I recently went to Paris for the first time. I went for five days and really enjoyed my time there. Here is my experience and my tips and tricks if you are thinking about going yourself.
Booking in advance
- Paris is a very popular tourist spot so even before going on your trip make sure you book what restaurants and attractions that you want to go to and see. E.g When I went to Disneyland, I booked my ticket a month in advance and I’m glad I did as when I attended the park there was signs saying the park is full and you cannot buy a ticket on the day.
- I also booked a boat tour along The Seine a month in advance as they are also very popular.
- I booked the restaurants I knew I wanted to go for dinner a month in advance.
- Museums are free if you are under 26 years of age (bring passport as proof of age), but you do need to book a time slot that you would like to go. I would advise to book this a day or two before you intend on going to the Museum. If you do not book this beforehand there is a chance, you’ll be in a long queue to get in while if you booked a slot you get to skip the queue/ you have your own queue which is much shorter and usually you get to walk straight in.
Disneyland tips
- The Disneyland Park is very big which involves a lot of walking, so I’d make sure you wear comfy shoes.
- The park has a parade every two hours or so in the front middle part of the park. There are dancers and some of the Disney characters on a float. This can be an annoyance at times if you are crossing from one part of the park to another as there is crowds of people that you cannot get through and must go the long way around.
- I’d highly recommend getting the Disneyland Paris app on your phone. I found this very helpful as it has a map of the park to help you navigate to the rides you’d like to go on and to the restaurants.
- The app also has a fast track to some of the rides, so you get to skip the queue. This is an additional cost in the app. Depending on the ride the price can range from €5-€12. I’d highly recommend this as you can be queuing for an hour for some rides.
- As mentioned before, it’s a big park with lots of walking and queuing so make sure you stay hydrated and wear sun cream if you are attending in the summer months.
Transportation
- The transport in Paris is very good with trains and metros every five minutes. I used the Citymapper app and Google Maps to help navigate around the city.
- If you are staying a week, I’d highly recommend getting a Navigo pass. This is like our leap cards. For this card you need a passport photo which you can get taken in a passport photo booth in any major train station. Then you bring the photo to a Navigo desk where they issue a card to you for just under to booth in any major train station. Then you bring the photo to a Navigo desk where they issue a card to you for just under €30. This is your card now that you can also bring back and top up in future trips to Paris.
Organisation
- Paris is a big city with lots to do so make sure you know what you want to do and see. I did some research online before going/ book anything. I used Google, Instagram and TikTok to look up what is worth seeing/doing in Paris.
- I then made a list with my friends on what we wanted to do/see and researched what else was around in the same area so we can utilise the time better.
- We then made a schedule of what we wanted to do on each day.
- Research what day the museum you want to go to is open as we made the mistake of going to the Musee D’Orsay on a Monday when it was closed.
- If you are booking dinner, they usually have it late over there around 8-9pm. The city is still busy with people till late and the metros still run until late.
- If you want to view the Eiffel Tower at night with the lights this happens every hour on the hour for five minutes.
Side note is to be careful of pick pockets and not to sign any forms from people on the streets. The only downside I experienced is rubbish around the metros and that they do not always smell the nicest.
Overall, I had a great experience over the five days and I look forward to visiting Paris again in the future.