10 tips for travelling to Paris

When you start planning a trip to Paris, it is usually important to establish some tours and study everything you can visit in Paris. The large number of attractions makes this step essential to take advantage of the time, but sometimes some equally important practical details are left aside.

For that reason, in this article I leave you some simple tips to make the trip go well. Sometimes it's the small details that make the difference between a great experience and a troubled stay, such as knowing how to get around the city or the possibilities of buying a tourist card to save a little and increase comfort.

If there are two places that should always be visited when traveling to Paris(even if you only spend 1 day in Paris) those are the Louvre museum and the Eiffel Tower. Their importance, however, can make it too crowded and the experience may not be as satisfying as you wish.

To try to escape the crowds you should take into account the busiest times, as well as which are, in principle, more conducive to see both attractions with more tranquility:

• As for when to go to the Louvre Museum, the ideal would be not to visit the museum between 11:00 and 16:00, as this is the time of day when you can find more crowds. Remember that it opens its doors around 9:00 am, so getting up early to have time to see the Louvre more quietly could be the solution. Likewise, you can also go in the afternoon or take advantage of the days when the opening hours are later, usually until 21:30 or so.
• Climbing the Eiffel Tower during the high season, in summer in Paris, usually involves long queues, especially on weekends. Outside this period, the crowds drop off quite a bit, but my advice is to try to get there early, before 10:30. Another good time to go up is from 17:00 or at night.

Paris is one of the cities in the world that receives more tourists every year. One of the consequences of this attraction is the endless queues that form in front of its main tourist sites. These waits, in addition to generating discomfort, end up being a great waste of time, especially in cases where the stay is short, and, to avoid them, there is only one solution: buy tickets in advance.

Fortunately, many of the attractions of Paris offer that option to avoid having to endure long waits, from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, as well as other of the most emblematic monuments of Paris:

• Tickets for the Musée d'Orsay - from $19.
• Tickets forthe Montparnasse Tower - from $20.
• Tickets for the Invalides -from $16.
• Tickets forthe Rodin Museum -from $16.
• Tickets forthe Pompidou Center -from $16.
• Tickets forthe Palace of Versailles-from $23.
• Tickets forthe Arc de Triomphe-from $17.

Oh, by the way, if you are going to visit Disneyland Paris, don't forget to buy your one or two-day tickets in advance.

The French capital has a very efficient public transport network being the metro the main way to move around the city quickly, as it will allow you to avoid the existing traffic.

In my article How to use the metro in Paris I explain all the factors you should take into account. Among them, the great usefulness of the "Next Stop" application , which includes a practical map of the lines in operation and allows you to calculate itineraries without having to be connected to the internet. Among the different types of tickets we can find:

• Ticket t+: this is the single ticket. If you are not going to use the metro much, it will be enough for you.
• Paris Visite: there are several modalities depending on the validity (between 1 and 5 days) and the areas you want to visit. It also includes discounts for some of the tourist attractions in Paris.
• Navigo Pass: in principle, this pass is cheaper than the previous one if the stay is going to be about a week in Paris. The main disadvantage is that it is somewhat more complicated to obtain, since you need a passport-sized photograph and pay 5 € non-refundable.

Unless you are lucky enough to be able to extend your stay in Paris for more than 7 days, to make the most of your time you will have to make a prior list of what you want to see. In the economic aspect, also important, it is interesting to investigate the options that the French capital offers.

Possibly the best way to save on your visits is the Paris Pass tourist card. It is a card with which you have significant discounts when entering more than 60 attractions, including entry to the Louvre Museum, the Arc de Triomphe or the Basilica of Saint-Denis.

In addition, it is also worth knowing that the first Sunday of each month you can enter many museums for free.

The sheer size of Paris (plus the surrounding area) and the sheer number of places to visit can make sightseeing complicated. Getting from one place to another takes time that you may not have, not to mention the time spent researching how to get to each monument. To avoid this, one of the best options is to hire one of the many tours that can be done in Paris. Practically everyone will find one that suits his or her interests:

• Foodies can book a tour of Paris's pastry shops.
• The more sporty ones can book a bike tour in Paris or even an electric bike tour.
• For fans of scary stories the ideal plan is to book a night tour of ghosts or even do it by bike.
• And there are also tours that go in depth in some specific districts, such as the tour of the Latin Quarter, the tour of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district of Paris or the tour of Montmartre.
• In addition, excursions outside of Paris are also available.

Another option to save time are the tourist buses. These allow you to get on and off as many times as you want and usually tour the most interesting places in the city. On the one hand, we can get a seat on the Big Bus; on the other hand, we can reserve a seat on the Toot bus, which also includes two self-guided walking tours through different areas of the capital.

Finally, you can always resort to an interesting option that the city offers its visitors: the Batobus. It is a boat that travels along the Seine with the same conditions as a tourist bus, as it allows you to get on and off at its many stops near the most important attractions.

