Paris > Tourist Mistakes > #4

Top 11 Tourist Mistakes in Paris
(and how to avoid them)

Continued from previous page

ABOVE: Why commute all over the map when you can stay near the pushpin?

Mistake #4: Commuting from the suburbs

We occasionally receive e-mails from readers who want advice on staying outside the city. Our reply is simple: "Don't."

Obviously, there are justifiable exceptions for choosing a hotel in the suburbs:

• If you plan to spend most of your time at Disneyland Paris, it makes sense to stay in or near the park.

• If the main reason for your trip is a visit to the Palace of Versailles, it's reasonable to stay in Versailles.

However, if the primary focus of your trip is Paris, then stay in Paris. You'll save money on transportation, you'll avoid unnecessary commuting time, and you'll still be enjoying the city at night when workers and tourists from the suburbs have gone home.

Note for American visitors:

In many countries, suburbs are considered safer and more desirable than the inner city. That isn't true in Paris, where crime rates are higher in some inner-ring suburbs than they are in the 20 arrondissements, and where people who have a choice usually prefer the city center. Our advice: Leave your city-vs.-suburbs preconceptions at home and enjoy Paris as the locals do.

Next page: Mistake #5: Lugging overloaded bags

About the author:

Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation.

After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (including Paris for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post.

For more information, see About our site, press clippings, and reader testimonials.

Map scan copyright © John Verner.

|   Paris for Visitors - Home  |

|  Europe for Visitors - Home  |