miss it, and if I were coming to visit during that time, I'd book accommodation with a/c.)

Also July/August is NOT high tourist season in Paris. Yes it's still busy here but not as bad as some other times of the year.

No one can tell you in advance if there will be a heat wave. Invest in a hotel with air conditioning. You don't want to spend all the money for this trip and then be miserable at night because the weather was different than usual.

Hello again everyone. Thank you for your continued input. I've started planning my trips to Amsterdam and Paris. My mom is coming, and possibly my two aunts. I plan on leaving for Amsterdam on July 12, then travel to Paris on July 16, then return to the USA on July 20. I had definitely planned to get the the Paris Museum Pass as I intend to see several museums, but I saw there is now the Paris Passlib' card that has all the benefits of the Paris Museum Card, but also the Paris Visite card, and a free 1 hour boat cruise and tour bus. Has anyone used this pass and thought it was worth it? On paper, it appears to be a good deal, and since this will be the first time my family and I will be in Paris, I think the convenience of having these options in one card would be good. I'm still comparing costs, but I think spending a little more for convenience (if it works out that way) may be worth it.

This is the sort of question I'm dealing with myself for a July trip, but I haven't yet come to a conclusion.

One thing I would caution you about when you're considering two versions of a pass: An X-day museum pass with extra benefits may not actually be worth much more than an X-day museum pass with no extra benefits. The more time you spend taking advantage of the included boat ride and bus tour, the less time you will have available for seeing museums.

I find city passes to be mixed blessings, though their skip-the-line features in places like Paris sometimes make them nearly essential. To get the most out of a museum pass, you need to pack in a lot of museums, preferably costly museums, setting aside until later non-covered and free sights. To be the most efficient traveler, you need to group your sights geographically, irrespective of their cost. The larger the city, the more likely that those goals will be at war with each other.

I made a poor decision (for the type of traveler I am) in Berlin, and I hope not to repeat the error in Paris.

I'd suggest checking TripAdvisor for reviews of the included boat ride and bus trip to see what other visitors have thought of them. I took a boat ride covered by Ljubljana's city card and found that there was no commentary at all (not even in Slovenian or Italian), so that particular perk of the card turned out to be pretty worthless.

Hi,

I travel mainly in the summer, ie mid-May to Aug. The next trip starting on 16 May goes into early July. Generally, from June onward you can expect Paris to be warm to hot, maybe even a heat wave, which I have experienced in July. I wouldn't advise a winter trip either. Normally don't expect AC unless the hotel charges extra for it, which may be the case. AC is not an absolute necessity for me. If it's there , fine; if it's not, I can live without it, don't need it. I certainly won't pay extra for an extra luxury.

In France starting July 1 and also August 1, you can expect the trains to be very crowded, sometimes on the TER trains only standing room since no reservations are taken.

crissy - the Museum Pass is your best option, and will allow you to skip the admission lines, although everyone must pass through Security. The other pass you mentioned is full of stuff that you may or not might find convenient to use - say, if it's raining when you're scheduled to go on the Seine cruise. Or you might feel compelled to hike across town just to save 10% on lunch or some souvenirs. It's really not worth all the hype.

I'd compare individual prices, then think hard about what you really want to do and see. There will be times when you don't want to stick to a schedule and just want to relax and watch the world go by from a cafe terrace.

You can choose the Navigo Decouverte card, or buy "carnets" of 10 loose tickets that anyone can use, or purchase the Mobilis pass - all of which can be used on Metro or bus. Note that the "carnet" tickets have some restrictions, and Mobilis passes end at midnight.
Here is the information on these:
http://parisbytrain.com/paris-metro/

You can purchase vouchers for a Seine cruise at a discount online. It would be nice to go at night, on the last trip, so you can see the bridges and monuments all lighted up.
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/home/

The OpenTour, or Hop-On, Hop-Off bus, is rarely a good deal, unless you like sitting around in traffic. It is not meant for efficient transportation options.

