Aaah, Paris..
Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles, Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, Champs Elysee, rich in history, massive football culture and the city of love!
We saw the cheap flights on EasyJet and we were sold! Who wouldn't jump at a spontaneous weekend trip to Paris?
However... we didn't quite fall in love with the city of love.
Before we begin, we would just like to say that this blog post is solely based on our one, short- lived experience... In the middle of winter, when it was below zero (-4 to be exact) everyday. It was windy and raining basically the whole time. Horrible weather to be sightseeing and exploring in. We like to think we are tough Aussie country kids, but the cold in Paris got the better of us! And before you start thinking "these rookies didn't check the weather before they went" - we did! The 7-day forecast said 6 degrees and sunny. It was just unfortunate that the winds changed and mother nature was having a bad hair day. Overall, Paris was a bit of an anti-climax for us, because it didn't live up to the hype. Our experience was dulled by the fact that so many things were closed for the winter and we didn't come across too many friendly French folk. Aside from that Paris was sparkling! Literally. We saw the Eiffel Tower at night and it was lit up like a giant Christmas tree!
We hope these tips can help you in some way!
tours/activities
Notre-Dame
Price: Free
Time: 1 hour
Easily accessible by Open Bus Tour or public transport (metro or bus). Not a great deal to see or do, but full of history and it is nice to go inside and have a look around. We recommend doing some research on Notre-Dame before you go, otherwise you can purchase an audio guide/guidebook just inside the entrance.
Eiffel Tower
Price: €6
Time: 1-3 hours, depending on wait time for tickets
Varying prices for different ages/concessions, easily accessible by Open Bus Tour or public transport and brilliant to see at night or during the day. Also, we recommend climbing the tower. Yes, climb! For about half the price and a quarter of the wait time, you can climb the stairs to the second level. It is not as hard as it sounds and you'll be up there before your mate even gets close to getting his ticket for the lift. Amazing views and a little workout as a bonus. Otherwise, if you're really organised, you can get skip-the-line tickets online. We recommend doing a little research on the tower before you go - it makes for a more interesting climb.
Lourve Museum
Price: €15
Time: minimum 3 hours
Varying prices for different ages/concessions, easily accessible by Open Bus Tour or public transport. We drove past during the day for some photos, then went back at night time to look around. They are open until 9:45pm on Wednesdays and Fridays - we highly recommend going at night if it fits into your schedule. It is no where near as busy, which makes it easier to get a selfie with Mona Lisa if that's your thing. We also recommend maybe buying a guide online before you go, as all the artwork descriptions are in French. We struggled to read the names and descriptions of each artwork. You can buy guides at the souvenir shop inside the Lourve, but they are pretty expensive. We googled as often as we could, but wanted to enjoy the artworks as much as we could. We definitely would've preferred being more prepared.
Palace of Versailles
Price: €15
Time: minimum 6 hours
The Palace of Versailles is free to EU residents under 26, otherwise it will cost you €18 for your tour of the palace, which comes with a free audio guide, and the gardens. The best way to get to the palace is by train (see 'transport' below). You are able to look around the palace, then go out into the MASSIVE gardens to look around. There are little cafes and bars hidden around the gardens, so you can grab a glass of wine and rest your legs. In the summer months they rent out little buggies to get around the gardens in. We didn't get a great experience in the gardens as the fountains weren't operational, the statues were covered up to protect them from the weather, and the buggies were stowed away in a shed collecting cobwebs. Nevertheless, Palace of Versailles was incredible!
Our Tip for Sightseeing
More often than not you do it cheaper yourself, if you are willing to do a bit of research. We found that it is better to buy tickets at the door for most things. Online companies charge a lot more than they do at the door. The only bonus is that they may include a skip-the-line pass, which is a huge advantage in summer when the lines are massive.
Also, most tour companies charge a hefty fee for private mini bus tours to places you can just go yourself with public transport. But, it is completely up to you what kind of experience you want.
