Paris in 4 days

Hey, fellow Oaklander! You can see quite a bit of Paris in 4 days. Rick Steves books talk a lot about various walking tours throughout Paris, that would be a good place to start. Other than that, your question is pretty vague. You have plenty of time to hit all the really big famous sites - Notre Dame, St. Chapplle, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and so on. Where do your interests lie? Do you like art and if so what periods interest you the most? Medieval history? Modern history? Are you a foodie? A jazz-lover? Paris has something for everyone so more info would help people make suggestions.

If you have the stamina and plan well, you can see tons. There are sights open until 9 or 10 pm every night. The Louvre is open Wed and Fri until about 9.45 (technically but they start closing the galleries around 9.15) and it is usually much less crowded in the evenings. The Arc de Triomphe is open until 10 every night. The Museum of Modern Art in the Pompidou is open until 9 several evenings. The Orsay has one evening per week. The Eiffel Tower - even later. Instead of seeing Sainte Chapelle during the day, go for an evening concert. I suggest you start with a Fat Tire tour - either bike or segway, to give you an overview. Paris is beautiful after dark - the monuments and many buildings are floodlit until midnight. And you can walk around early in the morning, too, when most of the city is still asleep - or at least indoors. Start by going to the Paris Museum Pass website. Most of the best sights in and around Paris are included and there is full information on the days and hours of operation, as well as descriptions to help you decide what most interests you. The easiest way to group sights geographically is by arondissement (the last 2 digit of the zip code).

Tartar, Paris has a good HOHO system( hop on and off tour buses), L"Open Tour is one I have used twice. A two day pass is only a few euros more then a one day pass. Tickets are purchased when you board the bus, and you can board it anywhere it stops, which is by almost all major sites. The buses are lime green and yellow so hard to miss! The circle four different routes that will stop near most sites, and come with earphones to listen to a basic taped commentary. Google for their website, its easy to use. Its an easy way to get a quick overview of Paris, and as noted, you can jump on and off at will, its a great thing to use the first two days, then the second two days you sort of have the lay of the land a bit and can return to areas that interested you,, either on foot, or take the metro.

Hello, Thank you kindly for the replies. To give a little more insight of our interests we are foodies, would like to see a winery and the don't misses. Also looking at hotels, the cheaper ones seems to be by the airport. I was wondering if there is good transportation to the city center from the airport area?
Thanks!

If you haven't got the Rick Steves guidebook, please do. It'll have plenty of inexpensive hotel suggestions. If you stay close to the center - the 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th arrondissements - you'll be able to walk to just about anything you want to see. Don't stay out by the airport - you'll be cheating yourself. A couple of suggestions: Hotel Lyon-Mulhouse by Bastille in the 4th has great rates ($80-$100). Hotel Jeanne d'Arc in the Marais (4th) has as well, but is very popular so book soon.

Airport transport is $20 round trip and a lot of wasted time each way. Better to stay in the city. No wineries in the city but you can find a little patch of vines on the back side of Montmartre across from Lapin Agile. You could probably find an interesting wine bar, though.

If you're looking at cheap hotels on the airport, you're probably looking at the Etap and F1 which are right next to each other. Guess what? There's another pair of the same ones on the back side of Montmartre that are less expensive. Back and forth on the metro each day would stiff you five bucks and runs are fifteen or twenty minutes each way.

Please do not consider staying by airport, completely depressing and charmless area to stay in , unless its night before a flight,, and as foodies you will hate what you find to eat around there.
Going back and forth from airport to city would consume over an hour each day,, over an hour at least, and waste money too! There are many cheap decent places in Paris, and some are very close to the RER stations where you catch the train for the airport. If you name budget( in euros please) people here can give you suggestions of places they have personal experience with.

I am planning to visit paris in the fall and this information was helpful. I need suggestion on accommodation at a reasonable price for 3 people. Any suggestion?

Tartar, since you're foodies, have you checked out books about Parisian restaurants? One of my favorites is Clotildes' Edible Adventures in Paris by Clotilde Dusolier, Your library may have it or you can get it on Amazon. There are several other books about eating in Paris. Clotildes' was published in 2008 but is probably still valid. If you plan to visit the museums but don't want to get a pass, show up right before opening hours to avoid long lines.

The OP asked this question last January. The trip may have already occurred. This thread was reactivated by a new poster who asked a new question. I sent her a PM suggesting she start her own thread so poor Tarter doesn't have his/her email bombarded with email notifications that there are responses to his/her question.

Hello, Thank you for your concern Andrea. I was actually surprised to see the posts :). For those interested we did travel to France and your suggestions were helpful. Although four days was a short stint, it gives us a reason to return. Regarding hotels, we decided to pay a higher price than originally expected because we were travelling with our parents and wanted to ensure their comfort.
Next we go, I think an apartment is the way to go. Happy travels!