A few things that make Paris easier
This is the stuff I usually send friends before they arrive: how to get online, get in from the airport, get around, eat without confusion, and avoid wasting time on things that don’t matter.
Get an eSIM
If your phone is unlocked, install an eSIM before you leave home. Then you can turn it on when you land and immediately have Maps, WhatsApp and internet.
You may not need one if your international plan already includes a travel package. But those packages cap your data and throttle the speed once you pass the cap, so check what you actually get before you rely on it for a week.
France plan: 10 GB / 30 days, €10 as of August 2026. For most people visiting Paris for a week, that’s plenty.
Ubigi France eSIMs ↗Another easy option. Current France pricing includes 5 GB / 7 days for €8.50, 10 GB / 7 days for €13.50, or 10 GB / 30 days for €14.50.
Airalo France eSIMs ↗Worth considering if you specifically want unlimited data rather than counting gigabytes. Pricing changes with the number of days; current plans start around €3.79 for one day.
Holafly France eSIMs ↗I’d buy 10 GB from Ubigi and be done with it.
Prices checked August 2026
Bring a plug adapter
France uses Type C and E plugs and 230V electricity. Most modern phone, tablet and laptop chargers already accept European voltage, so Americans usually just need a plug adapter rather than a voltage converter. Check the voltage label before plugging in things like hair dryers or styling tools.
Download these before you arrive
Île-de-France Mobilités For Metro, RER and bus tickets. Install it before you fly. Downloading an app underground, with no signal and no eSIM yet, is a worse way to start the trip. ↗ Google Maps For walking directions, opening hours and all the places in this guide. ↗ Lime Electric bike share, and my preferred way to get around Paris. ↗ Uber Works the way it does everywhere, and can hail a licensed Paris taxi as well as a private car. ↗ Bolt The European competitor, also with Paris taxis in the app. Have both, since prices vary between them. ↗Book a few things. Not everything.
Paris is better if you don’t schedule every hour.
popular exhibitions and busy dates
Versailles, the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay
For the major sights you really care about, buy ahead. The Louvre, Versailles, popular temporary exhibitions and busy museum dates are the ones I’d plan.
the Marais
Canal Saint-Martin
walking or biking along the Seine
Champagne at Sacré-Cœur
Leave room to change your mind.
Official taxi
After baggage claim, follow the official taxi signs and taxi line. Ignore anyone approaching you inside the terminal offering you a ride.
Paris taxis have fixed airport fares. Which fare you pay depends on whether your destination is on the Right Bank or Left Bank.
Montmartre, the 9th, the Marais and the Louvre are on the Right Bank. Saint-Germain, the Latin Quarter and the Eiffel Tower are on the Left Bank.
These are official fixed fares for direct Paris-airport taxi journeys. Service Public ↗
After a long overnight flight, I’d usually just take the official taxi.
Fare checked August 2026
Uber or Bolt
Both work from CDG and Orly. Check the apps when you land, but don’t assume they’ll be cheaper than an official taxi. Pricing changes with demand, and airport pickup can be less convenient than walking straight to the taxi line.
Public transportation from the airport
If you’re traveling light, this is much cheaper.
The Paris Region ↔ Airports ticket costs €14 in 2026. Île-de-France Mobilités ↗
Use Île-de-France Mobilités or Google Maps for the actual route to your hotel rather than memorizing transfers.
Walk
My first choice. Paris is compact, and a lot of the best parts happen between wherever you thought you were going. If somewhere is 20–30 minutes away, I often just walk.
Metro + RER
For longer distances, the Metro is usually easiest. In 2026:
The Paris Metro doesn’t yet let you tap in with your bank card. Buy one-way tickets in the Île-de-France Mobilités app instead, and install it before you arrive. Downloading an app underground, with no signal and no eSIM yet, is a worse way to start the trip.
You can buy tickets using the Île-de-France Mobilités app and load them onto a compatible phone.
The old €2.15 ticket and carnet of 10 advice you may see online is outdated. The system changed.
Current Paris transit fares ↗ · Prices checked August 2026
Lime bikes
This is what I prefer. The electric bikes are easy for spontaneous short rides, and you leave them wherever you finish rather than hunting for a docking station. Rates and passes change, so check the app before unlocking.
