Paris

Does anyone have advice on an afternoon tour of the highlights of Paris? We are taking the Eurostar which arrives at 10:15 am and leaves at 6:45pm. I have seen tours from viator.com and also saw a red bus pass with 9 stops, hop on, hop off, much cheaper than the bus tour. Anyone?

Given your time frame, i'd try the hop on hop off tour. I have taken them and they offer a good overview. There are actually several tours offered from them so pick the one with the spots you want to see. Obviously, you need more time there but you have to do with what you have.

For a truly unique experience, see Paris from the water. And stop at major tourist stops, via Batobus. http://www.batobus.com/english/8escale.htm

Thanks to both of you. I have logistics questions about both options. The train brings us into Gard du Nord. How do we find either the red bus or the Batobus?

With regard to the Batobus, is it like the red bus, hop on hop off at the stops we want? Sounds like a fabulous way to do the major stops.

We have been to Paris before so having limited time is not a real issue. We are bringing a relative who has never been to Europe and our major focus is London but we thought this could be a fun day.

I haven't tried the hop on/off bus in Paris but there was recent TUG feedback that this option wasn't good in Paris - see post #20 in this thread http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94106

NOTE: Rick Steve has an evening taxi tour suggestion on his website. This might work for you eventhough you'll be visiting during the day - http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/france/floodlit.htm

Also see the Tripadvisor reviews under "Things to do in Paris" for possible tour options - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187147-Activities-oa40-Paris_Ile_de_France.html and checkout their Paris forum for additional tips - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g187147-i14-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

Have a wonderful trip

I'm just back from Paris. So..

If I had just 8 hours in Paris I'd do the hop on hop off bus. It has many stops all around Paris and you can get on and pay at any of the stops. The train station (Gard du Nord) is pretty close to their opera stop.

Link to bus

Personally, I think the audio guide was not very good. But it brings you to all the top spots and you can hop off and see the spot, then hop on and go to the next spot.

Thanks for all the advice. We have decided to do the L'Open Tour and I have more logistics questions. From Gare du Nord, should we be taking the Metro to the nearest OT stop? We don't have our OT tickets yet so I don't know if we get a voucher which has to be turned in for a ticket, and if so, which stop do we go to for that? Does the bus only go in one direction around the city? If we take the Metro to and from the OT, that's going to be 6 tickets for 3 of us. Does the option of buying a carnet (10 tickets) give us individual tickets or will we need to buy 6 individual tickets? Thanks.

scotlass said:

Does the option of buying a carnet (10 tickets) give us individual tickets or will we need to buy 6 individual tickets? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Yes, when you buy a book of ten tickets ( 1.11 euro each vs the 1.5 euro regular price) you'll get ten individual tickets. Use them any way you want. Be aware that you can not tell when you used one so be careful to keep the used tickets separate from the ones you haven't used yet. You need to keep the used ones for a short time because you might need them again for a transfer (but generally not).

Two years ago we took the Celebrity Cruise Line bus tour of the City of Paris that included a river boat cruise tour of the City of Paris.. This river boat cruise of City of Paris included various wine & cheese and an outstanding smoke duck lunch. This tour of Paris was the highlight of our transatlantic cruise.

We were cruising with Celebrity Cruise Line on the MS Century.

I second the Batobus. The river cruise on the Seine is a delightful way to see much of Paris.

Are there good and bad times to take the Seine boat tour? My kids did it in London on the Thames and in Paris, but found the one in Paris too low a water level to get good views of what they wanted to see. They still enjoyed it but felt the Thames was much better.

Brian