Hi ILs, My dad is travelling to Paris officialy for a little shy of a week in Jan. He has 2 full days for sightseeing and hopefully the evenings after work. I would like some suggestions on literally anything from Places to Visit , things to carry, Caution, Weather etc. Dad is 60yrs. -What places are really worth seeing, He wanted to go to nearby places like Berlin etc but I am not sure if 2 days is good enough to cover outside of paris or is it better to cover within paris only? I know this differs from people to people, but pls give your opinion. -How will the weather be (just an idea) in Mid January? Would he need winter clothing? - Are there any well known English guided tours, reasonably priced that u could recommend? Any help and opinion is much appreciated, Thanks -Sowmya
Must See: 1. Eiffel Tower : plan to visit in the evening so you can take a cruise right after. Cruise is 1 Hour and covers most attractions which you get to see from the cruise itself. 2. Louvre Museum : Original Mona Lisa. Depending on your interest you can do Louvre in 3 hrs or a whole day. 3. Champs Elysses : 2 Kms main shopping street for all leading brands and also historical monuments. Arc de Triomphe at one end and Place de la Concorde Obelisk at the other end. 4. Versailles : royal palace of Louis XIV and Marie Antoniette. Half-day minimum. Historical / places of interest: 5. Montmarte : Picasso's house. Sacre Cour. You get to see Paris from a vantage point. Best place to buy souvenirs, lot of variety and very reasonably priced.
Amywos just wanted to add that I have read many articles about pickpockets in Paris. Not to make you scared, just tell your dad to be careful. Avoiding Pickpockets | Embassy of the United States Paris, France
Thanks Soumya, Though we are aware of the pick pocketing there, the site u gave have lot of useful tips.
I went to Paris in Nov for 2 day trip after a business meeting. I will highly recommend staying in Paris to tour. We want to cover everything, I was like that on my first trip, but in reality it is not a good idea. A new place takes 2 days to get adjusted to, just learning the street and watching people. 1st - Does he have a hotel? If his business trip is in Paris then he can just stay there. I stayed near "Medeline area" which was great but most location in the city is great 2nd- Pick up a metro map of Paris once he is free or if he wants you can download it on his computer. Traveling by the train (metro) is the best option. There metro system is amazing & I found myself spending hours there due to cold, I rather use metro than walk outside. Have him buy day metro pass instead of single trip 3rd - To be honest, I was not super impressed by Paris. It is a great location for people who love shoping, especially high end brand name. Every corner is shopping district & I specifically avoided those area because that is not why i went to Paris. If he wants to shop at Gucci & Prada he needs to set aside a day for that. If not, avoide entering those stores cuz it will eat up time. 4th- I always love taking bus tour of a new city to get an overview of the city. It will be good idea to get one tour: whehter its hop on hop off or one tour around town. My Itinerary included for 1.5 day: Going to hotel, dropping off my belonging, grabing a map & finding my way to the metro. Take metro to Place de la Concorde (thats one of my favoite spot, open area, nice view of Eiffel Tower, park/river. I liked it) Then I walked on Champs Elysses street, which is connected from Concorde Place(grabbed a Crepe from street vendor and watched people, shops). This 2k walk ends at Arc de Triomphe. From there I took a metro to Louvre Museum. I had no interest in museum or spending 3 hours in there. But the outside structure is amazing and worth visiting even if one is not going inside the mesume. Since I had half a day, it was already dark. Being a girl, I decided to get train to near my hotel & grab dinner while exploring another shopping street called Hussmaan street. Next day waked up early & took metro to Eiffel Tower. Getting there early morning is best to have shorter line & this takes half day. I climbed up the stairs, I would not suggest that as it is COLD & TALL. He can do lunch in the Tower. Then took a metro to Notre Dame. This is achurch & museum like which I wasn't interested in. I was happy walking around and seeing it from outside (entering any of these building means waiting in line for hours & wasting half a day). After I was done admiring the old church, I walked across the bridge to Saint Germain in Pantheon District (very random move, wasn't planned, I was just exploring). I loved this area, they had diverse food that I could eat & had lot of local shops that were decent price instead of the high end brand name I saw earlier My main struggle in Paris was the food. I didn't like their food. Saint Germain had international food and I loved it. I also felt dehydrated because water cost too much there. My favorite part of the city was climbing Eiffel Tower
