Should You Split Your Visit between Different Neighborhoods?

Intro

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 ...

You'll find advice about ...

I've lightly edited, expanded, and updated my original answers ...

Top photo: Café de Flore in the Saint-Germain neighborhood, (c) Paris Discovery Guide

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Can We Do a Car Tour Starting at Our Hotel & Ending at the Eiffel Tower?

Moulin Rouge's famous windmill in Pigalle

Curtis's Question:

We plan to have lunch at the Eiffel Tower in April.

Rather than just taking a cab, could we do a car tour that would start at where we are staying at Rue d'Argout and winds up at the Eiffel Tower?

FYI, one of our most interesting days will be a canal trip from our son's area in the 19th winding up for an evening visit to Musee d'Orsay.

Susan's Answer:

Yes, that's an excellent idea.

You might consider this private vintage car tour that would pick you up where you're staying and drop you off at the Eiffel Tour while showing you a lot of attractions along the way, depending on which duration (1, 2, or 3 hours) you choose. You could customize what you want to see - or just let the driver choose.

My "Rule of Thumb" for Splitting a Paris Stay Between Neighborhoods & Hotels

Because changing neighborhoods always takes me a minimum of about 3 hours between packing, checking out of the hotel, getting to the new location, checking into the new hotel, and unpacking, I typically don't split my stay when my total time in Paris is 8 days or less because I'm unwilling to give up those 3 hours that I could spend enjoying the city.

On the other hand, there are also times when I book a trip close to the last minute, which makes finding hotel availability in the location I want for more than a few days in a row can be challenging. In those cases, I try to find reservations that give me at least three nights in one place.

Can You Recommend an Evening Tour of Paris by Car?

June's Question:

Your information has been so helpful for our trip in May. We decided we want to do one of those night car tours of Paris. Do you have a recommendation?

Susan's Suggestions

Sure! These night tours in a vintage 2CV (old-style Peugeot) are lots of fun, super-popular, and get rave reviews. You can choose between a 1- or 2-hour tour. They pick you up at your hotel (or another central Paris location if that works better for you) and then drive down Champs Elysees, pause for a bit in the Trocadero area so that you can see the Eiffel Tower's lights sparkle, and depending on the length of time available, take you to see other famous lighted attractions. Especially for the 1-hour tour, you should book as soon as possible because they fill up fast at this time of the year.

I have a couple - actually, three - other suggestions in case the car tour somehow doesn't work out: 1) a night tour on one of the big double-decker tour buses, 2) the Bustronome dinner tour bus (also double-decker size - you sit on the top level and the kitchen/food prep area is below), and 3) one of the night time Seine River cruises, with dinner or without dinner. All of these options make sure you'll be positioned at some point to watch the sparkling Eiffel Tower, and just like the 2CV tours, you get to see other top attractions too.

Paris is so beautiful at night! I'm sure you'll have a magical evening, whichever option you choose.

What Is the Best Paris Tour with Transportation to See Top Attractions & Neighborhoods?

Chrys's Question:

I am taking my adult grandchildren to Paris in June. What is the best Paris city tour with transportation for a good view of the neighborhoods and museum sites?

We want to see what we want to visit for the rest of our trip.

Susan's Answer:

I have two types of suggestions:

Sightseeing hop-on, hop off double-decker bus tours: Big Bus and Tootbus are the two options in Paris, and offer fairly similar itineraries of top attractions in central neighborhoods. They'll give you an excellent sense of these parts of Paris.

However, neither cover Montmartre or the Marais, although Big Bus does offer a day tour + night tour option that includes Montmartre (I'm guessing that the Montmartre part is not hop on hop off). I've been on both types for Christmas Lights tours (tons of fun!), and the buses themselves seem virtually identical - and both offer great sightlines.

If you do want to also see Montmartre and the Marais, you might consider a private tour in a vintage Peugeot known as 2CV (deux chaveau, which means "2 horses" in French - you pronounce it as dew sha vo (to rhyme with "go").

The most popular company that offers them has three tour options - a 1-hour tour of famous sights, a 2-hour tour that adds on Montmartre, and a 3-hour tour where you can see more of the city.

My understanding is that you can customize the 3-hour tour to include more areas (although you should confirm this if/when booking) which means that you could request inclusion of Montmartre, the Marais, and other areas.

The 2CVs seat 4 people, including the driver (so if you have more than 2 grandkids with you, no need to read farther), and Peugeot stopped making them in 1990. But the ones used for the tours have been restored and painted cute colors.

They're perfect for navigating small spaces, which means they can get around the narrow, car-unfriendly, lanes (you can hardly call them streets) in Montmartre and the Marais.

If, for example, your grandkids are in their 20s, 30s, or 40s, they might enjoy seeing trendy areas in East Paris such as Oberkampf, Bastille, Canal Saint-Martin, or Belleville which is where a lot of people in those age groups make their home.

What Is the Best Paris Tour with Transportation to See Top Attractions & Neighborhoods?

Shelley's Question:

My husband and another couple will be on a Tauck Normandy River cruise at the end of August. We will then stay four days in Paris at the end of the trip during the first week of September.

I booked an evening 2 hour Tuk Tuk ride tour for our first night. However, I just saw something advertised called Moke? Do you have any thoughts on whether I should keep the TuK TuK reservation or check into a Moke and if so, what company would you use?

Susan's Answer:

Moke tours are getting lots of publicity and advertising in Paris right now because the luxury Bon Marché department store is promoting a French-made electric Moke right now and they actually have one on display inside their store.

For anyone who's wondering, "Moke" (rhymes with "woke") is both a brand name and a type of vehicle used for golf carts, beach vehicles, and other recreational outings. They originally were, I believe, some type of lightweight military vehicle but were sort of downsized and called "mini-mokes" back in the 1960s - that's when they became popular for golf courses, etc. As far as I'm aware, all the ones used in Paris are electric and powered by batteries, which aligns with the city's push for green, non-polluting energy.

The Mokes (ie, golf carts) been available for probably at least 10 years to rent at Versailles for driving around the gardens (every time I visit there with one of my daughters, they manage to convince me to rent one - they're lots of fun). I see far fewer of them in Paris compared with Tuk-Tuks and 2CVs (the vintage Peugeots), but because they're getting lots of publicity right now, they'll probably become more popular.

If I were renting a Moke (and I probably will the next time I'm in Paris to check them out), this is the one that I'd book as it has top ratings, has been in business the longest (as far as I can tell), and has the best pricing - the same for 1-3 people vs other companies that charge about the same amount per person, so up to 3 times that amount if for 3 people. They'll pick you up at your hotel or any other central location (assuming it's in Paris), and you can either do one of their standard routes or ask them to customize based on your interests.

I think in terms of what you'll see and probably also the comfort of the ride, the Mokes are probably pretty similar to the Tuk-Tuks and 2CVs. A ride in any of them is ideal for a first night in Paris excursion - great way to see the city, although I'd probably go with a 2-hour or maybe even a 3-hour trip rather than just a 1-hour trip, because you'll have time to see a lot more.

No matter what kind of vehicle you're in, Paris traffic always moves slowly - but that also means that you have a better chance to get a good look at attractions as you drive by.

And I'm sure that whether you choose the Tuk Tuk or Moke (or switch to the 2CV), you'll have a memorable experience!