Beating the crowds of Paris in June.

Brendon, One suggestion for Paris would be to buy a Paris Museum Pass as that will help to avoid the queues. While there may be queues even in the Passholder lines, they will be much shorter and move more quickly. You may also want to pre-purchase tickets for the Eiffel Tower. Check This Website for details (they also have an iPhone App). I've found that crowds at the Eiffel Tower are often a bit smaller either first thing in the morning or around supper time. Happy travels!

Another tip would be to go to museums at night if possible. The lines should be shorter and it should be hopefully cooler. We spent 2 weeks this past June in Paris and some days the heat seemed unbearable waiting outside in long lines.

Have been to Paris in June and August. Hopefully will not have to repeat that. I second the museum pass idea. My in-laws didn't want to commit to going to museums, so we didn't buy one, but once here they did ridiculous things like insist at 2pm in the afternoon that we truck over to the Musee D'Orsay. Of course the line looked hideous and it was during a horrible heatwave, so it was just a waste of time. Got the pass during the August trip with my brother, and we only ended up using it for the Louvre and Versailles and even if that may have not "saved" us money it saved us the line and gave us the flexibility to not have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to those places otherwise. But yeah, for everything not included in the Museum pass, just get there half-an-hour before opening. The most crowded parts of the day are the good times to enjoy cafe life, shop, visit parks and cemeteries, and so forth. Or just enjoy an air-conditioned museum. Also I know Paris is not always sweltering in June, but if you can afford it, getting a hotel with A/C will give you peace of mind. Crowds and heat are bad enough - crowds and heat after no sleep because it was 95 in your hotel room all night is even worse!

The previous posters have given you EXCELLENT advice. I would just add one more thing: You can't. Beat the crowds, that is. So.... (drum roll) relax and go with it! Paris is pretty much always crowded, but gets really jammed up in the Big Summer Months. There's no point in freaking out. So research and purchase your advance passes, arrive at sights early, and always have a Plan B. For instance, you can plan that, if the Musee d'Orsay is jammed and even WITH a pass the wait is relentless, you'll stroll over and check the line at the Jeu de Paume. Or try out le Petit Palais (which is FREE and not all that touristy). Or walk over to the Tuilleries, grab a coffee at Cafe Diane, and do some people watching. Or hit Place Vendome and get ice cream. Or.... you get the picture. The thing is, don't tense up and fight it! The first time my husband and I were in Paris in late April, he got all hot and bothered at all the lines - to the point where I really thought it was going to ruin our trip (at least for him). So I dragged him to a cafe, bought him a couple of Leffe Blonds, and convinced him to take a deep breath, drop his shoulders, and just go with the flow. He did that, and has been fine with the crowds ever since. It's Paris! Even jammed to the gills, it is GREAT.

The previous posts have excellent tips, and to just relax and enjoy it is also a worthwhile reminder. With that said, arm yourself with a good guidebook that will give you the tips on how to maximize your time. I think Rick Steves' Paris guide is an excellent source (it outlines how to beat the crowds for almost every site), but so are other ones. Go to your public library and check out a couple of guidebooks and start reading. Then purchase the one you liked best to have on hand . It's less than $20 bucks and well worth it.

We were in Paris mid-June, 2008 and late June, 2010. It was not terribly crowded either time. (Although we hit a miserable heat wave in 2010! Be sure to book a hotel with AC) .......We went to ET late afternoon just as a rainstorm ended and boarded an elevator within five minutes.......For Notre Dame towers we were there 15 minutes before it opened, I think about ten people were ahead of us. They are also open some evenings, I think Saturday.......For the Louvre we used the entrance through the shopping arcade and were in within five minutes. Other than that, the crowds were moderate, no more than we encountered last June walking around Seattle.