So you’re ready to come to Paris. You book your flight, you know where you’re going to stay. But when it comes to Paris Travel Guide, there are still a few things that you need to know to make this dream vacation the best that it can be. So here is a Paris travel guide, we’re going to share with you the thirteen essential things that you need to know before you come to Paris.
Contents
- 1 1. Essential Paris Travel Guide Tip is Food And Dining
- 2 2. Book A Guided Tour To Avoid Long Lines
- 3 3. Transportation and Driving
- 4 4. What To Wear ?
- 5 5. Dress In Layers
- 6 6. Public Transportaion
- 7 7. French Words You Need To Know
- 8 8. Beware Of Scams
- 9 9.Grocery Shopping Tips
- 10 10.Mobile Phone Sim Card
- 11 11.In Case You Get Sick
- 12 12.Power Outlets Or Charging Sockets
- 13 13.Finding Washrooms In Paris
1. Essential Paris Travel Guide Tip is Food And Dining
There are thousands of places to eat in Paris, and there are some things you should know about them. Not all of them serve food all day. French people eat lunch between noon and 02:00 p.m. And dinner starts at seven. So if you’re looking for a sit-down meal outside of those hours, find a cafe or a Brasserie with service continue.
And in France, continuous service doesn’t mean 24/7. There are a couple of places like Teddy Cochon that do have continuous service 24/7. But continuous service usually means between noon and 11:00 p.m. It’s also good to know when the locals eat because the peak hours are really from 1230 to 130. So if you show up before that or after that, you can avoid crowds and long lines. And French menus already include tax and service. You don’t have to add anything to that.
Here are some of the products you might need while your Paris trip, do consider them buying before your trip for a hassle-free travel experience
- European Travel Plug Adapter
- Portable Charger for Mobile Phones
- Universal Travel Adapter
- Antoine’s Anti-Theft Hard Shell Backpack
- Colleen’s Tumi – Voyageur Just In Case Backpack
2. Book A Guided Tour To Avoid Long Lines
Here’s the next tip for Paris Travel Guide. If you want to avoid long lines at all the tourist attractions, it’s much better to buy your tickets online for the first available time slot in a day, because if you don’t, you’re going to wait like 60 90 minutes. In some places up to 3 hours to just get inside.
And if you have limited time in Paris, you don’t want to waste your time waiting in line to get into an attraction. The best thing is to buy your tickets way in advance and take our recommendation by the one available at the earliest time in the day. Now, another way to avoid the long lines is to buy a guided tour from a reputable vendor at an appointed time. So you’ll skip the line through a guided tour and then you’ll get in and out much faster that way.
3. Transportation and Driving
And the next tip for Paris Travel Guide is people often ask, should rent a car when they come to Paris. So our friendly suggestion is no, don’t rent a car in Paris. The driving rules are different here.
The roads are congested, it’s difficult and expensive to park, and honestly, you’ll get around faster on foot or bike, and the Metro system is safe and super-efficient. If you prefer to travel by car, taking a taxi or Uber is a great option. And make sure that if you take a taxi that it’s a real taxi and you can recognize that because they have the taxi sign on top of the car.
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Also, not all taxis in Paris take credit cards, so if that matters to you, just make sure you ask before you start the ride. And if you prefer to have a private driver, you can find multiple options in Viator. Book a private driver and they’ll be there waiting for you with a sign with your name. And when you arrive in Charles to go after being on a plane for 9 or 10 hours, it’s good to have someone waiting for you with a sign. So that could be a good option too.
4. What To Wear ?
The next important tip about Paris Travel Guide is I know Paris is the center of fashion, and you want to look your best when you’re here, but when you’re planning, you should pack. For both practical and pretty, think about these three things when you’re packing shoes, temperature, and transitions.
First and foremost, protect your feet. Fancy shoes are great, but you don’t see Parisian women wearing them running around town. Plan on wearing comfortable shoes. You’re going to do a lot of walking and not just walking uphill, walking lots of stairs and cobblestone streets.
