Paris—the City of Light—has been a beacon of culture for centuries. As a world capital of art, fashion, food, literature, and ideas, it stands as a symbol of all the fine things human civilization can offer. Come prepared to celebrate this, rather than judge our cultural differences, and you’ll capture the romance and joie de vivre that this city exudes.
Paris offers sweeping boulevards, chatty crêpe stands, chic boutiques, and world-class art galleries. Sip decaf with deconstructionists at a sidewalk café, then step into an Impressionist painting in a tree-lined park. Climb Notre-Dame and rub shoulders with a gargoyle. Cruise the Seine, zip to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and saunter down Avenue des Champs-Elysées. Master the Louvre and Orsay museums. Save some after-dark energy for one of the world’s most romantic cities.
Rick Steves Paris 2018 is a personal tour guide in your pocket. Better yet, it’s actually three tour guides in your pocket: The co-authors of this book are Steve Smith and Gene Openshaw. Steve has been traveling to France as a guide, researcher, homeowner, and devout Francophile every year since 1985. Gene and I have been exploring the wonders of the Old World since our first “Europe through the gutter” trip together as high school buddies in the 1970s. An inquisitive historian and lover of European culture, Gene wrote most of this book’s self-guided museum tours and neighborhood walks. Together, Steve, Gene, and I keep this book current (though, for simplicity, from this point “we” will shed our respective egos and become “I”).
The book divides Paris into convenient neighborhoods (shown on “Paris Map Overview” on next page). In this book, you’ll find the following chapters:
Orientation to Paris has specifics on public transportation, helpful hints, local tour options, easy-to-read maps, and tourist information. The “Planning Your Time” section suggests a schedule for how to best use your limited time.
Sights in Paris describes the top attractions and includes their cost and hours.
The Self-Guided Walks cover six of Paris’ most intriguing neighborhoods: Historic Paris (including Notre-Dame and Sainte-Chapelle), Rue Cler (near the Eiffel Tower), the Left Bank, the Champs-Elysées, the Marais, and Montmartre.
The Self-Guided Tours lead you through Paris’ most fascinating museums and sights: the Louvre, Orsay, Orangerie, Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum, Army Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb, Marmottan, Cluny, Picasso Museum, Pompidou Center, and Père Lachaise Cemetery. The Bus #69 Sightseeing Tour gives you an inexpensive overview of the city.
Sleeping in Paris describes my favorite hotels in five appealing neighborhoods (plus hotels convenient to Paris’ two main airports), from good-value deals to cushy splurges.
Eating in Paris serves up a buffet of options, from inexpensive cafés to romantic bistros, arranged by neighborhood, plus a listing of historic cafés.
Paris with Children includes my top recommendations for keeping your kids (and you) happy, along with information for visiting Disneyland Paris.
Shopping in Paris gives you tips for shopping painlessly and enjoyably, without letting it overwhelm your vacation or ruin your budget. Read up on Paris’ great department stores, neighborhood boutiques, flea markets, outdoor food markets, and arcaded, Old World shopping streets. Try the suggested boutique strolls on Place de la Madeleine, in the Left Bank, and on Rue des Martyrs.
Entertainment in Paris is your guide to fun, including live music, driving tours, and the best night walks and river cruises. You’ll also find information on how to translate L’Officiel des Spectacles, the weekly entertainment guide.
Paris in Winter provides tips on how to enjoy the City of Light during the wonderfully untouristy holiday season.
Paris Connections lays the groundwork for your arrival and departure, covering transportation by train (including the Eurostar to London) and plane, with detailed information on Paris’ two major airports (Charles de Gaulle and Orly), a remote airport (Beauvais), and Paris’ seven train stations.
Day Trips include the great châteaux of Versailles (with a self-guided tour), Vaux-le-Vicomte, Fontainebleau, and Chantilly; Chartres’ majestic cathedral (with a self-guided tour and a town walk); and the Impressionist retreats of Claude Monet’s Giverny and Vincent van Gogh’s Auvers-sur-Oise. For those who like to linger, I list accommodations near most of these sights.
France: Past & Present gives you a quick overview of the country’s tumultuous history and contemporary challenges.
The Practicalities chapter near the end of this book is a traveler’s tool kit, with my best advice about money, sightseeing, sleeping, eating, staying connected, and transportation.
