r/ParisTravelGuide

• Hi all, planning a 4-night stay in Paris this fall and trying to sort out where to book.

Looking at hotels in the 5th and 6th arrondissements since it seems central and walkable, but prices are a bit higher than expected (€180-250/night range). I’m okay paying a bit more for location, just want to make sure I’m not overpaying.

When I look up the same hotel across different platforms across Super. com, Booking, Expedia, etc. the totals don’t always line up, which makes it harder to gauge what a fair price is.

Do people usually stick to one platform for Paris hotels, or just compare a few and go with the best rate.

I will be traveling to Paris in July for the System of a Down concert at Parc des Princes (yay!!!). Currently looking for places to stay and I was wondering if staying in Montmartre is safe but more specifically if traveling by metro late at night from a concert back to Montmartre would be safe. Thanks everyone!

Trying to understand how long are the wait times at Louvre this week for a person with a booked online ticket.

Hi all struggling not to get overwhelmed trying to find a restaurant for our anniversary next month. We are staying in the 5th and have arranged a boat cruise with Vedettes Pont du Neuf for 9.45pm so it would make sense to limit our search to that area. I’m a massive foodie but my partner does not appreciate stuffy haute cuisine so hoping to find something in the middle. Ideally romantic not full of loud tourists. Where do the locals eat on date night? I’m not opposed to eating at a touristic spot if the food really backs the experience up. I just want it to be special. Thanks!!

Edit: sorry budget might be helpful! Looking at up to €100pp plus wine. No dietary restrictions

Please advise on good Seine river boat tour. Also, any other suggestions to have a great Seine river boat tour experience is highly appreciated. TIA!

Edit- went with one of the suggestions. Thanks all :)

Just finished a stressful work trip and looking to relax. Ideally the Parisian equivalent of a beach/pool club (without the water necessarily) - somewhere scenic to relax and be somewhat horizontal without the DIY process of a picnic.

Staying in Montmartre but willing to venture

Not the Molitor please

I’ll be in Paris next month and it’ll be my second time in Paris. The first time it was for work and I came in a group and it was a quick trip. This time around, I’m riding solo on vacation, tryna catch the fete de la musique experience too. I have 2 reallyyyyy important questions 🥺🥺

— the Airbnb options outside of Paris seem to be cuter and more affordable. Should I book those or my trip will be a lot easier if i stay within Paris?

— I was thinking of renting a car so I can drive myself around and commute better. is it worth it or do I just save my coins and use the Ubers or trains?

Thank youuuuuuuu🫶🫶🫶

Hi everyone! I’m visiting Paris soon and would love recommendations for affordable but really good restaurants or bistros with authentic French food

I don’t really know much about French cuisine besides croissants and pastries, so I’d also love suggestions on what foods or dishes I should try while I’m there. Open to anything traditional, local favorites, desserts, street food, regional dishes, etc.

Not looking for Michelin-star fine dining — more cozy, authentic places with good food and reasonable prices.

Also, if reservations are usually needed for certain places, that would be really helpful to know too. Thanks!

As an anxious girly that, despite my excitement for the trip, had anxiety about going to Paris, I wanted to give a trip report for those in a similar spot.

Crowds: My first couple of days, I had the traditional Paris itinerary, jumping from spot to spot, but quickly became overwhelmed by the crowds and the frenetic energy of my fellow tourists. I realized a few days in that a much easier/calmer way to experience Paris is to pick a neighborhood and spend the day wandering around- once I started doing this, I went from hating the vibe to loving it! Reducing the number of transitions by staying in one neighborhood really helps.

I have to mention that I would not recommend the Louvre if you struggle with crowds. I had heard the Friday night entry was a bit more chill and if it was, I would hate to see the daytime! I did end up having a panic attack because it was wall-to-wall people and I couldn’t get out (followed exit signs but many exits were blocked off). Staff did not care that I was having a panic attack and wouldn’t help me find the way out, just pointed at the exit signs and said to follow the signs. This was the worst experience of my Paris trip and I wish I had skipped it entirely tbh!

Metro: This was not as intimidating as I expected at all. I put a Navigo pass in my Apple wallet and just tapped my phone to ride. Trains were always busy but could always get a spot to stand and never had any issues with fare monitors. Use the Citymapper app, it even tells you which part of the train to get on- takes all the guesswork out of it!

Restaurants & Shops: I learned some French before going- enough to navigate service situations and that was plenty. Less people spoke English than I expected but most people were happy to help me even if we had to use hand signals and stuff to figure it out! Just smile a lot and apologize for your bad French and go from there. Note: it’s normal for restaurant staff to ignore you until you ask for help, so just know that you’ll be waiting forever if you wait for them to come to you.

Shows: I went to Paris Opera and Paris Ballet, both of which were seamlessly run and very easy to navigate. I had an amazing time at both and would recommend them! Opera was more casual and Ballet was more fancy (likely due to the venues, Opera Bastille vs Palais Garnier).

Self-regulation hack: Stopping into churches when I got overwhelmed was such a hack. There are open churches all over the city that you can walk into and sit for a few minutes- they’re quiet, cool temperature, and there’s lots of ornate details to look at to distract yourself and get recentered. Highly recommend keeping an eye out for the churches when you feel the pressure building! (ETA: Drop a few euros in the donation box, if you can spare it.)

TLDR: Paris was hard at first but I fell in love as I got to understand the city and can’t wait to go back and explore more!

My wife and I are heading to Paris from 25-28 Sep. We thought we'd budgeted plenty to stay somewhere nice; £300 a night. Shows how often we stay in hotels as that doesn't appear to get you as much as we thought! Any advice on places to search for hotels? Specific recommendations?

