Beginner’s Guide to Paris

Everyone is planning a trip to Europe and Paris is near the top of places to go. Are you planning your first trip to Paris? Going with a large group or family and not sure what to see or do that would please everyone? You need to start with the basics like selecting the right location for your accomodations, determining the right type of transportion for your group, and overall prepping your expectations for your trip.

Accommodations – where oh where do we stay?

The first question most people need help with is where to stay. The neighborhoods in Paris are segmented out in twenty arrondissements. They start in the center and the numbers go up as you get farther out. Picking the right one is probably the biggest worry on everyone’s mind. The farther you go out of the center, the cheaper it will most likely be but the farther you have to go to get to the major sites. A lot of Paris is walkable but the metro is also a great way to get to where you need to get. So if you are good with taking the metro or other transportation then you can go further out. 

Hotel rooms in Europe in general are smaller than what you would find in the USA. Finding rooms that fit four or five (or more) will take a little more research online than smaller groups. It’s why some opt for an AirBnB or apartment rental but you can also find hotels with “family suites”. 

Here are some suggestions on which ones to consider. 

• Arrondissement 4 – known as Le Marais this area is actually over two arrondissements overlapping with arrondissement 3. This area is mostly residential but probably the most popular and recommended because of its central location. It’s known for its upscale shops, mansion-lined streets and cafes. Its walking distance to Notre Dame and Ile de la Cité. 
• Arrondissement 5 – known as the Latin Quarter. It’s right on the bank of the left Seine. This is the oldest district in Paris and resembles what medieval Paris once was. While most of the more touristy locations are outside this arrondissement, that is ok because you will enjoy just strolling around and finding your way around for that perfect cafe or bakery called a boulangerie. Paris is so walkable anyway that you will most likely end up near a famous monument anyway. If this isn’t your first trip to Paris then this area does host several lesser-known museums and sites that may be perfect for your 2nd or 3rd visit.

Let’s talk transportation around Paris

If you aren’t use to traveling via subway or metro, it may seem a bit intimidating. But once you get the hang of it, we highly recommend it over taxis or uber. If you are in Paris long enough, buying a pass is convenient and economical. It seems like there is a metro stop on almost every corner and certainly at almost every tourist location. There are several options which we will outline below. But first, how to conquer the metro.

First, get the Citymapper app. You can put in your starting point and where you want to go (just like any other mapping app) but it’s the best one that shows you exactly how to do it via the metro. It actually shows you all of the options for taxi, walking, bus etc. If you select the metro then it gives you the best options, how long it will take (based on the time of day), when the next several trains will arrive and cost. I also like that it shows me how many stops between when I get on the metro and when I get off so I can follow along and feel confident that I didn’t miss my stop. 

The most complicated part of the metro system and one that often trips people up, is knowing where to go to catch your train. At big hubs, you can often find 5 different trains converging. If you follow Citymapper or just look at the map, it’s important to know the line name. This is the number and the name of each of the end points.  Circles are metro lines and rectangles are busses.

So for example, if you are going from Le Derby Alma (our hotel in arrondissement 7) to the Musee du Louvre, you would walk to the Alma-Marceau Metro and take Metro 9. The end points for Metro 9 are Pont de Sèvres and Mairie de Montreuil. You will need to find Metro 9 going in the direction of Mairie de Montreuil and as you can see from the images below, you just need to go one stop to Franklin D. Roosevelt. You will also note that you can see a Metro Line 1 noted at this station which is where you will need to transfer and go four more stops to get to the Louvre. As long as you know the end points of the trains and which way you want to go, then you can conquer the metro.

Now what kinds of tickets are available? It’s important to note that the metro is broken into zones. Most tourist locations are in zone 1 and 2. Destinations like Versailles, Disneyland Paris and even the airport are in zones 4 and 5 and require a different ticket/pass. You can find out more about all of these options on the RATP site.

