Well, It was not the first trip for me to Paris, but this time I wanted to really have a full on blend of a local and touristic few days. I crawled the internet looking for recommendations from restaurants to attractions to advise. Everything seemed all over the place. Which reminds me, the travel tech industry has not evolved much beyond the Trip Advisor approach to ratings, recommendations etc , which in general are completely skewed, hotel and restaurant owners have many ways to play around with the ratings, I got bitten a couple of times following those on similar websites, but that’s a discussion for another day.
So, I decided after what I would consider a great holiday in Paris, that I would put together a simple to the point guide, no marketing bullshit, just straight summary of what worked, what you should not miss and what did not.
So if your searching on the internet ever lands you on this article I hope you find it useful.
Let’s start with the one note, if you land here and the Covid-19 apocalypse is still running, then here is what you need to do for this Paris trip:
- Get vaccinated because that’s the right thing to do in all cases
- If it is an EU approved vaccine, print the vaccination certificate with you before you travel
- Walk into any pharmacy ask them to setup your “Sanitary Pass” , make sure to download the “Anti Covid” app on your phone, it will cost you 32 euro approx. if I recall correctly to get your vaccine on the French system ,and viola your vaccine is showing on the app, you will need to show them that in almost every restaurant, museum or park you will decide to visit.
And here is to wishing this Covid drama comes to an end soon, for the record its December 2021 as I am writing this.
Let’s start off with transport.
The city has a massive underground system that can get you anywhere plus an overground train system connected with it called RER that connects you to nearby cities. Those RER trains for example will get you to Euro Disney.
I recommend you buy a weekly pass from the nearest metro station, it’s called “Navigo Pass” its around 27euros and covers underground, RER and buses. Noting that one way trip to Euro Disney by the train is around 19 euros so this is a real bargain.
Uber is present and I would say decently priced, Bolt is also operational in the city however due to Covid there are restrictions on number of people to ride at a maximum of three.
Now let’s get to it, here is a run-down of all the attractions & restaurants followed by some general tips.
Louvre museum:
Because it isn’t Paris if you do not. Buy the tickets online book and I would really recommend the guided tours. We booked on Headout and I would truly recommend. The tour guide was amazing, real value for money. It was approximately a 4hr tour.
If you are more serious about the museum business you need to realize that to get a decent full round of the entire museum you need at least 2 full days, although I must warn you that the saying is you need 2 full months daily to be able to grasp all what’s in there.
Cutting right to the point, Monalisa painting will take you around 30mins to queue to be able snap a quick photo with the painting in the background. Warning, the painting is much smaller than what it seems in your mind.
The “Palais Royal” is the metro station for visiting. More about the metro system later.
Tour Eiffel
Again, if you do not get that picture with the Tour Eiffel in the background then you have not really been there. Book your tickets online in advance to save yourself a lot of queuing. You should still expect to queue for 30mins or so to get up that’s if you want to climb up the Eiffel tower even with online tickets. Without you will queue first to buy, then queue to enter.
My recommendation, book a slot at night. I think it’s more worthy of picture when it’s lit up than in the morning. However, views from the top at night are not as good as you might think, the city of light is not that bright from above.
One thing to note, foggy days can damage the whole experience of being at the summit, because usually fog is lower than the summit you end up seeing nothing.
“Bir Hakim” is the metro station for visiting, its roughly another 8-minute walk after that. More about the metro system later.
Palace of Versailles
One of the most overrated places to visit, although it remains on the bucket list of many. We visited in winter the gardens which are the main attraction are not really that green as in all the leaves have fallen, so was not exactly a scene to see.
Its roughly a 45mins drive outside with a bus, there is a way to arrive there with the transport system RER, but I have not personally used it.
Buy tickets online on the palace’s website, we made the mistake of buying skip the queue tickets (it turned out to be a scam & there were no queues anyway) together with the audio guide, personal hack take your own headphones with you they do not provide them there. It would take you all in all around half a day all in all but lower your expectations it’s not that of a thing.
Euro Disney
Traveling with kids then I would recommend. They are 2 parks you can buy the tickets online, but you will need one day for each park. My advice do not pay a fortune to stay at the Disney hotels, read on I will tell you another option.
Overall, the parks are great something for every age, take note if your kids are below 130cm of height, there are very limited rides that they can enjoy.
Now getting there is simple, my general tip on transport in general is you should buy the Weekly transport system pass called “Navigo” pass as I said earlier. The Trip on RER Line “A” from Paris is roughly 50mins trains run till late in the day. I would recommend you wrap up your day there, head back to your Paris hotel and come out the next day to continue.
This way you do not have to hop between hotels and the hotels within the Disney parks are for sure not the worth the money they charge.
There are no fast passes any more, but the option to buy skip the line kind tickets for every game from the euro Disney app. The skip the line ticket costs an additional between 5 to 12 euros per person on some games it’s worth it.
Worth noting food over there is so subpar so do not have high hopes and save those calories to somewhere worth it.
Food
Certainly one of my favorite topics and a trip isn’t a trip if it did not have plenty of food. I think we’re lucky overall with our selection, so here is from my perspective the must tries :
- Café de Flore – Fantastic breakfast place a real typical Parisienne place small size yet very cozy, hot chocolate is amazing and food is great. Expensive for a breakfast spot but worth it.
- L’Entercote de Paris – Super amazing, single selection on the menu which obviously is the entrecôte, one of the best steaks and sauces you will ever taste. Ambience is decent not fancy but a flying color on all aspects, do not miss. Location is very close to Champs Elysée
- Relais de l’Entercote – I would rate it second to the previous one, both equally famous, this one though is a bit fancier from ambience point of view single dish not selection, and the sauce is pretty unique. Expect to queue for both of them if you head there after 7pm.
- Leon de Bruxelles – now known as Leon is the place to be to eat muscles, a wide variety of muscle in different sauces and setups, all of them are wonderful. Its right on the champs Elysée, again expect to queue for a little while
Random but worth doing
- Shakespeare and Company – Renowned bookstore in Paris pretty iconic, and it actually has some pretty nice vibes to it, it’s over in the Latin quarter
- Latin Quarter – Have a walk in the Latin quarter, lots of old shops , places to eat quality of food in many of the places there is not great so consider a light snack instead. But the whole area has very nice vibes to it.