I%26#39;m going to London in March and my family and I are taking a day trip to Paris. We arrive at 10:30am and depart at 8:50 pm at Gare du Nord. We plan on seeing Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame and Musée d%26#39;Orsay and possibly Louvre. We are going on Wednesday and I know the Louvre is open late so I was thinking we would do that last if we did that at all.
-Is there a certain order to do these things in?
-Should we take the bus or metro to get around the city?
-How much time should we allow to get to the train station in order to catch our train back to London?
-Any other things we should consider seeing?
Thanks for any help!!
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Given the sights you want to see are all on the Batobus route, you could consider taking the Batobus so you have a boat ride on the Seine between them. It is much more expensive than buying a carnet of 10 metro/bus tickets (10 tickets for 10.90 Euros would probably do you) and you would need to buy metro tickets for the trips to and from Gare du Nord.
The Batobus is also not as frequent as the Metro but at that time of year it will not be so overcrowded that you will not be able to get on the next service. At 12 Euros a day pass on the Batobus, given you will only be in Paris for a short time, it could be worth the extra cost for the experience of getting around on the Seine.
The batobus trips are less regular (about 30 mins apart) until March 15 and the last complete round trip starts at about 4.30pm (check the timetable on the site) but if you are going on or after March 16, the last round trip starts at about 7pm.
batobus.com/english/…
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If I was doing your itinerary I would buy a museum pass for the day. This will save you queueing thus saving time. The museum pass willnot gain you entry to the Eiffel Tower but it will the remaining monuments. You might be able to purchase a combined Metro/RER travel card and museum and monuments pass. The Batobus is a nice idea, but you might need to be more flexible and with the regularity of metro/RER services, perhaps not so romantic but a better option for moving about the city. I believe you should not try to see more than you already are aiming for as you will compromise the viewing quality of everything for quantity. The Eiffel Tower will be the most time hungry pursuit as the queues can be horrendous. I would do that first, it is a wonderful and breathtaking experience but thereafter you will know how much time you can allocate to the other sites. The D%26#39;Orsay is one of my favourites, do view Sacre Coeur through the glass face of the clock. My suggestion is that would be the next location to visit, followed by Notre Dame. If you have the time, walk between some of these you will enjoy some of the other sights that Paris has to offer also. It is charming to wak along the Seine. As you wish to leave the late openening Louvre to last, if you have a Museum Pass you will be able to enter via the Carroussel entrance (closest Metro Louvre Rivoli, I believe) and usually there is little or no queueing at that point.
All the sites can be accessed on the same train line (RER C), Champs de Mars Tour Eiffel, Musee D%26#39;Orsay, Notre Dame - St Michel.
From Louvre Rivoli you would take the Metro to Chatelet and change there to the RER B line for Gare du Nord for your departure. Check the timetables to see how much time you need at the time of day you are travelling to get from Louvre via Chatelet to Gare du Nord. For comfort%26#39;s sake, allow up to half an hour at your departure point prior to embarkation.
Do have a wonderful day in Paris. Berthillion ice cream is oh so good and there is a shop of the Isle behind Notre Dame.
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Blossom55%26#39;s suggestions are very good and the only thing I would add is that the Museumpass now has a two consecutive day minimum period at 30 Euros but you would be buying it for the convenience of avoiding lines, which for such a short trip would be worthwhile. If anyone in your family is under 18, do not buy a museum pass as they get into the Louvre and Musee d%26#39;Orsay free. Notre Dame Cathedral is free unless you want to climb the towers (there can be very long lines anyway as there is a limit of 50 people at a time).
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We actually all agreed we weren%26#39;t going to climb the Eiffel Tower and just seeing it and getting some good pictures with it are find. We might decide to climb to towers of Notre Dame to get our view of the city, but it isn%26#39;t a top priority if the queues are long. I say time is much better spent walking down the street and seeing as much as possible than waiting in a queue.
Also, I%26#39;ve always wanted to see Moulin Rouge but I think it is out of our way. I dont have to see it, but I would if its worth it and not too far out.
The museum pass sounds like a good idea...thanks yall!
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Hi Gusterlover, do a search ot TA Paris forum for Moulin Rouge as there have been many in the last few months. I doubt it would be worth it in such a short trip even if it has a daytime show (I don%26#39;t know)
You would get a better view of the Eiffel Tower from across the river near Trocadero Gardens but it is also fun to go and stand virtually under it and look up and get a sense of its great size and its structure.
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This is what I would do:
When you arrive at Gare du Nord, follow the signs to the Metro *NOT* the RER. Buy a Zone 1-2 Mobilis pass for each member of your party. (It%26#39;s an all day unlimited-use Metro pass for €5,50). Get on the number four line (purple) and get of at Etienne Marcel. Walk straight south to the FNAC, and go in and buy tickets for the Louvre and Musee d%26#39;Orsay. Total will be €16,00 for each adult, plus a small commission. (This will keep you from having to buy the Museum Pass for €30 to keep from waiting in line) (18 and under are free and can skip the ticket line with adult ticket holders).
Leave FNAC and walk south from Les Halles area to the Seine, and turn left until you come to a bridge (pick one, Change or Notre Dame) and cross onto Ile de la Cite and head to Notre Dame. Direct walking time should be about 20 minutes. Walking and lingering around 30-35. You should be there by 11:30. Spend an hour. At 12:30, head across the Pont St. Michel to the Place St. Michel. Have a quick lunch at Le Depart St. Michel. Watch people, eat some chow, drink some cafe. Directly in front ot the Depart St. Michel is the entrance to the St. Michel-Notre Dame RER stop. At 1:15, go down and get on the RER and go one stop to the Musee d%26#39;Orsay. Arrive at 1:30. Use your tickets you already purchased, skip the line, and go see the place. At 3:30, get back on the RER and go 3 stops to Champs de Mars, Tour Eiffel stops. Get out, go see Eiffel Tower. Walk across the river to Palais de Chaillot, take some pictures, and head to Trocadero Metro by 5pm. Take Metro via lines 9 and 1 with a Correspondance at Franklin D. Roosevelt to Louvre. Arrive Louvre 5:30p. You can push it and take about 2 hours to see the Louvre. It%26#39;s actually pretty easy to see all of the big three in two hours because of the way they%26#39;re set up. You can see even more. At 7:30, get back on the Metro and take Lines 7 and 4 back to Gare du Nord with a Correspondance at Gare de l%26#39;Est. You should arrive there by 8p, and you%26#39;ll have 30 minutes to board your train and head back to England.
Wow. I%26#39;m exhausted.
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ArrowCapet
That is an excellent itinerary and I think Gusterlover should follow it (except I would allow just a little more time getting from the Louvre to Gare du Nord to avoid any delays finding working out correspondences etc).
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Thanks Faux. And I agree about leaving the Louvre a little earlier. That%26#39;s what I meant when I said she could %26quot;push it%26quot; and spend two hours....because I really do think it would be pushing it. Leaving at 7 or 7:15 might be wiser just to be sure.
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arrowcarpet! thank you so much that is awesome!!!
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These are all fantastic itineraries - i think it is great that people would write in to help their fellow travellers . If any of you have any time ,I would love an itinerary for 3 days - Sun until Wed am . I am going in Feb with hubby and 2 teenagers (19 and 16 ) . Kids have never been before - any help greatly appreciated
Thanks
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