Paris Travel Guide 2016: Essential Tourist Information, Maps & Photos (NEW EDITION)

10 of the best travel apps … that you'll actually use

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Beneath its heavenly peak is the traditional alpine village of Chamonix, nestled in a high-mountain valley. This quaint little town is filled with historic churches, cozy chalet restaurants, and charming auberges. Chamonix is a great base for skiing, hiking, rock climbing, and outdoor adventures, or just relaxing.

Soak up the serene scenery and listen to the sound of rushing streams. Savor hearty meals of the rustic Savoy cuisine-based on potatoes, cheese, and charcuterie with specialties like fondue and raclette. Where to Stay in Chamonix. Some of the prettiest villages in France are tucked away in the green, rolling hills of Alsace, where the Vosges Mountains border the Rhine River of Germany.

These picturesque Alsatian villages feature pastel-painted, half-timbered houses clustered around small parish churches.

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Cheerful flowering balconies and pedestrian cobblestone streets add to the appeal. Other flower-bedecked Alsatian villages are so pretty that they have been designated as both "Villages Fleuris" and " Plus Beaux Villages de France " Most Beautiful Villages of France , including the storybook hamlet of Riquewihr , with its quaint historic houses, and the enchanting village of Eguisheim , nestled in a valley.

Another "Most Beautiful Village" is Mittelbergheim , known for its gastronomy and idyllic scenery, at the foot of the verdant Mont Saint-Odile. For those planning an Alsace vacation itinerary, Colmar is a good base to explore the Alsatian villages and surrounding nature trails. Where to Stay in Alsace. With its turreted towers and crenellated ramparts, Carcassonne seems straight out of a fairy-tale scene.

This well-preserved and renovated fortified city takes visitors into the world of the Middle Ages. Every street, square, and building has retained its medieval character. Must-see tourist attractions are the double-circuited ramparts with 54 towers and the 13thth-century Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire with spectacular stained-glass windows. One of the other popular things to do here is view the Bastille Day fireworks on July 14th.

Where to Stay in Carcassonne. Brittany is a beautiful historic region on the northeastern coast of France. Rugged seaside scenery, quaint fishing villages, and weathered sea ports characterize this region. Brittany is proud of its ancient traditions and famous for its costumed religious festivals. Brittany is also a mystical land of myths and legends, with a Celtic influence and a dialect related to Gaelic. The quintessential Breton port is Saint-Malo surrounded by ancient walls. Quimper is a picture-postcard historic town with handsome half-timbered houses, pleasant squares, and an impressive Gothic cathedral.

Other highlights of Brittany are the pristine sandy beaches, tiny remote islands, and ancient castles. Where to Stay in Brittany. Biarritz is a fashionable beach town on the beautiful Bay of Biscay in France's Basque country. This large sandy beach, with its broad seafront promenade, has attracted high-society vacation goers since the Belle Epoque. Other must-see sights are related to the ocean: For a taste of the town's regal past, visit the chic Miremont Tearoom that has served exceptional pastries since Where to Stay in Biarritz. Suspended between heaven and earth on a sheer limestone cliff, Rocamadour is an unforgettable sacred site.

In the 11th century, this pilgrimage destination was the third most important in Christendom after Jerusalem and Rome. Rocamadour was also a stop on the medieval pilgrimage trail to Santiago de la Compostela in Spain. This precious Virgin Mary figure was carved from walnut wood that naturally darkened over the centuries and is associated with miracles.

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Where to Stay in Rocamadour. Visitors can delve into the fascinating world of prehistoric art in Lascaux, the finest example of Paleolithic art in the world. It tells you what drinks cost, how long happy hour lasts usually several hours in France and how far the place is from you. And if you are really traveling on a budget the app can direct you towards the absolute cheapest joints to enjoy a cocktail, wine, or beer in style. User Berbard Tschaen wrote: Next the database on Paris is complete and that's essential.

For beer lovers, Mister Good Beer is a good alternative, directing you straight to the cheapest pints in the vicinity. It gives you the maximum price for a beer in each bar, as well as directions and opening times, helping you avoid tourist traps. My Airport is the official app of Paris's airport authority and has everything from flight arrival and departure time to terminal information like boarding gates.

