Paris: Travel Tips — To Make Much of Time

Our first full day in Paris was a beautiful, sunny spring day.

UPDATED: 2/4/2023

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These tips from our week in Paris will hopefully help you know what to expect and how to plan for your best Paris experience! Included in this blog are tips for getting around the city, money tips, some basic French language guidance, apps you may want to download, safety awareness tips, and some clothing recommendations.

tips for getting around paris

Uber operates here (as of summer 2019). While unpopular with the local taxis (for the same reason as taxi drivers and unions in many cities do not like Uber), we found this to be a comfortable, reliable option that we used to meet a tour very early in the morning. We scheduled the Uber the night before so that we could rest easy.
Metro Pass - other than one trip on the commuter train out to Versailles, we did not use the metro and elected to walk everywhere else. If you want to use the metro, there is a pass you can get that is much more affordable. More information is available on their metro site here.
Get a basic understanding of the layout of Paris. The Seine flowing down the middle is a very helpful guide to help you get around. While the city is very walkable, it is still a lot of walking. Plan your days to bundle your visits to sites near each other to be efficient.
A GPS program (like Google Maps) can be an invaluable tool when navigating the streets of Paris. Just remember that most phone plans will require you to turn on international roaming ahead of your trip abroad.

Brilliantly colored flowers beckon from many Parisian storefronts.

money tips for paris

Like much of Europe, French ATMs require a pin number for credit cards. We had purposefully left our debit cards at home since there is a greater risk if a debit is stolen/lost rather than a credit card, where there are more protections and less direct access to your cash. We found ourselves with no usable card to get money out at the airport. We even went to the exchange counter and had no luck. We called our credit card, and they could not issue a pin immediately or directly. Luckily, our traveling companions had their debit cards. We did not have this same issue using our credit cards at restaurants, stores, or elsewhere. Moral of the story: do thorough research on money options before you travel! In the future, we’ll take our debit card even though we really don’t like that option.
Save money, avoid plastic, and stay hydrated by traveling with your own refillable water bottle. Camelbak makes great water bottles or larger hydration packs to fulfill all your drinking needs.
Get a Paris Museum Pass. (Do the math to make sure it will pay off for you, too, of course).
- You can purchase the pass once you are in Paris. Or, if you prefer to have it in advance, you can order it online and have it mailed to you at home. That’s what we chose to do, and it made life easier. You can view the pass and purchase it online here through the official Paris tourism site.
- The pass offers 2, 4, or 6 day options. We elected for a 6 day given our plans. Note that the clock starts the first day you use it and runs consecutive days. So, plan accordingly. If you are in the city three days, it would be a mistake to use the pass the first day, skip using it the second, because it would expire before the third day.
- There were two main reasons we loved having this pass. First, it allowed us to skip lines to purchase tickets at many museums and venues and so was a time-saver. Secondly, we didn’t have to weigh whether we thought visiting a site for a short time was worth the entrance fee since we could just go, check a place out, and then leave when we were ready.
- Our savings? For the 6 day museum pass, we spent 74 € (per person). When added up the entrance fees for the spots we visited that were included in the museum pass, they would have cost 126 € (per person), so we saved 52 € (about $58 USD using the current exchange rate, again per person).

french language tips

If you are interested in working on learning a little French before your visit, check out our blog that’s coming soon that outlines how we approached this.
Make an effort. Many Americans have long complained that the French are rude. That is because so many Americans automatically assume the French will speak English without so much as a ‘bonjour’. In our experience, we made those basic attempts, were immediately identified as Americans, and whomever we were interacting with switched to English happily.

clothing tips for paris

If you want to attempt to blend in, leave your T-shirts and jeans at home.

Cobblestone streets are beautiful and picturesque but really hard on your feet! Any shoes with cushioning will help, and be wary of wearing heels.
If you can swing it from a packing perspective, bring multiple pairs of shoes. I found each pair rubbed differently so I avoided worse blisters by rotating shoes. I was the only one on our trip who did that and fared far better. Even so, we had to stop at a store for some band-aids, so you might way to pack some.
Seasonality and weather will impact what else you pack. For long days out touring in the spring or fall, layers are good to allow you to shift your attire depending on the weather without having to go back to where you are staying to change. Definitely bring a rain coat and/or umbrella. I bought a hooded, trench coat style raincoat before this trip that I loved and wore almost everywhere.

apps to download for paris

The Louvre app - available here - includes maps of the museum’s interior and will also send you push notifications with special news such as closings. We personally found the paper map more user friendly, but this option may be better for others, and the notifications are useful.
Paris Aeroport app - available here - has airport maps and information. We used it to locate ATMs in Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The Fork app - available here - was recommended to us by the owner of the homeaway.com apartment we rented. Like OpenTable, you can use it to make reservations. Since we weren’t there in peak season, we didn’t bother making any reservations ourselves.
Duck the Line app - available here - allowed us to hold a spot in line to go up in the Notre-Dame tower without physically standing in the line. This was very easy to use, convenient, and a huge time saver.

Raise your glass with Bacchus at Versailles!

travel safely in paris

Protests are much more common in Paris than in the United States. This is a cultural difference in general. Keep an eye on local news for any areas to avoid or any impacts (public transportation closed) that may hinder your plans.
As in any city, be cautious of your belongings. We locked our passports and extra credit cards in a safe where we were staying so that they were not on us in the city. It is best to avoid carrying a backpack or purse, which are susceptible to pickpockets or other thefts.
Beware of scams. There are several known scams that can occur in larger cities and often target tourists. One well known one in Paris is a woman who pretends to find a ring and then tries to get tourists to pay her for it. Another is a person will approach asking for you to sign their petition as a way to get close to you for pick-pocketing. Another scam that happened to our traveling companions was a much more planned effort where it appeared a bird pooped on a person. A couple ran over with baby wipes and very nicely cleaned everyone up, and I mean physically cleaned everything instead of just handing over the wipes. Later, it was discovered that a couple of credit cards had been taken out of a wallet and then the wallet was replaced in the pocket so it wouldn’t have been immediately noticeable. Apparently this is a known scam that often occurs near L’Orangerie. The bird ‘poop’ is a concoction made by the couple that includes spices and other strong smelling food items that they throw on the unsuspecting person. In retrospect, it is easy to realize that no bird should poop that much, and bird poop, while unpleasant, doesn’t smell.

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