Really All That Spouse and I will (finally) be visiting my family in the UK from December 6th to 19th. We’d like to do a couple of days in Paris near the end of the trip.
I’m assuming the Eurostar is the most economical/quickest way to reach Paris from London (we’ll mostly be staying with my brother in Surbiton). Am I wrong? I gather the Sea Cat doesn’t run anymore and I suspect it would cost just as much to take a train to Dover. I’m not planning on hiring a car or anything.
Where should we stay in Paris? I’ve only been as a penniless student. Now I’m a slightly less penniless adult. It looks like the prices aren’t as awful as I remembered. Apparently I can have two nights at a four-star place for $300-400. RATS (oh, that’s a terrible initialism) has never been so we’ll be doing the usual touristy stuff: Louvre, Versailles, etc. (obviously location isn’t going to matter much for the latter.)
Taking the train from London is magical and worth it even if it costs more than flying. If you go in the daylight, you get to see lots of beautiful farms and small towns.
I’m just an ugly American, but I think the 5th arrondisement is a great place to stay if you can afford the boutique hotels there, which are absolutely charming. It’s an easy walk to the major tourist attractions, there’s plenty of good street food (which is the best food in Paris, IMO), but things are also quiet enough to get some decent sleep. Plus, you can walk along the Seine late at night and not be far from your hotel, and it’s a part of Paris you might not otherwise get to, unlike many of the other Seine-adjacent arrondisements.
Lots of great restaurants on Rue Moufftard. We found it hard to find cheap, delicious and reasonably good quality meals around many Parisian attractions. So Rue Moufftard it was. At least twenty places to eat there including some wonderful markets!
Another vote for Eurostar. City Centre to City Centre makes so much sense…no schlepping to and from airports. Hubby and I once stayed at Hotel Brittanique on Avenue Victoria. It has good reviews on Trip Advisor and I remember it as being a very charming hotel within walking distance of all the good stuff.
For location: As has been mentioned, see if you can get a place in the 5th arrondissement. It’s convenient to all the “touristy” things, and you’ll be missing the summer crowds.
Don’t miss visiting Le Musée d’Orsay. It’s got all the impressionists, through Art Deco. Also the Rodin Museum.
I’ve never been to Paris in December, but I think you should take an umbrella.
If you are planning on going to a lot of museums, look into whether the Paris museum pass works for you: http://en.parismuseumpass.com/. It may not if you are staying away from museums and doing more of a touring the town type of visit.
Frankly, just skipping the lines was a huge benefit at some of the locations and it covers most of the major attractions (Louvre, Versailles, Musee D’ Orsey, Rodin Museum, etc). You will still need to wait in line in order to get through security at some locations (but you don’t have to line up for tickets).
For Versailles, the gardens and the palace are separate admissions and I don’t think that the pass covers the gardens.
If you want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, you should make a reservation online sooner rather than later if you want to avoid the lineups (by the time we were there, the entire week was booked for the top and the other option only had a few slots left).
I should add that my experience regarding line ups is based on being there in July. As you are going in December, you’ll probably have an easier time with them.
I would suggest a place in the 4th arrondissement and recommend Castex Hotel about a block and half from Place Bastille and a walk of about 4 blocks or so the river and the Ile St. Louis. I checked on the web and Castex would cost about $360 (it is quoted in dollars) for 2 nights. I would consider subway tickets as it is liking to be a little cold and blustery for a lot of walking.
When you say you want to do a couple of days in Paris, does that mean staying for 2 days, 1 night? If so, you’re really going to have to carefully pick and choose where to go and what to see. The Louvre itself will literally take an entire day to tour, and even then you will not be able to view all the exhibits. For such a short stay, I would skip museums altogether because you will not have time to view other attractions and areas. However, I would recommend going to the Louvre building itself to see the famous glass pyramid and even going to the underground Carrousel du Louvre to see the inverted pyramid skylight and perhaps do some shopping.
I feel Versailles is more worthwhile for your situation as you not only get to tour the magnificent palace itself, but you can also take in the beautiful art and objects that it houses, and take a walk in the enormous garden as well, (although it won’t be as pretty as it would be during the summer season). But again, this is going take an entire day as well, although it’s not impossible to shorten it to half a day if you rush your visit and skip areas. In either case, make sure to buy your tickets in advance online so you can skip the queue.