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Also if you end up driving to the airport the app has a function that will remember where you parked your car. If you've wandered around the warren of concrete car storage at Charles de Gaulle you'll be glad to have some help. Use the AlloCab app to book rides not only around Paris, but in several other French cities.

The app is in French but is easy to follow, allowing you to book a car with just one click and get a fixed price for your cab - regardless of traffic. You can track your driver on the map to see how close they are, and receive a text message when your car is nearly there. Visited France recently, and had the best driver I ever had!

I recommend this service to anyone! T heFork allows you to read over 3 million customer reviews of a huge variety of restaurants, making it easy to choose where to eat. You can also save on future meals, with discounts offered by many participating restaurants, making it perfect for foodies on a budget. It also works in Spain, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland so is particularly handy if you are planning a trip around Europe.

It is a wonderful and reliable resource.

Learn French Vocabulary Free is one of the only French language apps to be percent free, and it offers lessons targeted to beginners or advanced learners, and different groups including business, dating and general travel. A listening-only mode allows you to multitask, learning vocab while driving or doing something else, plus the offline mode means you won't rack up roaming charges.

User Mikayil Eliyev described at as "Super! Would definitely recommend to anyone, especially for beginners! If you're keen to avoid the usual tourist traps, Secrets de Paris reveals the lesser known highlights of the capital. You can check the distance and route to each of the 'secrets' and save your favourites in a list. The app is available in French and English and also works offline. This article was first published in November and updated in August Iceland may have a population of just over , people all with equally unpronounceable names but that doesn't stop it churning out a stream of globally-renowned people.

Take our quiz to discover your Icelandic spirit animal. Search France's news in English. News categories Marseille Lyon Toulouse More…. Membership My account Gift voucher Corporate Help center. Jobs in France Browse jobs Post a vacancy. Email newsletters Newsletter sign-up Edit my subscriptions. Other pages Apartment rentals Noticeboard. Summer or winter travel, sightseeing city breaks or adventure travels, they have the best insurance proposal to cover your needs. If you liked this post and found it useful, spread the word and share the Paris Travel Planner with your friends through your favorite social media.

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If your first trip to Paris will be a short layover only, check our post below. World in Paris is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon. Quirky Parisian explorers with a preference for the less known sights, we are continuously looking for new ideas and tips to bring you the best of the City of Light. This seems so handy! I wish you a great stay in Paris.

Would be nice to visit during summer, a hot day walking along the edge of the Seine sounds nice! I was in Paris two weeks ago and absolutely love it.

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A cute little hotel and walking distance from Notre Dame. There is so much I would like to go back and see. I did a lot already but I feel like Paris could be explored for years. This is so helpful! Great tool to plan a trip to Paris. When we went there we had got a Paris Pass and found our way around by trial and error. A planner like this would have been a boon and would have saved us a lot of time. It s a great little into for everyone who visits Paris.

Paris is a must for everyone, who wants to see Europe. It is one of the most beautiful capitals in the World. Yeah, I would advice booking in advance, too. Everyone should do this especially when going to most visited destination.

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Thanks so much for posting. Thanks for the great tips. I learnt a lot about Paris for my next visit. I find it interesting that the Louvre attracts more visitors than the Eiffel Tower. I visited both on my short visit to Paris many years ago but I need to go back again. These are awesome tips! You have mentioned a lot of options and very detailed. I would be able to save and find interesting things. Awesome guide, this really covers everything.

You are welcome Megan. This is super helpful for anyone going to Paris. I agree about being flexible. Here in Scotland we can visit so much of Europe for little money if we can be super flexible. I like the idea a lot of the guided tour by a local to have the real Paris experience and see places that I might miss if I go on my own.

I will surely join to your community when I will have plans to visit Paris again. Thanks for the post. I have always felt Paris was a very expensive destination to explore.

Thanks to your posts, my perception is changing and how! I always love to explore the destinations with a local because that is the sure shot way to explore all the lesser known and not so crowded places which only locals enjoy. I believe, there are two faces to a destination always. The face which the tourists see and the other and the better face which only the locals know and cherish.

I would definitely love to see the 2nd face of Paris. Reliving that one in Paris sounds very enticing to be part of my schedule this month. What a lovely resource. I know so many people who are almost paralyzed with choice, what to see, where to eat, to make the absolute most of their time. I hope your community continues to grow!

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