Floodlit Paris Taxi Tour or Night Bike Tour

Vicky- Last May I did the Night Bike Tour with Fat Tire before starting a Rick Steves tour. It was a highlight of the trip for me (in my 30s) and my parents (in their 60s and active). You are correct that the sun does not set for 2-3 hours after the tour starts but they used that time to bike to Ile de la Cite, tell us some history and get ice cream. We hit the Louvre right at sunset and were on the bateaux mouches after sunset so that may be a repeat for you. You bike by the Eiffel Tour on the way back to the shop so you will be that up close with the light show. Our guide Dave, an Aussie, was amazing. Not really negatives but to manage expectations, (1) it takes a long time from the meet up spot at the Eiffel Tour to walk over to the shop and get everyone set up on their bikes (I am used to fast paced SoCal life and I tried to be more European and not to get annoyed); (2) about half of the riding is on streets or bus lanes with cars close by (drivers were okay because they are used to velib riders); and (3) the shop is on the far side of Champ de Mars and even though there were three of us walking together close to midnight, it was a bit sketchy (probably should have tracked down a taxi). Paris is such a wonderful city, have fun! Anne

Would you rather be outside on a bike seeing the lights and experiencing Paris, or sit in a car, staring out of a window? I can't imagine that you get to see that much in a car. What if you are on the wrong side? One person gets to have the good view, and the other person doesn't. Go for the bike tour. Dusk can be very beautiful in May. Check sunset hours for the time period when you will be there.

Our kids and grandkids (ages 12-49) did the bike tour last summer and felt it was the highlight of their week in Paris.

@Anne, Jo & George: Thank you so much for your responses. :)
I've heard so many good things about the bike tour. I think we're gonna take the day bike tour and then do the RS Taxi Tour at night. Hope it turns out well.

Why not do both the day and the night bike tour? You save money and you will get a much better experience than riding around in a taxi. The day route and the night route are different. http://fattirebiketours.com/paris/tours/paris-night-bike

@Jo: I thought about doing both too...but the sun doesn't set until 9:45pm-ish when we are there, which means that it probably doesn't get dark until 10:15pm at the earliest. The tour starts at 7pm and it only lasts about 4 hours with 1 hr seine cruise towards the end. It seems like most of the biking are actually done before sunset. We did the seine boat cruise at night last time so I really wanted to see all the sights when it's dark with all the lights lit up. That's why I'm thinking that the Taxi Tour would be good (at least it'll be much better than the bus tours). What do you think? Thanks

Victoria, Another option you might consider would be to take a Paris Segway tour. They offer both day and night tours and it's a fun way to see the main sites. Check their website for details. Happy travels!

The hop on hop off open-top buses run night tours. Not expensive and lasts about 2 hours.

@Ken & LaRae: Thank you for your recommendations. I'll look into those tours.