Paris Visitors & Tourism Bureau

Exploring Paris can be easy with help from the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau is stocked with information on hotels, restaurants, museums, transportation, current events, shopping and tours in Paris. Multilingual employees staff the bureau and can assist travelers who need medical attention, who have lost items or who need help contacting the police. Employees can also help travelers with disabilities find suitable taxis and other kinds of transportation or assistance. In addition to a main office near the Eiffel Tower, the bureau operates smaller offices and welcome kiosks throughout Paris.

Lodging

The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau offers listings and information for more than 2,000 hotels, aparthotels (apartments rented like hotel rooms), camp sites, rooms in private accommodations, youth hostels, and long-term rentals, totaling more than 75,000 rooms. Visitors can select listings based on price per night, location, nearest Metro stop, amenities and other factors. The Bureau provides free maps and information about transportation to all of the rooms it lists. Listings are updated in real time on the bureau's website, and users who book through the site receive instant confirmation of their lodging choice. The bureau can also help visitors book in person, which is very helpful if they speak no or little French and the prospective landlord has no or little English. Bureau employees can ask lodgings about specific needs you may require, or about other details.

Dining

The bureau also maintains a listing of restaurants throughout Paris and its environs, ranging from small inexpensive cafes to well-known luxury restaurants. As with rooms, visitors to the bureau or to the website can search for places to eat by average meal price, kind of cuisine, location, and even by dietary restriction, such as kosher, halal and vegan requirements. The bureau's listings of restaurants includes opening and closing hours, the number of seats in the restaurant, any special menus, such as children's menus, the general decor and ambiance of the restaurant, and the kinds of payment accepted. Listings also include websites and telephone numbers for each restaurant, when available. Each bureau office can also make recommendations for dining options in its area and give you directions on how to get to the recommended restaurants.

Tourism

The Museums and Monuments section of the bureau's website has information about all of Paris's museums and attractions, including the famous and the less so. Information includes admission rates, hours, whether the museum has a cafe or other amenities, current exhibitions and permanent exhibitions, local Metro stop, whether the site is accessible for people with disabilities, the museum's website and telephone number, and the services, such as tours or special group activities, that are offered. Other museum and monument information covers whether photographs are permitted and under what conditions, whether the ticket can be used for admission or discounts at other places, and nearby attractions. You can purchase multi-day and multi-museum passes at the bureau.

Events

The bureau compiles a monthly calendar of concerts, exhibitions, sporting events, ballet, theatrical productions, festivals, fireworks, book readings, wine tastings, nightlife events and more. Visitors can search for events that are family friendly or kid-centered, sports, clubbing, roller blade tours of the city, market days, fashion shows and organized walks with guides. All listings from the bureau contain full location and contact information as well as prices, local Metro stops and hours. You can visit the bureau in person to get a print guide for the month, as well as check up on what events bureau employees recommend or have seen themselves.

Practicalities

The bureau also offers a guide to the practicalities of visiting Paris. Whether you stop in at the bureau in person or visit the extensive website, you get information on currency exchange, tipping practices, general opening and closing times for shops and businesses, clothes and shoes sizes, where to get items for babies and young children, how to use public phones and toilets, where to go for a run near your hotel, how to get prescriptions filled or refilled, where to worship, if you're looking for a church, mosque, or synagogue, what kind of weather to expect during your visit, schools and courses you can take in Paris, gay-friendly areas, shops, and clubs, how to get assistance for people with disabilities and much more.

References

• Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau