Is the Paris Pass 2024 worth it? We review prices and value here
After a couple of slow years like every other city, Paris is booming again and 2024 looks like another busy year for the city and its major attractions. The Paris Pass made some changes and then changed back last year and now in 2024 it’s easier and more straightforward than it’s been in a while. And unlike many other major tourist cities, most attractions in Paris didn’t increase prices in 2023 so the Paris Pass is about the same price as last year as well.
The Paris Pass can be a great tool for many visitors. Not only does it allow free entry into most of the top tours and attractions that are most popular with first-time visitors, but it also helps you plan an efficient itinerary that will save you a lot since so many of the best attractions are close together. As we will discuss below, I highly recommend both the hop-on, hop-off bus tour (in the morning) and the 1-hour Seine cruise (around sunset) whether you buy a Paris Pass or not. Fortunately, they are both included.
Note: This article was last updated in March, 2024. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This helps to keep this site going.
The main Paris attraction passes
- Paris Pass – This includes a Paris Museum Pass (see below) and an All-Inclusive attraction pass, which includes entry to most of the famous attractions and tours that are not specifically museums.
- Paris Museum Pass – This includes only admission to nearly every major museum in Paris.
If you are NOT interested in things like the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour, the Eiffel Tower guided climb, the (highly recommended 1-hour Seine Cruise or the wine tasting experience, then the Paris Museum Pass alone will save you money.
Prices for the Paris attraction and transportation passes
Paris Pass 2024 prices
2-day passes
- 2-day Adult Paris Pass: (including a 2-day Museum Pass) €179
- 2-day Child Paris Pass (ages 4 to 11): €94
3-day passes
- 3-day Adult Paris Pass: (including a 2-day Museum Pass) €214
- 3-day Child Paris Pass: €109
4-day passes
- 4-day Adult Paris Pass (including a 4-day Museum Pass): €275
- 4-day Child Paris Pass: €130
6-day passes
- 6-day Adult Paris Pass: (including a 6-day Museum Pass) €300
- 6-day Child Paris Pass: €140
Exclusive discount for Price of Travel readers
- Get 5% off all Paris Passes
Use coupon code: GO5POT – Look for “promo code?” in Step 4 of checkout)
Prices of the most popular museums covered by the Paris Museum Pass, which is included with the Paris Pass
Palace of Versailles: €18
Built during the 1600s and 1700s, the Palace of Versailles is one of the largest and most famous palaces in the world. Always one of the most popular attractions in the Paris area, it’s outside of town and it takes 60 to 90 minutes to reach, depending on your starting point. Admission is included with a Paris Museum Pass and you’ll have to make a reservation as well.
Louvre Museum: €17
Obviously you can visit Paris and not visit the Louvre, so it’s good that it’s included in the Paris Pass. You now have to make reservations for your visit, but it’s an enormous place so that is usually simple. The building itself is a historic palace that would be worth a tour even if it didn’t contain the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, among thousands of other important pieces.
If you are an art fanatic, feel free to spend 4 or 6 hours in the Louvre or even visit twice. But honestly for most people, it gets overwhelming after an hour or maybe two. When I bring new people to Paris I walk them to the Mona Lisa and then to the Venus de Milo. By that time we’ve passed by thousands of paintings and sculptures and been there 45 minutes. After that we look around at anything else that has caught our eye, and then exit through the gift shop. A focused hour is more enjoyable for most people than wandering around for four hours unsure of what you are looking at. It’s also always pretty crowded.
Musée d’Orsay: €16
Located across the Seine from the Louvre in a gorgeous former train station, the Orsay Museum is actually more enjoyable for most people because it’s far more compact and yet also filled with super famous pieces. Here, along with smaller crowds, you’ll see one of Van Gogh’s Starry Nights, Whistler’s Mother by Whistler, and Bal du moulin de la Galette by Renoir. Honestly, you’ll probably recognize at least 10 or 12 famous paintings and you won’t wear out a pair of shoes in doing so.
