paris

OLDYELLAR

hey there , meself and the bf are thinking about going to paris in the summer , just wondering how much 4 or 5 nights in a hotel and the return flights would be ?
Also has anybody gone before and if they did is it far out to euro disney , mainly we want to do all the touristy stuff , disneyland and shopping , oh and were thinkin about going end of july?

rolion

Paris ...a city that gives you live 24 out of 24 !!!

Do all the home work from here:bookings and so on! Check Ryanair,they have some great deals !

All the plans for FUN in Paris...ask at your local Hotel Reception:they are verry happy to help you and also,you will find maps and plans there as well !

Disneyland...was a nightmare for us,the Adults ! The kids were enjoying ,but the problem is the waiting time for each place !We didn't use a car,just take the train,which leaves near enough to the Disney...

Last year we've been in the Asterix Park,north of Paris,a small Disneyland,been living in the Hotel in the park,3*,,2kids+2adults ,one night = €140! Very nice,clean,quiet ! Free shuttle till park !

Breakfast:take it on a "terace" ,on the street,in the front of your local caffe shop !
Lunch:everywhere...
Dinner:there are very good restaurants,but always i preffered the one with the open space,so you stays outside,under a nice summer sky !!!

Nightime...fantastique !! Around Eiffell Tower,on the Champs Elysees,La Defense ,boat trip on Sena !!!

Don't book a hotel that is outside of Paris City,as the Taxi drivers won't go out and the Public service Transportation is ending at around 1-2AM !The Metro is around you and you have access to a metro station at every 500 metres !!We book one around the Boulevard Peripherique,2+2,for 2 nights = €120 per night,3*


Have fun...

OLDYELLAR

cool , and how far exactly is it to disneyland ?
Is it hard to get transport to and from it like , or are the trains fairly regular ?
In or around how much is an adult return flight over ?
Ive been there once before , thought the boat on the seine in the night was great!Twas a school trip years ago though , so obviously didnt get to sample much o the night life

RuggieBear

i remember a paris thread on here from a couple of months ago. Have a search for it....

i'd advise going to the catacombs...one of my favourite attractions in Paris.

damien

RuggieBear wrote:

i'd advise going to the catacombs...one of my favourite attractions in Paris.

They were great. I went down alone. Eerie.

RuggieBear

damien.m wrote:

They were great. I went down alone. Eerie.

OT
Without sounding weird......seemingly Rome's catacombs put Paris's in the shade. One of the main reasons i want to go to rome in the near future!!!

I found paris to be quite a pricey town, shopping wise.....admitedly i did by a 350euro overcoat there and shops like the Galerie LaFayette put Brown Thomas to shame.

jm2k

cool , and how far exactly is it to disneyland ?

Going from the city centre, ~45mins, take the RER line A (red line train) in the direction of Marne La Vallee (thanks penexpers), drops you straight there.

Is it hard to get transport to and from it like , or are the trains fairly regular ?

Metro Metro Metro ...gets you everywhere you need to go, fast, efficient (and really really stuffy in the summer heat :eek: )
Get one of the free maps when you buy your tickets at the station.

In or around how much is an adult return flight over ?

Depends how far ahead you book, going midweek is far cheaper on Ryanair. Prices from €40-€120 pp

Ryanair bring you to Beauvais, so theres a 80min bus journey to get to Paris (tickets €13 pp each way, so factor that in when working out the total cost)
Bus drops you in Port Maillot, near the Champs Elysee and close to Palais de Congres metro stop (follow the crowd from the bus to find it)

Aerlingus fly direct to Charles de Gaul, take the RER B (~50 mins) into the city centre (~€10 pp)

Air France also fly Dublin-Paris to CDG but are very expensive generally.

Ive been there once before , thought the boat on the seine in the night was great!Twas a school trip years ago though , so obviously didnt get to sample much o the night life

Check out Montmartre where all the artists hang out and for fantastic views as well. Its a great city, enjoy.

penexpers

jm2k wrote:

Going from the city centre, ~45mins, take the RER line B (blue line train) in the direction of Charles de Gaul airport, drops you straight there.

Actually it's RER A (red line).

stuka

if you're looking for a hotel, the ryanair site will give you loads of names. check out Hotel Ibis either. there are loads of them around the city including around disneyland. they are 3 star and reasonably priced. July will be expensive however. don't go the weekend before or after the 14th July as its the national holday and prices will be sky high. if you want to make the city your base, check out the Ibis in Opera but avoid Pigalle.... red light district. The Marais is very lively and is a kind of upmarket Temple Bar. there are also a lot of gay bars there. for eating, go to the greek quarter.... loads of cheap restaurants serving very good food

jm2k

penexpers wrote:

Actually it's RER A (red line).

