Arriving early for Paris and the Heart of France tour

I'm lazy so I would stay at the tour hotel if it's in your price range. Although I have not stayed there it is very near the Place de Clichy Metro stop which gets you right down to the river (and I do mean downhill, lol) to lots of places on LIne 13. Plus you don't have to spend a few hours on the day your tour starts by moving hotels. You can let the hotel know when you book and when you check in that you are on the RS tour and ask if you can stay in the same room. I'm glad you are going early!

Using Line 13 to go to the Invalides stop you can get on the RER C out to Versailles very easily. You will likely need a different ticket to Versailles but ticket prices and zones are changing in January and I am NOT up on them! The forum can easily help you with that closer to the time.

https://www.ratp.fr/en/plan-metro

Going to Versailles, while it might seem daunting on your own for a first-timer, is actually pretty easy. If you go on your own you can stay as long as you like. I've spent hours in the Garden and the sights to see there once I'd gotten thru the Palace! If you wanted to do a tour, I'd do the Special guided tour of the King's Apartments that you can book directly from the official Versailles website.

https://en.chateauversailles.fr/plan-your-visit/tickets-and-prices?public=10&visite-tid=2

This is a fabulous tour! I do recommend you both have waterproof rain jackets. You can count on rain and possibly wind in Normandy. If you are cold-natured you might also have either a puffy vest or jacket to wear under the rain layer.

Dare I say, your plan is inefficient. I'd absolutely stay at the RS planned hotel for the 2 days you'll be there ahead of the game. More time to enjoy Paris. Less time checking in and out of hotels wasting time. Sure if you were coming a week prior, maybe mix it up, for not for 2 days.

Do you mean the Rick Steves tour hotel is Hotel b Montmartre; or that is where you are considering staying for the 2 days prior to starting the trip? Montmartre is a bit out of the way, but charming and very hilly. We were there in April but stayed in St Germain. We used the G7 Paris taxi app to get to/from Montmartre.

I agree with Pam and KD, stay in Montmartre.

We stayed at the Hotel b Montmartre and had a lovely room and a wonderful experience. The staff was so wonderful and helpful.
The hotel is ideally located to explore all that Montmarte has to offer and is very near the subway and bus lines.

We did the "Paris and Heart of France" tour in May 2023 and arrived early to explore Versailles as well. We used a tour company listed in the RS Tour book and received a discount with the RS code when booking a full day. We met a small van/driver in front of the Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel who drove us to Versailles and showed us the sights along the way. Our driver then dropped us off (small group of six) at the front gates of the Palace, where a tour guide met us and ushered us into the Palace and gave an excellent tour for 3.5 hours and then released us into the gardens to explore on our own. The advantage of this was the vast knowledge of a licensed guide and her expertise at by passing long lines of folks waiting to enter the palace. We then met our driver outside the main gates at the end of the day and he drove us back to Paris. All in all a fantastic experience.
Enjoy your adventure.

When we did this tour some years ago, the tour stayed at the b Montmartre. We arrived earlier than you, and only moved to the tour hotel the day the tour started, but had we had a shorter lead time, we would probably have stayed at the tour hotel. I think it was pricier than we wanted though.

The neighborhood is very interesting. Enjoy walking around the area. And there are some good and interesting places to eat near the hotel.

Just completed this tour in October. Hotel is Great! and more at the bottom of hill in Montmartre. But it is spendy. We stayed further up the hill before the tour at Hotel Des Artes which is great also and less $.

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Maryellen, do you remember the name of the tour company that you used for Versailles. Rick’s book mentions a few companies that visit Versailles.

Thanks
Greg

I'm on one of the April 2025 tours as well. When I went to register at the B hotel for the night prior, it was more than I care to spend for a room...$635.00, if I recall correctly. I'm staying across the street for about $400.00 less at the Hotel Rendez-vous Batignolles.

Hi Wray
The D quoted me a price of 260Euro per night. If you check the website that price is for a classic double. You may have requested a larger room.

We are on the April 25-May 5 tour. Then headed to London for a few days before flying home.

Greg, I'm really surprised. I checked on two different occasions... I'm on an earlier one...maybe there's something going on that date. I'll check again. Thanks.

