Practical Logistics for Your Paris VisitReader Questions Answered

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, several 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 neighborhood combinations, hotel suggestions for several popular areas, and practical tips for making the move from one hotel to another easier. 

I've lightly edited, expanded, and updated my original answers, and added photos to make this a more complete Paris travel resource. 

 

https://chatgpt.com/c/6a3fefad-9d74-83ea-9cdc-0166e2bba601

What Is the Best Airline to Take to Paris?

I am visiting Paris for the first time, and want to know the highest rated airline for food and comfort. I will be traveling to Paris from the US.

Susan's Answer: 

That's a tough question to answer because it really depends on what your available choices are at your departure point from the U.S.

Plus, comparing comfort can be tough because an airline may fly more than one type of aircraft to Paris, depending on the time of year, size of plane needed, etc., and some give a more comfortable ride than others.

In general, non-stop flights feel easier and less stressful than flights with connections or aircraft changes because you don't have to scramble to change from one plane to another (and hope that your luggage makes it too) plus non-stop flights are always shorter.

So here's where I'd start: if you can fly out of an airport with airlines offering non-stop service to Paris, consider and compare those airlines, which depending on your departure city may include major carriers such as United, Delta, American, British Airways, and Air France.

If you're in the NYC area, La Compagnie offers first-class only service out of Newark with full-flat seats for about the same cost as business class (also with full-flat seats) on Air France and Delta.

Then, ask around locally and see if anyone you know has flown any of the possible non-stop choices to Paris, and if so, how was their experience.

My experience, though, has been that seat comfort varies from one flight to another because airlines tend to have more than one type of aircraft, often of different vintages.  It's difficult to know for sure what type of plane you'll be on prior to boarding because last-minute changes can and do happen.

Also, airline food for international flights is generally much better than on domestic flights, regardless of the airline.

From Boston, my city in the U.S., only Delta and Air France offer non-stop service to Paris, and they partner with each other so there aren't big differences. I've flown on both - seat comfort was fine on both. I prefer the food on Air France (except for the bread, which is surprisingly terrible compared with actual French bread), plus I like French wine. On the other hand, AF has more stringent rules regarding carryon size, which is a pain. But honestly, I'd rate both airlines about the same - I've always had overall fine experiences on both of them.

I suspect I'm not being much help with providing an actual answer to your question - but hopefully you can use this information to assess your options from your departure city and choose the one that seems best.

I wish you good luck in making your decision. I'm sure whatever you choose will be fine, because once you land, you'll be in Paris!

Paris Post Office: How to Mail Purchases to the U.S. or Other Countries?

I am traveling to Paris for the Christmas Markets and wondering how to use La Poste to send my beautiful finds back to the USA. I need to know how to do everything from purchasing boxes to completing paperwork, etc.

Susan's Answer: 

Paris's post offices have become quite automated, with everything being self-service. My one recent PO experience involved accompanying my daughter to buy a stamp and mail a postcard to a friend in another European country. That sounds simple, right?

Well, there were lots of machines but no service counter.  The machines didn't seem to have instructions on them about how to use them - I guess you just had to know the purpose of each one, which I'm sure all Parisians do because they are familiar with them.  As non-Parisians, we could not figure out how much postage was needed and which machine would produce a stamp, much less where to actually mail the postcard.  

Finally we did find someone from a back office who was very gracious about helping us after we explained (in French) what we were trying to do, but she seemed surprised that we couldn't do figure it out on our own. 

If you will need boxes, packing materials, labels, and help with paperwork, that may be beyond the help that's available in post offices. 

An easier option you might want to consider is bringing your Christmas Market purchases back with you on your flight back home, even if you have to buy a cheap suitcase here in Paris to hold them all and pay a fee for having an extra bag. Or you could even bring an empty suitcase with you.

That is what I would do vs trying to figure out the post office - not to mention acquiring packing materials, etc.   Plus you are probably more likely to avoid the need to pay customs duty as long as you're under the duty-free limit, whereas mailing them might create that risk if the paperwork is somehow not 100% correct.

How to Translate French into English during a Paris Visit?

Cathy's Question: 

How do we translate French to English in restaurants?

Susan's Answer:

Montmartre gets a lot of English-speaking visitors, so most menus will have an English translation.

