Paris - what to do in 4 days?

I'm off to Paris at the end of July, for 4 days (3 nights) looking to do a bit of sightseeing.

Any particular recommendations?

Planning on:

Eiffel Tower
Louvre
Arc de Triomphe , Champs-Elysées, Notre Dame (landmarks etc)

That's all I have down so far.

I just want to experience French culture, have a good time. Meeting a French friend there to brush up on my language too, is there anywhere particularly nice we could go for dinner?

Also, are there any areas of Paris that should be avoided? I heard that some areas are particularly rough/undesirable and want to stay away from that sort of thing.

Edit: I'm also on the lookout for a hotel, nothing fancy and around the £30-40 per night area. Preferably central or within good location of transport etc. Currently looking at Hotel Etap, but not sure where I should be located :/

Spend a few hours at La Defense, a sunny morning maybe.

I also recommend going to Montmartre for a couple of hours.

avoid areas with many blacks and muslims and you be fine

visit Montmartre / Sacré Coeur

aim to spend an entrie day or even 2 at the louvre, its awsome

Visit Michel Cluizels choc shop

The Opera house is well worth a visit. With the Louvre make sure you know what you want to see, it's mind bogglingly massive. It's worth having a look at the outside of the Pompadou centre if you're going to be nearby. As well as all the stuff already mentioned.

Eat at an amazing French restaurant at grand bolevard called chartier.

The Catacombs.

please take note - the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays

that was the day I set aside to visit

Saint chapelle is good, and close to notre dame
The palace of versailles is pretty good too, albeit expensive.

lord filbuster said:

Saint chapelle is good, and close to notre dame
The palace of versailles is pretty good too, albeit expensive.

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Palace of Versailles ++++++

You don't need to go in (actually I never went in ) BUT The view of the grounds are un ****** believable though

I would say it's a must see ... Stroll, around the grounds with your bird and you've won

Doctor_Zhivago said:

avoid areas with many blacks and muslims and you be fine

visit Montmartre / Sacré Coeur

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wow your a very open and blatent rascist ey.

BiGT- said:

wow your a very open and blatent rascist ey.

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no he is not, he probably just doesnt want to be hassled to buy crap bracelets all day...

mangobreeder said:

aim to spend an entrie day or even 2 at the louvre, its awsome

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exactly.. i spent half a day in the louvre and didnt even touch the surface.


Dont try to overdo it 4 days isnt that long.

Definitely visit the Palace of Versailles - incredible place, there really is nothing like it in the UK.

The Catacombs sound cool although I've never been there myself.

The marais district of Paris is pretty cool too (it's the latin district of Paris).

Paris isn't that big a city so it's easy to wonder around aimlessly looking at the amazing architecture, the quaint little parks, the great little bistros for a coffee, grab yourself a baguette and some pastries for breakfast.

As for places to eat, there are so many that really you just need to follow your nose.

The "rich" areas are 5ème 6ème 7ème and 14ème and 15ème - but it's very expensive there, however there are not really any dodgy areas of Paris, Paris is a very safe city, one of the safest in Europe IIRC.

Some of the districts:

13 china town (ish)
12 people from all over, s.africa, UK, german, italian etc...
1, 2, 3, 4, center of town
16 bourgeois life
17 a mixture of people and cultures
10, 19 is probably the least favourable areas
11, 20, arty region and a bit camden town ish/soho

That's just off the top of my head - it's been about a year since I spent some long proper time in Paris.

Lets start on a downer, watch your belongings, watch your belongings, watch your belongings !!!!! Pickpockects are rife in the tourist hotspots, and anyone coming up to you, getting close, WILL be trying to distract you whilst sneeking off with your wallet. Had someone try this to us down near the Tower by pretending we dropped a coin.... In front of ourselves, then tried to get close. Not trying to scare you, but be aware and keep an eye on your pockets and if possible keep valuble belongings zipped away at least.

Ok, we were there for 4days and 3 nights in Feb, and it was a wonderful, yet expensive holiday. We spent about £600 in total, and were lucky to have the hotel (£200) and Eurostart (£100) paid for by my other halfs company. Expect to pay 5-10 Euros for x2 coffees

Things to do

- Eiffel Tower top deck(of course).
- Montmartre / Sacré Coeur (watch out for the foreign/black/algerian sellers in groups/pickpockets, just keep moving and don't let them stop you. Just walk around and keep saying NO, and don't let them put their crap on your/other halfs wrist).
- Notre Damme
- Consider the 2 day bus/boat pass from one of the companies. You can get most places on foot, but that will shatter you and prevent any sexy time in the evening, as you will fall asleep. About £40 each, but that's unlimited bus and boat for 2 days, a great way to see the city, plus you can get on and off anywhere along the route at many of the stops.

MUST LASH HERE: Anywhere in the Latin quarter, lovely area, bars, and everyone is having a great time. No violence like England !!!!
MUST EAT HERE: La Fregatte (overlooking the louvre, plus bookable through Toptable. Recommended by a friends father and he knows his food and wine) !!!![


Things to avoid
- Walking back late at night, get a taxi. But to be fair we were in the Montpanasse area, which didn't feel that safe although it probably was.
- The Louvre. Wouldn't go there unless you want utter boredom and a reason to completely waste many days. The outside does look lovely at night though and a 5min walk over the river from La Frgatte restaurant


Have fun !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it's no different to any other big city with tourists in terms of chancers really, so it's just basic common sense advise. Then again it's hard for me to view Paris as a tourist as I was brought up there, so listening to the fellow Brits for advise is probably more sensible.

Freefaller said:

Well it's no different to any other big city with tourists in terms of chancers really, so it's just basic common sense advise. Then again it's hard for me to view Paris as a tourist as I was brought up there, so listening to the fellow Brits for advise is probably more sensible.

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Plus the fact you have the figure of Optimus Prime probably might have something to do with that

My post made it sound pretty bad, but just wanted to point out the facts clearly, as there are plenty of people who would be caught out by this. A firm NO or saying 'De gage' (sounds like that), worked fine for us.

Love the place though, o soo romantic, and great to go out and eat/drink.

apeZ said:

I just want to experience French culture, have a good time. Meeting a French friend there to brush up on my language too, is there anywhere particularly nice we could go for dinner?

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All of the top Paris restaurants are very, very expensive (twice as expensive as a top place here), and the only exceptions are difficult to book unless it's weeks in advance, and even then, they're still bloomin expensive!

The good thing is that there are plenty of more reasonably priced places too, you're probably best off with some bistros like:
http://www.lespapillesparis.fr/EN_cote_table_ardoise.html

Via Michelin is pretty good for Paris

the "bib gourmand" category is good for reasonably priced, good quality food. As folk have already mentioned, there's so much choice out there you can't really go wrong, but i'd suggest michelin is a good place to start.

If you fancy trying some of the high-end dining places, you could try getting a table at l'astrance, which is about as good as it gets in Paris, but it won't be easy getting a table!