You will need two rooms in a hotel with air-conditioning. Apartments do not have a/c. You should be able to book two rooms for under 150 EU per room, and this will give you the advantage of having two full bathrooms.

I'd look in the 5th or 6th arrondissements - Latin Quarter or Luxembourg.
Or, you might try Ile Saint-Louis, which has 3 hotels with rooms for under 200 EU. I'd check www.booking.com first, then confirm the prices directly with the hotel by email.

If you'd like to avoid crowds at Versailles, you should book the private tour of the King's Apartments - do this on the official Versailles website. This gives you a dedicated entrance with a guide, you'll see things others don't, and you can re-enter Versailles after your tour.

You should take the earliest train to be there when Versailles opens. If you'd like, you can shop for a picnic in the town of Versailles - right near the station - and enjoy yourself on the grounds and gardens. Bring an umbrella, hats, and sunscreen - it will be very hot, with little shade.

Here is a good website which explains how to get from Point A to Point B by train:
http://www.seat61.com/

A bit off topic but relevant to your topic of travel in the summer. Be sure to bring some sort of lip balm. Your lips will dry out in the heat and will chap unless you keep them lubricated. Aldo, take along a water bottle, which you can refill at fountains during the day. Summer travel is hot!

I got stuck back up thread a bit where you said "leaving for Amsterdam on July 12, then travel to Paris on July 16, then return to the USA on July 20."

You will arrive in Amsterdam on July 13. That means you will have 3 nights in Amsterdam which equals 2 days to explore. You will arrive in the morning on the 13th, but that 1st day there will be jet-lagged. Keep that in mind with your planning.

Then you have a travel day to Paris on July 16. This is a journey of 5.5 to 6.5 hours. It will take more time than you expect to check out of your lodgings, get to the train station and get on the train...then reverse that process when you get to Paris. The group will move at the pace of the slowest person, so you need to factor that in, too. This means the 16th will be "lost" to travel unless you're like me and love seeing the countryside from the train. It will be cool to have breakfast in Amsterdam and dinner in Paris.

Finally, you'll have 4 nights in Paris and then leave for home on July 20. That means 3 days to explore.

This is a very short trip. You have a lot of prioritizing and coordination to do, especially if there are 4 of you. Keep in mind that the group likely will have better "buy in" on the trip if all participate in the planning and that you all don't need to be joined at the hip all the time.

Also keep in mind that all need to learn as much about traveling to Europe as you do so there are no big surprises for anyone. There are great resources right here on the Rick Steves website to do that. I've linked some from the Travel Tips section below.

Packing Light

Money

Theft & Scams

You all would also benefit from looking at relevant videos from the Watch, Read, Listen section including country-specific full episodes you can choose from a list and Travel Talks.

All this preparation and planning can be a lot of fun. I hope you and the rest of the group will enjoy it and the trip itself as much as most of us on the Forum do.

Make sure your room in Paris has air conditioning. Get up early and hit the sights while it is cool out and most others are still asleep. If you have A/C you'll be able to sleep and getting up early won't be hard.

I'm a teacher too, so I feel your pain! But we've only had great trips traveling in high season. As another mentioned, this is short time for 2 cities far enough apart to need a travel day. Have you considered a Paris/London combo instead? A week works great for that, as the Chunnel train makes it quick and easy to go from one to the other! Otherwise, time is money, so splurge for the pass just for the ability to skip the line and maximize your time. And unless you're really set on Versailles, I'd save it for another trip - there's plenty to keep you busy right in Paris. Make sure you give yourself time to just wander in both cities - go to markets, walk in plazas, eat pancakes in Amsterdam and crepes in Paris. If you're running from one site to another, it's all lines and crowds. Pick your one or two "must-sees" for each city to keep from overbooking. When you get off the tourist track, you hardly know your in high season. We were nearly the only people we saw biking the canals into the countryside from behind the Amsterdam train station. Amazing. Like Rick says, assume you'll return. less is more.