For other things that you might need to translate, I recommend installing Google Translate on your phone. I have an iPhone so I get it (free) from the Apple Store, but if you have an Android, the process is probably the same.

My Best Tip Related to Translating Menus in Restaurants:  If there are certain foods that you either dislike, won't eat, are allergic to, or for any other reason try to avoid, it's a good idea to memorize the words for them in French in order to avoid mishaps. 

For example, I do not like organ meats/offal (abats, in French), so after an incident when I accidentally ordered lambs' brains in cognac, I now know the words related to brains (tête, fromage de tête, cervelle), kidneys (rognon), tongue (langue), stomach (tripe, tripoux, tablier de sapeur), gizzard (gésier), sweetbreads, ie, thymus (ris), and heart (coeur), all of which appear rather often in French cuisine. 

Also black sausage (boudin noir, made from blood), salade périgourdine and salade landaise, both made with chicken (or other poultry) livers and gizzards, l'andouille and l'andouillette (stomach sausage). 

I'm not a purist - I'll happily order and enjoy a charcuterie board, as long as I don't know exactly which sausages are on it.  And foie gras, of course, is also fine.  I should also point out that if you see langue du chat on the menu, that's a very tasty type of cookie.

Do We Need to Make Paris Hotel & Museum Reservations in Advance for a December Visit?

Sharon's Question: 

My boyfriend & I will be traveling to Paris during the first week of December. I've read that this isn't a very busy time tourist-wise. Do we still need to be concerned with buying tickets to museums and other sites as soon as possible and making hotel reservations months in advance?

Susan's Answer:

You are correct that early December is one of the less-busy times for visitors.

I often visit Paris during that period because I love the Christmas markets. I find that if I want to stay in a particular area or in a specific hotel (usually a "yes" to both), 4-6 weeks in advance may be not quite enough time to get the reservations I want - 2 months is best for optimum flexibility.

Where availability gets tricky is somewhere just before the middle of December - because by that point, people start pouring into the city for the holidays. So it's much better to make hotel reservations a bit before you need to rather than find out you're too late to get what you want.

On the other hand, if you're not targetting a specific hotel or neighborhood, you'll have a lot more flexibility - although do keep in mind that "just before mid-December" time frame, especially if you want to find the best rates.

As for museum tickets, you definitely have more breathing room.

The tickets that I find the hardest to get are Galerie Dior (if that's on your to-do list, book as soon as you know your dates just to be safe), the Fondation Louis Vuitton (modern/contemporary art shows - they tend to to blockbuster-type exhibitions), and Musée d'Orsay.

Eiffel Tower tickets should also be booked early.   The Louvre will have more availability than during the peak summer months - but you do need to book online and reserve your entrance date/time in advance, because right now, they're not selling tickets onsite - it's not clear yet if this is a permanent change, or just for peak-season months.

You can check the museum exhibition schedule on Paris Discovery Guide for the museums you're interested in - if you see the word "blockbuster," book earlier than you think is reasonable.

Is Paris Safe for Solo Female Travelers?

Jo's Question: 

Is Paris safe for women traveling alone? I am told NO... I was in the South of France and Italy in October/November last year and I was told that Paris is a danger zone for women traveling alone without a man. What do you think?

Susan's Answer:

Hmm… Well, I don't know why someone told you this. 

Maybe they've never been to Paris and speak from ignorance?  Maybe they suffer from fear or anxiety and see the world as a scary place?  Maybe they feel jealous of you and the possibility that you might come to Paris and enjoy yourself?  Maybe they get an adrenaline rush from scaring other people? 

But whatever - that's their problem.  Don't let it become yours!

Speaking as a woman who has been coming to Paris as a solo traveler since I was 20 years old, I consider it a very safe city for a woman or a man traveling solo.  That's actually one of the things I've enjoyed about it.  I've traveled a lot, to a lot of different parts of the world including some that weren't totally safe, regardless of gender, so I speak from that perspective. 

Sure, I exercise common-sense caution: I dress to blend in with local trends (meaning, I wear a lot of black in Paris), I emulate local customs (such as speaking quietly in public spaces), and for sure I don't flaunt things like designer labels and expensive jewelry (easy to avoid, as I don't have any).  But these good public safety practices anywhere, including my own city in the U.S. 

