01-02-2005, 05:06 AM

Thinking about spend a week in Paris. Just wonder how Rick Steves's tour
compare to other pre-packaged tours. Thanks in advance.

01-03-2005, 04:56 PM

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 06:06:14 +0100, no e-mail
<> wrote:

>Thinking about spend a week in Paris. Just wonder how Rick Steves's tour
> compare to other pre-packaged tours. Thanks in advance.

The only advantage I can see to taking any tour is that they arrange
the transportation from one place to another so you don't have to
schlepp your luggage into trains and busses. If you're staying put in
Paris for a week, I can't see why you would take a tour. Get a central
hotel, get a metro pass, get a good guide book and meander around
Paris on your own.

__________________
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

01-03-2005, 06:02 PM

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:56:29 +0100, B Vaughan<> wrote:

    >On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 06:06:14 +0100, no e-mail
    ><> wrote:
    >>Thinking about spend a week in Paris. Just wonder how Rick Steves's tour
    >> compare to other pre-packaged tours. Thanks in advance.
    >The only advantage I can see to taking any tour is that they arrange
    >the transportation from one place to another so you don't have to
    >schlepp your luggage into trains and busses. If you're staying put in
    >Paris for a week, I can't see why you would take a tour. Get a central
    >hotel, get a metro pass, get a good guide book and meander around
    >Paris on your own.

And if you are a Rick Steves fan, he has produced a pretty good
guidebook on Paris, which would take you to the same places his
tour groups go. One of the big advantages of self touring is that
you can linger at spots you really like. Rather than being moved
on with a group. Paris is a city that lends itself to just wandering,
as well as seeing "sights".

01-03-2005, 06:36 PM

no e-mail wrote:

> Thinking about spend a week in Paris. Just wonder how Rick Steves's tour
> compare to other pre-packaged tours. Thanks in advance.

I don't know anything about Rick Steves' tour of Paris, but taking some sort
of tour around the city is not a bad idea if you have a lot of time and
don't know much about the city. On one of my trips to Paris we took a
boat/minivan tour of the city and saw some areas that looked interesting
that we would not otherwise have known about. It's not a bad way to get
yourself oriented. Then again, in a city like Paris it may not be necessary,
depending on your personal sense of adventure. Paris is a wonderful city in
which to simply roam about. You can walk for miles and miles and see
interesting and wonderful things almost everywhere. The money spent on a
tour might be better spend on a visitor pass.

Paris has a great public transportation system. It's not difficult to figure
out the Metro system. There are a number of different loops with connecting
stations. Just figure out where you are, where your destination is, and then
check the Metro map for your closest stations and the lines you have to take
to get there.

01-04-2005, 01:22 AM

Or hire a private guide for a day or two just to get you started .
Anybody who follows this list at all regularly probably knows
one........................

__________________
wf.

B Vaughan wrote:
    >
    > On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 06:06:14 +0100, no e-mail
    > <> wrote:
    >
    > >Thinking about spend a week in Paris. Just wonder how Rick Steves's tour
    > > compare to other pre-packaged tours. Thanks in advance.
    >
    > The only advantage I can see to taking any tour is that they arrange
    > the transportation from one place to another so you don't have to
    > schlepp your luggage into trains and busses. If you're staying put in
    > Paris for a week, I can't see why you would take a tour. Get a central
    > hotel, get a metro pass, get a good guide book and meander around
    > Paris on your own.
    >

01-04-2005, 11:29 AM

Rita wrote:
> Paris is a city that lends itself to just wandering, as well as
> seeing "sights".

Just what we did:
http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/ParisDid.html at the site at
Right in the sig.
__________________________________________________ __________
One of (as of 2003) 751,682 residents of San Francisco
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ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 IClast at SFbay Net

01-05-2005, 04:32 AM

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 18:02:28 GMT, Rita <>
wrote:
    >And if you are a Rick Steves fan, he has produced a pretty good
    >guidebook on Paris, which would take you to the same places his
    >tour groups go. One of the big advantages of self touring is that
    >you can linger at spots you really like. Rather than being moved
    >on with a group. Paris is a city that lends itself to just wandering,
    >as well as seeing "sights".

I know the fellow who did the research on Paris for the Steves' book;
he has a (part-time) home in France and lived in Paris for several
years and knows the city well.

I agree if you are going to be in one place for a weke, you don;t need
tour, just a good book or two to pointyou ih the right direction(s).