Bus Tours of Paris

Why a bus tour? Have you thought about a walking tour? One gets so much more wonderful information and they are usually a lot cheaper. Hands on is almost always better than driving by. Personal info from a guide is better than earphones, "coming up on your left is the ... if you look to your right you will see... now again to your left...
Certainly not my idea of fun.

Obviously if there are physical reasons to take a bus instead of walking, that is completely understandable.

We just used the normal buses. We bought a pack of tickets, looked at a map, picked routes that looked interesting and rode the bus. We rode them from end to end.

My first suggestion is to visit the Tourist Information Office in Paris and ask about bus tours. Those offices will have brochures describing tours. They can also answer questions for you.

Second suggestion is to telephone a travel agent as soon as you arrive in Paris and ask about tours. He can book one for you at no additional cost and answer your questions.

http://www.sightseeing-tours-in-paris.com/paris_l'_open_tour-957.html

OR

http://www.placesinfrance.com/les_car_rouges_buses_paris.html

Either of these "open-top" "hop-on hop-off" (London style) bus tours is a good way to see the highlights of Paris first.

Les Car Rouges has (1) tour route, while L'open Tour has 4 different routes through Paris to choose from.

(One drawback to the buses is that you can (will) get stuck in traffic in Paris, especially during rush hour).

If you follow John's suggestion and ride regular buses, one of the best routes is #69. It passes by many Paris landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower. For a zoomable map of the route, go here. Be aware that bus #69 does not run on Sundays.

Yes, the No. 69 is great. You can get off at one end at the Pere Lachaise cemetary if you like, and at the other end at Champs de Mars close to the Eiffel Tower. At Champs de Mars you could pick up No. 42 which says Gare du Nord as its destination, and that is another good sightseeing route. Frugality is the watchword !

For a zoomable map of the route for bus #42, go here.

Thank you, Tim. That is so useful. I have a lot of bus route maps for the Paris system and they make life very easy.

To follow up on Jo's suggestion, here is a link to a site that I was looking at. It seems interesting, they have different walking tours.
Paris Walks