Lots of people travel alone to Paris - it's totally normal, totally expected.  And of course plenty of Parisians live alone, so, for example, seeing people dining solo in restaurants and cafes is part of the everyday experience.

So since you ask me what I think about what you were told, it's this: ignore it.  Do what you want to do.  If you want to come to Paris, come!   Enjoy yourself and your experiences in this beautiful city. 

And above all, don't let anybody try to make you feel afraid - or try to kill your joy.

What Kind of Gift Cards Can You Use in Paris?

David's question:

We are going to be in Paris in May and June. Both of our birthdays are in May and my daughter and son-in-law want to give us a present that we can use in Paris. They were thinking some sort of gift card that we can use in restaurants, etc… do you have any ideas what they can get and how they would do that?

Susan's answer:

What a lovely, thoughtful idea.

Although I haven't done this myself, I believe the easiest approach would be for your daughter and SIL to get a Visa or Mastercard prepaid debit card for the amount of the gift. (Avoid American Express - many places in Paris won't accept it because of the higher fees that Am Ex charges them.)

Assuming you're in the U.S. or Canada, the card would be issued in U.S. or Canadian dollars. Then, when you use the card in Paris, the currency conversion to Euros happens automatically - very similar to what happens if you use your regular U.S. or Canadian ATM card to get cash from an ATM in Paris. (You can find out more details about that in this article.)

There are two small "catches" that I can identify, but they're fairly minor and they have easy solutions:

• You won't know what the exchange rate is (vs getting cash from a foreign ATM machine, where you are usually shown the exchange rate or at least how many dollars the number of Euros you're getting will cost you), so you may not know exactly how much is left on the card after transaction - Solution:  You can roughly estimate this, based on the probably exchange rate.  If your total is more than the amount on the card, you can pay the rest with cash or a credit card; if you end up spending less while you're in Paris, you can use the remaining amount on the card for dinner or something else after you return to the U.S.
• Your dauther and SIL won't know what foreign transaction fees will be charged by the bank that issued the Visa card - Solution:  They can (and should) find that out when they're getting the card, and if necessary, shop for a bank with lower fees.

Where Can Visitors Swim & Work Out in Paris?

Diane's Question:

My husband and I will be in Paris this year from June 1 through June 30. We are celebrating my birthday with a month in Paris!   I'm so excited.

Here is my question for you: We prioritize exercise. We are staying in the 3rd arrondissement and wondered if there are any work out/swimming places or hotels nearby that would allow us to use their workout areas for a fee?

Susan's Answer:

A month in Paris is indeed a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday!

Paris has a number of public swimming pools throughout the city that anyone can use for a small fee.

Here is the link to the City of Paris website page where you can find the information: https://www.paris.fr/lieux/piscines/tous-les-horaires

The second pool listed (Central Paris, which is arrondissements 1, 2, 3, and 4) is in the 4th, so that might be the closest one to where you're staying in the 3rd.

Paris also has a large number of gyms of various sorts (all-purpose, boxing, rock climbing, etc) throughout the city.  Gyms used to be more of a rarity here, but now they've become quite common.

Probably the best way to spot one is to just walk around the neighborhood where you're staying, and if you see one you like based on how it looks, go in, say "bonjour," and ask if the person you're talking to speaks English ("Parlez vous Français?" - "par-lay vu frahn-sez?").  If they do (or find someone who does), ask if a day pass is available, and if so, how much.

Since you don't mention a hotel, I'm guessing that perhaps you're staying in an apartment?  If so, ask your host about nearby gyms with guest options.

Another option is to bring basic light-weight strength-training equipment such as resistance bands and, since you'll be there for a month, buy a couple of hand-weights or whatever else might be helpful after you arrive.  The best source for weights is the enormous and wonderful French sporting goods emporium, Decathlon.  Their Paris location is at 23 Boulevard de la Madeleine in the 1st arrondissement, very close to the magnificent Eglise de Madeleine Church. 

As for cardio, you'll probably get plenty of that just walking around, especially if you seek out hilly locations such as the Montmartre neighborhood (especially around Sacre Coeur Basilica), Parc des Buttes Chaumont in the 19th, and Parc de Belleville in the 20th.  Even Pere Lachaise Cemetery in the 20th has a couple of reasonably steep hills, plus it's always an interesting place to explore. 