Arc de Triomphe: €13
You already know what the Arc de Triomphe looks like, and it’s definitely worth going up to the observation deck on top because you’ll get many of your best Paris photos from there. Most people will climb the 234 stairs, but they also have an elevator for anyone who doesn’t look like climbing 234 stairs is possible (or a wise move). The HOHO buses stop here and it’s a good place to get off for a visit because many other people also get off so there will be empty seats on top when you want to get back on. That isn’t true of several other stops.
Sainte-Chapelle: €11.50
Conveniently located just a short walk from Notre Dame cathedral, the Sainte-Chapelle church will be another unexpected highlight of your Paris visit. This 800-year-old church has easily the world’s most impressive and beautiful stained glass windows in several different rooms. It’s breathtaking when you first see it, and one other great feature is that it’s small enough that you can easily enjoy it in less than an hour. The Paris Pass allows you to pack in many smaller and quicker attractions like this without worrying about going broke in the process.
What ISN'T included in the Paris passes
- Eiffel Tower Elevators – 2nd floor elevator: €18.10, 3rd floor elevator: €28.30
- Catacombs of Paris: €18.00
The Paris Pass DOES now include a guided walk up the 700 steps to the 2nd Floor including expert commentary, but obviously the climb isn’t ideal for everyone.
Extras included in ONLY the Paris Attractions Pass
Eiffel Tower guided climb to 2nd floor: €38
This is an exclusive deal for Paris Pass holders and it’s not for everybody, but it will be the highlight of your Paris trip for many. This is a climb of the 674 stairs up to the 2nd Floor (out of 3) with interesting live commentary and explanations in English. It takes 3 to 4 hours in total, so you won’t be racing up. If you are fit enough this will be amazing. And honestly, the 3rd floor isn’t much higher and it’s so high that all of your best photos will be from the 2nd Floor anyway.
Wine Tasting: €36.00 (includes free full-size bottle of wine for each person)
If you want to learn more about wine and try a few interesting French bottles then this is perfect. It’s a long block from the Louvre but an easy walk along the Seine, so it’s an ideal activity to schedule for after your Louvre visit. You get an English-language mini tour in a historic cellar explaining the key aspects of wine making, and then samples of three different wines near the end. They even send each visitor away with a full bottle of French wine to take with you, so it’s a hard one to pass up.
1-day Big Bus Paris hop-on, hop-off tour: €45.00
This is a full-day hop-on, hop-off pass on the double-decker bus that goes by and stops at almost every major tourist attraction in Paris in about a 3-hour loop. You can use it as transportation to get from one attraction to another, but I highly recommend starting early and doing the full loop once before hopping off. I’ve done at least 25 similar HOHO bus tours in major cities and the Paris one is easily my favorite. Paris is compact enough that the loop isn’t too long, and all of the main sights are clustered on either side of the Seine, so you don’t waste much time driving through random areas.
Whether you buy a Paris Pass or not, I highly recommend you take the HOHO bus tour on your first full morning in the city, and you will have seen all of the main sights and know how to get back to them later before noon.
Bateaux Parisiens River Cruise: €18.00
In my opinion, this is the other must-do tour in Paris, whether you buy a Paris Pass or not. These large boats with plenty of top-deck outdoor seating leave from near the Eiffel Tower on a frequent basis, but they are popular so it’s wise to get there a bit earlier than you want to depart. The trick is to select a departure right around sunset. Paris is stunning as it is lighting up for the evening, and you pass under 18 bridges that are each lit up in a unique way. By the time you get back to the Eiffel Tower an hour later, it will also be gorgeously lit up for amazing photos.
Parc Astérix: €59
This large theme park in the northeast suburbs of Paris is based on the Astérix comic book and characters, so it’s a great option and compromise if you are traveling with young ones. The place has many roller coasters and other thrill rides to go along with the character-themed attractions. There are buses that leave from central Paris that take you to the park for a fee. You can also take the RER train to Charles de Gaulle Airport and then a special shuttle from that train station to the park.
