These 5 travel tips for Paris will help you plan a great trip to this incredible city.
Planning a visit to Paris for a week, or even just a weekend? Whether you’ve been before or this is your first time, a few travel tips for Paris can go a long way to ensuring you have a great trip.
If you’re short on time, or you’ve just never been before, it can be a bit overwhelming. Paris is a big city with many landmarks to see, and experiences have. A few tips and a little advice can really go along way.
To help you explore the city of light with ease, I’ve put together these 5 Travel Tips for Paris. I hope you find them useful and they make your trip easy as can be.
Top 5 Travel Tips for Paris
This guide is intended to help make your first visit to Paris a memorable one.
I’ve included my best tips for visiting the city including tips for getting around, where to eat, and for visiting the city’s biggest attractions.
1. Take the train from the airport
The Paris metro is connected to the Charles de Gaulle airport, so it’s super easy to get into the city by train. You can find signs at the airport directing you to the train after the baggage claim.
Your metro ticket can be purchased just above the train platform before you head down to the trains. The ticket machines take both cash and credit cards.
From Charles de Gaulle you’ll be looking for the RER train. These run every 15 minutes or so from about 5:00 a.m. to midnight. The trip from the airport to the city center (Gare du Nord station) will take about 25 minutes.
2. Visit in the offseason
Paris is a popular destination for tourists, especially in the summer which is the height of the tourist season.
To avoid the big tourist crowds plan your visit to Paris for the spring or fall. You’ll be rewarded with shorter lines and lighter crowds.
These travel tips for Paris can save you money too. Better airfare deals can be found in the off season and shoulder season.
Significanly lower hotel prices can be found as well, often as much as half the price of the peak tourist season.
3. Book your tickets for the Louvre ahead of time
The Louvre is one of the most popular destinations in Paris for tourists and a visit is highly recommended. It gets extremely busy and the ticket lines are incredibly long. Do yourself a favor and book these online ahead of time.
This is one of my favorite travel tips for Paris. It’ll save you so much time and hassle, it’s worth the extra effort.
4. Plan to visit the Louvre at night
The Louvre is always going to be busy, but it’s much less busy in the evening. If at all possible, plan to visit the Louvre when they are open during the evening. You’ll have a better experience once inside.
Plus, if you visit at night, it will be less of a hassle to view the Mona Lisa. Since there are lighter crowds in the evening, the area near the Mona Lisa will be less crowded. There will still be people there, but not as many.
5. Have a game plan
Before you arrive in Paris, you should spend some time figuring out what you want to see and do during your visit.
Try to prioritize so you can decide what you must do, and what could possibly wait for another time. This will give you some direction and eliminate time wasted figuring out what you want to do.
Don’t forget to implement these travel tips for Paris as you put your itinerary together as well. They are meant to make your trip easier, so use them in your planning.
If you have the extra time, consider taking a day trip outside of Paris as well. There are plenty of lovely destinations just a short train ride away. Both Versailles and Reims are great options for day trips if you’re feeling adventurous.
To be continued….