Otherwise, both Parc Monceau (8th arr) and Luxembourg Garden (6th arr) have decent running paths.  Even better trails are in Bois de Vincennes (12th arr) and Parc Clichy-Batignolles-Martin Luther King in the 17th.

In my experience, most hotel fitness rooms tend to be very minimalist - maybe an exercise bike, treadmill, elliptical, and a few weights at most. I don't know if any of them provide day passes to their fitness rooms, but my impression is that they're for guests only.

Update:  I should probably have mentioned that if you're getting exercise by walking/jogging around the city, do be cautious of cobblestones, which can be a tripping hazard at any time but especially when they get wet.  In case you do get a sprained ankle or other injury, here's an article about getting medical help in Paris.

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How to Choose Your Own Paris Neighborhood Combination

Are you interested in splitting your Paris stay between two or more neighborhoods in order to get a broader sense of the city, but wondering which ones to choose? 

One approach is to start with your interests, and combine neighborhoods where you'll a variety of experiences linked by a common theme.

For example:

• For museums:  Louvre/Les Halles + Marais + 7th arrondissement + Trocadéro (16th)
• For art galleries:  Upper Marais (3rd arr) + Saint-Germain + 7th arr
• For a village vibe:  Montmartre + Latin Quarter + Batignolles (17th arr) + Passy (16th)
• For a trendier/contemporary vibe:  Oberkampf (11th) + Canal Saint-Martin (10th)
• For a medieval vibe:  Latin Quarter + Marais
• For food markets/cafés/shopping:  Upper Marais + Sentier (2nd) + Saint-Germain + Ternes (8th)/Batignolles

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Practical Tips for Changing Hotels during a Paris Visit

My visits to Paris usually last anywhere between about a week and slightly more than a month, so that means that except for the very shortest trips of 7-8 days, I almost always split my trips between at least two neighborhoods. 

Here are some practical tips that I've learned that may help you:

Don't Change Hotels Too Often

Changing neighborhoods always takes me at least 3 hours, due to the process:  packing, checking out of my hotel, getting to the next hotel, checking in, and unpacking.  If I'm in Paris, you can be sure I'd rather be spending those 3+ hours enjoying the city vs the process that I just described. 

So for that reason alone, I try to spend at least 4 days, and ideally longer, between moves - especially since that's also the minimum amount of time, at least for me, to feel fully immersed and "at home" in a new neighborhood. 

My ideal time per neighborhood is 7-8 days, or even longer.

Be an Organized Packer

I swear by packing cubes to keep my things tidy and organized.  This shaves time off of packing and unpacking.  I use this packing cube set, which I've had for several years - they're cheap, and 6-piece set is sufficient for what I bring.  Needless to say - pack light!

Choose the Easiest Way to Get to Your Next Hotel 

Unless my next hotel is very close to the one I'm leaving (which has only happened once, when I moved from a Latin Quarter hotel to one on Ile Saint-Louis), I don't usually walk because the prevalence of cobblestone streets in some areas makes rolling a suitcase dicey. 

And I don't take the metro (although I'm on it daily for other destinations) because navigating the numerous stairs isn't easy with a bag (plus I always have an additional bag for my laptop). 

Ubers are the easiest, and usually arrive within a minute or two - so that's what I use.

Drop-Off Your Luggage Before Check-In

Since check out time for Paris hotels is typically 11am and check-in typically isn't until 3pm, I plan an activity such as lunch or perhaps a museum visit near the hotel I'll be checking into. 

When I leave my current hotel, I take my bags with me when I check out (vs having the hotel hold them for a few hours) and head immediately to the next hotel, where I ask the hotel to keep my bag until check-in time. 

Then, bag-free, I go enjoy the planned activity until check-in time, or even later. 

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See Questions & Answers on Similar Topics

Wondering about specific neighborhoods for your Paris visit?  You'll find those Q&A archives here:

• Where to Stay in the Marais (placeholder: add links later)
• Where to Stay in Saint-Germain (placeholder: add links later)

Paris Neighborhoods & Hotels - Where to stay in Paris + choosing the right hotel

Paris Discoveries Q&A Archive - See Q&As on all topics

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