World City Guide

Tours of the City

Walking Tours
Walks on a variety of themes are offered by Paris Walks (tel: (01) 4809 2140; fax: (01) 4243 7551; website: www.paris-walks.com), including ‘Hemingway’s Paris’, ‘The Village of Montmartre’, ‘The Marais Circuit’ and many more. ‘The Marais Circuit’ departs every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday; ‘Hemingway’s Paris’ every Friday and the ‘Village of Montmartre’ every Wednesday and Sunday. Tours depart from various métro stations, which are listed on the website, last two hours and cost ¬10 (concessions available).

Details of most tours are in the weekly Pariscope magazine (website: www.pariscope.com). Tour providers and tourist guides are also listed in the English language guide Paris for You. The latter is produced by the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau and can be picked up from Tourist Information Offices.

Bus Tours
The Balabus is an ordinary city bus that is marked Bb on the front. It operates from stops marked ‘Balabus’ from mid April to the end of September, passing key sights between the Grand Arche de la Défense and the Gare de Lyon. Details can be obtained from any métro station.

Several companies offer coach tours of Paris, with Les Cars Rouges (tel: (01) 5395 3953; website: www.lescarsrouges.com), using distinctive red London double-decker buses. Tickets cost ¬22, purchased on the bus or at tourist offices (concessions available). There are nine stops at main tourist attractions and a recorded commentary in English. A trip around the whole route takes 2 hours 15 minutes. Passengers can get on and off at will, with tickets valid for two days.

L’Open Tour hop-on hop-off buses (tel: (01) 4266 5656; website: www.paris-opentour.com) operate daily throughout the year, offering four different routes with running commentaries in French and English, passing all the major tourist sights in the city. One and two day passes cost ¬24 and ¬27 respectively and are available from tourist offices, RATP offices and also from some hotels and travel agencies. Buses run every ten to 15 minutes 1000-1800 April-October and every 25-30 minutes 0930-1600 November-March.

Minibus Tours
A good alternative to the big bus tours are tours run by minibus. Minibus may access sites that big coaches may not. Several companies offer minibus tours around Paris, with Paris Trip (tel: (01) 4212 8672; website: www.paris-trip.com), using air-conditioned minivans. City tours cost run from ¬42 (for a two hours Orientation City Tour including pick-up and return to the hotel) up to ¬85 (including lunch at the Eiffel Tower and a one hour cruise down the river). Tours are available in different languages.

Boat Tours
The city’s bâteaux-mouches and vedettes are a popular and instantly recognisable feature of the River Seine. Many companies offer cruises – some including lunch or dinner – including Vedettes de Paris (tel: (01) 4418 0803; fax: (01) 4705 7453; website: www.vedettesdeparis.com), Les Vedettes du Pont-Neuf (tel: (01) 4633 9838; fax: (01) 4329 8619; website: www.pontneuf.net) and Bâteaux Parisiens (tel: (01) 4411 3344; fax: (01) 4556 0788; website: www.bateauxparisiens.com). A basic sightseeing tour costs ¬9-10 and lasts one hour. Departure points are at various stops along the banks of the Seine.

Bicycle Tours
Various maps and cycle guides (available at tourist offices, bookshops or bike-hire outlets) detail cycle routes in the city. In addition, there are also routes in the Bois de Boulogne, the Bois de Vincennes and a popular Sunday trip along the River Seine, which is closed to cars 1000-1600.

Paris à Vélo, C’est Sympa!, 37 boulevard Bourdon (tel: (01) 4887 6001; website: www.parisvelosympa.com), offers a variety of three-hour bicycle tours for ¬32.50 (concessions available) including ‘Heart of Paris’, ‘Paris Contrasts’, ‘Paris at Dawn’ and ‘Unusual Paris’, as well as ‘Paris by Night’ tours during the summer months. Those travelling in groups can book day-long cycling tours to Versailles or Paris Guinguettes. Tours depart from the shop and the price includes bicycle hire and insurance. The company also rents bicycles at a rate of ¬12.50 per 24 hours or ¬24 for a whole weekend and ¬59 per week.