Should You Split Your Visit between Different Neighborhoods?

If you're visiting Paris for a week or more, should you consider splitting your stay between two or more neighborhoods so that you can experience different parts of the city?

In the Sunday edition of my free Paris Discoveries Newsletter, I answer reader questions about Paris travel. Recently, readers have asked whether it makes sense to move from one Parisian neighborhood and hotel to another when time permits.

This article is part of the Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive and brings together my answers based on my own experiences with staying in multiple neighborhoods on longer trips.

You'll find advice about whether splitting your stay is worth doing, how to choose best-for-you neighborhood combinations, hotel suggestions for several popular areas, and.

I've lightly edited, expanded, and updated my original answers, included a few practical tips for making the move from one hotel to another easier, and added photos to make this a more complete Paris travel resource.

Can You Recommend a Paris Guide?

Moulin Rouge's famous windmill in Pigalle

Jane & Greg's Question:

We’re first time Paris visitors and need your guidance. Can you recommend a guide so that we don’t miss the main attractions ?

Susan's Suggestions

A good place to start is by taking a look at Paris Discovery Guide articles on top Paris attractions to get some ideas, and you may also want to check out food tours, which can be a fun way to explore a neighborhood.

But there's no need to see all the top attractions just to check them off a list - do what appeals to you!

I highly recommend joining tours such as those recommended in these articles for seeing attractions such as the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Versailles, and other top attractions for the first time simply because they will make sure you don't miss anything important and will give you in-depth insights that will help you make the most of your time.

I also suggest scheduling no more than a couple of major destinations or experiences each day as well as a possible evening activity or long dinner. This will be a reasonable pace that leaves time for visiting a nearby park, strolling along the Seine, or just sitting at a sidewalk terrace in front of a cafe and enjoying a drink and people-watching.

Recommended Private Tours of the Louvre?

Ellen's Question:

A friend is interested in your recommendation for a private tour guide of the Louvre. She will be there in November.

Susan's Reply:

A private tour provides the ultimate personalized experience of this wonderful repository of some of the world's most famous art.

Here are the two highly-rated private tours that I recommend (both can be customized based on your interests):

November is a wonderful time to be in Paris. I hope your friend has a memorable experience!

Recommended Paris Tour Companies

Paul's Question:

Hi Susan, My wife and I have rented an apartment in the Marais for 4 weeks from the end of September to the end of October. We love walking tours of neighborhoods. Many third parties offer such tours; are there particular companies - or better yet - specific guides - that you recommend? Thank you.

Susan's Reply: (7/19 NL - add links)

The two third party tour booking companies that I recommend (and use all the time myself) are Get Your Guide and Viator. They don't offer tours directly themselves (although Get Your Guide does partner with local companies to develop certain tours) but instead, they curate tours from companies that do based on quality, customer satisfaction, and other factors.

Most importantly, from my perspective as a customer, they provide secure booking platforms, the best available foreign currency exchange rates, and 24x7 customer support when you need it, which I have a few times. In most cases, they also permit cancellation up to 24 hours in advance, except for a few venues such as the Eiffel Tower, Palais Garnier, and a few others that don't allow it.

Both Viator and Get Your Guide offer numerous Paris neighborhood walking tours - the trend in many neighborhood tours right now is to do food (and often wine or other beverages) tasting along the way as part of the experience, which is a nice enhancement as you get to visit places you might not even notice on your own. Here's a selection, though, that focus on neighborhoods:

Historic Paris Walking Tour - Ile de la Cité, the little island where Notre Dome is located, and the 1st arrondissement neighborhoods

Old Town & Latin Quarter Guided Walking Tour - Saint-Germain and Latin Quarter Montmartre Highlights Walking Tour - A full exploration of the Montmartre neighborhood

Harlem in Paris: The Birth of Jazz in France - You'll retrace (and visit) several of Josephine Baker's performance venues in Pigalle

Paris 2-Hour WWII Walking Tour: Occupation History - You'll visit several Right Bank neighborhoods in the 1st and 9th arrondissements

Paris: Dark History & Ghostly Guided Walking Tour - You'll learn about the dark side of the city on this top-rated stroll through Ile de la Cité

I take GYG's and Viator's tours and cruises a lot because I list some of them on Paris Discovery Guide (plus I really enjoy them), so I'm constantly evaluating and re-evaluating. I do always check the tour ratings on their sites before booking, and avoid any tour with a lower rating than 4.0 (they usually drop those fairly quickly from their platforms, although Viator is slower than GYG to de-list them), and I've always had excellent guides.

The only types that I avoid are tip-only tours. These were big about a decade ago, then disappeared, but have recently made a come-back on Viator's website. The problem with them is that they're led by unlicensed amateur guides - some are fine, others are awful. You'd have a reliably better experience just wandering around on your own or enjoying a beverage and people-watching at a sidewalk cafe.

Wishing you and your wife a wonderful time in Paris - you'll be there at a great time of the year and in a fantastic neighborhood.

Which Hop On Hop Off Paris Tour Bus Has the Most Leg Room?

Tootbus, with Palais du Louvre in the background

Mark's Question:

I am visiting Paris in October 2027. We will be touring the city on our own for 2 days.

Which hop-on hop-off tour bus has more leg room, Big Bus or Tootbus? I am tall and need the extra leg room for comfort.

Susan's Suggestions

I've been on both, and they always seem about the same. Big Bus and Tootbus are Paris's two major tour bus lines and since they're competitors, I suspect each one doesn't let the other get ahead of them in any meaningful way.

Seats on Big Bus, shown here on Rue de l'Opera

Seats on both lines did both used to be fairly tightly spaced, but both have upgraded their fleets to electric or hybrid over the past 6-7 years, and seat distances are now better than they used to be.

The few times I've been on one recently (typically for Christmas light tours, which means that everyone has on bulky coats or jackets), I haven't noticed feeling particularly cramped - although I'm average height; since you're tall, your experience will probably be different.

I'm hoping the above photos, especially the 2nd one where you can see the position of the knees of the woman on the right (about 8 inches away from the back of the seat in front of her?), will be helpful.

If you still have concerns, you might consider Batobus, the hop on, hop off Seine River boat. Like the two land-tour buses, you can get off at any of the 9 stops, walk around, and get back on.

Because so many of Paris's famous sights are along the river, gliding by on the Batobus provides a fun way to see them, although the route is obviously different from the ones followed by the hop-on, hop-off buses.

Batobus is not only roomy, but there's also a section of seats running lengthwise down the center.

You can see them best in the last photo - they're folded up but when a seat is down and you're sitting on it, you can stretch your legs out into the aisle, which is what everyone does.