Paris done in a day
Can it be done, you ask. And the answer is definitely YES.
Firstly – don’t enter any of the big tourist traps. Paris is equal to long lines. All the big tourist attractions have long lines to them and if your not early enough you will end up spending a whopping 2 hours just waiting to get in to any of them. This is not well spent time.
Paris has so much to offer besides the main attraction. Should you avoid them? No. But you don’t have to enter them to experience them.
Take the Eiffel tower for instance. A towering 324 man made latticework structure – and France´s most Iconic one. This year it celebrates its 125th years since first constructed. The Eiffel tower dominates this part of the south seine. Many of the better photo ops are shot around this area. You can’t simply miss this view, and it is breathtaking. Around 7 million people visit this structure each year – no wonder there is a long line. Take time to enjoy the surrounding park instead. Great for just relaxing or maybe even a picnic. This way you get to enjoy the sight of this wonderful tower and it is less crowded.
Map out what you really want to see and pack good walking shoes. If you are traveling with a spouse or a good friend you both may have different expectations of what you want to see. Me and Mr. grumpy always map out our wants in advance of a trip. You wouldn’t want to spend time in Paris arguing about what to see and do – that is just a big wast of time and effort – and Paris is after all all about the love. You should also decide if you wanna go by metro or by taxi. Metro is by far cheaper but more crowded and stressful. When we visited Paris we tried both. Mr. Grumpy did not take to the metro and the system very much so we had to switch to Taxi. And you get to see more of the city while driving the streets.
The best of Paris can be reached within a couple of hours. Do the hop on hop off busses and you see almost all the important sites within hours. Don’t forget to take a walk along the seine. Especially on a sunny day. Buy some bread and cheese and have a picnic by the waterside.
If you really wanna do some shopping there are several areas to do this. You have the big and very long Champs-Élyseé with it´s designer boutiques. Big shopping centers such as Galleries Lafayette is located in Boulevard Hausmann. Want a more quiet shopping area try the Sorbonne Area
The busses do not take you up to the Montmatre area where the Sacre-Cæur is. This you have to do by your own. Take a taxi up to the church and walk down. You get an amazing city view from this hight. Enjoy a good lunch or dinner in the area. Worth exploring for a couple of hours.
Most importantly – don’t stress if you are not getting every little thing you want to get done. It takes time to fall in love with a city and you can always come back for more. ♥