The appendix has the nuts-and-bolts: useful phone numbers and websites, a holiday and festival list, recommended books and films, a climate chart, a handy packing checklist, a guide to pronouncing Parisian landmarks, and French survival phrases.
Throughout this book, you’ll find money- and time-saving tips for sightseeing, transportation, and more. Some businesses—especially hotels and walking tour companies—offer special discounts to my readers, indicated in their listings.
Browse through this book and select your favorite sights. Then have a trip that’s truly formidable! Traveling like a temporary local, you’ll get the absolute most out of every mile, minute, and dollar. As you visit places I know and love, I’m happy that you’ll be meeting my favorite Parisians.
This section will help you get started planning your trip—with advice on trip costs, when to go, and what you should know before you take off.
Five components make up your trip costs: airfare to Europe, transportation in Europe, room and board, sightseeing and entertainment, and shopping and miscellany.
Airfare to Europe: A basic round-trip flight from the US to Paris can cost, on average, about $1,000-2,000 total, depending on where you fly from and when (cheaper in winter). If Paris is part of a longer European trip, consider saving time and money by flying into one city and out of another; for instance, into Paris and out of Rome. Overall, Kayak.com is the best place to start searching for flights on a combination of mainstream and budget carriers.
Transportation in Europe: For a typical one-week visit, allow about $70 for Métro tickets and a couple of day trips by train. To get between Paris and either major airport, figure $35-130 round-trip, depending on which option you choose.
Room and Board: You can manage comfortably in Paris on $195 a day per person for room and board. This allows $15 for breakfast, $20 for lunch with a drink, $50 for dinner with drinks, and $110 for lodging (based on two people splitting the cost of a $220 double room). If you’ve got more money, I’ve listed great ways to spend it. Students and tightwads can enjoy Paris for as little as $70 a day ($35 for a bed, $35 for meals and snacks).
Sightseeing and Entertainment: Get the Paris Museum Pass, which covers most sights in the city (for more information, see here). You’ll pay about $55 for a two-day pass. Without a Museum Pass, figure about $15 per major sight, $10 for others. Add $20-60 for bus tours and splurge experiences (such as walking tours and concerts in Sainte-Chapelle). An overall average of $40 a day works for most people. Don’t skimp here. After all, this category is the driving force behind your trip—you came to sightsee, enjoy, and experience Paris.
Shopping and Miscellany: Figure $4 per ice cream cone, coffee, or soft drink. Shopping can vary in cost from nearly nothing to a small fortune. Good budget travelers find that this category has little to do with assembling a trip full of lifelong memories.
Late spring and fall bring the best weather and the biggest crowds. May, June, September, and October are the toughest months for hotel-hunting—don’t expect many hotel deals. Summers are generally hot and dry; if you wilt in the heat, look for a room with air-conditioning. Rooms are easy to land in August (some hotels offer deals), and though many French businesses close in August, you’ll hardly notice.
Paris makes a great winter getaway (see the Paris in Winter chapter). Airfare costs less, cafés are cozy, and the city feels lively but not touristy. The only problem—weather—is solved by dressing warmly, with layers. Expect cold (even freezing lows) and rain (hats, gloves, scarves, umbrellas, and thick-soled shoes are essential). For specific temperatures, see the climate chart in the appendix.
You’ll have a smoother trip if you tackle a few things ahead of time. For more information on these topics, see the Practicalities chapter (and www.ricksteves.com, which has helpful travel tips and talks).
Make sure your passport is valid. If it’s due to expire within six months of your ticketed date of return, you need to renew it. Allow up to six weeks to renew or get a passport (www.travel.state.gov).
Arrange your transportation. Book your international flights. You won’t want a car in congested Paris, but if you’ll be touring the countryside beyond, figure out your main form of transportation: You can buy train tickets as you go, get a rail pass, rent a car, or book a cheap flight. (You can wing it in Europe, but it may cost more.) High-speed trains (TGVs) in France require a seat reservation; book as early as possible, as these trains fill fast, and some routes use TGV trains almost exclusively. This is especially true if you’re traveling with a rail pass.
Book rooms well in advance, especially if your trip falls during peak season or any major holidays or festivals.