So with the one day in Paris proper, and if you stay in the 1st arrondissement, you can walk to the following attractions: The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Place de la Concorde/Luxor Obelisk, La Madeleine, Pont Neuf, Palais Garnier, Tuileries Garden, Seine River, Champs-Elysees/Arc de Triomphe, etc. You’ll notice I’ve left out the Eiffel Tower but I haven’t forgotten this iconic beauty. Forget climbing the tower (because of queues) and try to catch it at dusk to evening to see the tower in its entirety, and then the light up at night. I would suggest leaving this until the evening after you return from Versailles and you would be able to visit Trocadero Garden as well, on the opposite side of the tower. If budget permits, on your last night in Paris, you can do a night dinner cruise on the Seine and they will show you the Eiffel Tower along with other attractions along the river in all its lit-up glory.
I would disagree with this. I don’t know how interested the OP is in museums in general, but the Louvre’s collection is truly amazing. The museum pass AHarris mentioned above is crucial, since it allows you to skip the worst of the lines (although there still may be substantial delays due to security). Depending on the time and day you go, some of the galleries of the Louvre are not crowded at all. If you’re interested in specific things or even general genres, you can spend an hour or two and then head out. (The last time I was in Paris, I popped in briefly to the Louvre a couple of times when I had spare time and the end of the day to kill.)
Also, it’s not directly related to the request in the OP, but I’d advise against getting your hopes up too high for Paris. It’s a dirty, crowded, unpleasant city (far moreso than, say, New York, London, or Tokyo, all of which I’ve enjoyed immensely). That isn’t to say that it has nothing going for it; but you might be interested in Normandy, Angers, Strasbourg, etc. in addition to or instead of Paris.
Don’t forget Paris and London are much further north than any point in the lower 48, if either of you suffer seasonal affective disorder. There’s going to be only a few hours daylight, and you’ll cast 10 foot shadows even at noon. It may also influence what you want to do outdoors.
For something that is not really traditional for Paris, the Christmas markets that are more common in Alsace, Lorraine, and Germany have popped up in recent decades. There should be a few near the major tourist attractions in Paris. I’m not much a wine drinker, but walking outside on a cold day with some vin chaud is pretty nice. The street food and trinkets can also be good.
Where to stay ?: my recommendation is “cheapest place within the first 11 neighborhoods (arrind-whatever-you-call-thems) closest to a Metro station”
Unless you really want to be within walking distance to the Champs or really upscale restaurants and things, being close to a Metro station is all you really need. I’ve stayed in the Bastille area, and was never more than like 30 minutes away from whatever I wanted to visit.
What to see ?: given the relatively short amount of time you have, you will want to choose wisely. And being there in December, you will want to choose “warmly” (as in “indoors”). For example, normally I would recommend the Montmartre area (Sacre Couer and the neighborhood), but not for cold weather - there is a lot of walking around and it could be very uncomfortable.
St. Chappelle (near Notre Dame) is definitely worth seeing, but you may need to bundle up to stand in that line to get in.
Also a lot of the Rodin pieces at the Rodin museum are in the sculpture garden - may not be that enjoyable in inclement weather.
I personally enjoyed the Musee D’Orsay far more than the Louvre, so I would recommend doing a little research on the different types of art in each, and decide based on what you would prefer to check out. Either one you pick, plan to spend a good amount of time.
I really enjoyed Versailles, but as others have mentioned it will take a good part of a day to visit. It was really educational to see how France’s “1%” had lived (and just why there was that French Revolution).
The only “must see” for me personally is Les Invalides. I have no idea why, but I remember it being very moving or something. So “normal touristy stuff” recommendations are totally welcome because this is really for her benefit.
The catacombs are both viscerally and historically awesome.
Rodin Museum is cool, especially if the weather is OK (which it often is, even in December).
Gotta see St. Chapelle and D’Orsay.
Going to the top of the Arc de Triomphe is fun. Way less crowded than the Eiffel Tower, but still amazing views.
But I would also come up with some semi-unplanned moments, like ice skating near the municipal buildings, or going to a playground alone the Seine and night and drinking wine on the swingset. Those are the things you really remember from trips like this, IMO.
It’s been five years, but we stayed at the Hotel Le Royal, and thought it was very nice.
It was close to a metro station, had charming restaurants dotted all around, and within walking distance of many of the things we wanted to see.