Montmartre & Sacré Coeur walking tour: €36
Leaving three times per day (10AM, 2PM, 5PM), this 90-minute walking tour is a highly recommended way to get to know perhaps Paris’ most interesting neighborhood. Especially gorgeous at night (so the 5PM tour could be perfect), Montmarte is the city’s most famous art district and community. At its center is the namesake hill with the stunning Sacré Coeur cathedral perched on top. This will be one of your favorite stops in Paris and some of your favorite photos as well.
Emily in Paris: The Unofficial Tour
Fans of the hit Netflix show will definitely be interested in this 2-mile guided walking tour of some of Paris’s loveliest neighborhoods. It only goes on Tuesdays and Fridays as of now at 1:30 PM so you’ll want to plan well in advance and make reservations. You’ll see the character’s apartment and other famous exteriors including Gabriel’s restaurant along with the bakery where she has her first pain au chocolat. If you don’t watch the show it’s definitely not worth it, but if you do this will be a major highlight.
Grevin Wax Museum: €26.50
This is the French equivalent of Madame Tussauds and it’s far more enjoyable than most people expect. With a central location close to several other included attractions, the Grevin Wax Museum is in a gorgeous building filled with over 450 characters that look so lifelike that you keep expecting them to move. There are obviously many French historical figures, but also international historical figures and athletes and actors and pop stars. You’ll know scores of them. While it’s true that you might not normally pay €26.50 to visit a wax museum, it’s great with the Paris Pass because you can just pop in for an hour or so in between other places. Most people are very impressed.
The Paris Big Bus Tour and Seine River Cruise are great ways to get oriented for first-time visitors
On your first visit to Paris you definitely want to visit the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and hopefully the Palace of Versailles (a bit outside the city center), but you also want to have a good look at the city of Paris itself.
Whether you buy the Paris Pass or not, you’ll want to strongly consider taking the Paris Big Bus Tour (included in the Paris Pass) as well as the Seine River Cruise. Both of these offer an excellent and efficient look at all of the famous places you might want to visit later, and you can do both of them in half a day. Take the hop-on, hop-off bus tour as early in the day as you can, and plan on doing the Seine river cruise just after sunset in order to see how beautifully lit the bridges and famous buildings are at night.
Is the Paris Pass good value?
If all of the above seems confusing, you are in good company. These ‘city cards’ can be a great tool for many first-time visitors to destinations, but in some cases they cost too much or disrupt your trip in other ways. Before a trip it’s easy to plan 4 or 5 museums and attractions for each day, but once you arrive that always feels too ambitious. A big part of what makes Paris so incredible is the gorgeous city itself, not just the museums and main sights.
Another thing to consider is that if you lock in your sightseeing expenses before you arrive there will be the temptation to just rush from one thing to the next to get the most from your money. If you happen to have a day when you only get to one or two attractions, you might have a sense of guilt over missing your pre-trip goals.
On the other hand, if you prefer to pay in advance and then challenge yourself to make sure you see all the amazing sights that Paris has to offer, then the Paris Pass can be a great deal. If you are mostly interested in the museums then the Paris Museum Pass is probably the better deal, but if you also want to take a bus tour or a river cruise or do the wine tasting then the Paris Pass is the way to go.
For great value hotels check out our recommended Paris hotels section, which gives you 5 excellent choices without the hassle of going through nearly two thousand hotels in the area.
New: How to get the most out of a 2-Day or 3-Day Paris Pass
Important advice for getting good value out of a Paris Pass
After using so many of these city passes through the years, and also getting some comments from customers who don’t feel like they got good value out of the Paris Pass, I can reveal two important bits of advice for Paris Pass holders.