And while cobblestone streets are charming, they can be hard to walk on, and they’re really hard on the body. Even wearing sneakers, my feet, legs, and back often hurt for days. If you find yourself on cobblestone streets, look for a flat area. Just trust me on this one. Next. Paris is about the same latitude as Toronto.
5. Dress In Layers
Dressing in layers is an important tip in the Paris Travel Guide at any time of year. You’ll often see Parisian women wearing a scarf or a light sweater, even in the summer, because you can get cool breezes and it even gets chilly when the sun is blocked. So pick something you can use for a little extra cover-up if you need it.
And lastly in Paris Travel Guide, when you’re out seeing the sights, you may get caught up in what you’re doing. And the day runs into the evening because in the summer months it might stay light until after 10:00 p.m. So think about picking something that can transition your daytime outfit to your night on the town.
6. Public Transportaion
The public transportation system in Paris Travel Guide is amazing and super easy to use. You have the Metro and the Rer and the buses that are going all over Paris, including the suburbs, and you can use the same ticket to jump from the Metro to the Rer without any additional fees.
The Metros and Rer are mostly on the ground and run just about every three to five minutes. Buses are a great way to get around and see the city along the way. Now you can use Google Maps to find the best routes and where to get your ride. Just ask for a Metro station near me or directions to the Eiffel Tower and tap the public transportation icon and you’ll get what you need.
7. French Words You Need To Know
The most important tip in Paris Travel Guide is speaking french will make your trip to Paris even nicer, but we can’t teach you everything you need to know quickly, but I can teach you a few words that will help you out while you’re here. The most important word you need to know is Bonjour. It’s more than just saying hello or a light greeting.
It’s a symbol of respect. And anytime in a store, when you’re talking to anyone, you will start that interaction with Bonjour. And then you can ask whatever it is you need to ask. So if you’re in a store, at the hotel, anywhere you go, start with Bonjour, which of course brings us to how do you say thank you? Mercy is thank you.
If you bump into someone, excuse Moi, SILVU play, please. Ochrevoir is goodbye. And then a couple of other little ones that I found important are sorti, which means exit, and formula de Janet, which is the menu when you go someplace and you buy a combination of a meal, a sweet, and a beverage.
And of course, there’s jetm, which means I love you. For anything else you need to communicate, we recommend Google Translate. You can either type or speak a word or phrase into your phone and it’ll either show you or speak it in French.
And the same is true if you want to understand what someone else is telling you in French, have them speak into Google Translate and you can see or hear whatever they want to tell you in English. Google Translate is your friend. And on that note, oh heavoire.
8. Beware Of Scams
You should keep in mind while following Paris Travel Guide that Paris is safe, but it’s a big tourist destination and like all tourist destinations, you’re going to have pickpockets and people that are trying to take advantage of distracted tours. Now, there are a few things that you should be aware of, specifically in Paris. The first one is the pickpockets, and you should expect to have pickpockets everywhere.
You have a lot of tourists. So La Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Saika Notre Dame, that’s where they’re usually going to be. The other thing that you want to pay attention to is your mobile phone. A mobile phone that is sitting on the table on a cafe terrace can easily be snatched by someone and by the time you realize they are long gone.
And finally, the thing that you will see in most tourist places is young ladies that are taking a survey for some cause that they are telling you that you need to sign and we need your name. And then they’re going to ask you for a few euros. One, two, €5 and all these are scams. None of these are legal surveys. They’re looking to take advantage of kind-hearted tourists that will sign and give a few euros but know that your money is actually not going to any of those causes.
They’re basically ending up in their pockets. Now one of the things that I want to emphasize is that Paris is very safe for the big cities. All you need to do is pay attention to your surroundings. Just be careful, just pay attention. Just make sure that your stuff and your belongings are closed in and you’ll be just fine.
