Visit Paris for the First Time: Plan Your Paris Tour Vacation

Prepare your visit to Paris while traveling some questions to ask yourself that will help you plan your first trip to Paris tour vacation:

• How long are you staying in Paris?
• Who are you traveling with?
• What kind of experiences do you enjoy?

Staying in Paris is always a good idea and there is never a bad time to visit the City of Light. The city has large parks and beautiful avenues, but it also has some of the superb museums and impressive monuments.

If you are rather flexible with dates, take into account the low and the high season, which have a different rate and the weather in Paris. If you are traveling on a tight budget, choose the cheapest flight days (usually Tuesday and Wednesday).

What is the best season to travel to Paris?

Spring in Paris is synonymous with lots of greenery, flowering trees and the city is famous for its cherry blossoms. However, the temperatures are still cool (minimum 4 ° C to 10 ° C), with frequent rains. If you choose this season, don't forget to put an umbrella and a jacket in your suitcase.

Summer in Paris means longer days, a pleasant temperature (maximum of 23 ° C to 25 ° C). During this season, there are many festivals and outdoor activities everywhere. Autumn is in our opinion the best season to visit Paris. The colors of the trees are magnificent, the temperatures are always pleasant and there are significantly fewer tourists.

Winter is not the best time to go to Paris in terms of time (minimum 2 ° C to 7 ° C and only 4 to 5 hours of light). However, some people like to visit Paris in winter for the Christmas atmosphere, in particular the Paris Christmas markets and the window decorations on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees. In addition, in February, Valentine's Day has something extra in Paris.

Tourist seasons in Paris

The high season in Paris is considered from April 1 to October 31. This means good weather and more hours of daylight, and many people will tell you that this is the best time to travel to Paris. But at the same time, it is not the best season to visit Paris in terms of budget (better reserved accommodation, higher prices). In addition, the city is overrun with tourists, while its inhabitants are them on vacation.

The low season in Paris runs from November 1 to March 31, with the exception of the Christmas holidays. It's the cheapest time to visit Paris and the best time to avoid the crowds. If you decide to travel out of season, you may find more affordable prices for accommodation, in particular.

Whether you visit Paris in high or low season, you can discover all the charm of the city under the sun or under the snow.

Best time to go to Paris: Our tips and tricks for Paris

Be flexible with your dates of stay. Flexibility is the key, especially if you are traveling on a budget. Air or train tickets to Paris will be more expensive:

• During the school holidays;
• During the holidays in France or in Europe;
• If you arrive on weekends;
• On days like New Year’s or Valentine's Day.

If you like museums, the best time to go to Paris will probably be the first weekend of the month. On the first Sunday of the month, many museums in Paris can be visited free of charge. Some of these museums have this offer all year round. Other museums are only free during the winter.

Book your flights to Paris

Paris has 3 airports: Paris Charles de Gaulle (North of Paris), Paris Orly (South of Paris) and Paris Beauvais, which is outside of Paris. If you are traveling from abroad, you will probably land at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Charles de Gaulle and Orly are more or less the same distance from Paris, so if you are traveling from Europe, you can choose the flight (or airline) you prefer. If we can give you advice, and of course you can choose your destination airport, prefer Charles de Gaulle to Orly.

Where to stay in Paris on vacation or visiting?

It's not always easy to know where to stay while you plan Paris vacation packages when you don't live there. It is therefore important to know how the city is structured. Paris is divided into 20 Arrondissements which are also administrative divisions.

To orient yourself in Paris, there is a little trick: the 1st arrondissement of Paris is in the center of Paris, then the other districts of Paris are located by forming a spiral which turns clockwise, to finish by the 20th in the East. Choosing where to stay during your first visit to Paris is a difficult decision, as each Parisian district has its character and charm.

The first visit to Paris: accommodation in Paris

You have therefore obtained your plane or train tickets for your trip to Paris and the countdown begins. You know more or less where you want to stay in Paris (the district of Paris) and now it's time to book your accommodation.

Hotels and inns in Paris

In a city like Paris, there are accommodations for all budgets.

While choosing your Paris holiday tour packages for those on a higher budget and looking for hotels with an extra twist, you have many fine hotels available in the city. Depending on your budget, you could even have a room with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

When it comes to booking your accommodation in Paris, the best site to find and compare the different accommodation options in Europe is booking.com. In fact, on this reservation site, you have everything at your disposal, from hostels to luxury hotels. You can carry out your research according to many criteria: budget, location, equipment, etc.

Furnished apartments in Paris

For a much more local experience, consider renting an apartment in Paris. It is certainly a much more local option than a hotel or hostel. For example, a furnished apartment in Paris will give you a little more space to relax and get comfortable, there is more privacy and freedom than in hotels or hostels and you can even cook some of your meals to save money. If you decide to rent an apartment in Paris, we recommend Booking.com, which also hires apartments for travellers with very good service.

Keep in mind that this type of apartment is in great demand in Paris. For this reason, the owners prefer bookings for longer stays rather than for a weekend.

In the end, hotels and apartments for travellers have their pros and cons. Your best option depends mainly on the type of experience you are looking for and the length of your stay.

Accommodation in Paris: Our tips and tricks for Paris

A first tip is to book in advance. Paris is one of the cities that attract the most visitors in the world, so if you book in advance, you will have more options and better prices.

Our second tip is to avoid the famous sites in Paris if you are traveling on a limited budget. Housing located in emblematic places in Paris like Montmartre or Ile de la Cité tends to be more expensive. And it's not just the hostel or the hotel itself, usually in these areas; restaurants, bars, and food are also more expensive.

Points of interest in Paris

What to do in Paris? If you are visiting Paris for the first time, you will probably want to visit the main points of interest in Paris. The main tourist attractions of Paris (by the number of visitors) are as follows:

• Louvre Museum 8.7M visitors
• Visitors to the Eiffel Tower 6.9 million visitors
• Visitors to the Musée d'Orsay 3.4 million visitors
• City of Science and Industry 1.9M visitors
• Grand Palace 1.77 M visitors
• Arc de Triomphe 1.76 M visitors
• National Museum of Natural History 1.67M visitors
• Army Museum (Les Invalides) 1.41 million visitors
• Quai Branly Museum 1.3M visitors
• Guided tour Montparnasse 1M visitors

If you are planning a trip to Paris and want to visit most of these famous places in Paris, you may find it convenient to buy a Paris Museum Pass.

The Paris Museum Pass offers visitors direct access to 55 of the most beautiful attractions and museums in Paris. If your time is limited and you want to visit as many Parisian tourist places as possible, the Paris Museum Pass is for you. To avoid the hassle, we recommend that you purchase this pass online.

If you want to visit only a few monuments or attractions in Paris, but hate the idea of wasting your time queuing, the best option for you is probably to buy separate tickets or tours of Paris. We recommend that you purchase the Skip the Line Tour Eiffel and Louvre Skip the Line Tickets online. In addition, the Paris Catacombs Tour Skip the Line is worth the investment.