Paris is the magical city of lights, love, art, and of course…food! and one week there is a perfect amount of time to explore the sights and sounds (as well as food and art) of this wonderful city. And, if you can handle the colder weather and not as many flowers and trees, the off-season is a great time to go without the crowds that the summer and fall can bring! Fun fact: We asked the workers at Versailles how many people visit now versus “tourist season” and he said 5,000 in winter and up to 20,000 in summer (per day)!
Check out our Youtube Channel for a video of the trip as well! www.youtube.com/channel/UCh9jQJTxzdO-bi07fyVJYfA
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Getting to Paris – 2 Days
Compared to some of the other destinations we travel to, Paris was relatively quick and easy! We flew from Denver International to Chicago and then onward to Paris, France! We arrived in Paris in the morning and had the whole rest of the day to explore.
Travel Hack – We used a “positioning” flight for this trip…what is that you ask? Well, it is the concept of finding a flight deal out of a different airport than your home airport! We booked this trip on points and the flight was a steal from Chicago to Paris to direct so we used a few extra points and flew Southwest from Denver to Chicago in our to “position” for our flight. The total points were MUCH LESS than if we had booked from Denver to Paris direct.
We stayed in the Bastille neighborhood of France at the Moxy Bastille and while it isn’t the “city center” (although keep in mind, Paris is HUGE), it was much more local and only one block from a metro stop which made getting around quite easy. The hotel was quite comfortable with queen size beds and reasonablly priced breakfast (especially if you are a Marriott elite member) and was under $200 USD per night which is hard to find in Paris. Plus, it was a block from the Metro which made getting to everywhere else in Paris a breeze.
The first day we just walked from our hotel to Notre Dame (which is still under construction until the end of 2024) and through some local cheese and charcuterie shops and ended up going into the Parisian Catacombs.
Metro Pass – We reccomend getting a day pass (depending on your itinerary, the best bang for the buck is the 6-day pass which includes all zones around Paris (including Versailles and Disney). The day passes will allow you to travel as many times as needed within the day and really saves time and money in getting around. Uber also works great if you need an alternate option! The Metro felt very safe, but it is crowded, so just keep an eye on your belongings.
GoCity Paris Pass – 4 Days
We purchased the GoCity Paris Pass (which included a free Paris Museum Pass) for 4 days of our trip. It was the BEST DECISION we made as we saved so much money and got access to not only all the attractions we wanted to see but also a lot of local eateries to taste food which covered a lot of our “lunches” while we were in Paris. Visit: https://gocity.tp.st/hSoYbxeq to get yours. How it works: Purchase it for the days you want and then it is up to you how many stops you fit into one day. There will be some places you need to make an advance reservation (we have indicated the ones below) for so make sure you do and let those guide your trip.
How we used ours:
Day 1 –
Eiffel Tower Tour (great overview to start the trip!) – need a reservation
Hop On – Hop Off Bus Tour – a nice way to get around town AND learn something new!
Croque Monsier/Madame and Champagne
St. Chapelle Cathedral – need a reservation
Cocktails in St. Germain at Cafe Louise
Siene River Cruise
Dinner at Au Bouquet Saint Paul – not on pass
Day 2 –
Parisian Breakfast at Cafe Louise
Louvre Museum – need a reservation
Wine Tour at Les Caves de Louvre – need a reservation
Cheese Tasting
Dinner at Au Bouquet Saint Paul (so good had to eat here twice!)
Day 3 –
Palace of Versailles – take the metro/RER to get out there, super easy to do! – need a reservation
Helpful Tip for Versailles – you will need an advance reservation for this (snag the first slot of the day at 9 am and show up about 30-45 minutes prior to be one of the first ones in. Check out our Youtube video for how to be ALONE in the Hall of Mirrors!)
Musee d’Orsay
Beer Tasting
Dinner at Ober Mamma – not on the pass
Day 4 –
Arc de Triomphe
Crepe Breakfast
Morning Macarons
Champagne Cocktail in Montmartre
Escargot and Onion Soup in Montmartre
Dali Museum
Moulin Rouge (not on pass)
Dinner at Ober Mamma (haha again, so good, had to eat here twice too!)
4-Day Pass Cost: $255 USD/Person
Without the Pass Cost: $417 USD/Person
Disneyland Paris – 1 Day
On our last day, we went to Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios Park! Get your ticket here to save some $$: https://getyourguide.tp.st/gzo1WTVa. We didn’t purchase any lightning passes and were able to get on about 20 rides in a day which really covers the majority of the two parks (they are smaller than Disney in the US). Again, going in off-season really plays to each park being less busy and most of the lines were less than 30 minutes (the one ride that sat at about 100 minutes the entire day randomly dropped the wait time to 20 minutes for single riders as we were standing out front so we took advantage! – if you are okay riding singles, it can allow more rides in the day!)
How to get there: We would reccomend taking the Red Line Train (RER A) and the Marne La Vallée stop takes you directly to the steps of Disneyland Paris! Really affordable way to get there.
That was the itinerary of a whirlwind trip to Paris, though more than enough time for staying in one City in our opinion. We felt you could take one less day to see everything as Versailles didn’t take a full day like we expected it to and the Louvre is really up to you on how much art you can take in (you could spend a day there, or a week!). We heard alot of comments on how expensive this City is but we felt we really did it on a budget by using the pass, doing our research on hotels, using the metro and eating at local restaurants versus big chains. (Is it Southeast Asia cheap? No. but we felt the prices were comparable to the US where we live and in some ways cheaper ($3 glasses of wine anyone?!). We hope this helps you plan your trip to Paris (especially in the off-season!).
MC Exploring 