Hop on hop off tours

Are you asking about Paris?

Oops. Yes I am. I've got Paris on my mind so much I forgot there are other places to go!

I'd do a bike tour or a walking tour for a good orientation. Walking in the sun is the best way to get adjusted to the new time zone. The ho-ho buses would put me to sleep too. The red ones are owned by Yellow Cab and the green ones by Green Line. Huge international companies.

Since you are staying near the Madeleine metro stop (the one with the nice elevators), you are two blocks from Le Maison du Chocolat on Madeleine Boulevard and even closer to the Maille mustard shop. I realize that mustard sounds strange but it's really neat in there. They even have mustard on tap. Both are a treat.

Thanks for all the great input!

I've never done the HOHO bus in Paris, but I have done them in Dublin and Barcelona. It is a good way to get an overview, but I would be slightly worried that the motion of the bus might make you fall asleep! I like to walk and be outdoors on that first day to keep me going. Maybe do a walking tour? I have used the batobus. There is no commentary to tell you what is what, but it is fun transportation to get to various tourist sites. You can get multi-day passes for the batobus and that is a much better value than a one day pass. If you do use the batobus, be sure to take the last trip of the day to see the river at night. When I was there in August it was still light at the beginning, but got dark along the way.

I, too, would suggest that you maybe do the hop on hop off bus your second day, not arrival day. My family did an arrival day tour in London once. After not much sleep on the flight over, the rocking motion of the bus put them all to sleep within minutes.

Susan I like the L'Open Tour hoho,, its the green and yellow one, its got more routes and more stops then the Red bus ,and for only a few more euros you can get the two day pass. You can pay when you board , and you can board by almost any major tourist site since they stop by most of them. If you go on their website you can find the stop nearest to the Madeline.

We really enjoy the hoho bus in Paris and everywhere we go (we've even done the one in SF where we live - weird, I know). We've been to Paris often and always do it. We like the Red one as well as the Green one, and if I'm remembering right, it's less expensive than the green one. But, as Pat said, the green one has more routes. Walking is also a good suggestion on your first day. Along the river and around the islands is my favorite.