You're right, don't know why I said line B ...think i'm getting old!

cajun_tiger

i was in this really nice hotel very cheep 45 pp per night.

the pax hotel just off from the cadet metro stop on grand b.

i went to first choice got my holiday for 4 days at 550 flights and accomidation.

best of luck(also i went in july)

dearg_doom

RuggieBear wrote:

OT
Without sounding weird......seemingly Rome's catacombs put Paris's in the shade. One of the main reasons i want to go to rome in the near future!!!

I found paris to be quite a pricey town, shopping wise.....admitedly i did by a 350euro overcoat there and shops like the Galerie LaFayette put Brown Thomas to shame.

/even more OT

supposedly the catacombs in Paris go on for miles but access was limited to the public because of a Parisian tradition for "secret societies" (basically anyone from a load of drunken students to plotters who wanted to overthrow the king to the Free French in WW2) using them.

Interestinly this still goes on!! link

OLDYELLAR

were saving for a few things at the minute , so were on a budget of 450 each for flights and accomodation , spends should`nt be a problem , ye reckon we`ll get somewhere decent to stay with that ?

MojoMaker

jm2k wrote:

You're right, don't know why I said line B ...think i'm getting old!

Maybe cos it is B?

I live here now and take the B every day from Luxembourg Gardens to CDG.

penexpers

B goes to CDG.

A goes to Eurodisney.

Vodka_Junkie

OLDYELLAR wrote:

has anybody gone before and if they did is it far out to euro disney , mainly we want to do all the touristy stuff , disneyland and shopping

Surely ye remember yerself what twaz like over there. The best time to avoid the queues is to go while the parades on. I got onto spacemountain twice in about 15 minutes because of that.

Vodka_Junkie

Oh cool that was my first post too.

OLDYELLAR

I checked out the ryanair site , looks like the flights are around 110 return and the hotel 380 for a double room for 4 nights , nae too bad , the hotel is near the eiffel tower think its called capitol eiffel , anyone hear of that ?

Punchesnpeaches

Paris is an absolutely fantastic city. For Disney if you get there early enough you can use the fast pass system for queing, just go to the rides that have it and get your ticket stamped with a time to go back at. If you spend about half an hour getting fast pass tickets for all the most popular rides it'll save you hours, and i'm not exaggerating, later.

Be prepared for an expensive night out if you plan on hitting the tiles. Pints are cheap if found for €6 or less.

OLDYELLAR

woh 6e man thats dear!!

Zaph

Was in Paris last week and just about everywhere it was €6.50 a pint (hal litre actually - even worse) and €5.50 for a bottle of Heineken. However, you can eat very well quite cheaply as a lot of restaurants have set menus where you get 2 or 3 courses for €12-15.

OLDYELLAR

wow cool , 3 courses for 15e rocks !, Hey where did you stay , how much was it and would you recommendit ?

Zaph

I was there on business so I wasn't paying. I would recommend the hotel (Millenium Opera), but I think it would blow your budget to bits as it was €185 per night. Having said that, it was in a great location on Boulevard Haussman and it would be pretty similar in style to the Shelbourne. There's another hotel about 200 metres from it that our company has used occasionally called Hotel Francois. Haven't stayed there myself but it's supposed to be ok and a fair bit cheaper than where I stayed, but still in a great location. Haven't got a link for it but I'm sure you can find it in Google.

OLDYELLAR

the one i was lookin at was called capitol eiffel i think , its a few minutes from the eiffel tower , thatd be fairly central wouldnt it ?
i really cant wait to go , need a holiday so bad!

Punchesnpeaches

I would recommend getting a hotel in the St Michel area, Lots of restaurants, pubs etc, it's fairly central, beside Notrer Dame, close enough to Musee D'orsay, eiffel tower and chatelet. It's also on the RER B line so it's pretty direct from Charles de Gaulle

OLDYELLAR

cool , we were just in looking at paris pocket guides , some of the hotels looked fairly expensive compared to what was on the ryanair site .

Punchesnpeaches

You probably won't find cheaper or better then IBIS. Check out their site also check out the Best Western site, they're about €100 per room per night. Tbh in PAris you could find cheaper but be prepared that you won't then have an en suite or even a shower in your room. There are some Fawlty Towers like hotels around

deedee lepoopoo

I was in Paris last weekend. Magic City, But the Catacombs are shut until May and the Museum of fashion and costume is shut until April, boohoo!!!!!!

Stayed at a great hotel, metro outside the door and a 10 minute walk to the eiffel tower it's called Hotel Tourisme www.paris-hotel-tourism.com, cheesy name but good all the same.

