Paris Travel Tips

Hey guys,

So today’s post is going to feature some travel tips that I have come up with for traveling throughout Paris. I originally came up with some of these for my friends that are getting married next November and they plan on honeymooning in a few different countries in Europe. The bride and I also share a mutual love for The Eiffel Tower so I knew that I had to share all of this information with her!

1) Temperature

Throughout all 6 of my French classes (but only 3 different teachers), I was always told that Paris never gets hotter than the 70’s (Fahrenheit) in the summer. Well, now that I have been there, I can say that that is not true! I’m not sure what the actually temperature was when we were there but it was basically like being in Florida except it felt a lot hotter on some days.  So I recommend not bring too many long sleeve shirts (I brought a couple and a few sweaters). I was also told that French people are very modest and don’t wear short shorts or dresses. But we definitely noticed people wearing plenty of shorts, rompers, skirts, and dresses. So in my opinion, you can really wear whatever you want (okay not really)! I would still do research on what to wear and try to blend in just a little.

2) Sunscreen

Also, since we went during the summer and the sun was out constantly, we got sunburnt! For some odd reason, we didn’t think of the possibility of getting sunburnt. I guess because we didn’t think it was going to be that hot and you really only seem to get sunburnt when it is hot out (or at least that’s how it seems sometimes haha). So we didn’t bring any sunscreen and I pretty much got sunburnt every day that we were there. Most of the time it was mild and went away by the next morning but it was still annoying since skin cancer runs our family.

We thought about buying some sunscreen there but I didn’t really see the point especially considering they divide their stores in such as weird way. For example, if you want bread you go to the bakery (boulangerie), but if you want a dessert you go to the pastry shop (pâtisserie). They do have supermarkets like us but we never really found one because we didn’t really know what to look for. So I recommend bringing sunscreen if you burn easily and if you are planning on going during the summer. The other reason I mention this is because we did not seem to experience an issue with this when we went to Ireland or London. However, we traveled to Ireland in March and it was pretty cold out.

3) Clothing

One of my biggest recommendations is not to worry about what to wear. When we were searching online, we kept looking for like things that French people would wear so we wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb and get pickpocketed. We were very anxious about that since it was just my mom, my sister, and me and no men. But we actually ended up being fine. We did do research online before going about certain tricks that the pickpockets like to do and we definitely did see a couple times where people were trying to pickpocket other people and since we had read the tricks we knew to just like walk away from the area. I highly recommend reading this article and this article about pickpockets, if you are worried.

4) Shoes

I do recommend avoiding wearing tennis shoes like everyone says online though. I only noticed a couple times where native people were wearing tennis shoes (and it was because they were either exercising or walking to work) and then you would see tourists wearing them at the tourist spots but I definitely think it does help to not stick out.

5) Public Transportation

I also recommend using public transportation as much as possible because even when you are using it you are still going to be doing a lot of walking. It will help to save time and you will be able to get so much more done. It's an added expense but in my opinion it's worth it because you'll be able to see more and you won't be as tired. I honestly preferred the buses to the metro but both are extremely busy during work hours. I like the buses because you are above ground and you get to see more of the city. However, sometimes you may have to take a bus versus a metro because only one can take you to where you need to go.

6) Hop-on-hop-off Buses

I also really recommend buying at least one day of the hop on hop off buses! It was really nice to be able to go up to the top and just view the city as we drove by everything. Plus they take you to all of the popular attractions, which is nice! When we were in Paris we actually just stayed on the bus for one whole trip, which took like an hour, and it was great to be able to listen to the audio guide and learn things about the city! And also relax and take everything in! They also offered upgrading a second day for only a little bit more money so that’s what we did.

7) Don’t be afraid to ask for help

One thing we noticed is that the French people were really nice! Thanks to society, we were kind of expecting the opposite. I’m not sure why so many people think that French people are mean but we really only had an issue one time the whole 6 days that we were there. However, I don’t suggest asking a random person on the street for help but I definitely recommend asking someone at your hotel concierge or front desk for help before you leave your hotel. You can ask them the best way to get where you want to go and what they recommend doing or even where to eat. It's literally their job to know where everything (popular tourist attractions) is in the cities they work in. So if you ask them "What's the best/cheapest way to get to the Eiffel Tower?" they will tell you exactly what to do and they will probably also tell you the price. Our hotel was in a somewhat risqué area (near the Moulin Rouge) but the staff was amazing! Even if they don't know where something is, if you have the address they will still most likely be able to tell you how to get there. Also, you can ask someone working at one of the tourist attractions because they will most likely know how to get there.

Thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to leave a comment or share this with your friends!

XO, Steph