The 25 Biggest MISTAKES Tourists Keep Making in Paris

since we moved to Paris 2 and 1/2 years ago we visited every single Landmark including this one and we've made our fair share of mistakes since we've been here in Paris and we hear from people all the time with unrealistic itineries afraid to wear the wrong clothes when they're in Paris and doing things that they simply should not be doing so in this video we're going to tell you the top mistakes people make when they come to the city of Paris so you don't make them on now let's talk about getting ready for your Paris

trip and all of the planning because the first thing we hear people say is I need to find a hotel right by the Eiffel Tower and maybe that's how you pictured it like waking up with a cappuccino and a croissant and a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower but the truth is there's not much to do around the tower and you're probably not going to get that view and it's going to cost you a lot more what you really want is to be in a vibrant neighborhood near a good Metro [Music] the next mistake we

see is people overpacking the I 10 Aries for their 3-day visit they are trying to cram way too many things to visit in just 3 days sometime we look at it 10 Aries that are dizzying look Parish should be a 7-Day visit in order being able to see everything trying to cram 7 days worth of visits into Tre days or sometime just 2 days is crazy make sure to schedule some serious downtime to just take it all in sit on a bench in a park for an hour or have a 2hour picnic on the St

river banks this will give you much better memories than being packed like a sardine going from room to room in versailes another mistake we see is people booking at Big Chain hotels now this may not be a mistake but it's definitely a missed opportunity if the reason you're booking at a chain hotel is because they're familiar consider booking a small family-owned Boutique Hotel they're much more charming and you'll have a better chance of getting that authentic Paris [Music] experience the next mistakes visitors do in Paris is they don't pack comfortable shoes in Paris on average

you'll do 20,000 steps a day and just to give you a context Lou is 9 M of galleries alone Paris is very walkable and you'll do a lot of it during your stay on cobblestone streets and a lot of stairs everywhere make sure to pack a pair of comfortable shoes for your trip to Paris we get messages all the time from people saying do I have to go to the lou everybody says I have to but you don't have to go anywhere you don't want to it's your trip you don't have to go visit Versailles

or go through all of the museums you don't want to there is nothing wrong with just sitting in cafes and discovering the neighborhoods of Paris do some research to find out things that appeal to you and we've done a lot of videos about this including where things are and how long they take to visit but the bottom line it's your trip you do you the next big mistake that people do is spending way too much time in Paris Paris thank you is not France now I get it you want to see all the major landmarks

but there's so much more to see than just Paris the region of dordon near Bordeaux is spectacular and the alsas region is absolutely gorgeous look there's no denying that the City of Paris is absolutely gorgeous but it's also hustling and bustling with hundreds of thousands of visitors every day another mistake we see when people are visiting Paris is overthinking the Wardrobe and what to pack this may be the fashion capital of the world but that doesn't mean you need to look like a fashion model if you want to blend in with the locals pack for

comfort of course you want to look nice and you want the photo memories to look fabulous but you don't need a new fabulous outfit for everything you do bring comfortable shoes and accessories to transition from day to night and you'll be [Music] fun another mistake that people do is they completely overpack when traveling to Paris we see them in the Metro struggling with their suitcase and carrying them up the stairs most people end up not wearing half the stuff they took with them too many shoes and too many outfits for most of Europe you should

attempt to pack what can fit in a carry-on luggage another mistake that people make in Paris is not drinking enough champagne I mean I remember the first time I ordered a pizza just in the afternoon and the waiter at ask do you want a glass of champagne but I'm used to America where champagne is for celebrations and beer goes with pizza so whether you're just hanging out in the afternoon having an afternoon Pizza just order the champagne you won't regret it now as a side note if you're coming to Paris I would highly recommend that

you check out our Paris travel tip PDF guide right there it has information about where to eat where to stay and where to have fun in Paris and we also have it as an online version on the thatch app so there's a link to the description below just check it out see if it's a good fit for you and now back to the video one mistake that people do is always ordering alak carts most restaurants offer a formula menu especially at lunchtime the lunch formula will include an app plus a meal or a meal plus

a dessert at a very good price now that may not be the case at dinner time but you can always ask because some restaurant offer it at dinner time too but it's usually a lunch thing you'll save a few bucks and you'll feel like a [Applause] local another mistake people often make is when you go to a cafe and you order a cup of coffee expecting American style service in France a cup of coffee is an espresso if you want American coffee or coffee with milk you have to tell them when you order it or

you won't get it and and if you're expecting free refills you're going to be disappointed if you want two cups you buy two cups and there's a big difference in price whether you're getting an espresso or another kind of coffee it's not a scam it's just how much they charge for coffee in [Music] Paris another mistake that we see people do is to go to these Instagram famous eer all around in Paris in our experience in those places you'll end up waiting in line to get in sometime up to 45 minutes and we've been very

underwhelmed by a few of them Angelina on Rudi comes to mind so does L duala on rud de Rosier or leago and San and I'm not saying that they're bad but personally I wouldn't wait 30 minutes just to get a seat to eat an overpriced dish I don't think so another mistake Travelers made is only eating french food and I get it French food is delicious but the French philosophies about food together with amazing quality ingredients make any food in France fantastic M eastern Indian foods are all amazing and some of the best Asian food

