First Time in Paris: Everything You Need to Know
The practical stuff that makes the difference between confused and confident
Paris has a reputation for being difficult and honestly, it's earned. The metro smells weird, the waiters aren't rude but they're not falling over themselves either, and everything closes between 2 and 7 PM on Sundays. But once you know about five things - how to buy metro tickets, when restaurants actually open, where to avoid eating, what's free, and how to say "bonjour" like you mean it - the city opens up completely.
This isn't a guide about what to see. You already know about the Eiffel Tower. This is the practical stuff that makes the difference between spending €200 a day feeling confused and spending €80 feeling like you've been coming here for years.
The Schedule
Paris runs on a clock that makes no sense until you surrender to it. Breakfast is a croissant and coffee at a zinc bar, standing up, for €3.50 total. Lunch is between noon and 2 PM - show up at 2:15 and the kitchen is closed, no exceptions. Dinner starts at 7:30 PM at the earliest, and 8:30 is more normal.
The gap between lunch and dinner is not dead time. It's when you walk, sit in parks, browse bookshops, and drink coffee. The French have been doing this for centuries and they're right - cramming activities into every hour is how you burn out by Day 2.
Sunday is complicated. Most shops close. Many restaurants close. Museums stay open. Bakeries open in the morning. Plan your Sunday around a market, a museum, and a long lunch, and you'll be fine.
Getting Around
Buy a Navigo Easy card at any metro station and load 10 rides for €16.90. Each ride costs €1.69 instead of the €2.15 single ticket price, and you won't waste time at ticket machines when you're trying to catch the last metro at 1:15 AM.
The metro goes almost everywhere and runs until about 12:45 AM (2:15 AM Friday and Saturday nights). Lines 1 and 14 are driverless and feel futuristic. Line 13 is the worst line - hot, crowded, and seemingly designed to test your patience. Avoid it during rush hour.
Walking is usually better than the metro for short trips. Most central arrondissements are 15-20 minutes apart on foot, and you'll see more. The bus is underrated - Route 69 goes past the Eiffel Tower, Invalides, the Louvre, and Bastille, all for one metro ticket.
Where to Stay
Le Marais (4th)
- -Walk to everything that matters in under 15 minutes
- -Best dinner variety - from €12 bistros to Michelin stars
- -Place des Vosges and Rue de Rosiers right outside your door
- -Mid-range hotels €120-200/night
Saint-Germain (6th)
- -Classic Left Bank energy - cafes where Sartre actually sat
- -Two blocks from Musee d'Orsay and Luxembourg Gardens
- -Restaurant scene skews upscale but worth the €35 dinner splurge
- -Quieter after 10 PM, feels more residential than touristy
Montmartre (18th)
- -Village vibe with actual vineyards and windmills still working
- -Steep hills mean great views but sore calves
- -Metro ride to main sights but Sacre-Coeur is literally your backyard
- -Hotels €80-150/night, best value in central Paris by far
Eating Without Getting Ripped Off
A croissant from the best bakery in the neighborhood costs €1.20, same as one from the worst. The difference is life-changing. Look for "artisan boulanger" on the sign.
The prix fixe lunch menu (called "formule" or "menu du jour") is your best friend. Two courses at Le Comptoir du Relais for €22 that cost €45 at dinner. Same kitchen, same chef, half the price.
If there's a menu in six languages with photos, keep walking. If there's a handwritten chalkboard in French only, sit down.
Carafe d'eau is free tap water and it's your legal right at any restaurant. Don't let them bring a €6 bottle of Evian unless you want one.
Skip any restaurant on the Champs-Elysees, near Notre-Dame, or around the Eiffel Tower. Walk 10 minutes in any direction and you'll eat twice as well for half the price.
What Nobody Tells You
Always say "Bonjour" when entering any shop, cafe, or restaurant. This single word is the difference between good service and that famous Parisian coldness everyone complains about. It's not cultural - it's basic manners, and skipping it is like walking into someone's house without saying hello.
The Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes at the top of every hour after dark. Free, magical, and nobody mentions it in advance. Watch from Trocadero or the Champ de Mars.
Pickpockets work the metro and major tourist sites. They're usually groups of teenagers with clipboards asking you to sign petitions. Hands in pockets, keep walking, say "non merci" firmly.
Pharmacies (green cross signs) are incredibly helpful. Walk in with any ailment and the pharmacist will recommend something. It's like having a free doctor consultation.
The Paris Museum Pass (€55 for 2 days, €70 for 4) pays for itself after the Louvre (€17) and Orsay (€16). More importantly, it lets you skip ticket queues, which at the Louvre can be 90 minutes.
Common Mistakes
Trying to see everything
Paris rewards depth, not breadth. The people who love it most saw three things and sat in two cafes. The people who hate it ran between eight museums and ate a croque monsieur at midnight because they missed dinner. See 3 things well instead of 8 things badly.
Not booking ahead
The Eiffel Tower and Louvre sell out their timed entry slots. Book 2-3 weeks ahead minimum for the Eiffel Tower, a few days for the Louvre. Walk-up queues are 60-90 minutes on a good day, and the Eiffel Tower simply stops selling tickets when it's full.
Eating near landmarks
The restaurants within sight of any monument are uniformly terrible and expensive. That €18 croque monsieur near Notre-Dame would be €9 and twice as good at any bistro five minutes away. The tourist tax is real and you pay it in bad food.
Taking taxis everywhere
The metro is faster in traffic and costs €1.69 vs €15+ for a cab. Paris traffic is genuinely terrible, especially between 5 and 8 PM, and the metro line is almost always faster. Save cabs for late nights when the metro stops running.
Skipping the neighborhoods
The best parts of Paris aren't attractions with tickets, they're streets you wander down accidentally. The Marais on a Sunday morning, Montmartre at sunset, Canal Saint-Martin on a warm evening - these are free, they're unforgettable, and no guidebook can schedule them.
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