Paris hotel/transportation??

[kaerofan]

My daughter(9 years) and I are doing a Med. cruise out of Rome but we really wanted to see Paris. Due to time and budget, we only have one full day to see some of the sights (I was thinking hop on/ off bus, eiffel tower, river cruise,etc.) To keep costs down I was going to use my Airmiles for a Best Western gift card. I've looked at Trip Advisor ratings and there are a couple that look to be good, however the one that is close to the airport costs much less than the ones in the city. I'm thinking this might be the better option anyways since we have a fairly early flight the next morning? If we were to do this I'm wondering about transportation to the city and back to the airport hotel? I was going to do the shuttle but does it only do pick up/drop off at the airport? Opinions? Thanks

[moyaroo]

Assuming your flight is early the airport may have appeal but remember when you leave your hotel for Paris from the Airport that it is gong to be 45 minute or so each way and once you are in Paris proper you will not want to go back to the hotel to freshen up (cost of 2 rt tickets on RER + the time.

 

A hotel in the city has the advantage of giving you a place to go to regroup mid afternoon and then venture out for dinner.

[-Lew-]

We returned from ten days in Paris yesterday and had a wonderful time. We booked the three-day L'Open Tour Hop-on-Hop-off bus which included their HoHo Seine River boats.

 

There are a number of HoHo companies, I would recommend L'Open Tour with the river cruise for you. Although they offer four tour routes you can ride at will, I would forget the blue route for such a short stay. No need to purchase tickets ahead as you can buy them from the driver.

 

Enjoy your visit to Paris and cruise...

 

Lew

[rsquare]

I agree with moyaroo. Plus, if you have dinner in Paris and take the RER back to the airport after dark, the train goes through some dicey areas; take the Air France bus.

 

You need to be careful staying at Charles De Gaulle. Some of the cheaper hotels at CDG have a shared, scheduled shuttle service to the terminals, so you will need to allow more time. There is a Hilton, a Sofitel and an Ibis right on the airport property such that you can walk to the free inter-terminal bus*, anything else and you are dependent on a van which may be stopping at several other hotels.

 

If you are constrained to stay at a Best Western, one of my favorite Paris hotels, the Victor Hugo on rue Copernic, is affiliated with Best Western. It is not too far from the Etoile where Air France runs an inexpensive and fairly frequent bus service to CDG from the end of rue Carnot. Ask for an upper floor room overlooking the reservoir, and you will have a stunning view of Paris.

[vacation fool]

I have a friend who did what you are going to do. They had a 6 hr layover in Paris and had to get back to CDG for their connecting flight. They used a tour guide that i used during my 3 days in Paris this past April.

She sent her driver to pick them up at the airport and then he whisked them away to pick up Karen (tour guide) and they did a whirlwind tour of Paris in about 4 hours including a picnic lunch at the eiffel tower. Then the driver took them back to the airport. My friend had a wonderful time and so did my husband and I on the 2 tours we took with Karen. She normally does walking tours but made an exception for my friend doing the driving tour. She has since done a few more of them.

Her website is www.sightseekersdelight.com You can read reviews from others on trip advisor. I believe she is listed as either #1 or #2 under tours of Paris on trip advisor. She has a bubbly personality and your daughter will love her! Good luck. :)

[KCcruisin07]

The last suggestion sounds nice, and it would probably make the most of your time. We did the three day Hoho tour along with the Bateau boat, so with that we saw pretty much of Paris along with a lot of walking and the metro. There were 4 different choices of tours.

 

If you have an early flight it probably makes sense to stay near the airport, although we had an early flight from Orly, and we just booked a shuttle through Viator.com.

[kaerofan]

Thanks everyone. I decided to book the Ibis, which is right at the airport. We get in to Paris around 8 a.m. and our flight leaves at approx. 8 a.m. the next morning so we have about 24 hours. This way we can drop off our bags, have a short rest if the room is ready, and take the Air France bus or the RER into the city and back.

[ollienbertsmum]

Thanks everyone. I decided to book the Ibis, which is right at the airport. We get in to Paris around 8 a.m. and our flight leaves at approx. 8 a.m. the next morning so we have about 24 hours. This way we can drop off our bags, have a short rest if the room is ready, and take the Air France bus or the RER into the city and back.

 

It would be unlikely that your room is ready so early in the morning. Check with the hotel that you can drop off your bags, but I do see the advantage of staying at the airport. You can have a long day in Paris, breakfast, lunch, tea and supper in 4 different restaurants to relax for a while during your trip.

 

I have been to Paris on 3 recent trips. I found the last two where we had a detailed guide book but relied on walking and the occasional metro the easiest.

 

Paris is very walkable, the metro didn't seem as easy as London because it does not seem to have the equivalent of the circle line joining e rethink together.

 

If you want to go up the Eiffel tower make sure you book your tickets ahead of time. You do not want to waste time sitting in a queue. It is worth gping to the top and taking in the views it helps you work out where you are. Binoculars are useful. Before you leave in the evening it would be nice to get yourself to a spot where you can see the tower on the hour when it starts to twinkle - your 9 year old should enjoy that.

 

sacre coeur and Montmartre are nice, walk up the from the metro, it really is not far and the sense of achievement is great when you get to the top.