I've ever had was right here in Paris they even have excellent Cuban food so when you're visiting Paris broaden your options and try some new cuisines another mistake that people do is they don't try new dishes because they don't know what it is or what's in it now I get it some dishes may be a little scary when you don't even know how to pronounce it but be adventurous and try something new you can always have the way to Google Translate what's in it for you and we recently did a video called 10 French dishes

explained watch it and you'll learn what's in [Music] it in Europe most hotels offer a breakfast plan and it's not exactly a mistake to accept that but there are other options you want to consider before making your decision it's probably not going to be what you expect as an American style breakfast and depending on your jet lag you may not make it down in time for the service and if you're taking this option just so you have some details handled don't there are way too many options like bonger just around the corner where you're going

to find better cost save some time and you may want to skip breakfast and have more room for the fabulous lunches and [Music] dinners another Mystic that we see people do is to only take taxis and Ubers because you know the Metro is a little scary and complicated the Paris Metro is super efficient to move from place to place in Paris and sometimes much faster and way cheaper than taking a taxi once you get the hang of it the metro in Paris is not that complicated and I'd recommend you watch this video to understand how

to navigate the [Music] Metro one of the big mistakes we see is when you're in the airport or a train station like gardo people will offer you a taxi ride just don't take it if anyone is offering you a ride that's going to be a scam we suggest using the G7 taxi app and that works just like Ubers where you can schedule it get the driver and car information and pay through the app now you could use Uber but it's not as reliable and as private drivers they don't get to ride in the bus lanes

and that will slow you down even more in traffic if you want to hire a ride only go to specifically Mark taxi stands and get a cab with the official marker on top of the car the ones who approach you won't be licensed or insured and they're going to charge you a lot [Music] more now I can't tell you the number of people that told us they got ripped off or scammed by the TU tuck like this one in Paris especially near the airl tower almost none of these guys are regulated or insured it's almost

like going on a roller coaster that hasn't been inspected with an operator that wants to steal your money now there are a couple of operators that are professional but you need to do your due diligence don't just hop in the first one available it's probably not going to be the experience you were hoping [Music] for [Music] now if you're traveling from one town to another throughout Europe on your trip you may be thinking about flights and that would be a mistake there is a really robust Railway system throughout Europe so don't make the mistake of

flying from one place to another because it's more expensive the airports are outside of town and with the time you need to arrive before flights and to get back into town and your destination it's all a big waste book your transfers on trains leaving and arriving from the center of ten where you can pretty much show up and hop on in Europe trains are the way to get around another mistake that people do is not using a bathroom when you have the opportunity and having to use one of those Paris is famous for a lot

of things including not having enough bathrooms you won't find a bathroom in a store a supermarket or Pharmacy they have public bathroom but they are often broken or just plain nasty our trick is to never pass a bathroom when we see one and if we have to go we'll often stop in a cafe order a beverage and use their [Music] bathroom something we see all the time is people crowded together to get the same Instagram shots and I get it these are beautiful shots but there's often a much better angle just a few steps away

and people do crazy dangerous stuff like standing in the middle of the street to get shot please don't do that there are great locations all over Paris to get amazing shots we did a whole video right here on places where you can find [Music] them another mistake that people do is blocking the way where they're on an escalator or a people mover if you're on the right you can be standing the left is for people passing you now remember Paris is not a theme park most people around you are going to work or are headed

home that's the complain from many of our perisian friends about people standing in the middle of a sidewalk taking pictures or just walking slowly as a big group move to the side make sure you're not blocking the way the people around you are probably going to work or head at home Paris has some iconic shopping spots and some amazing places to buy souvenirs but if you're not visiting the neighborhoods and finding small boutique shops you're missing out the paper stores alone are worth a whole video and you'll find all sorts of Curiosities in the little

shops around and some amazing items to remind you of your trip when you're back home reliving the memories Stu another mistake that people do is accepting help from a complete stranger especially in a train station like gardo that's one of the tactic used by scammers they look for confused tourist and offer help and next thing you know your wallet is gone most Parisian won't offer help unless you ask anyone coming out of the blue to help is going to be suspicious to me I'm going to take a good look at the person before I engage

with them and perisian can be very nice and very helpful but use common sense before you engage with [Music] someone another mistake that many Travelers make is only hitting the big landmarks of course when you come to Paris you want to hit the highlights and depending on how much time you have you could end up spending a lot of that time standing in line there are over a 100 museums and some you've never heard of are simply wonderful like the home of Victor Hugo who wrote The Hunchback of notredam the Museum of Eugene dequa who

shaped the impressionist movement the Clooney medieval Museum and this place which has a stunning view of all of Paris and a lot of these lesser known places have free or really affordable entry fees and they are simply not to be missed if you've enjoyed this video next I would watch this one on how to plan your Paris travel [Music] aary