Paris for 8 nights

RoyalMarine

Hi all,

Planning a surprise trip to Paris for my gf. (No plans to get engaged).

Early 30's, not into clubbing or drinking etc. Just looking for a nice week away where we go lots of places.

Thinking early May, 2nd - 10th.

Flights look good price, as does accomodation.

Neither of us have been to Paris, and neither of us speak French.

Any one able to chime in and give a ball park figure on spending money?

Planning on seeing museums and usual tourist spots. We like sightseeing, and generally not sitting around doing nothing.

Shopping won't be huge, but we can set aside extra for that.

Is it worth booking transport in advance? Train, bus etc.

What are restaurants / cafe's like for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. Were not looking for 5* restaurants, were both casual but enjoy a nice meal.

Were not big into drinking. Maybe a glass or 2 of wine with dinner, and an occasional pint in the evening one or two days while away.

And finally, what would it take to get to Disney Land from Paris?
Might consider 6 nights in Paris and 2 by the park.

GAAman

I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago, spent three days there and spent at least €350. Did all the usual stuff museums and the tower are cheap enough it's the food and drink that gets you.

A pint costs around €7.50 half pint was a fiver (Though a lot of bars have "happy hours" that actually last four hours). Average meal was between €80-€100 for two in the lower kinda restaurants the nicer the place the more you pay.

The bus tours are fairly expensive (those hop on hop off open top ones) in comparison to Rome but they go to all the great spots you're gonna want to see. Think it was €40 for one day like €46 for two.

Enjoy, I'd go again tomorrow prob will in the summer

galvo_clare

No bother getting into Paris on a fast train from Charles de Gaulle. It's not an express train - there are a few stops but it'll bring you direct to St Michel, near Notre Dame.
This is St Germain and it's a lovely area to stay. Plenty of eating and hotel options for all budgets. Museums etc are walkable and to me, it's Paris.
Easy to get to Euro Disney. Go back to C de G and you get a shuttle bus from there.
If you like the idea of Euro Disney, check out Parc Astertix, a theme park based on the Asterix and Obelix comics. Much more character than ED. getting there is the same way - shuttle from C de G.

RoyalMarine wrote: »

Hi all,

Planning a surprise trip to Paris for my gf. (No plans to get engaged).

Early 30's, not into clubbing or drinking etc. Just looking for a nice week away where we go lots of places.

Thinking early May, 2nd - 10th.

Flights look good price, as does accomodation.

Neither of us have been to Paris, and neither of us speak French.

Any one able to chime in and give a ball park figure on spending money?

Planning on seeing museums and usual tourist spots. We like sightseeing, and generally not sitting around doing nothing.

Shopping won't be huge, but we can set aside extra for that.

Is it worth booking transport in advance? Train, bus etc.

What are restaurants / cafe's like for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. Were not looking for 5* restaurants, were both casual but enjoy a nice meal.

Were not big into drinking. Maybe a glass or 2 of wine with dinner, and an occasional pint in the evening one or two days while away.

And finally, what would it take to get to Disney Land from Paris?
Might consider 6 nights in Paris and 2 by the park.

RoyalMarine

Thanks guys.

Everything sounds great except

80-100 for a dinner for 2!!

zl1whqvjs75cdy

I'd recommend air bnb for Paris. You can whip up a couple of meals yourself in the apartment or whatever and save a bit on food. Plus buy pastries for breakfasts. Very french and also very cheap. Myself and the gf did that in june and it saved a packet on expensive meals.

Strumms

galvo_clare wrote: »

No bother getting into Paris on a fast train from Charles de Gaulle. It's not an express train - there are a few stops but it'll bring you direct to St Michel, near Notre Dame.
This is St Germain and it's a lovely area to stay. Plenty of eating and hotel options for all budgets. Museums etc are walkable and to me, it's Paris.
Easy to get to Euro Disney. Go back to C de G and you get a shuttle bus from there.
If you like the idea of Euro Disney, check out Parc Astertix, a theme park based on the Asterix and Obelix comics. Much more character than ED. getting there is the same way - shuttle from C de G.

*Whatever you do don't take any heed of this poster regarding Disney it's plain wrong ^

My advice is if you are either flying into CDG or Orly to take the RER B train into the city. Some are direct and some stop in the Banlieu's or the suburbs and takes a little while longer. By purchasing as Paris Visite ticket for 5 zones and for how many ever days you will spend there will cover all Metro, RER and bus travel as well as your return trip to the airport. It also gives you a discount on a wide range of attractions such as museums etc.

As regards getting to Disney... you can take the RER train (Line A) direct to Disney. The stop is actually called Marne-la-Vallee Chessy but is smack bang at Disney so not much walking. Check the departure board at the station as not every train stops there. Only 36 minutes on average from Chatelet and you get there direct so why anyone would want to head back to the airport to connect is anyone's guess. As for park tickets try buying in advance either online or in a store called FNAC when you get there but before the day of your visit as they will have sold their allocation. Buying at the park is seriously more expensive.

The weather should be lovely in May, Paris is a nice city just ramble around in when the sun is out and its warm.. even getting lost is no biggie as you will come across a Metro at some point.

