At the beginning of October, I went to Paris for 8 days with three of my favorite travel buddies. We did tons of amazing things while we were there. I narrowed it down to my 10 favorites.
I’ve included contact information for everything we did so you can check it out for your next trip to Paris.
Don’t miss my other Paris posts:
Picturesque Paris
10 Things You MUST EAT in Paris
Eiffel Tower Skip the Line Tour
The first thing we did when we arrived in Paris was head straight to the Eiffel Tower!
We booked a skip the line tour with Fat Tire Tours and we literally walked right on the elevator.
We passed hundreds and hundreds of people waiting in line.
Our guide said the wait gets to be over 7 or 8 hours sometimes.
Um, NO! Book this skip the line tour and go right up! It is only ā¬25.
The views from the second level are fantastic!
LOVED the Eiffel Tower shadow in this photo.
Segway Tour
My favorite tour was the Segway Tour we took around the city.
We also booked it with Fat Tire Tours. It cost ā¬80 and is worth every bit of it.
The tour lasted about 3 hours and was super fun!
This was my second time on a Segway. Don’t worry if you’ve never been on one. There is a quick training session before you start the tour. It only takes about 2 or 3 minutes to figure the Segway out.
Our guide, Fraser, was AMAZING! He knew everything about the buildings and Paris.
He was also super great at taking selfies!!
Cooking Classes
A gaggle of food bloggers can’t go to Paris and not do some cooking!
We actually took 2 cooking classes.
The first class was a French dessert class. We made 5 different French desserts.
It was a hands on class. We had a blast.
The best part was that we got to eat and take all the desserts with us. YUM!
The class costs ā¬130.
Dessert Class Information:
The second cooking class was a Croissant making class.
I was super excited about this class and it didn’t disappoint.
It is a special experience to be able to eat a croissant straight out of the oven.
It was the best croissant I ate in Paris! š
We got the recipe for the croissants. It takes a lot of work to make croissants, but I think I am going to give it a go before Christmas. Frozen croissants would be a GREAT gift!
The classes sell out quickly, so make sure you book in advance. The class costs ā¬90.
Croissant Class Information:
Take a Walking Tour
A great way to see the city is to take a walking tour.
We actually took two tours!
Our first tour was a market tour with Succulent Paris.
We started the tour in a market. After we market we explored the neighborhood.
We went in tons of fun shops and sampled lots of great food.
We all found some great souvenirs.
Market Tour Information:
The second tour was a history walking tour with Edith from Edith’s Paris.
Edith took us around the charming Rue Montorgueil neighborhood.
She told us all about the history of French food.
Edith was a great tour guide. She was very knowledgable and her personality was the best!
She made the tour SO much fun!
Edith’s Paris History Tour Information:
http://edithsparis.com/WP/
We did a few walking tours on our own.
Amanda was in Paris earlier in the year, so she took to her favorite spots.
Along the way we stumbled upon the best cheesecake ever!
This lemon meringue cheesecake from Berko was one of the best I’ve ever eaten!
We were all fighting for the last bite!
Make sure you find it on your trip!
I plan on trying to recreate this at home very soon.
Berko
Our last self-guided walking tour was around the Montmartre neighborhood.
Many artists had studios or worked in or around Montmartre, including Salvador DalĆ, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh.
We started at the Sacre-Coeur.
It is a beautiful Catholic church.
You get great views of the city!
After the Sacre-Coeur, we walked all around the neighborhood.
It is SO pretty!
We ended our walking tour at the Moulin Rouge!
Dine Outside at a French Bistro
I loved all the French Bistros with outdoor seating.
You must get some hot chocolate!
I was a big fan of Croque Monsieurs.
Perfect people watching food!
Les Deux Magots
Walk down the Champs-ĆlysĆ©es
We spent one day walking down the Champs-ĆlysĆ©es.
We started at Notre Dame.
Stopped by the Louvre.
You can get a skip the line tour for the Louvre from Fat Tire Tours. We didn’t go inside the Louvre, but I would highly recommend getting the tour from Fat Tire Tours. The lines were insane!
When Chicken Legs and I go back, we will definitely get the skip the line tour for the Louvre.
We grabbed some sweet treats along the way.
Did a little shopping!
We grabbed a quick bite to eat after all our shopping.
We ended the day at the Arc de Triomphe.
It is about 3 miles from Notre Dame to the Arc de Triomphe.
It is a great way to spend the day!
Notre Dame
Notre Dame opens at 8am.
I highly recommend getting there early, the lines get long as the day progresses.
You can go to the top of the tower. We didn’t go up because Amanda said the views weren’t that great and you can only stay up there for 5 minutes. The views from the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph were better than the view from Notre Dame.
Once you are done walking around the inside of the church, make sure you go to the back.
I think it is prettier than the front!
Walk to the top of the Arc de Triumph
It costs ā¬9 to walk to the top of the Arc de Triumph.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to cross traffic to get the Arc. There is a tunnel that takes you underground to get across the street.
You get a great view of the Champs-ĆlysĆ©es.
Shopping
The shopping can’t be beat on the Champs-ĆlysĆ©es.
Every store is on the Champs-ĆlysĆ©es!
Our favorite store was the Louis Vuitton store.
It was crazy! Lines out the door!
I bough Chicken Legs some Paris Saint-Germain t-shirts at the PSG Super Store.
We also spend a lot of time at the Guerlain makeup store. It was HUGE. There was even a place to eat inside the store!
Our other favorite shopping area was the Galeries Lafayette.
It is like a mall on steroids.
There is a whole store for ladies, another building for men and another building with gourmet food!
I could have spent a whole day here!
Galeries Lafayette Information
40, Boulevard Haussmann, 75009 Paris, France
Light Show at the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower was my absolute favorite thing in Paris.
I could spend all day looking at it.
The Eiffel Tower is at it’s best at night.
The tower sparkles every hour after sunset for 5 minutes.
It starts after sunset and ends at 2AM in the summer and 1AM in the winter.
It is not to be missed!
This was my favorite thing we did in Paris!
Chicken Legs and I are planning to go back to Paris in a couple of years.
We are thinking of doing London and then taking the train to Paris.
I know we want to go to Versailles and I’d love to go to Disneyland Paris for one day.
What are your favorite things to do in Paris?
I lived in Montmartre in the early '80s and have been back to Paris many times since. It's always interesting to me what people do when they go. Looks like you had a wonderful time. My heart will always be in Paris.
My family was vacationing in London and decided on a whim to take the train to Paris since the rest of my family had never been. We spent the day in Paris and took the train back to Londay that night. It was a magical day and my children loved every second! we were able to "see" so many of the same things you saw..but of course, no time to linger! And we even ate pizza ata sidewalk cafe
I was there Sept. 28 – Oct. 2. It was super. We did some of the same things. I wish I had known of the "skip the line" tours! We also went to van Gogh's village, Monet's estate, and the Palace of Versailles. I hope you had some chocolate, too. The cooking class was a good idea. Thanks for posting.