Although it will always depend on how long you are in a city, personally one of the tips I like to follow is to go a little off the beaten path. In the case of Paris, with its many hidden charms, you can discover breathtaking places if you decide to walk through the neighborhoods of Paris.

These are places less visited by tourists, but that will delight anyone who finds them. Here is a short list of these places, but surely you can find more on your own:

• Canal St-Martin: this is a kind of artificial tributary of the Seine through which merchant ships sail. The walk along its banks is really nice, something that Parisians know that often make a picnic on good weather days. An excellent plan is to hire a cruise on the Seine River and the St. Martin Canal. If you are lucky, you will be able to see how the bridges open to let the boats that still travel along it pass.
• Passages and galleries: Paris is full of passages and galleries that combine beautiful architecture with wonderful decoration. My advice is to find a good map to plan a tour or book a tour of the covered passages and galleries of Paris.
• Viewpoints in Paris: beyond the views from the Eiffel Tower or Notre Dame, Paris offers its visitors other viewpoints from which to contemplate the city. Some, such as the Montparnasse Tower are paid, while others, such as the terrace of the Printemps Galleries are totally free.

When the sun goes down, the city of Paris transforms and shows a different face. In Paris by night Its streets and many of its monuments are illuminated and life continues to buzz in a multitude of locals.

Although everyone has a different way of traveling, there are some attractions of Paris by night that you should not miss. Here is a small list of the most essential ones so you can find the ones that best suit your interests:

• Visit the Eiffel Tower: the icon of Paris lights up at night to show its imposing figure to the whole city. To enjoy it you can simply contemplate it from a nearby point or make a night climb to the Eiffel Tower to see the metropolis from above. Finally, if the weather is nice, you can also sit on the Champs de Mars and have a small picnic at night.
• Enjoy the nightlife: although it is a cliché applicable to many cities in the world, it can be said that Paris never sleeps. The livelier ones will find plenty of bars and nightclubs to enjoy late into the night.
• Go to a cabaret: many say that Paris is the birthplace of cabarets. The most famous is undoubtedly the Moulin Rouge, which offers the possibility to dine and watch the Moulin Rouge show. Other equally interesting are the Lido, the Crazy Horse or the Paradis Latin.
• The Seine at night: the river that crosses the capital also offers visitors several possibilities to enjoy it at night as one of the night cruises on the Seine or simply stroll along its banks contemplating its beautiful bridges.

Getting around Paris at night

Since transportation schedules are limited, moving around at night will depend on the time of day. Thus, the metro is in operation until 1:00 (2:00 on weekends). Later you will have to find another way to get around, such as the bus service called Noctilien which operates between 00:30 and 07:00 in the morning, or take a cab.

Although the opening hours in Paris are somewhat more flexible than in smaller French towns, the differences with Spain are still noticeable, especially when it comes to restaurants in Paris.

Any traveler should adapt to the customs of the country they are visiting unless they want to run the risk of finding everything closed. In the French capital, people usually eat between 12:00 and 13:30, so it is relatively common that many kitchens close at 14:00.

On the other hand, the dinner time is usually located from 19:30 - 20:00, which means that if you want to snack you will also have to advance the schedule significantly.

For those of us who love to discover the gastronomy of the places we visit, Paris is a great opportunity. Trying different dishes is the best way to get closer to its culture and it is something that I advise you not to miss.

Among the most typical dishes that you will find in the French capital are:

• Foie gras.
• The escargots (snails).
• The boeuf bourguignon (a beef stew with red wine).
• Quiche Lorraine (a kind of savory pie with meat and cheese).
• The croque-monsieur (a classic baked cheese and ham sandwich).
• French cheeses, best accompanied by a glass of vio or champagne.

And, of course, there's always room for the **country'**s great sweets. If you have a sweet tooth, you can't miss them:

• The best crepes de Pris.
• The macarons.
• The petit four.
• The café au lait with a croissant fresh from the oven, their typical breakfast.

To make your trip a complete success there are some little tricks that can be useful and easy to follow:

• Learn a few phrases in French. You don't need to become bilingual, but learning to say bonjour (good morning), merci (thank you) or s 'il vous plaît (please) will help you on some occasions. If you add monsieur or madame, the result will be even better.
• Closely related to the above is the great importance given in France to manners and education. Never forget to say hello or ask "please" in restaurants or ticket offices and always try to avoid "tuteo".
• It may well not occur to you, but you should still know that feeding pigeons is strictly forbidden. The fines, moreover, can be quite high.
• Bathing in the Seine is also forbidden, even in summer. If you can't resist the urge, just go to the so-called Paris Plage.
• One last prohibition that may be useful for you to know is that showing up drunk in public carries the possibility of being fined. Obviously, you will not be fined for drinking wine while having a picnic in a park, but try not to exceed a certain limit.