My Best Tips for Planning a Trip to Paris

January 23, 2020

This post is loooong over due, but here we are anyways! Three months later and I am still dreaming of Paris!! It was just as dreamy as I had always imagined. And if you're a romantic type like me, you will love it too, whether you're with an SO, friends, or family! I wanted to give you a few pointers that I learned first hand and can hopefully help you on your first, or even your next trip to Paris.










Book Tours
Do not rely solely on yourself and google and pinterest to help you see the city and learn the history. Book at least two tours with a tour guide. You will not regret this! We booked all of our tours through Fat Tire Tours and we loved this company! Super easy, affordable deals, and all of the tours were fantastic. My personal favorite was the Night Bike & Boat tour. I cannot even express how amazing it was to see the entire city by bike and then see the Eiffel Tower lit up while enjoying wine on a boat on the Seine River. So magical.
I would also highly recommend booking the VIP Catacombs Tour. It gives you a much better insight on the history, and it lets you skip the line which is normally hours long and outside. yuck.
There are several different options for bike tours, Segway tours, and Eiffel Tower Tours!

Learn the arrondoisments
It is a common misconception that every major landmark is within spitting distance of the last. This is false. While they all could be considered walking distance, it really just depends on who you are. No more than a few miles separate each landmark, but for some, that is too much walking. The best thing to do is study where each landmark is and plan a couple per day, based on location. This is also the best way to decide where you will eat each meal. See my guide for where to eat in Paris here!

Study the metro 
and download the app "Next Stop Paris". This is the best app to ever be invented, and it made the metro even easier. To be quite honest, I was intimidated by the idea of using the metro (not a city girl, y'all) but it was so easy and cut down travel time soooo much! Tickets are cheap and it made it possible to see so many different things in the same day.

Stay outside the main quarters.
 Passy, for example, is where we stayed. In a spacious and beautiful little apartment. It was right  above a market so we were able to buy some coffee and cream and make our own fresh coffee in the french press. We also bought some home made bread that we ate to tide us over while we were getting ready for the day. I suggest this because as much as I love to travel, places like Paris can get overwhelming. Staying outside the main quarters allows you to get away from the huge crowds and noise, but still allows you to enjoy the Paris atmosphere. Plus this is where lots of awesome restaurants are with much shorter wait times!

& here you can see my Paris Photo Diary


 

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