1. Start early in the day, at least on your first couple days using the pass
The number one struggle for those who regretted buying a Paris Pass is starting early enough. Especially on your first couple of days using the Paris Pass you are strongly encouraged to leave your hotel by 09:00 or so, and go to the most popular attractions first. Places like the Louvre or the bus tour tend to not get too busy until 11:00 or so, which means that if you start on those things right after breakfast you will have time to do TWO top attractions before lunch. After that you’ll have the rest of the day to do one, two, or three more activities, and you’ll still have the whole evening free to have a long dinner and wander the beautiful neighborhoods.
Some people complain that by the time they got to their first attraction of the day, the place was packed, so they started on a bad note and then felt rushed the rest of the day trying to catch up.
2. Plan your day and route before you leave your hotel
The Paris Pass comes with a very helpful booklet that shows all of the attractions on a map, with hours of operation. If you spend some time before you leave your hotel for the day, planning an efficient route that connects the attractions you want to see that day, it will all seem easy and you’ll get the most out of your Paris Pass.
If you aren’t able to plan ahead like this then maybe the Paris Pass isn’t ideal for you. If you aren’t able to spend a bit of time planning ahead, chances are you’ll be racing around and wasting a lot of time, and you’ll be unhappy with the Paris Pass.
The Paris Pass is ideal for:
- First-time visitors to Paris who want to cover most of the main sights in a few days
- Travelers who want to see and do as much as possible on a short trip
- Visitors who want to orient themselves with the bus tour and Seine river cruise
The Paris Museum Pass by itself is ideal for:
- Culture vultures who plan on visiting at least 2 museums each day but don’t care about tours or anything else
- Budget travelers coming during busy season who want to skip the ticket queues
Visiting with no pass is ideal for:
- Visitors spending more than 7 days in the city who might prefer to see only one sight per day
- Backpackers and other extreme-budget travelers
Exclusive discount for Price of Travel readers
- Get 5% off all Paris Passes
Use coupon code: GO5POT ( – Look for “promo code?” in Step 4 of checkout)
One last thing to consider about budgeting your time in Paris
There are plenty of free things to do in Paris, many of which should be high priorities for first-time visitors, including strolling the Champs-Élysées, exploring the Montmartre neighborhood, and admiring the Eiffel Tower and the Arch de Triumphe from the street, so spending a lot of money on museums and attractions isn’t necessarily the key to enjoying the city.
Also, remember that there are only so many hours in the day, and you can only do one thing at a time. The Louvre itself takes at least 3 hours even for a “quick” visit, and while you are inside it doesn’t matter if you get 50 or 100 other “free” things included, you’ll only have time to do a few per day at the most.
However…
The Paris Pass is a popular and efficient way for first-time visitors to see all the best sights in a short time, with little stress and almost no time wasted in ticket queues. Whichever way you decide to visit Paris, you will have a good time. If you can get a discount on the Paris Pass, it’s obviously a better deal and worth considering.
Thanks for the great info and finding time to answer all of the questions here. Reading through the thread, I have decided to get a 2day pass since I will be in Paris late September for 4days, and in those 4 days my friends who are with me will be travelling to Lourdes and I will try to explore Paris on my own for 2 days they are not with me. I plan to do the Seine River tour and go from there where my feet will bring me…I have planned the routes ahead and I plan to get lost in Paris too.
The pass is activated on the first time it is used and a day is based on date and not on 24hour time, am I correct? So is it beneficial to get the pass from the redemption center a day before I use it? Are there more pick-up points for the Paris Pass or that’s the only one?
Thanks so much!
Joyce,
I’m always happy to hear that people find this information helpful. Yes, the Paris Pass works on calendar days, so it expires at midnight even if you don’t start using it until midday. I’m only aware of that one pick-up center for the Paris Pass, but fortunately it’s very central and actually near quite a few attractions. Most people prefer to have the Paris Pass shipped to them at home, although for one short pass the shipping charge might seem like a lot. Once you buy the pass, you have up to one year to activate it, by the way. So it could be wise to pick up your pass in Paris the day before you want to use it, and then start early the next morning with the sightseeing.
