Two things changed in Paris this year that the guidebooks have not caught up with. The paper ticket is finished: the little cardboard rectangles stopped being valid on the buses in the spring and on the rail network soon after, so arriving without a travel pass or a contactless bank card now means a queue at a machine before you go anywhere. And the Louvre has split its price list by passport, charging visitors from outside the European Economic Area close to half again what European ones pay, which makes nationality a line in the budget for the first time. Neither dents the case for the city: UNESCO lists the banks of the Seine, and that single stretch reads like a highlight reel of Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the great squares and bridges and the iron lattice of the Eiffel Tower closing the view.
Arrival is the easy part, with two major airports and fast rail from London, Brussels and half of Europe, though travellers from outside the European Union are now registered electronically at the border with a photograph and fingerprints instead of a passport stamp, which slows a first entry. Once inside, the fare system is simpler than it looks: one ticket covers metro, train and regional rail across the whole of the Paris region at a flat price, the bus and tram fare is a separate ticket that a metro ticket does not cover, and there is a dedicated airport ticket for the run in from either field. Load them onto a reloadable Navigo card or tap a bank card at the validator. It is worth stopping to compare flights and hotels for Paris and picking the neighbourhood before the itinerary, because the walk home at night shapes the memory as much as any museum.
Where you stay sets the tone. In Le Marais, boutique hotels hide in the lanes near the Place des Vosges. Across the river in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, elegant historic hotels sit close to the Luxembourg Gardens. In the Latin Quarter, small family-run hotels cluster in the streets below the Pantheon. Up in Montmartre, relaxed mid-range hotels wait on the slopes beneath the Sacre-Coeur, a step from the crowds at the summit. Budget for the visitor tax as well: it is charged per adult per night rather than per room, with under-eighteens exempt, and the capital carries a regional surcharge on top of the national rate that makes it the steepest in the country, settled at the property rather than shown in the price you compared online.
A few fixed points carry the rest, and none of them is a hire car, which is pure liability here. A pre-booked transfer or the rail link tames the airport ends, and timed entries booked ahead turn the Louvre and the tower from queues into visits. Notre-Dame works differently and that catches people out: the cathedral floor is free with no ticket at all, and the optional slot that spares you a long wait opens only a couple of days before the visit rather than months, so it cannot sit on the same booking sheet as everything else. The bell tower is ticketed separately and reached by several hundred steps with no lift. A museum pass covers entry to a long list of sites and pays for itself over a packed few days, but read what it does not do: at the busiest places it still leaves you needing a booked slot, so it is a fare saver rather than a queue jumper. With a spare day, Versailles is a short train ride and Giverny's gardens are a gentler alternative in the warm months. You can check timed entry and day trip options and lock the fixed points early.
Around the ticketed giants runs the free city: the riverbanks, the Luxembourg Gardens, Montmartre's stairs, the covered passages of the right bank and the churches that ask nothing at the door. Several national museums open free on the first Sunday of the month, which is worth knowing and worth avoiding in equal measure, since everyone else knows it too. Season decides the queue more than it decides the beauty. Spring and early autumn are the kindest, summer is busy and hot with the longest waits, and winter has its own quiet mood and shorter lines, though big events can fill rooms at any time of year. Personally, I would give Paris mornings for the museums and evenings for the neighbourhoods, and leave room to sit still, because one unhurried cafe hour does more for the memory than three extra sights.
Q: Can you still buy paper metro tickets in Paris?
A: No. Paper tickets stopped being valid on buses in the spring and on the rail network soon after. Travel now runs on a reloadable Navigo card, a phone, or a contactless bank card tapped at the validator.
Q: Do visitors from outside Europe pay more at the Louvre?
A: Yes. Visitors from outside the European Economic Area now pay close to half again what European visitors pay, a change introduced this year to fund security and renovation work. Timed booking is still required either way.
Q: Do you need to book Notre-Dame in advance?
A: The cathedral floor is free and needs no ticket, though an optional timed slot cuts a long wait and opens only a couple of days before the visit rather than months. The bell tower is ticketed separately.
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