my biggest tips for visiting Paris
It’s Where to Wednesday and for this week’s BPS Location I’m highlighting a place that’s near and dear to my heart — Paris — the city of LOVE.
Paris was the first European city that Dylan and I both visited and man it didn’t disappoint. Between the picturesque sunsets, the iconic Eiffel Tower, the food, the wine, and everything else, Paris should be on everyone’s bucket list.
First things first, I’m not going to waste any time telling you where to eat in Paris because, in my opinion, it’s all really freaking good and it’s so much more fun to walk around and find a café than it is to be actively searching for this one spot that someone said you should eat at.
My biggest tips for visiting Paris:
Stay in an Airbnb, we stayed in an Airbnb and not only was it way cheaper ($54 a night) it was so much fun! Our host was super informative and showed us how to use the metro + we got to see a side of Paris that we would have never ventured to if we had stayed in a hotel in the city center. We would have never found our favorite breakfast spot that we ate at more than twice and we would have never found this HUGE hidden park. This is the Airbnb we stayed in and I can’t recommend it enough, when we go back I’m staying here again.
Museums are free on Sundays! The lines are long, though, so if you’d rather wait in a shorter line you might be better off paying to go.
Hire a photographer while you’re there to document some of your time and to show you the most photo-worthy places (for the gram)! We hired Ian Holmes Photography and I can’t recommend him enough. He was super fun and easy to communicate and work with, so much so that Dylan wanted me to fly him out to Minnesota and take photos for our wedding!
Use public transportation! It’s very easy to navigate and so much cheaper than any Uber or Taxi.
Take the metro to the Moulin Rouge area and do some shopping! Your Airbnb host will show you which line you can take there. We had so much fun exploring this area and found the best homemade bottle of wine over there for only 4 Euros! Even Dylan loved it.
If you don’t know what you want to eat the first time the waiter or waitress comes to your table, most likely they’ll never come back unless you flag them down. Their pay isn’t based on tips over there so their service is a bit different than it is in America.
Rent a car and take a drive to Omaha beach, if you’re brave. Dylan and I love history and love learning about WWII so this place was a bucket list location for us. You can see and explore some of the German bunkers, explore the town, and walk on the actual beach. There’s something about this place that really can’t be explained, you just have to visit it. Plus the drive there is so gorgeous. Driving around the French countryside is an amazing experience… but don’t listen to your GPS when you’re headed back to drop off the car… you might find yourself panicking as you realize you’re about to drive around the Arc de Triomphe at rush hour. It’s fine, everything’s fine.
Don’t waste time or money going up in the Eiffel Tower, unless you’re specifically wanting to eat or drink at the restaurant or bar. If you’re just sightseeing, the thing that you want to see is what you’re standing in. Go on top of the Arc de Triomphe instead (and do it at sunset) for a better view with the Eiffel Tower in it.
Visit in the winter! We went in December and it was amazing. The weather was still warm (40s-50s) and it wasn’t nearly as busy as we thought it would be. We were too early for any Christmas Markets but I’m sure those would have been amazing to see as well… maybe next time!
The Lovelock Bridge really is worth the hype. Even though they take your locks off and throw them away when it gets too heavy, it’s still fun to go and do this!
LOCAL READERS! Minneapolis is a Delta hub and cheap flights to Paris come up more often than you would think. If you’re thinking of going keep an eye on flights before you book.