Reserve or buy tickets ahead for major sights, saving you from long ticket-buying lines. To avoid long ticket-buying lines at the Eiffel Tower, book an entry time several months in advance using its online reservation system (see here). If you don’t plan to get a Paris Museum Pass, consider advance tickets for the Louvre Museum (see here) and Orsay Museum (see here).
Consider travel insurance. Compare the cost of the insurance to the cost of your potential loss. Check whether your existing insurance (health, homeowners, or renters) covers you and your possessions overseas.
Call your bank. Alert your bank that you’ll be using your debit and credit cards in Europe. Ask about transaction fees, and get the PIN number for your credit card. You don’t need to bring euros for your trip; you can withdraw euros from cash machines in Europe.
Use your smartphone smartly. Sign up for an international service plan to reduce your costs, or rely on Wi-Fi in Europe instead. Download any apps you’ll want on the road, such as maps, translation, transit schedules, and Rick Steves Audio Europe (see sidebar).
Pack light. You’ll walk with your luggage more than you think. Bring a single carry-on bag and a daypack. Use the packing checklist in the appendix as a guide.
If you have a positive attitude, equip yourself with good information (this book), and expect to travel smart, you will.
Read—and reread—this book. To have an “A” trip, be an “A” student. Note opening hours of sights, closed days, crowd-beating tips, and whether reservations are required or advisable. Check the latest at www.ricksteves.com/update.
Be your own tour guide. As you travel, get up-to-date info on sights, reserve tickets and tours, reconfirm hotels and travel arrangements, and check transit connections. Visit local tourist information offices (TIs). Upon arrival in a new town, lay the groundwork for a smooth departure; confirm the train, bus, or road you’ll take when you leave.
Outsmart thieves. Pickpockets abound in crowded places where tourists congregate. Treat commotions as smokescreens for theft. Keep your cash, credit cards, and passport secure in a money belt tucked under your clothes; carry only a day’s spending money in your front pocket. Don’t set valuable items down on counters or café tabletops, where they can be quickly stolen or easily forgotten.
Stick This Guidebook in Your Ear!
My free Rick Steves Audio Europe app makes it easy for you to download my audio tours of many of Europe’s top attractions and listen to them offline during your travels. In this book, these include my Historic Paris Walk and tours of the Louvre Museum, Orsay Museum, and Versailles Palace. (Tours to accompany my Rue Cler Walk and Père Lachaise Cemetery tour are slated to release in 2018.) Sights covered by audio tours are marked in this book with this symbol: 
. The app also offers insightful travel interviews from my public radio show with experts from France and around the globe. It’s all free! You can download the app via Apple’s App Store, Google Play, or Amazon’s Appstore. For more info, see www.ricksteves.com/audioeurope.
Minimize potential loss. Keep expensive gear to a minimum. Bring photocopies of important documents (passport and cards) to aid in replacement if they’re lost or stolen.
Guard your time and energy. Taking a taxi can be a good value if it saves you a long wait for a cheap bus or an exhausting walk across town. To avoid long lines, follow my crowd-beating tips, such as making advance reservations, or sightseeing early or late. You can wait in line at the Louvre, or—with a Paris Museum Pass and some planning ahead—zip through without breaking a sweat. Day-tripping to Versailles on Monday is bad, since it’s closed—but it’s not great on Tuesday either, when the Louvre is closed and tourist mobs storm the palace.
Be flexible. Even if you have a well-planned itinerary, expect changes, strikes, closures, sore feet, bad weather, and so on. Your Plan B could turn out to be even better.
Attempt the language. Many French—especially in the tourist trade and in cities—speak English, but if you learn some French, even just a few phrases, you’ll get more smiles and make more friends. Practice the survival phrases near the end of this book, and even better, bring a phrase book.
Connect with the culture. Interacting with locals carbonates your experience. Enjoy the friendliness of the French people. The French adore enthusiastic reactions to their landscapes, sights, food, and wine. Ask questions; most locals are happy to point you in their idea of the right direction. Cheer for your favorite bowler at a boules match, leave no chair unturned in your quest for the best café, find that perfect Eiffel Tower view, and make friends with a crêpe stand. When an opportunity pops up, make it a habit to say “yes.”
Paris...here you come!