Visiting Paris for the first time: 8 rookie mistakes to avoid
Some of us save up our whole lives to visit the City of Light, so pricey mistakes aren’t something we want to keep as souvenirs.
While a few faux-pas here or there won’t ruin your experience, there are a few common mistakes to look out for that will make your first days a little smoother. Avoid these in order to keep within your budget and to save time to get the most out of your trip.
More Paris tips:
• Our favorite budget hotels in Paris
• 50 Ways to save on your Paris vacation
• Eating your way through Paris for €20 a day
• How to get the most out of your first day in Paris
8 Mistakes to avoid on your first trip to Paris
Tap water is free at restaurants. Just ask for it with the magic words “Une carafe d’eau, s’il vous plait.” Photo: photokitty07
1. Paying for water
Waiters will prey on innocent tourists who may be wondering if the tap water in Paris is drinkable. The days of the plague are mostly over, so don’t fear — French tap water is just fine. Don’t feel pressured into buying pricey bottled water unless you want sparkling or mineral varieties. Just ask for a “carafe d’eau“, and spend the euros on an extra dessert instead.
2. Booking too many passes
Armed with a Paris Museum Pass and a Metro pass, you can avoid some lines and having to worry about purchasing tickets. But there will always be that pressure to use the passes. What if it’s a nice day and you want to walk, but you haven’t used the pass yet? What if you want to linger more in the gardens but you need to use the museum pass before it expires? If you want the security of the passes, just be sure to plan your route to make sure you don’t lose out in the end.
3. Going to Versailles
Is it a mistake to go to Versailles? No. But with only a few precious days in Paris, is it necessary for a first-time visit? We’ll let you decide. If you’re going in the spring or summer, however, be prepared to surrender several hours of your vacation time to waiting in line at the majestic chateau before fighting crowds inside to catch a glimpse of Marie Antoinette’s bed. If you’re on the fence, don’t feel bad about skipping the trek out there, or even opting for a lesser-visited chateau-like Chantilly.
4. Tipping when you don’t have to
With taxi drivers, hairdressers and tour guides, don’t feel bad about tipping. With anyone else, there is absolutely no need to, unless the service went above and beyond the norm. Just round the bill up and leave the change. Paris tipping rules are as simple as that.
5. Eating breakfast in the hotel
There’s no need to dig deep into your pockets for a bit of breakfast. Head to a café for a coffee and croissant for under €5 or just get an assortment to go from your local bakery and leave the breakfast buffet for when all the bakers are on strike. Yes, it has happened before.
Hotel Henri IV is literally in the bulls-eye center of the city at the tip of the Ile de la Cité. Photo: EuroCheapo
6. Not staying central to save a few euros
That cheap hotel out by Disneyland seems great because it’s just so gosh-darn cheap. But the commute into Paris isn’t much different from those who come from London (I exaggerate…kind of). We love cheap hotels, too, and that’s why we push our favorites in the heart of the city — because you didn’t fly all the way to Paris to spend hours on a train, did you?
7. Being a slave to lines
Queue up in Paris — we all need to at some point. While you’re at the Eiffel Tower, I’m at the grocery store, and the lines are often comparable. But pick your battles. Lines at the Louvre are shorter on Wednesday and Friday nights, and the same goes for the Musée d’Orsay on Thursday evenings, while the Eiffel Tower is always pretty busy. Plan ahead so that if you have no bookings or pre-purchased tickets, you won’t hit all of the lines at all the wrong times.
8. Trying to do it all
You planned and planned, you thought you could do it all, but alas. It’s just impossible. Paris will be here for quite some time, so if you didn’t get to every major sight, there’s always tomorrow. The Mona Lisa isn’t going anywhere (hopefully), and the Eiffel Tower should still be standing, so try to enjoy what you do experience and make the to-do list for round two.
Your tips
Do you remember your first time in Paris? Let us know if you had any stories from your rookie visit.
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you can add some more mistakes of not taking under account the free of cost activities in Paris like Free First Sunday Programme, Free Open Air Cinema at Parc de la Villette , Wondering Through the Jardin du Luxembourg Park, the Love Wall, fashion show at Galeries Lafayette etc.
I’ve wanted to visit one of the Parisian hotels since i watch it on TV – they look so comfortable and homely!
The first time we saw Paris was Thanksgiving, 1984. Coming from the highly-charged atmosphere of Berlin (West), we were worried about how our kids, ages 4 and 8, would do. We needn’t have. There are beautiful broad streets and wide sidewalks in the city. After a stern warning, we could scoot them us up ahead of us and amble behind, keeping a close eye on the little monsters. It was a great opportunity to snap the photos I have somewhere in my albums. Quickly we realized the Parisians were watching the kids, too. We could see them smiling. If they messed up, they would caution them in French. We did a lot of walking that trip. Great exercise. After dinner, the kids were already yawning. Then my wife and I had a little time to…..
