Sightseeing Itinerary - Experts Help!

Hi Guys,

My fiancee and I will be visiting Paris for our honeymoon arriving early afternoon on June 6 [Saturday] and leaving in the morning on June 14 [Sunday]. We%26#39;ll be staying in the first district.

We are a couple in our mid-to-late twenties and are interested in everything, including museums, historic sights etc.

Here%26#39;s a list of sights/museums which we potentially would like to see and visit during our stay in Paris. I realize that I may not be able to see all of them or that there may be other better things to do.

Could you please help us organize the below sights by day and explain how we should go about visting them and how much time we should spend on each sight. If you think that that something is not worth the time or that there are better options please let us know.

Champs Elysées

Notre Dame Cathedral

Sainte-Chapelle

Conciergerie

Alexandre III bridge

Musee d%26#39;Orsay

Musee du Louvre

Musee Rodin

Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel)

Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg)

Musee de l%26#39;Orangerie

Arc de Triomphe

The Catacombs

Cemetery - which one?

River Seine - boat ride

Jardin des Tuileries

Montmartre

Versailles

Thank you.

PS. Museum Pass - is it worth buying for the above and which one to get - 2; 4 or 6-day?

Some sort of transportation pass - worth buying or not? Which one?

|||

I would strongly encourage the 6 day Museum Pass - that way there is no pressure to race through too many sights too quickly. While it may not save lots of money, I believe you would probably at least break even, and the convenience and shorter lines are well worth it.

In addition, with the museum pass you can take a peek at gems such as the Cluny and the Nissim Camondo near Parc Monceau. You may find your own gems among the places covered that you would not have otherwise visited.

We walked and walked, so two carnets (books of 10 discounted tickets)were adequate for 6 days. There is a transit pass that works for a week that someone else will need to address or do a search (Carte Orange I believe it is called.)

You will need a good map of Paris that includes a map of the Metro that you can carry with you. Mark the sights you want to see and they will group themselves.

Don%26#39;t make too rigid a schedule because you%26#39;ll want lots of time to walk and sit at cafes. Also, the weather - either too hot or too cloudy/rainy - can influence what you do on any given day.

With a good guide book you will learn which places are closed on which days (many Monday/Tuesday closures), as well as evening openings.

We found Versailles was a whole day and we spent about 6 hours at the Louvre. Other venues can take as much or as little time as you want.

Have a wonderful honeymoon.

|||

1. Download the Paris Museum Pass (%26quot;PMP%26quot;) brochure to get a full list of the sights, plus the hours and days of operation. Many sights are closed on Monday or Tuesday. Some of the sights are open late one or more nights a week. Make a list of the sights that appeal to you. Also, best to avoid the Louvre and the Orsay on the day after it was closed (visitor backlog effect) and on the day the other is closed (disappointed visitors cross the Seine to the other one).

2. Sunday June 7. Most of the sights included in the PMP are free on this, the first Sunday of the month - don%26#39;t go to them, they are likely to be packed. Do get the 6-day pass. May be best to start it on Monday. There are lots of other things to do on Sunday - see below.

3. Transportation. You can get a Navigo Decouverte Pass for the week (Monday-Sunday) for 21.30 euro each. You will need a small photo (2.5 cm x 3 cm - note this is SMALLER than passport size) to put in it. This is about 3.6 euro per day (6 days), which is what 3 tickets (at the carnet/package price) will cost you. Even if you are young and healthy, your feet will get tired and it%26#39;s nice to be able to just hop on the bus for a couple of stops instead of walking. When you buy your tickets or passes, get a (free) Grand Plan de Paris. It is a pretty good street map of central Paris, has the metro lines on one side and the buses on the other (the same pass or ticket works on both).

4. Sunday - before I forget. There are organ recitals at St Sulpice (morning) and Notre Dame (afternoon). The Carnavalet Museum in the Marais Quarter is free every day. If you are tennis fans, park yourselves in front of the giant screen at the Hotel de Ville to watch the finals from Roland Garros. The Rue Mouffetard street market around noon is supposed to be special (live accordion music, singing and dancing), the Luxembourg Gardens are very nice then, with everyone out enjoying the day, same with the area around the Place des Vosges.

5. The most popular/famous cemetery is Pere Lachaise.

6. Plan to go to Versailles on Tuesday, so you will get to see the fountains in action. They are only turned on for a couple of hours a day, weekends and Tuesdays.

7. The Orangerie and the Louvre are at opposite ends of the Tuileries gardens. The Orangerie is small, but the Louvre is ENORMOUS. With the PMP you could start at the Orangerie, walk thru the gardens, then see some of the Louvre, and go back another time if you want to, to see more of it. The only good way to visit the Louvre is to decide in advance which collections most interest you, then find them on the floor plan. Otherwise you can spend hours wandering through and not see what you want. While you are there, also look around at the building interiors, not just the art work. This is a palace, after all!

8. The Conciergerie is near Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Dame. Sainte-Chapelle is a must-see on a sunny day. If it is cloudy, wait for a better time.

9. Arc de Triomphe is on the Champs Elysees. Go to the top near sunset for a nice view in daylight and dusk. BTW sunset will be between 9.45-9.55 while you are there. Don%26#39;t expect to spend much time on the Champs Elysees, not much to see/do, and the cafes etc are tres tres expensive.

10. The Orsay and the Rodin are near each other. The Rodin is smallish, probably 2-3 hours. The Orsay is larger. Start there on the top floor (where the impressionist painting are) and work your way down.

11. The Cluny Museum. It%26#39;s not on your list, but it is one of my favorites. And take a walk around the neighborhood too.

12. For a short visit, like yours, the DK %26quot;Top 10 Paris%26quot; is a great little guidebook, small enough to be portable, with lots of suggestions for day itineraries by neighborhood.

|||

Proceed by areas/meighborhoods.

Look at some guide books with images and identify what appeals to you.

One day, you visit Notre Dame, Ile Saint Louis, and Marais for example. Try to be practical and not waste too much time on transportation. Pick one area and walk it.

|||

I spent 10 days walking around Paris a few years back. The best advice I can offer is that Paris is about the overall impression, not the individual destinations.

Obviously, there are several %26quot;can%26#39;t miss%26quot; destinations, most of which are on your list. That said, were I you, I%26#39;d cut that list from 20 sites to 10, and budget the remaining time for just strolling and enjoying the uniquie ambiance of the city. Spend lots of time in St. Germain (6th District of the Left Bank, near the river). Walk over to Rue Mouffetard in the 5th District -- a colorful outdoor marketplace in the heart of Hemingway country.

Spend time in the sidewalk cafes, walk the riverfront, see the Left Bank shops, sit in the parks, browse through the food selection in the grocery stores. In short, spend half of your time being a %26quot;resident%26quot; rather than a tourist. You%26#39;ll be richly rewarded for your efforts. Enjoy!