A trip abroad?

If you decide to visit another country across the border from France, excursion companies are not able to carry out the required formalities for obtaining visas for you. If you are from outside the European Union and needed a visa to visit France, you may also be obliged to obtain visas for other European destinations. Make sure you check first of all at the excursion agency or the relevant embassy or consulate before you book. If you come from a country belonging to the European Union, from the US, Canada, Australia or Japan, a valid identity card or passport is usually sufficient.

High or low season

Excursion companies generally offer a wider choice of tours and more frequent departures during high season (between 1 April and 31 October). Cruises on the Seine river also operate more regularly and offer an extended timetable during this period.

Freedom of an open-top bus?

There are several companies in Paris offering sightseeing tours on double-decker buses, some open-top some not, giving you complete freedom for your city tours. These buses tour around the principal museums and monuments, major department stores and stations. Tickets for 1 day or 2 consecutive days leave you free to get on and off the bus as you like. On board, the Paris sights are described to you by audio-guides in several languages. They operate every day, Sundays and holidays included. The first departure sets off from each stop around 10am, and the last leaves around 6.30pm or 8pm between April and October. Departures are approximately every 10 to 30 minutes and, depending on the company, circuits last 1 or 2 hours if you stay on the bus. Prices range from €22 to €28 for 1 or 2 days depending on the company, children between 4 and 11 or 12 years pay half price, sometimes even less, and places are free for children under 4 years old. Tickets can be purchased directly from the driver or in the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau welcome centres.

What is a river cruise with commentary like?

For cruises of around an hour on the Seine River, there is a guided commentary on the main sights and monuments, either by individual audio-guides in anything up to a dozen languages, or by a bilingual or trilingual hostess. Certain companies offer both headsets and hostesses, for a more detailed commentary. As regards cruises along the Canal Saint-Martin, commentary is provided by guides, in French and English.

Where do the cruises leave from?

For Seine cruises, choose from several departure points in the centre of Paris, according to the different companies: at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, at the Pont de l’Alma, Pont Neuf or near Notre-Dame. Depending which company you choose for cruises on the Canal Saint-Martin, boats leave from the Musée d’Orsay or the Bassin de l’Arsenal for La Villette, or vice versa.

What time are the cruises?

In general, from 1 April to 31 October, there are departures on average every half an hour for one-hour Seine cruises, between 10am and 10.30pm. At other times of the year, the regularity and hours are reduced, but there are still boats every hour from 10am to around 9pm. Cruises operate every day, including Sundays and holidays. NB: when the level of the Seine River rises, the service may be interrupted. To sail along the Canal Saint-Martin, from La Villette, the Bassin de l’Arsenal or Musée d’Orsay, companies offer you 1 or 2 departures in the morning and afternoon, in either direction. These cruises take around 2 and a half hours either way.

How much does a cruise cost?

An hour-long Seine cruise will cost you between €8 and €12 for an adult. Children under 12 can travel at half price. Certain companies allow under-3s or -4s to travel free. For cruises on the Canal Saint-Martin, lasting around 2 and a half hours, allow around €10 to €15 per adult. It is worth noting that some companies operate exclusively with groups of 20 persons minimum. Reduced rates may be available for children, students and seniors, depending on the company.

How do I book a cruise?

For cruises on the Seine, it is not usually necessary to book, except for large groups, as they run so frequently every day. However booking is necessary for cruises on the Canal Saint-Martin.

How does the Batobus system work?

Batobus is a river boat shuttle service which enables you to travel along the Seine, getting on and off at 8 stopping points: Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysées, Musée d'Orsay, Louvre, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Notre-Dame, Hôtel de Ville and Jardin des Plantes. The service operates from end March to beginning January: from 10am to 7pm in March, April and October; until 9pm in May, June, July, August and September and from 10.30am to 4.30pm in November, December and January. Boats depart approximately every 15 to 25 minutes.

See “Getting around”

Paris is a port?

Did you know that Paris is the second-busiest river port in Europe and the world’s leading port for tourist transport? Over five million passengers are frequently carried.

See “Arrivals/departures”

What time do parks and gardens close?

The opening times of the majority of Paris’s parks and gardens depend on the seasons and the varying length of the days. As a general rule, the gates open between 7am and 9am and close at 5pm in winter or as late as 9pm or more in the summer. There are some parks and gardens that are accessible 24 hours a day, if they are not enclosed and are sufficiently lit, like the gardens of the Champs-Elysées, Trocadero or the Parc de La Villette, for example. It is forbidden to sleep in parks and gardens. The Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes are also always open, but access to the forested areas may be prohibited at night. It is also worth knowing that in the case of very bad weather or storm warnings, parks and gardens may close in order to avoid any accidents due to falling branches or trees.

Do I have to keep off the grass?

In Parisian gardens, the grass is often inaccessible, to preserve the beauty of the lawns and the work of the gardeners. If so, you’ll have to content yourselves with the available benches or chairs instead to lounge in. It’s true that, when the good weather arrives, a picnic or a game of football on the grass can seem like a tempting idea: watch out for the signs telling you if you can walk on the grass or not. The bigger parks offer free access to their green pastures, including the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, the Buttes Chaumont, some sections of the Champ de Mars, the Parc André Citroën, or the parks at La Villette or Bercy.