• A single ticket is €2,10 and is good for only zone 1 & 2 for one way trip up to 1.5 hours. So that means you can’t use it to go back the other way even if it’s under the 1.5 hours (assuming you left the metro). Often to get out of the metro, you need to put your ticket back into the turnstile so don’t lose your ticket until you are out of the metro station.  You don’t want to be fined. If you are going outside zone 1 & 2 make sure you buy the appropriate ticket. 
• Traveling with children? Kids under 4 are free. Kids 4-10 are ½ priced. So don’t buy them an adult ticket if you don’t have to.
• You can purchase a carnet of tickets (10 tickets) that you can put on a Navigo Easy card.The price is €16,90 for adults or €8,45 for children 4-9. This will save you about €4,10 per person. By putting them on the Navigo Easy card then you can just swipe in and out of the station turnstiles and don’t have to worry about losing your card. 
• What is the Navigo Easy card? It’s a rechargeable card that you can add tickets to during your vacation. The card itself costs €2 but that is just a one-time fee. 

• Depending on how long you are in Paris, it may make sense to buy a special pass for your entire stay. Again this will save you money if you plan how best to use it.
  • You can purchase a Paris Visite pass for 1, 2, 3 or 5 day pass for zones 1 and 2. This is unlimited travel in those two zones all day for that duration of time. Note that once you start, the clock starts so you can’t just use it over the course of 5 days out of 7, they are consecutive days. The more days you are in Paris the better this option is particularly if you are not planning to use it outside of zone 1 and 2. If you do need to go to zone 4 or 5 then you need to purchase the Paris and Ile-de-France region version.

• Navigo Weekly Pass – this pass is for unlimited travel from Monday to Sunday and offers for 2 zone pass or a 5 zone pass. The cost for the 5 zone pass is €30 which again saves you a lot of money and less headache in wondering if you have any passes left on your card. If you can plan your travel to arrive on Monday or start using your card on Monday and be there for the majority of the week then this pass is for you.
  • Here’s how we used this pass effectively: We arrived on Sunday (yes it doesn’t start until Monday). We planned to only stay around our hotel and walk around as we acclimated to the time change and jet lag. We planned to start using our metro pass on Monday and were in town thru Saturday. We did buy the pass that went to zone 5 because we needed to use this for our day trip to Versailles as well as our day trip to Disneyland Paris. We also used it to the airport from the train station on our return from a side trip to London. So we got our money’s worth for sure. 
  • Note that you must have a small picture of yourself to add to the pass. We just brought along a black and white copy of our driver’s license picture cut up and they tape it for you on the card. If you don’t have this you can be fined for fraud.

Transportation from the airport to Paris City Center

When we arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport, we had originally planned to take a taxi to our hotel. If you go through the official taxi line (don’t take any invitations outside of the line), then there is a predefined cost (50-60 euros) from the airport to your hotel in the center of Paris. Note that if you are staying near the airport and just need to take a ride there, it will most likely be more money than driving all the way to Paris because it’s not a contracted price. We found this out the hard way.

To ensure that our Navigo Weekly card was ready to go on Monday morning, we decided to buy our card at the airport. I can tell you confidently that this was the best decision. There was no line and the man behind the window was very helpful and made sure we purchased the correct cards. He also convinced us that we could easily take the metro from the airport to our hotel and even wrote down the instructions for us. Now I will tell you that with four women traveling with their bags, this decision to take the metro may have been a bit risky. The train was jam packed and we were with locals vs. tourists. We found our way and it was a good lesson to learning the metro quickly. 

So my recommendation is to purchase your metro tickets at the airport because they are more friendly there than at a station. And consider taking the metro or an official taxi from the airport to your hotel.

Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room – pickpockets 

Yes they are real and everywhere. Should that ruin your trip? No. With some pre-planning and awareness you can be prepared for it. The main thing is that you don’t want to make it easy for them to make you their target. Here’s what we did to prevent being a target:

• We used a phone tether like the one below. The guys tether it to their belt loops and the girls tethered it to their arms. I have also seen people put their phones in lanyards around their necks. Either way, pick pockets generally will see that as too hard to deal with.