For nightlife and restaurants... well the most expensive places are aimed at the tourists.. try and get off the beaten track and avoid areas like St Michel for food. The happening area now is around Bastille.. Rue De Lappe in particular but also anywhere by the Canal St Martin also where you get some reasonably prices restaurants and nice bars... Ohh and avoide the Irish bars at all costs unless you want to watch a match or something... Rip off central and the beer is usually filth.

Atlantic Dawn

8 nights there would be overkill, 3/4 in the city and then 2 in the park would make more sense.

fits

Food is expensive. No question. For eight nights id def get self catering.

Berberis

Love Paris have been there many times with my wife over the last 30 years.
Have never stayed more than 4 nights and usually spend most of the days walking around to the same sights. The walk from Notre Dame to the Louvre and then to Champs-Élysées is a great days sightseeing alone
You can also get discounted tickets for the boat tours along the Seine from using your Tesco club card points online.

Yep Beer and food can be expensive, But during the day we often stopped off into local mini supermarkets for snacks and then went to restaurants for nice meal in the evenings which can be as expensive as you want it to be depending on your preference and although I like a drink I was quite happy to not drink much while in Paris as I was mainly there to sightsee and enjoy that Parisian atmosphere.

We usually buy a book of ten metro tickets called a carnet which can be used any day while there think it costs around €14 which works out at €1.40 a metro trip

athtrasna

RoyalMarine wrote: »

Thanks guys.

Everything sounds great except

80-100 for a dinner for 2!!

No need to pay anything like that, half that including wine for great food in the Latin Quarter.

GAAman

athtrasna wrote: »

No need to pay anything like that, half that including wine for great food in the Latin Quarter.

Yeah I had known this but due to a bad weather day we were under pressure to get everything in so were usually too shattered to venture too far from where we were staying for dinner

CelticRambler

Prices are low because it's not a great week for visiting! May 5th (Ascension Thursday) is a bank holiday France, so most places will be closed. The 8th is too, but as its a Sunday it won't make much difference because everywhere'll be closed anyway. However, some places will shut on the Friday and possibly Saturday to make it a long weekend. The Louvre and other museums will be closed on Tuesday 3rd (because it's Tuesday).

Disney works American hours, though, so you can escape there if the city's too quiet.

tringle

I agree, fly into CDG airport. Air France looks dearer but it includes meals and drinks and flies to CGD 2 and you can walk into the train station, it also gives you a much bigger luggage allowance so look at this cost and the size of your bags before you travel. Aer Lingus flies to CCG 1 and you need to get a shuttle bus to the train station. Buy a five day train ticket at the station (about €45) and this will cover all your transport. It is then about 30 minutes to the city on the train, no need for taxis or shuttles.

You can then use this ticket to get to Disney, or Versailles. Staying near Disney is expensive, stay is the city and travel out. For shopping get the train to Marne Le Vallee (stop before Disney) a huge shopping centre and retail park. Eating out can be cheap, look at small places off the main streets. Or the chain Flunch opens at 11 an is good cafeteria food. For quick lunches on the go there are lots of sandwich bars, buy a roll and a juice and sit and eat in one of the many parks or open spaces and just people watch. Most places offer meal deals, a deal for a juice, a pastry, a coffee and a roll costs about €10...this actually did me for breakfast and lunch together, sitting in having the pastry and coffee together and taking the juice and roll for lunch.
Steak and chips and mussels and chips are the best value. Beer is dear, about €10 a pint but jugs of wine are cheap about €8 for a 500ml jug, about four glasses. There are also cheap Chinese chains. All the food is chopped in containers, you point to the meat, veg and sauce you want and they toss it in a wok for you and cook it. I say point cos I don't speak any French either. There is also another grill place (one near Georges Pomidou centre) where the food is massive, one order will do two. I ordered chicken and chips and got a tray (think large café tray) with half a chicken and a mountain of chips, we went back but would order one main course and a side salad.

If I had a week in Paris it would be (not in order of choice)

A day at Disney
A day at Versailles
A day at Marne Le Vallee
A day starting at Arc De Triomphe and wandering down the Champs Elysee to the palaces at the bottom
A day starting at the Eiffel Tower and then wandering towards Les Invalides and the museum but go up the Eiffel tower just as it gets dark (buy the tickets in the morning). This way you get to see the city I daylight and as it is all lit up at night.
A day starting at the George Pompidou centre, then the Picasso museum, onto Notre Dame the across to the left bank stopping in the churches
A day on a Seine cruise, get a hop on hop off ticket and stop on the way to see the Musee Dorsay

We haven't even included The Louvre yet. Go to Monmarte one afternoon, the view is amazing. Then go around to the square to see all the artists and then as it gets dark all the restaurants are set up and have something to eat.

We went to The Moulin Rouge, it is worth it. You can book a package with or without dinner, a choice of three menu prices. The tables without dinner are further back but it isn't a huge place so the view is good anyway.

Have a ball.

ironclaw

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

8 nights there would be overkill, 3/4 in the city and then 2 in the park would make more sense.

I was thinking, 8 nights is far too much in my opinion unless you really like taking your time and lounge around. If you are any way active or get bored of museums, you will be bored. If you really want 8 days, I'd say grab a TGV to Nice for half of it. Different vibe and you have Monte Carlo around the corner.

I was with a friend with work once (I've been to Paris before and spent timethere), and we had two hours to kill between arriving in Paris at Gare do Norde and our flight. I managed to show him everything between the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, even had time for a light lunch without being rushed.