Hi! I%26#39;m travelling to Paris for the first time and i%26#39;m completely clueless and need lots of help. I%26#39;m travelling with my family, 3 adults, two children : 18 year old and 11 year old.
im travelling late february..probably around feb 21- feb 25.
I was wondering what is the best/cheapest way to travel from London to Paris?
what is the most convenient hotel to stay in..as in good location (near most of the sites) , cheap price and near the metro?
also what are the must see sights in paris?
how much money would be needed to stay for about 4/5 days?
any other advice is really appreciated
thanks.
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Your request is overly B---R---O---A---D...and unnecassarily vague. So FIRST...take yourself down to your nearest megabookstore (or public library) and take some time to scan through some of the numerous PARIS guidebooks....and then buy the one(s) that resonate with your own and your family%26#39;s own personal preferences, priorities, special needs, interests and BUDGET. At the same time pick up a good street map of Paris (for general planning and touring purposes, it%26#39;s hard to beat STREETWISE PARIS). The map will help you to located places and things of interest and begin to orient yourselves to the city and its layout.
You can also invest some of YOUR time (it%26#39;s going to be YOUR hard-earned money, YOUR precious time, YOUR experience) in scrolling back through the archived threads of this TA forum (and others) to help you to begin to get a handle on what you want YOUR experiences and YOUR trip to be.
Having done this...and a bit of personal research......you%26#39;ll be in a better position to ask better, more narrowly focused question...and get better directed, more individually responsive answers.
Otherwise, just write the check and take an escorted motorcoach PARIS TOUR package....and they%26#39;ll tell you where to go, what to see, when to see it and....what%26#39;s important to you..
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We are clueless as to the interests of your party.
Sight-seeing is subjective. Sewers, cemetries? Please draw up your own list. Personally I like to see how people live and react to the environment.
Paris in late Feb will have less rain than Vancouver, %26amp; may be cooler.
Best way from London to Paris should be Eurostar. Cheapest depends on whether you can catch the nearest 99p flight.
How much money needed depends on how you people spend. My rule is 100 units per day local currency, per person carelessly, for 2 normally, for 3 if frugally. Now you would realise that it cost more in London than Paris based on CAD.
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Hi jtu2tj -
Now that you%26#39;ve received your ritual lecture from the scolder-in-chief and his self-appointed assisitant, here are a FEW answers for you.
Almost certainly the best way for you to get from London to Paris would be with pre-purchased Eurostar tickets. If you are travelling back to London just go to www.eurostar.com and book your RT tickets ASAP. The earlier you book the better your chances of getting the lowest fares. When booking on the Eurostar site, use the UK NOT Canada as your country of origin. You will collect your pre-paid tickets when you arrive in London. Even if you are only travelling one way you will probably find that round-trip tickets are cheaper. Just buy them using a bogus return date and discard the unused portion of the ticket.
Flights from LHR on BMIBaby or Luton on EasyJet may look attractive until you factor in the cost (and inconvenience) of getting to and from the airports. The train will certainly be quicker between city centers.
There are hundreds of %26quot;convenient%26quot; hotels in Paris. For a first time visitor, staying in the 1st, 4th, 5th or 6th arrondissements and close to the river will put many of the sights within walking distance. Of these the 5th probably has the biggest selection of reasonablty priced hotels. Incidentally in Paris, especially close to the center, it is virtually impossible to be more than a three or four minute walk from a métro station. All that said, I would strongly urge you to consider staying in an apartment. If you use the search function above the posts and search on the simpe word %26quot;apartments%26quot; you will find a ton of info about short-term rentals.
As for how much money you need, if you look through the last page or two of posts you should find a thread with the topic %26quot;How expensive?%26quot; which discusses just his issue. One thing is for sure — London is more expensive than Paris, though perhaps not by 40% as someone in that thread suggests. For Paris I would say you could start with a minimum of 50€ per day per person (not including your accommodation) if you were pretty much watching every penny. 75€ would certainly make it easier to relax about that extra cup of coffee or whatever. And from there you can spend as much as your portfolio can stand...
Must see sights? Well, you really do need to do some looking at a guidebook or two. You might try the DK Eyewitness guide as it is profusely illustrated. And DO get both the kids involved in the planning process! Meanwhile, this thread will give you more than enough ideas to use as the basis for further research.
http://tinyurl.com/yara2m
Good luck — and don%26#39;t be put off by some snarkiness from a few people. There really are a lot of people willing to answer questions. It IS true that more sprecific questions will generrate better answers AND that you need to do some basic research yourself.
Incidentally, I wouldn%26#39;t wait too long before making some decisions about actual dates and hotels, trains, etc. Some of the better value places get booked up weeks, even months ahead, even in the %26quot;off%26quot; season.
Good luck!
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Hello - re accommodation - I recommend that you definitely take an apartment as you will have the option to prepare and cook your own food - also you%26#39;ll have a small fridge and access to laundry facilities.
If you were staying 5 nights, I%26#39;d recommend you have a look at
www.stayParis.com
They have reasonably small but functional apartments in the centre for about E75 - E150 per night gets you a larger one.
www.vrbo.com will also provide you with info about apartments - they usually have a calendar so you can have immediate availability..
Whilst you may feel a bit overwhelmed at the moment, with the advice from this forum and that which you get through your research, you%26#39;ll be fine! Paris is fantastic - you%26#39;ll have a great time - and enjoy the planning!
Sandra
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KDKSAIL - have you by any chance been visiting our friend BS out in the 20th arr. to ask for some new ideas about how to greet newcomers....?
If yes, I can tell you that even our friend BS has improved his ways of dealing with newcomers on this forum considerably - so maybe you should consult him again........ how grumpy can one get, really ?
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- and for you jtu2tj, I also recommend an apartment. Try www.perfectlyparis.com - run by Gail Boisclair, a wonderful Canadian girl.
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thank you all for ur help! i am a bit overwhelmed right now, i guess its because its my first time doing this.
i think im going to go with eurostar for my transportation.
my big problem still to solve is hotel.
someone said something about the 1st, 4th, 5th or 6th arrondissements..i was wondering how would i know the hotel is located there?
and does anyone have any hotel names they can recommend to me? which are in those areas and are cheap?
im sorry if my questions are broad.
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jtu - each zip code in the city %26quot;proper%26quot; corresponds to the arrondisement. they all start with 750_ _ and the last 2 digits are the arrondisement (or district.) So a hotel with the zip code 75004 would be in the 4th arrondisement. As Irish said, the more central areas are probably best for a first visit.
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jtu2tj take any hotel adress the last 2 digit of the zip code is the # of arrondissement exp 40,rue Dophine Paris 75012 so the 12 is the 12th
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Hi jtu2tj, and welcome to Trip Advisor. I hope you find the forum useful.
To give you an idea of the layout of paris, start by picturing a snail (seriously!). The first arondissement is right at the centre - this is postal /zip code area 75001: now work clockwise to arondissement 2 (75002), 3 (75003) etc.right round to 20th.
Take a look at this link:-
http://en.venere.com/hotels_paris/?ref=12616 - I%26#39;m not suggesting you use the site to book anything but it%26#39;s got the %26#39;snail%26#39; map as a reference point.
Arondissements 1-6 are the most central (Eiffel tower area is a bit less interesting to stay in).
Wherever you stay I hope you have a wonderful trip.
PS I agree about Eurostar - it will take you to Gare du Nord from where you can take a cab or public transport to your accommodation.
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