Would anyone please comment which would best be used for sightseeing..Our trip is 4 days in Paris..Saturday through Tuesday..And the relative costs..Thankyou
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I have been to Paris 4 times and have never been on the hop on hop off buses. They are maybe ok for getting your bearings on the first day but are not the most cost effective way of travelling around the city. Most sites in Paris include in their guide book descriptions the name of the nearest Metro station so with a little practice it is easy to work out your route from place to place. There are various passes available which cover all public transport but I have always just bought a carnet which is 10 tickets at a cost of just over 11 euros. Each ticket is valid for about an hour from when you first enter the system for travel in one direction.
Not sure of the cost for the hop on hop off buses but think it may be about 15 euros per person per day so not much contest on price !:-)
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check to see the walking distance - most of central Paris is easily walkable and you experience so much more of the ambiance of the city. Plus you can stop and see the things tha catch your eye. Metro is necessary for some locales but the foot is the %26quot;Frenchiest %26quot; way to see the city.
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We were in Paris a year ago. We decided to take the hop on/hop off the first day to give us an overview. There is a good naration of the city. The cost was 25 euro for the day and for 3 more euro you could get another day. So the first 2 days we used that as transportation. On the third day we used the batobus - what fun that was.
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I%26#39;ll be in Paris (day trip from London) with three friends in September. We were thinking about doing the Hop On/Hop off bus tour? Any thoughts?
Cheers--
Susan
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With only four days in Paris, you%26#39;ll be better off with a carnet or two of ten tickets (approx. 11 euros each as of last June). All major sights are within walking distance of a metro station.
My best suggestion: keep some time to visit the most beautiful city in the world on foot.
You%26#39;ve guessed it, I%26#39;m a Paris lover.
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The HopOn Hop Off tour is probably best used as a %26quot;first day getting to know the city and rest a bit while this bus takes me around%26quot; activity. I don%26#39;t think it makes a good means of transportation throughout the city. First of all because you have to wait for the buses to arrive, then because you have to wait in traffic while going from point a to point b, and finally because you have to pay dearly for the experience (compared to a metro ticket).
So I would maybe do it the first day, and then use the metro and go by foot the rest of the time. I think that is the best use of your time and money.
Les
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The hop on/hop off buses are terrific when the weather is nice. If it%26#39;s too hot or too cold or raining, you may as well take city buses.
But, when the weather is beautiful, views from the seats on the open air upper deck are fantastic and provide great photo ops. There are several routes with stops at the major sights much more convenient than the metro.
The city bus stops are much more convenient than metro stops as well.
The hop on/hop off buses start later and stop earlier than the city buses, so you%26#39;d probably want to pick up a carnet to supplement. And, the routes are in one direction, so you%26#39;d want to hop off in order.
The metro is full of hallways and stairways (and, unfortunately, pickpockets), especially if you have to %26quot;correspond%26quot; to get where you%26#39;re going. And, you miss all the scenery on the metro.
I recommend resisting the urge to walk everywhere. You%26#39;ll do more walking that you ever dreamed possible anyway even if you ride whenever possible.
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As noted, the %26#39;..hop-on / hop-off tour buses make for GREAT %26#39;..excursions..%26#39; to orient yourself to Paris, the city%26#39;s layout and get a sense of the relative locations...but it should NOT be confused for or with an excellent, easy-to-use, economic and convenient proper %26#39;..public transportation system..%26#39;. Even the best %26#39;..hop-on / hop-off..%26#39; tour bus service offers ony four(4) interconnected (fixed transfer points) routes and these routes have fixed directional %26#39;..circuits..%26#39;. Frequency of buses runs anywhere from every 15 minutes to 30 minutes and are subject to the vageries of the city%26#39;s surface traffic. There are also fewer regular stops and the service ceases for the day at approx 18:00-30 (6:00--6:30 PM) with no evening service available.
As for the relative costs of each, you can do the math and make your own comparisons from the Tarifs pages of these sites--
RATP Ticket %26amp; Pass Prices--
ratp.info/informer/titres_de_transport.php
PARIS L%26#39; OPEN TOURS INFO--
http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng.htm
Les CARS ROUGES INFO--
http://www.carsrouges.com/uk/index.html
BATOBUS--
http://www.batobus.com/
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