And you probably won’t get too lost in Paris, but I love the idea of just wandering around a bit rather than racing from one attraction to the next. It’s a stunningly gorgeous city and there is a visual treat around every corner. Have a great trip. -Roger
My wife and I will be in Paris in late September. Will there still be long lines at the usual attractions? Just thinking that maybe we wont need to get a Paris Pass to avoid ticket lineups.
Thanks,
Greg
Greg,
The ticket queues in late September are usually a bit shorter than they are in July and August, but they can still be quite long for the most popular attractions. It’s really only the coldest months where queues are reliably short because Paris is so incredibly popular with people from around the world. So a Paris Pass will likely save you some time, but if you go to the most popular things just before they open for the day, you can still see a lot without it. Best of luck. -Roger
Will be in Paris week of August. 22 for three days. We already have a few excursions planned and we are staying at kyriad bercy village. I was wondering what would be the best transportation from the Kyriad into the main city of Paris and is there a pass available?
Margo,
It looks like your hotel is fairly close to the city center, and only 2 blocks from the Cour St Emilion Metro station. Once on the Metro, you can get anywhere in central Paris in only 10 or 15 minutes.
The Paris Pass comes with a Visite Pass, which is good for unlimited rides on the Metro, so it would work out well for you. Have a great trip. -Roger
Hello Roger,
Firstly, fantastic piece! Pretty much got all the information I was looking at in one place with all the different passes and seeing who would benefit from each type of pass.
I just have a few questions and looking for advice from yourself if possible;
1) I noticed when looking at the museum pass and in the comments above that EU citizen/nationals under 26 get in for free at the main muesums, do I therefore have to be in the queue with everyone else or is there a way to get tickets in advance with this offer?
2) My Girlfriend and I are staying in Sofitel La Defense, would you recommend a Metro pass or like a carnet of 10 tickets? As I know we are a little bit away from the centre.
Any other tips or places to go for a romantic getaway would be great :).
Thank you
Daniel,
Thanks for the kind words.
1) Visitors who qualify for free admission at museums and such do not get a ticket. They just get in the entry queue and show ID/proof to get in to the person collecting tickets from those (suckers) who have to pay.
2) Your hotel is a bit outside the center of Paris, so you’ll be riding the Metro many times a day. It’s a great system because there are stops every few blocks, so it can save time even on trips where walking might only take 20 minutes. Personally, I’d go for the Visite Pass with unlimited Metro rides because it’s fairly cheap and it means you don’t have to worry if you make a mistake or want to add another quick trip somewhere. My guess is that you’d want to take at least 4 Metro rides per day, so with two of you you’d go through those 10-ticket carnets pretty fast. With a Visite Pass, you should be able to buy one for your whole trip before your first ride, and then you wouldn’t have to deal with ticket sellers anymore (many of whom don’t speak much English).
I don’t have any specific tips on romance in Paris, but you’ll have nothing to worry about. The city center is just one gorgeous sight after another, only broken up by parks and the Seine. Actually, one thing not to miss would be to plan a stroll through the Montmartre area in the evening, and take the funicular up to the view area in front of the cathedral there. That part of town is stunning at night, and the views from the top are hard to beat. Watch or rewatch the movie Amélie, which was mostly shot in that neighborhood. Bon voyage. -Roger
Hi roger,
by tomorrow we are in paris,after reading your article we are not taking paris pass,we are coming for 3 days in paris, and one day already booked for disneyland, just checking for 2 days plan,
would you please suggest main attraction in paris in 2 days without any pass, just thinking for one days hop on hop bus,
please suggest..
deeps,
I agree that a hop-on, hop-off bus tour is a good choice for a short visit. Not only does it help you get oriented, but it will show you nearly all of the main sightseeing options so you can choose the ones you’ll want to visit later. There are so many sightseeing options in Paris that I can’t really recommend anything without knowing your preferences. But I’m sure you won’t be bored, and that you’ll find more than enough things to do once you are there. Also, even if you don’t buy a Paris Pass, the website is actually a great guide to most of the top attractions. Bon voyage. -Roger
Hi Roger,
My boyfriend and I will be visiting Paris this coming August for full 4 days. We are staying at Rue Vicq d’Azir. Should we get the 2 days or 4 days pass? Would a 2 days pass be enough to cover the famous museums so that the other 2 days we can spend the other 2 days visiting other places that do not need the Paris Pass.