The single most important tip I ever got what to use “Bonjour Madame” and “Bonjour Monsieur” at every. single. encounter. Failing to do so is impolite (stand back and watch the French do it with one another). Doing so, even if you know nothing else in French, at least opens the door to a happy exchange. Add please and thank you in French, and you’re miles ahead of the average visitor. I traveled with a friend who refused to use these few words because she “might say them wrong” and she was not treated nearly as well as I was. Another tip, when you want to buy ONE of something use the word for one. Otherwise, opportunistic servers might give you two sandwiches, two baguettes, etc. Because “baguette” and “baguettes” are pronounced the same in French, you need the number in front of the words to be understood.
That’s a great point! I always say hello right away the moment I walk into a shop. Trying to be polite with a limited French vocabulary goes a long way.
Excellent blog post, and thank you for sharing some very helpful thoughts!!! Best of luck with your travels
My very first trip to Paris happened after dreaming about it for 20 years! I rented a tiny, super adorable apartment by Canal St. Martin. The best part about staying in apartment is the ability to make a big mug of coffee in the morning. I agree with the author about not trying to do everything. I took my time in several neighborhoods, tasting pastries and cakes, visited a few churches, etc. I even spent an evening being ‘home’, cooking dinner from things I picked out at the farmers’ market, watched some french tv. It was so lovely!
I would add one, don’t assume cabs will take a credit card. Pretty common in the US, but I’ve yet to find one in France that would.
I fully agree with Craig Nelson’s opinion about having breakfast at the “Hotel du Nord – le Pari Vélo”. It’s particularly tasty and it’s served at a cosy spot at the basement. Baguettes, croissants, freshly expressed orange juice, homemade jams and fresh pastries are all items in the selection and consistently delicious. At 8 euros, the breakfast is a bargain (for a Parisian hotel).
Hotel Marignan, a popular old budget hotel two blocks from the Sorbonne, has a breakfast that comes with the price of the room. I think it’s the exception to your rule, but you’re generally right about it being ridiculous to pay upward of 8 euros for a hotel breakfast.
We always love a tasty breakfast, especially if it’s included in the price! We do like the breakfast at Hotel du Nord with homemade jams and fresh pastries. It costs 8 euros but is worth it for at least one morning.
In 1972, when I was 2 weeks pregnant, we went to Paris, arriving late. Walking along the Seine with back packs and our “Europe on $5 a day,” we were exhausted and irritable. Just then a man coming along the path from the opposite direction smiled at me and gave me a long stemmed red rose for no reason at all. Forty five years later I still remember how I felt with that rose in my hand as I watched him walk away. We were hungry. It was late and no restaurants seemed to be open when we came upon a cafe that was closing for the night. The owner, a still beautiful older woman, let us in and made us a special dinner, telling us that during the war she had fallen in love with an American soldier. My tip? Be open to kindnesses in Paris.
That’s such a wonderful Paris story. Thanks for sharing Esther!
Skip Versailles! The lines-even if you already have your ticket-are interminable and, except for the Hall of Mirrors and the chapel (which you really can’t see much of) there’s not much worth seeing-just a lot of rooms with murals. Progress through the palace is agonizingly slow and quite uncomfortable in warm weather. The palace grounds and Grand and Petite Trianons are worth seeing and there is very nice restaurant there, but I don’t know if there is direct access to the grounds . If so, I would do that. Maybe the Oct_April crowds are much smaller, but Avoid it May through Sept. You will spend an entire day including hours on line and shuffling through the Palace.
Our rookie visit was a 3-nighter our first autumn in Berlin (West). Our kids were pretty much pro traveler by then, so we didn’t have to worry–too much. I learned later it was returning home on the bus, that my 4-year old got a little swacked on the champagne in Reims. And that brings up a major experience of France: The food. Even the breakfasts are delicious. One breakfast my wife and I ate crouissants while our laundry went through its cycles down the street. Finding a laundromat is critical, by the way, especially if you have two active sons. Make sure they chow down at breakfast in your hotel. They’ll quickly grow proud of their independence. And ono those long walks through Paris, stop at a grocery store. Cheese, ham, a delicious baguette. Quite reasonable prices, too.
Yes, Paris is a delight for the tummy.
Generally great advice, to which I’d like to add a couple of notes…
First, on Points 2 and 7 (passes and lines)
The museum/attraction passes almost never pay, unless you are willing to run around like a squirrel trying to make back the inflated price in ‘free’ attractions. I’ve often been told that people buy them for ‘skip-the-line’ privileges, but lines can be avoided by buying tickets on line. Sometimes it’s an extra Euro, but you’ll still be way ahead of the passes.
