What hasn’t been said about Paris until today? There have been movies, songs, series about it, since time immemorial the city of lights has been a huge inspiration for the whole world. It is the capital of an extraordinary culture, diverse fashion, fine food and above all attractions that put all European cities deep in the small pocket. Over the hundreds of years that it has existed, Paris has become one of the most touristed in the world, and in order to put everything in order, we have prepared a neat guide of everything you need before your next visit to Paris.
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Flights to the city
There are three international airports in the city, two of which have flights from Israel. The largest and best known of them is “Charles de Gaulle” which is located 25 km north of the city center and to which regular airlines such as El Al, Arkia and Air France fly. The second airport is “Orly” which is located 15 km south of the city center, and flights are made to it Mainly from the low cost companies such as EasyJet and Transavia.
From the various airports you can get there by taxis, buses or one of the metro lines, which is also the recommended, most convenient and most affordable way. Travel times by metro from the airports to Châtelet station, which is one of the most central in the city, will take about half an hour from each airport.
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What do you do in Paris?
Arc de Triomphe
One of the main symbols of Paris is the Arc de Triomphe, which is at the end of the Champs-Élysées, which is about two kilometers long, starts at the Concorde monument and contains hundreds of shops of all kinds, restaurants, cafes, car showrooms and more. A lot of things. It is highly recommended to walk along the boulevard and discover the shops that are there.
The gate itself is in the middle of a huge square that contains 12 exits. To get to the center of the square and to observe inside the famous building, you can enter underground passages located in the streets adjacent to the square itself. The observation itself from the square is at a height of 45 meters and is spectacular and special, and gives the opportunity to look out over the entire city center.
Address:
Opening hours: from April to October 10:00-23:00, from October to April 10:00-22:30
Price: 13 euros
Website: https://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/en/
Eiffel Tower
The huge tower that was built sometime in 1889 for the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, has become over the years the most iconic symbol of Paris and an attraction that no one wants to miss upon arriving in the city. The height of the tower reaches 330 meters and has three levels: the first is located in the wide lower part of the tower at a height of 57 meters, the second level is located not far above it at a height of 116 meters, and the third level is located at the top at a height of 276 meters, and the view from it is unimaginable.
To go up to all floors there are stairs and an elevator, while the first and second floors can be climbed on foot yourself (a particularly tiring task, good luck with the number of stairs) and the third floor can only be reached by a special elevator. Note that the rate for the third floor is separate and probably more expensive, but of course worth the price. In addition, under the tower there is a huge park that is of course worth a visit in itself and is open to the public.
Address: Quai Jacques Chirac
Opening hours: 9:30-23:00
Price: taking the elevator to the top floor will cost 28.3 euros, to the second floor 18.10 euros and going up the stairs to this floor through the stairs will cost 11.30 euros.
Website: https://www.toureiffel.paris/en
Eiffel Tower (Photo: EngImage)The Louvre Museum
This museum is known to most of us as the home of the Mona Lisa, but it is worth knowing that the Louvre Museum contains many other magnificent works. The museum covers a huge area of more than 60,000 square meters and it stood out, among other things, due to its unique shape, a large palace in the center of which is a glass pyramid through which you enter the museum. It is good to know that there are tours in English as well as portable audio guides that you can take for a self-guided tour.
Address: Pl. du Carrousel
Opening hours: on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the place is open between 9:00-18:00, and on Friday between 09:00-21:45. On Tuesday the museum is closed.
Entrance price: 17 euros for an adult over the age of 18
Website: www.louvre.fr
The Louvre (Photo: Reuters)Notre Dame Cathedral
An amazing and impressive Gothic cathedral. Notre Dame (Notredame de Paris) contains many murals and special sculptures in the form of monstrous figures that were placed, among other things, at its ends. However, in 2019 there was a fire in the place and it is not possible to enter until the restoration of the cathedral, but it is advisable to jump and see its structure from the outside.
Center Pompidou
The Center Pompidou is one of the unique buildings in the city, and it is a building designed in a futuristic style, designed in the 70’s and its uniqueness is that its construction reveals the steel frame and the glass walls in place. In the center there is a large square where performances such as street theater, mimes and more are held. Entrance to the center itself is free, but entrance to exhibitions and galleries is subject to a fee.
Address: Place Georges-Pompidou
Opening hours: every day except Tuesday between 11:00 and 21:00, some exhibitions close earlier.
Website: www.centrepompidou.fr
Pompidou Center in Paris (Photo: Ingeimage)opera house
The magnificent Opera House (Opéra Garnier) has the largest stage in the world. You can enter to tour the spectacular building and wander the staircases of the house of the knowing phantom.
Address: Pl. de l’Opéra
Opening hours: every day between 10:00-17:00, you can enter until 16:15
Website: https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/visits/palais-garnier
Center of Montmartre
The hill at a height of 130 meters (Montmartre) contains the Church of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and has a wide park located on the whole hill. The place is also defined as one of the best observation points of Paris. The hill is even considered a cultural center and around it there are several theaters and important cultural places such as the Dalí Museum, the Max Forni Museum of Naive Art and the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub. In addition, the cemetery in Montmartre is one of the most special in the world, and many artists and celebrities are buried there.
כתובת: Rue du Chevalier de la Barre
Opening hours of the church: every day between 6:30-22:45
Website: https://www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com/
Montmartre Center in Paris (Photo: Ingeimage)The catacombs
This unique attraction may startle some of you, but it is one of a kind. The catacombs are a type of unique Paris cemetery from hundreds of years ago and contain skulls arranged in a row, bones, vertebrae and other skeletal parts. There is a guided tour that will tell you a little about the Paris of the past.