We are looking at going to Montmartre,Palace Versailles, Les Champs Elysées, The Louvre – Museum,The Arc de Triomphe, The Eiffel tower, Seine river boats, Notre Dame cathedral, The Musée d’Orsay and maybe The Moulin Rouge. Is there anything else that we should cover?
Sorry if my English is bad. Thank you!
Desiree,
Your English is quite good and I assumed you were a native speaker until that last sentence. 🙂
Yes, I do think that your plan of buying a 2-day Paris Pass is probably best. You’ll have enough time in those two days to fit in all the sights that it covers on your list. And I also think it’s desirable to have other time set aside in Paris where you won’t feel the pressure to go from one sight to the next. It’s a gorgeous city with many charming neighborhoods, so you’ll enjoy having at least one day (or two half days) to just roam around and window-shop and such.
All of the things on your list should be great highlights, with the possible exception of the Moulin Rouge. It’s interesting to see it from the outside, but people who go inside seem to agree that it’s overpriced and VERY touristy (because the audience is only tourists, no locals at all).
If you start on your Paris Pass days with the bus tour and the Seine River Cruise, you’ll get more ideas of things you want to go back and see more closely. And again, I don’t think it’s wise to create a very long list of attractions to see. The major ones on your list will take most of your time, and then you’ll want to stroll around and sit at cafes and that sort of thing with much of your remaining time. Have a great trip. -Roger
Will the Swiss Half Price Card deduct 50% off when I buy train tickets from Zurich to Paris and Paris to Zurich? Or it is only for rides within Switzerland?
I have posted the following in Switzerland forum. But didn’t get much reply. Could you PLEASE help me ?
I am going to Switzerland for the first time in the end of July. I would like to take rest in a remote countryside village in a valley and enjoy nature. It would be good if it is not too cold. And I would like to take a day trip from there to see green mountains and snow cap mountains of Switzerland. Could you please tell me which village should I choose and which day trip? I will get down in Zurich. I was thinking I will take rest in Murren and take a day trip to Jungfrau. But it seems that Murren is in high altitude and will be very cold. I will have elderly parents with me. In a day trip I would not mind if it’s cold but I would like to rest in a comfortable (not too cold) and quiet place and enjoy countryside in a small cottage or even a small bed and breakfast or be a paying guest in an outer house provided by a family.
Would it be a better choice near Zurich or near Interlaken?
Urmi Ray,
This is an unusual place to ask a question like this, but I’ll try to answer it anyway. I’m sure the Swiss Half Price Card is ONLY for rides within Switzerland so it wouldn’t half your fare all the way to Paris. But, it’s possible that you could get a 50% discount on the portion of the ride that is within Swiss borders (Zurich to Basel). You might have to buy the discounted ticket from Zurich to Basel and then another ticket from Basel to Paris, but that should still save you money and it won’t add much, if any, time to your trip.
The classic town to visit the Alpine villages is Interlaken, but there are some great possibilities from Lucerne as well. Either should be just what you are looking for, and you’ll have many options once you get there so you should be able to find something that fits the amount of exertion and temperature you prefer. One of the best small Alpine villages is Gimmelwald, near Interlaken. It’s small, car-free, and there are several friendly guesthouses and restaurants that should be just the sort of thing you are looking for. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thanks for all the time you put in to answering all our queries! There are 6 of us in our party travelling to Paris in July. We will be travelling with 2 kids under 17 (ages 12 & 15) and visiting mostly those venues that they would get in free to. If we bought Paris passes just for the adults, would the kids be able to enter with us through the admissions line or do they still have to stand in the ticket line to be “validated” as free? Thanks!