I have another hotel where family members have stayed before www.batignolles.com. Bon Chance!

dearg_doom

zaph wrote:

Was in Paris last week and just about everywhere it was €6.50 a pint (hal litre actually - even worse) and €5.50 for a bottle of Heineken. However, you can eat very well quite cheaply as a lot of restaurants have set menus where you get 2 or 3 courses for €12-15.

you're going to Paris man, wine all the way, dirt cheap for stuff you'd never get over here!!


also, if you go to Irish pubs expect to pay those prices for beer, but if you go to some normal brasserie (they're ALL over the city) and ask for a pint of "blonde" you'll get a pint(of Kronenbourg/some other domestic beer) for about 3-4eurons, but obviously if you approach with all the charm of an American tourist (or are on the Champs Eleysses) you'll be charged 10 or whatever

OLDYELLAR

Cool thanx for those hotel names
Heh so long as its cheap and beer i`ll drink it , Wine would do too though im not fussy

Redleslie2

OLDYELLAR wrote:

woh 6e man thats dear!!

The Melocoton pub in Rue Descartes has a happy hour every day until 10pm, pints of Leffe, the greatest beer ever, are €4, €5 after 10, Stella is €3.80 or so. It's technically a Basque pub but it's a mostly French crowd. There are huge sandwiches to be got in places on Rue Mouffetard for €2.50. There's a couple more pubs like that in the latin quarter area.

OLDYELLAR

cool , isthere anywhere good and reasonable for clothes shopping , im female and 21 so anywhere funky is good , but not too dear.

Redleslie2

I don't know anything about ladies clothes, but perhaps the flea markets might be worth a visit.

Also, check out this cocktail bar http://www.lecrocodile.fr/ All drinks 8 euro iirc. Fun little place full of loony French people. The staff go round ssshhhing everyone from time to time to stop the neighbours complaining about noise.

Punchesnpeaches

Well there are Zara's everywhere also H&M, where you can pick up nice bits and pieces. If you wanna spend a bit of money go to VO in Galleries Lafayette, It's in the basement and is worth even a visit. It has Roxy, Diesel, Miss 60etc as well as loads of other more obscure but a tad pricey brands.

dearg_doom

Redleslie2 wrote:

The Melocoton pub in Rue Descartes

I can vouch for that pub too, nice place, full of 'interesting' people with 'interesting' ideas!

If you're still looking for shopping, don't bother with Les Halles, its basically the square in Paris!

Go to the 9th(?) have a look for Galeries Lafayette , stunning building!

There are a few smaller clothes shops in that area too.

Dizzyblabla

Check with Budget and places like that first... I went last year for I think it wad abou €230 for 4 nights (4th night free) and stayed in Amelie Land, Montmatre (just by the Sacre Coeur) - Best bet is to buy 10 subway tickets when you get there, the usual applies, once you're down underneath, you can stay down til you get to wherever you are going.

I would reccommend trying to walk places though, if it's a nice day you don't even notice how far you've walked! The Arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower are not too far from each other, then subway it back towards the Louve, where Notre Dame is just down the Road...

best place to go eat is Saint Michelle, lots of restraunts, good value too, all different types with 2-3 course meals starting from about €12. If you can, buy your water or any other drinks you want in a supermarket or something, the stalls around the place charge alot for them.

If you like books, there's a cute little bookshop just acroos the road from Notre Dame, called the Shakespeare Bookshop.

Shopping is reasonable enough, with a HUGE Gap store on the Champs Ellyse (ignore my spelling!)

The pints and stuff are expensive, the only place you'll get them cheap would be outside the city centre, but be prepared for Turkish toilets (don't ask!!) and very little English if you do venture out.

You simply have to go to Lafayette aswell, just to see it, amazing! It's like a huge mall in America, and the ceiling is beautiful (I noticed it when I was rolling my eyes at the prices!!)

Have a ball! it really is a great place.

Gone West

well i went out with my family last year, and for a week we stayed at eurodisney (yeah I know!) and every day(instead of doing eurodisney stuff) i just got the metro into Paris on th ered line. Takes about 20-30 mins. The stop at eurodisney is called marne na valee.

Some advice: bring sandwiches/filled baguettes instead of buying food in eurodisney as its mad dear.

Gone West

oh markets: ask at your hotel, they will tell you what day the big market is on, you will be able to get good quality stuff rel cheaply there. Like wallets and good souveniers etc.

also: if your going to the eiffel tower/notre dame, dont go at a weekend, because you will be queuing for 3-4 hours in summer sundays. (lots of americans)

Dizzyblabla

ooh, also, best bet is try to get to the Eiffel Tower by night too, even if you don't go up, the lights are brilliant!

OLDYELLAR

wow cool h&m , cool GAP too mad shops ive always wanted to go to , wouhou and there all on the champs elysee?yea i love clothes shopping so anywhere else good to go ?

OLDYELLAR

hey you know the bus from beauvais to paris , would i need to book that before i go or is it just like a bus here , just get your ticket there and then and away you go?