Also, it’s always good to look at combinations. For example, if you’re planning to visit the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie, there’s a combo ticket that saves—and you can buy it at the Orangeries with never a line and go there first.
Second, on Point 6 (don’t stay too far away)
Obviously, staying near Disneyland or CDG makes no sense, but there are great bargains to be had in small hotels that are not dead center on ‘attractions.’ For years, we’ve stayed in the upper part of the 18e (Clignancourt), usually in apartments. There are many small and reasonably-priced hotels in the area, and there’s good access to Metro and to many useful bus lines that sometimes beat the train, and give you a chance to see even more of Paris…and then go home to a neighborhood where Parisians live. And there are more neighborhoods like it!
Eating a breakfast in the hotel is a NO NO! So many great boulangeries to explore!!!
Great tips!
Mick 🙂
I was able to book ahead for the Eiffel Tower and it was a cinch. My 78-year-old mother was with me and she was so glad she didn’t have to wait in that long, snaking line, and so was I!
http://www.toureiffel.paris/en/preparing-your-visit/buying-your-tickets.html
Yes Paris is meant to be savored and discovered on your own terms and not rushed. For a perfect day in Paris I would probably do the following of my favorite walks and discoveries In the city.http://travelphotodiscovery.com/spending-a-perfect-day-in-paris/
This is a great round-up. Many of these are things that would be at least minor annoyances – if not major headaches on your first visit to Paris. Hopefully you’ve just helped a bunch of people have a far more enjoyable Parisian trip as a result of this “insider” knowledge.
Great tips for newbies and reminder for those who re-visit Paris!
Bonjour. Great travel tips. Will be sharing with my readers this weekend. I particularly agree with #6. When traveling, or when buying a home, think location, location, location! As as side note, just saw Tom’s photo in Italy on the Rick Steves’ blog. Looked like a good time. Keep up the good work, les amis. A bientôt. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
Go to chateau Vaux le Vicomte, a mini version of Versailles and the original to boot. Just 20 minutes to Melun from Gare de Lyon. Be sure to time your weekend visit to meet the chateau’s shuttle bus. lines are minimal and the gardens are just as phenomenal as Versailles and by the same landscape artist, LeNotre. The chateau is by Le Vaux same as Versailles.
Don’t underestimate a picnic! On Sunday morning, I saw many groups having champagne brunch in front of the Eiffel Tower. My favorite is a picnic in the gardens at the Rodin museum.
I visited Paris for the first time, arriving on May 8th for 5 days. I prepared myself by reading your tips first! Thanks so much! I didn’t try to see everything, the pain in my feet (tennis shoes and all) kept me from it, lol. Even then, I saw so much and have over 650 photos for memories everlasting!
It used to be that insiders and those in the know would stand at the counter in a bar or brasserie to order/eat, marking those who took a table as tourists and therefore subject to lesser service, higher prices, etc. Is that still the case? Do seasoned tourists stand at the counter?
I never thought that going to Versailles was one of them. but you actually make a lot of sense.
Thanks. We strive for making sense, if nothing else 🙂
I want to add one thing to the “Don’t eat b’fast in the hotel” — The whole b’fast area will be full of tourists. But if you go out into the City you’ll be surrounded by Parisians, N. American tourists and European tourists. During my last trip to Paris I found first a nice place in Rue Cler and kept going back (the waiter even corrected my Fr. grammar) but then forced myself to leave and find other places. Breakfast turned out to be my favorite part of the day.
And about those museum passes: Have lunch at the Louvre or Orsay — good food, good service and wonderful ambiance.
And it really does need to be repeated: No white sneakers. 😉
Great tips Dorothy and thanks for reading. Wearing sneakers and shorts is certainly an easy way to stand out in Paris!
If you can’t wear sneakers, how are you supposed to walk miles comfortably? Fashion is great but not if you wind up taking a header on those uneven streets.
buy a great pair of walking shoes before you leave , your feet will thank you for it and if they are chic all the more so. No need for sneakers .
Ballet flats.
Sneakers don’t give you the correct support for all the walking and cobblestones. Though not practical for hot summer traveling, I always wear knee high boots with a gel insole. I just walked over 72 miles in Paris in Europe the past 10 days and have no complaints. 4 years in the same boots whereas my traveling companion was in tennis shoes and couldn’t stand it.
Well white running sneakers make you stand out, more specifically. I wouldn’t wear my running shoes to dinner, for sure. But the French wear their Chuck Taylors as much as anyone else, so don’t think you can’t be comfortable!
True about the hotel breakfasts, almost anywhere in Europe (unless of course it comes with your room rate). A coffee and a breakfast pastry is just a few euros, whether in France or Italy or where ever, and the experience of going to a café for breakfast is so very memorable because you get to see the local people and the “regulars” and you end up with a favorite…