Size: 1 av. of Colonel Henry Roll-Tanguyu
Opening hours: 9:45-20:30, entry until 19:30
Price: 29 euros for adults, 5 euros for children
Website: https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/
Luxembourg Gardens
The popular gardens (Jardin-du-Luxembourg) are located in the sixth arrondissement of the city, and are the second largest park in Paris. The park has fountains, sculptures, ornamental ponds, horse riding, a puppet theater on weekends, playgrounds and cafes. The gardens are highly recommended for a visit to those who want to relax and jump to their own place and are impressive in their beauty.
Street: Place Edmond Rostand, 6th arrondissement
Website: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71393/Jardin-du-Luxembourg
Luxembourg Gardens (Photo: Ingeimage)Vincennes Forest
If you have a bit of time, it’s worth going a little further towards the suburbs of the city and reach the Vincennes forest (Bois de Vincennes). The forest is the largest green area in Paris, designed in an English style, with magnificent artificial lakes with the possibility of boating, huge lawns, cycling and horse riding tracks and many kilometers of wooded areas. The forest even contains a large zoo and the castle of Vincennes, which used to be a favorite vacation spot for the kings of France.
Entrance to the park is free
Website: https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71314/Bois-de-Vincennes
Boulogne Forest
The forest located in the west of the city (Bois de Boulogne) is the most popular resort, leisure and entertainment in Paris. It contains a huge number of lakes, lawns, and the Louis Vuitton Museum of Contemporary Art, whose building form is undefined and unusual.
Entrance to the park is free
Website: https://www.parisinfo.com/musee-monument-paris/71494/Bois-de-Boulogne
The Louis Vuitton Museum in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris (Photo: Ingeimage)Euro disney
And finally, you can’t really close the list of attractions in Paris without the huge “attraction”, the famous Eurodisney. The park is one of the leaders in the world in the number of visitors and first place in the number of visitors in Europe as a whole. The size of the huge amusement park is about 19 square kilometers and is located about an hour’s train ride from the city center. In fact, it is the closest Disney theme park to Israel, which has become a mandatory destination for every family trip to the French capital.
Because of its large size, many families come to the park for more than one day, and for that it contains no less than seven hotels, a huge shopping center, restaurants, golf courses and more. It is good to know that apart from the entrance ticket itself, you can also buy more expensive tickets that allow you to skip queues at facilities throughout the park. Each facility has an electronic sign that shows how long you will wait in line, and it is worth noting that in the summer season there is a heavy load of visitors which results in queues of at least an hour and a half in some facilities.
Address: Bd de Parc, Coupvray
Opening hours: every day between 9:30 and 23:00
Price: from 56 euros when ordering on the website
Website: https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-int/
How do you get around?
Paris is one of the cities in which, in my eyes, getting around is one of the most comfortable in the world, and contains dozens of bus lines, light rail, many metro lines and heavy trains. It is good to know that the distribution of trains in Paris is carried out as follows: the city is networked with 15 metro and light rail lines that cross it from all sides and the distances of the stations are relatively close. They mostly reach the suburbs of the city and are the main source of traffic. The metro stations are marked with the letter M in the familiar red color and the metro itself is numbered in ascending order.
Other trains are RER, which are marked with these letters and are considered the “intercity” trains of Paris that start and end their route in towns that are about an hour’s drive from the capital and cross it at the main hubs. There are five trains of this type and they are marked with the letters ABC. Another train that operates in the city is the TGV, which is France’s fastest train and travels at enormous speeds between the country’s major cities with almost no stops at all.
To the city’s transport website: https://www.ratp.fr/en
The metro sign in Paris (Photo: Ingeimage)I eat, I eat
Paris is known for one of the richest cuisines in the world, with the most spectacular restaurants and cafes that have inspired everyone. The pastries of this city are incomparable to any other place, and there is no doubt that every visit to Paris it is impossible not to taste at least once the baguette or the famous corazons that characterize the French capital.
According to the Trip Advisor index, the five restaurants at reasonable prices in Paris that received the highest score are “Frog XVI”, “Bistrot Instinct”, Il Etait Un Square”, Nell’Arte”, “Da Giuseppe”. Also, the best cafes that won the same index are “Matamata Coffee Bar”, “O Coffee”, “Lindt” “Bagel Baget Cafe”, “A. Lacroix Patissier”.
Coffee and croissants in Paris (Photo: Ingeimage)What about shopping?
Lafayette Gallery
The mythical department store (Galeries Lafayette) is an unimaginable and elegant place that will stun you as soon as you enter and will explain to you why Paris is the fashion capital of the world. The store’s location, near the Paris Opera House and the most fashionable areas of the city, helped transform it from a small family store, to a world-renowned fashion and style hall. This department store is an empire of huge stores of all types that you can imagine, and is divided so that on each of its eight floors you will find a different theme of types of shopping.
the fourth quarter
The district is also called Le Marais district and it has become an updated chic area and along it there are designer shops and special boutiques. Along Rivoli Street there are large stores and brands, and in the side streets you will find cool vintage stores and boutiques.
Galerie Lafayette in Paris (Photo: Inimage)The sixth district
The district is also called the Latin Quarter, is in the center of the city and contains the Montparnasse area with the street Rue De Rennes. Along the entire length there is a huge selection of different and diverse shops. Small shops, delicatessens and large chains as well. This is one of the main sites for shopping on the Paris map.
For La Defense
Contains several malls such as Les Quatre Temps which includes a multitude of brands, the Les 4 Temps mall which has a multitude of diverse stores and branches of well-known fashion brands, as well as the Soleil Creteil mall which includes about two hundred stores including a Primark branch and a huge Carrefour supermarket.