9.Grocery Shopping Tips
Grocery Shopping Tips for Paris Travel Guide is if you’re renting an Airbnb or a VRBO, your trip to Paris is going to include grocery shopping. The good news is that there are many supermarkets, small grocers, and weekly or bi-weekly fresh markets all around. Buying fresh produce, bottled water or ready-made items is easy to do.
And some of the major grocery chains are Caraphor, Carifore Express, Monopoly, Friends, and the bio stores are organic stores, so anything bio is organic. And a few things you want to know is that stores do not offer free shopping bags, so if you don’t bring one, you can buy one for about a Euro or the taxes are already included in the price of everything.
One kg is a little more than £2. Milk and eggs are not in the dairy department, and if you’re looking for wine, cheese, booze, or anything, you can find them in the grocery store. But there are also Rogeries or cheese stores and a wine store or a Cavus if you want a higher quality of wine and all over Paris, you’ll find a store called Nikola which is all about wine. You’ll find them anywhere.
10.Mobile Phone Sim Card
The next tip for Paris Travel Guide has to do with your mobile phone data, depending on the carrier that you have in the US or wherever you’re coming from in the world. Your phone may or may not work when you arrive here in France, but if you want to stay connected on the go and your phone doesn’t work the way your carrier said it would, buying a French SIM card may make sense for you.
The best solution that we found is to go to an Orange store which is the equivalent of at and T or Verizon in the US and you go in there with your phone and as long as it’s unlocked, they’ll sell you a SIM card for €40 that will give you data, calls, and texts for your entire stay and it’s valid for two weeks. And that SIM card that Orange will sell. You will work not only in France but everywhere in Europe.
11.In Case You Get Sick
If you get sick or need medicine in Paris, follow this Paris Travel Guide carefully, the place to go is a pharmacy. Grocery stores and smaller markets may sell toothbrushes and shampoo and Qtips, but they do not sell things like aspirin and acid, allergy medicine, or any other kind of medicine.
In France, a pharmacist is a professional and they can offer remedies and that’s the place to go. Some may speak English, but be prepared to use Google Translate to communicate if need be. You’ll recognize the pharmacies by the large green crosses and they’re often blinking. And by the way, in the US this may look like a weed store. It is not a weed store in France. This is not Amsterdam. In France, marijuana is illegal and they take it seriously. So if you are thinking about that, just don’t, you’ll probably regret it.
12.Power Outlets Or Charging Sockets
The next tip for Paris Travel Guide has to do with the power outlets. They’re not the same as they are in the US or England, or probably South Africa or Australia. So you don’t want to get here and be surprised that you can charge your phone or laptop. And while it’s likely that the hotel may have a lender, you can’t count on that.
So before you travel, get yourself a power adapter that is going to work in France or in all the countries that you’re going to go to throughout Europe. Now the French one looks like this. If you didn’t bring one with you, you can buy one at a store like Snack, it’s the equivalent of Barnes and Nobles or Daughter. That is the equivalent of best buy. Now what you’ll find in some restaurants and in all the hotels is a USB power adapter so that makes your life easy but don’t count on that. Some hotels may not have the USB and you all need to have the adapter.
13.Finding Washrooms In Paris
You should remember this tip from Paris Travel Guide to avoid the embarrassing moments, when it comes to bathrooms the rule in Paris is to go before you leave your hotel or restaurant like seriously if you need to go if you might need to go because they’re not easy to come by when you’re out and about.
It’s not reasonable to expect stores and other places to have a bathroom and there are paid public toilets in the tourist areas but that doesn’t mean you’re going to have the right change or that you’re going to like the experience or that they are in working order. And if you find yourself in this situation don’t try to double up because the door will pop open if you try to sneak in a second person.
On the same coin, what Antoine and I usually do is stop in a cafe, order a cup of coffee at the counter, use the bathroom, and for a little bit more than you would have spent in one of those public toilets you go in a nice place and they get the business. You get a clean bathroom. It’s the best way to go but the best rule is if you see a restroom don’t pass it up, use it.