Addendum. I looked this summer, at my date. All I can assume is the Olympics figures were set up on the entire calendar. Nonetheless, I'm saving $100.00 still now so I will stay. LOL

The Hotel located in Montmartre is quite a ways outside of downtown Paris. Should we stay there or somewhere closer to the heart of downtown for those 2 days

What do you consider to be the downtown of Paris? Paris is divided into 20 arondissements, each has its own charm and tourist sites and all are reachable by public transportation-- metro or bus. I do not consider Montmartre to be "Outside of Paris." And if you mean, the center of Paris- the Ile de la cite- that location is good if you are visiting sites nearby. What sites are you going to see in your two days?

The hotel b Montmartre is located in the edges of Montmartre, (in the 18th arondissement) which is a popular area for tourists to visit. You are steps from the Metro (blanche station), which you will use to travel to other sites and to the train (RER) station that goes to Versailles. you can walk up to Sacre Couer and visit Montmartre on your own during your pre-tour.

Not knowing what and where else you are interested in visiting in Paris, I would see if you can book your pre-tour two days at the same hotel. It's convenient, and you won't have to switch hotels.

for a unique experience, I would buy the dinner package for a show at the Moulin Rouge. It's a short walk from your hotel. It's not cheap, but we liked the show and it was a memorable experience. (not for prudes, though)

The other suggestion would be to take a dinner river cruise on the Seine since the RS tour won't do this.

There's your two nights for places to dine.

As for Versailles, do it on your own. - In other words, use the RER to travel out to Versailles, walk from the train station to the palace (follow the crowd) and then take a guided tour from the official website for the palace and garden itself. (purchase in advance) You'll probably spend half a day minimum there. Then walk back to the train station and take the RER back to Paris.

If you are in Montmartre, you will probably want to take Train line L from Saint Lazare

https://www.paristoversailles.com/paris-to-versailles-by-train-rer/paris-versailles-by-train-rer/

Have fun!

Thank you Derek. Great suggestions.

Is there a map somewhere that defines/shows the arondissements? It’s a term I’m not familiar with.

Thank you
Greg

The 14 Day Best of Europe tour that I am taking ends in Paris. I have been to Paris on 3 other occasions. The tour hotel is west of the Eiffel Tower so it is further away from central Paris than I would like. That being said, I decided to stay in the same hotel for my two extra days after the tour. If you stay in the same hotel, you don’t have to worry about checking out and waiting to check in to the other hotel which might be later in the day. You will have more free time to do what ever you want if you stay in the same hotel. You also don’t have to worry about what you are going to do with your luggage between hotels.

Is there a map somewhere that defines/shows the arondissements? It’s a term I’m not familiar with.

If you have the Rick Steves Paris guidebook (probably available at your local library), it's all explained. Otherwise, these two websites are useful:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrondissements_of_Paris

https://www.parisinsidersguide.com/paris-arrondissements.html

My wife, daughter and I took this tour in April of 2023. Julie was our tour guide and she was fantastic! We stayed at the hotel your tour stays at and it was fantastic. They recommend several restaurants in the area which were the one of most memorable dinners of the trip. Have them make reservations for you ASSP, as the local places fill up fast! We visited all the areas around the hotel, took the Metro several places, the station is quite close to the hotel. If you have time look at the Opera House tour. We also did two different food tours with Eating Europe. Loved both tours.

Hi Mark
Can you remember the names of the restaurants near the hotel?

Did you do the food tours before the tour began or during the free afternoons on the RS tour?

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Greg

Did you do the food tours before the tour began or during the free afternoons on the RS tour?
Thanks for all the suggestions.

We did our food tour in the Marais BEFORE our RS tour started.
The main reason is that the food tour was in the AM (starting at 10 for 2 hours) , and most of the RS activities were in the AM, so there was no way to schedule that to fit the RS schedule. And as the RS schedule was not definite (i.e. You'll have afternoon to wander .......) it was hard to plan for a fixed time tour in the afternoon.
But you will have some evenings off, where you have to get your own dinner and that would be a good time to schedule a dinner boat cruise on the Seine or a mid afternoon walking tour.
During our BOF tour, our hotel was the Hotel Lenox Montparnasse in the 6th Arr.. I called the RS Office to see if the tour was going to visit the Montmartre and the office confirmed it was NOT, so I scheduled a third party walking tour on our free afternoon/evening.
As your hotel is in the Montmartre, I would assume your first orientation dinner will be at a restaurant in the Montmartre.

My other recommendations include:
a tour of the Palais Garnier (Opera House) or a visit the D'Orsay museum which is much better than the Louvre. And we also spent a pre-tour morning at the Dior Gallery, which my wife loved!
But you will spend one of your pre-tour days visiting Versaille, so you really only have one pre-tour day.