One of my favorite things to do is bike along the Seine, particularly the stretches of riverbank without cars.
Uber + Bolt
Useful late at night, when you’re tired, dressed up, carrying things, or simply don’t want another Metro ride. I usually check both and compare.
Bolt is the European one. Neither is reliably cheaper than the other, so check both before you book. Both can also hail a licensed Paris taxi through the app.
And remember: driving across Paris is often slower than taking the Metro.
Paris eats on Paris time
Don't assume that because Google says a restaurant is open until 11pm you can turn up at 10:45pm for dinner. The kitchen may have stopped taking orders long before the doors close.
When it matters, check the restaurant's own site or Instagram as well as Google Maps.
A lot of kitchens close between lunch and dinner. If you're hungry mid-afternoon, look for:
It means the kitchen serves right through the afternoon. Otherwise, find a boulangerie.
And don't rush a good meal. Lunch or dinner with friends can easily stretch to a couple of hours. That's part of the pleasure of eating here.
Water
Paris tap water is safe to drink. At a restaurant, ask for:
Une carafe d’eau, s’il vous plaît.
Ordering a carafe d’eau is completely normal.
Tipping
Restaurant and café prices already include service. You do not need to add 20% the way you would in the United States. If the service was good, I usually round up or leave a few euros. It’s appreciated, not obligatory.
Cards and contactless work almost everywhere, in bakeries and for a single coffee. You don't need to carry much cash.
A small amount is still worth having: the odd market stall, a boulangerie with a card minimum, a tip you want to leave in coins. Use a bank ATM rather than the standalone machines in tourist areas.
If a card machine offers to charge you in dollars instead of euros, decline. Always pay in euros and let your own bank do the conversion.
You don’t need to speak French. But there is one rule worth knowing:
Say hello before asking for something.
Bonjour, or bonsoir after dark, is expected when you walk into a shop or a restaurant, said to anyone you see rather than just whoever’s serving you.
Au revoir matters just as much on the way out.
English is widely spoken in central Paris, but starting with bonjour goes a surprisingly long way.
Watch your phone
Paris is generally safe, but phone and wallet theft happens, particularly on crowded Metro trains and around major tourist sites. Don’t leave your phone sitting at the edge of an outdoor café table. On crowded trains, especially near the doors, know where your phone and wallet are.
Pharmacies are actually useful
Look for the illuminated green cross. French pharmacies are excellent for everyday medication, skincare and beauty products. If you need something unusually specific, I send people to the large pharmacy underground at Westfield Forum des Halles.
Groceries
My default for groceries plus household things.
Reliable and everywhere.
Organic, and where I'd go for produce, cheese and wine rather than a full shop.
Not where I’d go for cheap groceries. It’s where I’d go because food shopping there is fun.
La Grande Épicerie de Paris ↗Sundays and Mondays
Paris does not run on a completely predictable seven-day schedule. Independent shops and restaurants frequently close Sunday, Monday, or both. Museums often close Monday or Tuesday. Check Google Maps before crossing town for somewhere specific.
You don’t need to design a completely different trip. I’d just add one thing each day that is purely fun for them.
Great playgrounds, puppet shows and little sailboats on the pond.
Take it instead of making small kids climb the stairs to Sacré-Cœur. It uses the regular Paris transit system.
A very easy way to see a lot of Paris without making everyone walk all afternoon. I recommend Vedettes du Pont Neuf.
Berthillon on Île Saint-Louis for the Paris classic. Bachir on rue Rambuteau for Lebanese achta coated in crushed pistachios.
You’ll find them all over Paris. Simple, charming and excellent for younger kids.
Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie is my strongest rainy-day kid option.
And bring snacks. Paris restaurant schedules do not always align with hungry American children.
Short list. Most of Paris doesn't need a reservation.
Set up the transit app
Decide how you're getting in from the airport
Major temporary exhibitions
Versailles or the Louvre, if your dates are fixed
Museum closing days
The weather
Save the spots you actually want to reach
Everything else you can decide on the morning of.
Don’t optimize Paris too much.
Pick a few things you really want to see. Book the things that actually need booking. Then leave enough empty space to walk somewhere, sit somewhere, have another glass of wine, or change your mind.
That’s usually when Paris gets good.