• For purses, always keep your purse in front of you with your hand on the zipper – crossbody if possible In fact, make sure it has a zipper. We use these zipper clips which again make it more difficult to get them open. Pickpockets generally will be close to you and need it to be easy for them to slip in and take what they want/need and you don’t even feel it. The point of these tethers and clips is that you would feel it. Of course there are purses and backpacks you can buy that have built-in deterrents but we didn’t want to have to buy additional items. We used the zipper clips on purses and backpacks with no issues.

• Make a pack to work together to watch out for each other. The two locations where pickpockets happen the most on trains and at some of the monuments like Sacre Coeur. You can’t be on your phone being unaware of your surroundings. Instead be vigilant. We recommend finding a seat if possible or if needing to stand, that you stand huddled together and watchful. The pickpocket game at the monuments is a bit different with groups trying to divert your attention with petitions or gifts. Ignore and just loudly say no thank you. They don’t like attention brought to them. 
• Is it perfect? No. Does it happen in every country? Yes. Just be aware and you will be fine. We felt perfectly safe walking around at night and on the metro. 

They speak French!

Yes of course most people in the city center speak English, but you are in a foreign country so make an attempt to learn a few key phrases of French. This gesture will go a long way and it’s fun to teach your family or travel group. You can practice with an app called Duolingo or just practice these phrases like:

• “Merci” (thank you) – pronounced mare-sea
• “S’il vous plait” (please) – pronounced seel voo play
• “Bonjour” (hello) – pronounced bone-jur

As you get farther out of the city, less people speak English so you may want to use Google translate for reading menus and/or communicating with locals.  It’s also good to familiarize yourself with the French cultural norms and etiquette. It’s common to greet with a kiss on both cheeks. When entering shops or restaurants, it’s polite to greet the staff with a simple “Bonjour” before proceeding.

Expect crowds at all of the monuments

Paris is one of those cities where you could go for two weeks and still not see everything. The important part of planning for your trip is to NOT jam pack too many sites into one day. It’s tempting to jam it all in but you will be rushed and truly not appreciate the trip. To enjoy Paris to its fullest, you need to take it a bit slower. Live like Parisians and take a break (or two) as you sip a drink at a cafe while you people watch. 

Another way to ensure you enjoy your trip is to plan around the crowds. If you go to Disney at all, the idea of “rope dropping” the monuments won’t be too foreign of an idea.  While there is time to play-it-by-ear in between monuments, you can’t wing it while in Paris. Pre-buy or reserve all of your priority attractions like Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and D’Orsay. And when making your timed reservation, do them upon opening. The entry lines will be much lower and you will have lower crowds to deal with. 

Learn where all of the monuments are located so you can combine attractions that are near each other to get the most efficient itinerary. Here are some examples:

• Louvre – Tuileries – Galeries Lafayette – Arc de Triomphe
• Eiffel Tower – D’Orsay – River Cruise on the Seine
• Sacre Coeur – Montmartre – lunch & shopping
• Notre Dame (currently closed) – Ile de la Cité – Sainte Chapelle 

In summary

Overall, we recommend at least 4-5 days in Paris to see the main sites with enough time to enjoy them (Musee Louvre could easily take 4 hours and still not see everything) and enjoy just strolling the streets. If you have even more time, there are numerous museums and other locations within the city or you could expand outside the city center. If you have kids or love Disney, a day trip to Disneyland Paris is a unique experience. Versailles is of course a wonderful day trip as well. It took me until my fourth trip to fit Versailles into the itinerary. It’s worth it but maybe not at the expense of seeing the first time monuments that Paris itself has to offer. For our next trip, we will probably include additional day trips to Fontainebleau and Mont Saint-Michel.

For the more seasoned travelers to Paris, what else would you recommend for first timers? Coming soon are recommended itineraries for 4-6 days in Paris.