Brenda,
From what I’ve read and heard from others, all of the museums included in the Paris Pass that offer free entry for children (and many other groups), don’t require a ticket for the free entry. Evidently a few of the less popular museums and attractions DO issue a ticket for the free admissions, but none of these have long ticket queues like the famous ones. In other words, in all places where it would matter, you can totally skip the ticket queue if you have a Paris Pass are have children with you. For one thing, I think they’d have a huge problem with eligible people getting their “free” tickets and then selling them to other people in the queue, so checking at the admission door seems to be the only way it would work. Bon voyage. -Roger
Hi Roger just a question. I am 17 so I believe I will get free entry to most of the museums such as the Louvre, Orsay etc. I will be going to Paris in mid June where the ticket queues would be longer. Do I still have to wait in the lines to show my ID and get a ‘free ticket’ or can I skip the ticket lines and show my ID at the entrance? Thanks a lot.
alvin,
I’m not 100% sure about this, but my understanding is that you’d only need to show ID at the admission queue, which tends to be short, as opposed to the ticket queue, which tends to be long (in summer). Many locals qualify for free admission, and I don’t believe they are given tickets, they are just let in. -Roger
Hi Roger, my sister in law and myself( in our 60s and 70s and with some mobility slowness) are visiting Paris from the 4 th to 11 th October this year. We are staying in the centre on one of the islands. We would like to visit Versailles, Givency and Monet gardens, Eiffel Tower, Luxenberg Gardens , markets and some other museums. We would like to also just enjoy the atmosphere.. sitting in the cafes and taking the day as it comes. What would be the best option for us to get around and avoid the queues if they are a problem this time of the year? What is the weather like this time as well..looking forward to some info as I’m confused as to our best way to get the most out of our visit.
Susan,
This is mostly good news because mid-October tends to have smaller crowds and shorter ticket queues. And staying on one of the islands means you could not be more central, so you’ll be pretty close to everything. Since you’ll be there for 7 days, I think you’ll be best off just seeing one or two major sights per day, and spending the rest of the time “cafe sitting” (as they call it) and wandering around the various beautiful neighborhoods in central Paris. The average high temp in October is 61F/15C and average low temp is 51F/11C, so it should be mild. Paris isn’t a particularly rainy city, including at that time of year.
Whether you get a Paris Pass or not, I think the hop-on, hop-off bus tour and the Seine River cruise could be very good for getting oriented early in the trip, and you’ll have plenty of time to go back and see some of the sights in depth in the following days.
Another helpful thing about Paris for you that there is a Metro (underground) station every couple of blocks all over the city. In other words, you are never more than a 4 or 5 minute walk from a Metro entrance, and most of them (but not all) have escalators, plus some have elevators, though not all of those are working. So a Metro Pass (Visite Card) will allow you to take unlimited Metro rides on the days it’s valid, and that will cut down a lot of walking. There’s also a Metro station in front of nearly every major attraction, so you can still see a lot without walking all day long.
Lastly, I think it should be helpful to consider that Paris is a gorgeous city and it isn’t necessary to hit all the famous museums and sights to enjoy yourselves. Just strolling around and stopping once in a while for a coffee and/or pastry will be entertaining for hours at a time, and many neighborhoods are quite unique so you can enjoy each of them in a different way. Hopefully this helps, and let me know if you have other questions. -Roger
Thank you Roger for that appreciated advice. We thought the hop on/ hop off and river cruise would be great for first couple days. Can we buy the HOHO tickets on the bus or do we need to buy beforehand? We thought it should not be a problem to wait until we are in Paris to book any tours we are interested in as it should be quieter? ( namely Versailles and Monet gardens) thanks again !
Susan,
Yes, you’ll easily be able to buy tickets to the bus and river cruise when you arrive. And especially since you’ll be visiting during a slower time of the year, the ticket queues should not be long at all. And that goes for the tours and day trips as well. Once you arrive you’ll be able to take a tour out to Versailles leaving the following morning, so it will be simple to just wing it. -Roger