We went in winter so there was no need for us to book tickets and tours online beforehand. We simply went to the ticket office at the venue and we got it cheaper by just saying we were students (even if both of us aren't)! We were living in England with visas when we went to Paris so make sure you take your visas/passports and student ID's. You could be in for huge discounts at these attractions.
accommodation
For our 3 nights in Paris we stayed at Generator Paris. We stayed in a 4-bed mixed dorm for a cool €27 per person per night. We found that Paris can be very expensive, especially in the city, so hostels are a great option. The Generator hostels are awesome. They are really clean and comfortable (for hostels), so if you get the chance to stay in one, wherever you're travelling, we definitely recommend getting yourself a bed. We were really happy with Generator Paris. The beds were comfy and private, we had a clean, decent sized private bathroom and toilet, they have free walking tours from the lobby every morning, they have a rooftop bar, a nightclub and a restaurant in the hostel, as well as a pool table and table tennis to use, and bicycles for hire. Great setup, however we had no facilities to cook our own meals, which was a bit of a let down. We didn't even have a kettle for coffee in the morning.
Comfort: 6/10
Staff: 6/10
Restaurant/Bar: 8/10
Vibe: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
transport
Flights
Flights in and out of Paris are cheap and easy to come across, especially if you're flying there from within the EU. We found flights for about £50 return per person with EasyJet. We flew into Charles De Gaulle Airport.
Train
*** PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT *** TRAINS STOP RUNNING FROM CDG AIRPORT AT 11PM ***
If your flight gets in after 11pm you will not be able to catch the train from the airport into the city. We didn't know this, and frankly we couldn't believe that the trains stop running so early at one of the biggest airports in the world! Unfortunately, we had already paid over €20 for our 'airport to city' train, and our flight was delayed by 4 hours, so we missed the boat (train) and were down €20 before we even stepped foot out of the airport. We ended up having to get an Uber, which costs us approximately €30. Once you get into Paris, the metro system is a breeze! Please see our tip #2 post for our secret to getting anywhere in Paris (including back to CDG) for €1.90.
Uber
This is probably the easiest way to get around anywhere these days. We got caught out a few times where we were tired, hungry and cold, so we just ordered an Uber to get us home as quickly as possible. It's just too convenient. But, be careful because you can find yourself getting too comfortable with the Uber app and those rides add up very quickly. In saying that, it was a life saver sometimes. Paris is just so huge and sometimes you just can't wait around for a bus or a train to show up when it's -4 and pouring rain.
Bus Tours
For our Hop-on-Hop-off tour, we chose to go with Open Tour Paris. They were the cheapest and we had seen more of their buses getting around, so we assumed they were the most popular. We don't usually do these, but as we said earlier, Paris is so big we thought it might be a good idea. However, this was not the case in the weather conditions. We were frozen to the core the whole time as there was no heating on the bus (and it was open top). It made getting around the city near unbearable and we had to take the metro or order an Uber most places to thaw out. We are sure that in the warmer months this would be a great option, as you see a lot of the city in a short period of time, and they have an app so you can track when the next bus is coming (there are about 4 every hour to most stops). Once you've paid it you can hop-on and hop-off as many times as you like - super easy way to get around and to get some great snaps. We were very disappointed with the audio guide that is included though, as that was one of the reasons we chose it. We like learning about the history, culture and quirks of the cities we visit, and were looking forward to hearing lots about Paris. However, this was a prerecorded audio guide that was very basic and didn't tell us much information at all. Also, the sound quality was terrible.
food and drinks
As we all know, France is renowned for it's fine cuisine and beautiful wines. However, neither of us are massive foodies or wine-o's. We are both vegetarian/semi-vegan and we found it super hard to find a decent, reasonably priced meal in Paris. Our dining and drinking experience was pretty poor in Paris. We are very much budget travellers, but we thought we could spoil ourselves and go out for a romantic dinner in Paris - try some French food and drink some French wine. Instead we went to a Japanese burger bar called Sisho Burger that served us up a few glasses of vodka and lemonade and a delicious tofu burger. No regrets on our decision this night, and would definitely recommend it! Other nights we ate at the restaurant in the hostel, which was cheap, filling and delicious!
Sisho Burger Paris - 21 Quai Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France
other tips/advice
- Beware of pick pockets and gypsies. Paris is a massive city and has a high crime rate. Just be aware and don't trust everyone with taking your picture. Also, keep your pockets and bags zipped up and close to your body. We had people getting awfully close to our pockets and bags on certain occasions. And don't fall for their petitions, they're just trying to distract you.
- Get a sim card with data on it so you can use maps and look up information on the attractions you are visiting!
- We definitely suggest learning some French before you go, at least hello, thank-you and please - it gets you a long way!
Show us some love, ask us any questions or leave a comment below!
jorgiandkate
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