Which tour to choose?

The excursion suppliers mentioned in the pages of our web site are all tourism trade professionals offering quality tours. Feel free to choose among them depending on the places you would like to visit.

Watch out for the dog mess!

As well as the fact that much has been done to clean up these small obstacles to our carefree wanderings, the city council is also attempting to heighten awareness and educate dog-owners, by installing plastic bag dispensers here and there with signs explaining the necessity for “scooping the poop”. Misbehaving owners risk fines of up to €450.

See “Daily life: Animals”

Keep the city clean

Over 20,000 waste containers are at your disposal, in the streets and in the metro. To ignore them means risking a fine, because it is prohibited to throw rubbish on the public highway. Make sure you don’t throw your chewing gum on the floor either - it holds no appeal for the soles of your shoes and ruins the paving stones. It may be that certain symbolic districts highly-frequented by tourists, such as the Champs-Elysées, don’t have any waste bins in sight for reasons of security and so need constant upkeep. In this case, please hold on to your rubbish until you come across the nearest dustbin. All over the city, an army of municipal employees with their modern machines are kept busy every day making Paris a cleaner, more pleasant place for you to visit. Even the Seine quaysides are scrubbed down once a week. Finally, don’t be surprised if you find all the city waste bins sealed or quite simply removed, it’ll be for security reasons.

See “Daily life: Keep the city clean”

How long do the excursions last?

The length of tours, by day or by night, by coach or by minibus, can vary from 2 hours, for a rapid overview of the capital, to a half-day or a full day, according to the type of excursion or the distance to be covered. In high season, from April to October, some companies even offer tours over several days departing from Paris, hotels included, to explore other regions of France.

Do I join the tour at the agency?

If you book a coach tour, it will usually leave from the agency of the company you booked with. You’ll be asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before departure. During the day, you will be brought back again to the agency, but as a rule after a night excursion, the coach will drop you off at or not far from your hotel.

Can I be collected at my hotel?

Many suppliers offer minibus excursions departing and returning to the hotel, or with a transfer from your hotel to the agency. For practical reasons, most companies make it a requirement that your accommodation is within Paris itself. At the time of booking, give full details of the place you are to be collected from: address, telephone number, even room number. Transfers from hotel to agency generally involve a price supplement.

A minibus excursion?

Minibus tours are often a “VIP” service which means that the prices are generally higher than for coach tours. A minibus can usually carry up to 8 passengers.

How much do excursions cost?

For a sightseeing tour of Paris by coach lasting 2 to 3 hrs, by day or by night, the average price falls between €20 and €25. You’ll need to add about €10 for a tour that includes a Seine boat cruise. For a full day with, for example, a guided tour of the Louvre, boat cruise, lunch at the Eiffel Tower and a visit of Notre-Dame you can expect to pay around €90. For a coach trip outside of Paris, the cost will vary depending on the distance to be covered, whether an official guide accompanies the tour, and any meals: from €40 to €60 for a trip to Versailles, including a guided tour, and from €120 to €160 for an excursion to Mont Saint-Michel or the Loire Châteaux, including meals and a guided tour. Finally, for a “Paris by Night” excursion with an illuminations tour, boat cruise, dinner and show-in a famous cabaret or dinner at the Eiffel Tower, allow between €90 and €160. If you opt for the top-of-the-range minibus tours, leaving directly from your hotel, prices may range from 20 to 100% higher depending on the excursion. The majority of excursion companies offer reductions of 50% for children from 4 to 11 yrs inclusive, on numerous tours by coach or minibus. Certain excursions in Paris can even be free for this age range. As for children under 4, they generally go free on all excursions, barring any possible meal costs. Details of each offer are given in our information pages.

Is lunch or dinner included?

Some excursions include a meal, either lunch or dinner or sometimes both. It all depends on the type of excursion, and how long it is. Full-day trips to other regions or further afield often include a meal or suggest it as an optional extra. If this is not the case, passengers are given some free time to make their own eating arrangements. Quite a few Paris excursions also incorporate lunch or dinner, according to their themes. Menus can be consulted in the agencies and are chosen in order to suit the majority of people. However, it is possible to order replacement dishes. Kosher or vegetarian options are available on certain tours, remember to make your request-at the time of booking.

How to book an excursion

Our web site gives you a selection of companies that you can book with directly online. You can make bookings in a variety of ways, either directly with the excursion organizers themselves, in their offices, by telephone, fax or internet, or through an intermediary: welcome centres of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau or your hotel reception… For excursions outside of Paris or abroad, or those involving guided tours, lunch, dinner, or shows, it is advisable to book several days beforehand. Lastly, if you have been given a voucher by the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau or your hotel, make sure you keep it safe: you will need to hand it in before departure, either at the agency before a coach trip, or to the minibus driver for an excursion leaving from your hotel. You can pay for your excursions directly at the agency; by credit card on the company’s web site (using links from our web site); at the welcome offices of the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau (payment in full in exchange for a voucher); at your hotel or apartment reception (payment in full or a deposit in exchange for a voucher).