First time travel to Paris

Le Village is not next to Sacre Coeur, it's not even in Montmartre, it's down the hill on a steet full of junky cloth/textile shops (or maybe one street away, but it's still boring as hell). St Christophers is over by the St Martin Canal in a fairly tidy, but sterile area. I've stayed in neither, but I'd pick door number two. Both will take a metro ride to get to the center of things. All the major sights are not covered by a museum pass. You need to tally the museums with their prices and see how it falls out. My gut response is that the only person that makes out on a pass is the person selling it.

Daniel, As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd suggest reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to the trip (if you haven't already). It will provide you with lots of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe. DON'T FORGET to wear a Moneybelt in Paris. There are lots of scammers there, and they "work" all the favourite tourist sites. If you're planning to do a lot of Rick's walks, I'd probably consider the two-day Paris Musuem Pass. Plan your touring in order to visit sites covered by the Pass within the two-day validity period. Once it's activated, "the clock is running"! At the least, it will help to minimize time waiting in queues at the Museums. Regarding the Hostel questions, you might find it helpful to have a look at This Website which will give you four choices. You might want to obtain an inexpensive membership before the trip, as that provides better rates and preferred booking. I usually stay in HI properties (if I'm not using a budget Hotel), and they're well run with consistent facilities from one location to the next. If you haven't yet determined how you'll get from CDG into Paris, have a look at This Website. It provides and excellent description of the train options, complete with photos. Note that Rick also has some Audio Tours that can be downloaded onto an iPod or MP3 Player, so that might make your tour of some sights more interesting. Look on the home page of this website for the link. Many of the Guidebooks are available in E-book format also. When will you be taking this trip? Have you got your touring for London sorted? One other point to mention is that you'll arrive in Paris the day AFTER you depart the U.S.

Ken, the trip is still quite a ways out. I will be heading over there in mid March. I have been studying the crap out of the rail and metro system and feel like I have a good handle on that. I planned on taking the RER to a main station then the metro to Anvers i think. Most of the London portion of the trip has been figured out since I am somewhat familiar with it (never really been to London but been through it many times). I already have my hostel booked in London.

Daniel - Are you absolutely stuck on the hostel idea? There are many good 2-3 star hotels in central Paris and while they're going to run you more than a hostel, I think you can do it without breaking the bank. Especially for a first-time visitor, I think it's best to stay as central as possible ( 4th, 5th, or 6th for ex.) so you can just step out the door and be in the experience.

Daniel, "I planned on taking the RER to a main station then the metro to Anvers i think." Is Anvers the nearest stop to your Hostel? If that's the case, it's a fairly easy trip. Take the RER "B" to Gare du Nord and then transfer to Metro. One point to note is that Gare du Nord is a LARGE station, so a bit of walking will be required. At Gare du Nord, transfer to Metro Line 4 (direction Porte de Clignancourt) and travel one stop to Barbés Rochechouart - transfer to Metro Line 2 (direction Porte Dauphine) and travel one stop to Anvers. I believe your RER ticket is valid for travel on the Metro within a specified time period, as long as you don't exit from the Metro. For Metro travel during visits to Paris, I usually just purchase a Carnet of 10 tickets and use those rather than a Pass. Cheers!

Have you considered the MIJE hostel(s) in Paris? They are right in the heart of the city, very close to many of the big sites and also to metro stops to take you to the others. I've stayed in one of them and they are clean and pleasant hostels and incredibly well located. You can visit their website to find out information about them and their rates. I'd suggest making a reservation, although in March they may not be full.

Also, I found when I went that the museum passes really aren't good deals unless you very carefully price out all the museums--I would do this in advance using the prices on the museum websites. And the other sites usually aren't included on the pass so you'd have to pay for them anyway. Price it out first before purchasing it. Also, in four days, I wouldn't try to hit all the museums in Paris--pick a couple that you really want to see and spend some time at them rather than rushing to see a whole bunch just because you have the pass.

Daniel, When deciding whether or not to use a Paris Museum Pass you can certainly consider the cost of the Pass vs. paying each Museum entrance separately. However, one other factor should also be considered. Depending on what time of year you're visiting, there could be huge queues for tickets! One of the advantages of the Pass is that you can bypass those queues and enter via the "Passholders" line. I don't like queues as I feel that's a waste of my valuable holiday time, so for me the cost of the Pass is worthwhile even if it is a bit more than individual entry fees. Of course, it's necessary to consider all factors - how many Museums covered by the Pass you'll be visiting, time of year, etc. Cheers!

I was in Paris in April and got the four day museum pass and it was well worth it. We were there for 6 days and used the pass the middle four days. What was nice was that you can bypass most lines with it and once you get it (we got ours right at the airport after we landed)you don't have to worry about buying tickets. We even went to a few museums twice during our four days. It gives you flexibility.

My plan is basically to follow RS daily guide for the time im there. I was looking at it would appear that the Paris Museum pass is mostly likely worth purchasing. Thoughts?

I agree with the Ken on the museum pass, we just got back two days ago and that pass saves you so much times waiting in line to go inside, its worth it just for that! Those lines are no joke and I am sure they will get longer as we get into August, but the pass whizzes you right in. Plus, if you get a whim to climb the Arc de Triompe to see the sunset, you can use your pass, again, right to the front and in you go. We did the sewer tour---quick, quirky and we saw french rats! What a hoot! It was definitely the least crowded place we went! (It was our third time to Paris and even without going to the Louvre this time, we still came out ahead on that pass) if we had to wait on those lines, we wouldn't had the energy to see all we did! Can't help you on the hostel issue, but believe me you won't be spending much time there anyway! Have a wonderful trip!