I often visit Paris to see friends and family etc. Whenever I do so, I try to book all museum, travel and activities tickets in advance simply because I absolutely hate queueing.
In the last couple of years I've been using this online service called Allo-france, who sell everything from metro tickets to popular show tickets (lido de paris, moulin rouge, etc).
They're quite a small company which means they are very efficient at what they do and I have had excellent feedback from them.
I really recommend to anyone who is planning on going to Paris to at least buy their metro tickets in advance as they will struggle with the French metro ticket system when they get there. One of my favourites is also the Paris museum pass which gives you access to all museums across the city. Great for managing your time.
If you have problems with walking and mobility, avoid the big Metro interchanges as the distances between lignes can be vast - ie Chatelet, Republic etc. You can often change at a stop a bit further down. For wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs, the Metro remains almost completely inaccessible.
Paris taxi drivers seem to have a problem with carrying more than three people. We were surcharged for a family of three adults and one child with various excuses given, including an additional charge for luggage! Use the Metro whenever possible, and buy a carnet of 10 tickets for both adults and children (1/2 price).
If you are taking a short break to Paris and need to use the car to get to London (sadly we had to), Eurostar use NCP for the St Pancras station car park and this means a minimum £25.00 per day which can dampen the holiday spirit.
We used Lomax car park in Camden Town (15 minutes' walk) - very helpful staff, they will drive you to the station and pick you up on your return and, best of all, it's about £50 for four days.
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- Population:
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- Currency:
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- Time zone:
- GMT+1
- Dialling code:
- +33 (0) 1