I’m going to need your fromagerie recommendations cuz a girl needs her cheese

I love all French dairy, just not equally, and I will fight anyone that doesn’t think Comté is clearly the most superior

Forgive the lack of accent marks in this post. I'm taking my daughter to France for her 16th birthday. I went as a teenager but haven't been back since. We're both fairly active and she has dreamed of going to France for years. We're starting in Annecy, going to Lyon, then Giverny, Rouen, Etretat, Mont Saint-Michel, Saint Denis, and ending in Paris. While in Paris, she wants to see:

BNF Richelieu (including Oval Room and Museum)

Luxembourg Gardens

Eiffel Tower (have lift to the top 9:30 pm tickets)

Palace of Versailles (have 9 am tickets), want to see palace and some of the gardens but not spend all day there

Saint Chappelle

Notre Dame Cathedral (not including bell towers)

Pantheon

Sacre Coeur including Dome

Walk by Arc de Triomphe

Walk by Louvre pyramid

Shakespeare and Company and/or The Abbey Bookshop

Pont Alexandre III

Pont Neuf (we'll be there during the art installation)

We're staying in the 13th arrondissement near Place d'Italie. We're thinking of this itinerary:

Evening of Arrival:

Luxembourg Gardens

Day 1:

Pantheon

BNF Richelieu

Sacre Coeur

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tower

Day 2:

Versailles

Saint Chappelle

Notre Dame

Louvre Pyramid

Shakespeare and Company and/or The Abbey Bookshop

Is that doable? AI is telling me it's not but it doesn't seem like that much? Are there things nearby we should see that aren't on our list? Are any of these things not worth it for a first time visitor? Is there a better grouping we should consider?

We don't want to be super rushed but are okay being on the go all day. We will have a metro pass and are okay walking too. We want to have time to souvenir shop and enjoy the sites.

Is this true? Are you able to see the English Channel? My wife tells me no. But I definitely can see some water.

Bonjour,

I’ll be visiting Paris in a few weeks. I’m looking for a walking tour of Montmartre in French.

I’m located in the US so Google only recommends me websites in English.

I don’t need anything fancy, just someone passionate who can tell me about history and art (and possibly about Amelie too).

Thanks!

I am a solo traveler in my 50's going to Paris for the first time. I travel solo often, and I typically don't like staying in super loud/touristy areas. I live in a major city, so I am happy to walk 30-40 minutes, or take public transportation to see a site/sites.

It seems like a lot of people recommend that first timers in Paris stay in Le Marais, but I was wondering if the 11th would be a good place to stay as well for a first timer or if people think it's too far from the main attractions for someone visiting for their first time. I am trying to choose between two places. One is located in the 3rd, and one is located in the 11th.

Hi! Planning a vacay with my bestie around November for 6 days. Ideally here’s where we want to go:

• Overnight flight to Paris

Nov 2 — ARRIVAL + EIFFEL AREA • Arrive CDG (9:40 AM) → go to hotel, drop bags • Arc de Triomphe • Champs-Élysées walk • Pont Alexandre III • Eiffel Tower + walking around Square Rapp + Port Debilly • Sunset at Trocadéro • Dinner: La Maison de l’Aubrac

Nov 3 — LOUVRE + OPÉRA + MONTMARTRE Morning • Café Marly breakfast • Louvre Museum • Palais Royal • Galerie Vivienne • BNF Richelieu

Afternoon • Palais Garnier tour • Galeries Lafayette (Christmas tree + rooftop) • Printemps rooftop • Madeleine Church • Café / shopping stops (Prada, Jellycat, Starbucks Opéra)

Evening • Montmartre (Sacré-Cœur, streets, La Maison Rose) • Dinner: Pink Mamma

Nov 4 — DISNEYLAND (full day here)

Nov 5 — LEFT BANK + MARAIS Morning • palace of Versailles • Les Deux Magots or Café de Flore • Luxembourg Gardens • Shakespeare and Company • Saint Pierre bookstore

Afternoon (Marais) • Musée Carnavalet • National Archives • Merci store • Fioko (Sonny Angels) • Café A Lettres • Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature

Evening • Seine river cruise OR night bike ride

Nov 6 Morning • Slow café morning (Fika or nearby cafés)

Afternoon options • Le Bon Marché OR shopping • Hidden passages • Seine walk + revisit favorite areas • Optional flea market (Marché Dauphine)

Evening • Eiffel Tower sparkle

My friend and I are pretty active and quick walkers.

Edit: thought I’d add on that we plan to only visit the inside of Versailles, and save the gardens for a future trip. A lot of the streets and shops on the list are mainly just places we’ve seen online for years now and would love to take pictures at. We don’t plant to stay at a ton of these places for more than 10 minutes.

05/20/26 Edit: Hi everyone. After reading through everyone’s comments, we’ve decided to definitely cut out Versailles and leave it for another day. We’ve also decided to cut out a lot of the smaller shops as well and swap out some of the museums. Thank you to everyone who’s left nice constructive comments!

Has anyone else had issues trying to use the G7 app with a Visa CC? Every time I tried to order my ride the app would throw some 3D security error. I looked online about this and saw other posts about this same issue. Apparently it’s specific to Visa. I used my Visa in Paris everywhere the entire week without issue. I wrote an email to G7 to complain and they tried to blame my bank and that I should contact them. It has nothing to do with Capital One! Fix your damn app G7!

Ended up having to get my hotel to call a taxi for me. I was super pissed.