Magical Tour of Paris (Cityrama)

[Dianetigger]

Looking for some advice on the Cityrama tour of Paris for our DLP trip in July/August.
Has anyone been on this? If so can you tell me if there is chance to get on and off the coach at the various points of interest, other than the boat trip and the Eiffel Tower?
Our brochure doesn't give that much information and although I've read the Brits guide (not the recent one) I'm still alittle unsure.
I know it would probably be cheaper do this on our own but I'm a coward and prone to panic very easily and I know it would ruin our trip into Paris with me constantly worrying about getting back on the right train etc., (gosh it sounds stupid when written down). But the reason we booked 10 nights this time was so we could experience some of Paris as well as DLP.
Any help however small would be much appreciated.

 

[Aine3]

Did this tour a few weeks ago. The bus drives around the city first pointing out different buildings but doesnt stop. First stop at Eiffel tower for about 15 mins then on to boat and down the river as far as Notre Dame. A stop there for about hour and a half and then back on boat and back to tower again for trip up to First floor. If coming down by lift queue up in plenty of time cos we were waiting ages to get on and were nearly late for bus!! The day flew and the kids enjoyed it. We had 6 kids with us who wanted to see Tower and Notre Dame--love the hunchback film -- som they were very happy! There was a huge queue at the Tower but cos we were with tour we got in much quicker. fantastic views! Book before you leave to get the kid free offer (if still available) cos we couldnt get this on site.

 

[miffy7]

We did this earlier this monh.
We really enjyed it.
We've been to paris several times but it was good to have a tour and see 'everything' eith a commentary.
The stop by the Pont St Michel is for quite a while and we enjoyed looking round notre dame but you could have a walk around the ile de france or the latin quarter - it's good to bring a map.
if you wouild like to avoid the queue coming down from the tower, use the machine to buy tickets to the second floor - it's just a few euro.
there's s lovely view and less of a queue to get down.

 

[Dianetigger]

Sorry I had completely forgotten I'd posted this. Thank you for your replies, I've also seen that there are some details on this in the Brit Guide that we have.
Looking almost certain we will do this, just need to convince DD2 about the river trip!

 

[kevankiki]

We are considering a day trip to Paris when we are there during October Half Term, DD has said she would like to visit and see the Notre Dame.

Can someone tell me roughly how much this costs please? Also, where does it go from, i.e. how do you pick up the tour?

 

[Dianetigger]

According to our brochure it leaves Hotel New York every morning at 9:45am and returns to the same hotel around 6:30pm depending on traffic.

Limited places, it is advisable to book before travel.

Prices are 45 for adult and 24 for child, from 04/04/08 - 06/11/08 but isn't available on 1st May and 14th and 27th July. Lunch is not included in the tour price.

The blurb in the brochure says:

Discover the major sights of Paris by coach (Notre-Dame Cathedral, Concorde Square, Champs-Elysees Avenue, Arc de Triomphe ...) and from the 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower, and enjoy a boat cruise on the River Seine through the centre of Paris.

 

[kevankiki]

Thanks Dianetigger, that is really useful, do you know how far in advance you have to book and how you go about doing so?

I'm guessing it would cost about €25 in train fares to do it alone anyway, I assume your prices are also in Euros, and since it would be just myself and my DD going, I think I'd feel happier on an organised tour.

Do you know what age the child becomes an adult by any chance?

Later - Just did some research and found some information on the DLP web site, they quote the price as being €65 for the day tour, and anyone 12 or over would be an adult. Not so attractive at that price, I have to say.

 

[Dianetigger]

The prices I quoted from the brochure (official Disney one) is in £ sterling, child is from 3 - 11 years.

We are going the end of July and have to pay by the end of May, going to ring and add this to our original booking in the next week along with a character meal, can't decide on breakfast (which we've always done) or a lunch.

 

[kevankiki]

The prices I quoted from the brochure (official Disney one) is in £ sterling, child is from 3 - 11 years.

Ah, that explains the difference in price then, I assumed the 45 was €

 

[hogwartsdropout]

Is there any way of booking this now and paying when I get there?

I had sooo much hassle trying to pay my room over the phone, it took 3 credit cards before one was accepted, and because I'm a cast member, it took about 20 minutes for them to find out how to process a cast member's bill! Would rather not have the hassle again, and just pay when I get there.

 

[Ware Bears]

When we thought of doing this on our first trip we wondered how to book in advance as we were going DIY rather than a package. I phoned the UK booking number who advised arranging it through either my hotel concierge or through the HNY concierge when we arrived. I didn't do either as we never found the time (and on a subsequent trip just went into Paris by ourselves) but perhaps it is worth contacting either your hotel's or the HNY's concierge to see if it can be booked (and paid later) with them in advance of your stay. If not, then surely the tours don't book up solid and you will be able to arrange it when you arrive.

 

[kevankiki]

Elaine, can I ask how easy you found it to do it yourself? Bearing in mind it would just be myself and DD who will be 16 by then

 

[Ware Bears]

It was very easy. We caught the RER to Auber station with Mobilis tickets, then across the road and to the right is the office for L'Open Tour hop-on hop-off buses. We were a bit silly and once we had bought our tickets hopped on the first bus which came without checking which colour it displayed in the window (there are 4 routes) and ended up doing a different route to the one we had planned but no problem as we got to see some extra sights of Paris!! We stayed on the bus until it got back to the office and caught the correct one where we got off at the Eiffel Tower.

We felt very safe and found it very easy to get around. Coming home the line branches into two so you just have to make sure you get on the right train ~ it's very easy as there are lights against the station names, you just need to make sure Marne-la-Vallee Chessy is lit up and it is the last stop on the train so you can't go past DLRP!! Next time we want to visit Notre Dame and are not going to bother with the bus tour. It was actually very good but having done it once we will make our own way round. I think if you don't want to do the bus tour it would be better to take the RER to Charles de Gaulle Etoile?? I'm sure someone else will soon be along to confirm or advise better.

I'll see if I can find the link to our trippie.

ETA: Here it is.

 

[A Small World]

We did 2 day trips this last time into Paris. When I get round to writing my trippie I'll outline where we went. Its really easy

 

[kevankiki]

Thanks both of you, I think perhaps we will manage to do this by ourselves, so long as we can figure out how to buy tickets (we have a reputation for getting this wrong, and travelled by bus across Lille without tickets, once )

 

[Ware Bears]

The clerk in the ticket office was very helpful, the only thing I would do another time is buy the tickets in advance as there was quite a queue in the morning.

I haven't gone in there myself but another DISer once said the staff in the tourist info bureau are very helpful.

 

[kevankiki]

Didn't someone say it was possible to buy tickets the evening before? Maybe that might beat the queues in the morning if we did that

 

[bcnorth]

Is this the same Hop-on-Hop-off bus that has four routes around Paris? I have used that twice and it was great. They stop at all the major sites and thaey have four routes that meet at certain sites. It wasn't expensive and was very good for first time visitors. My mother and I also used a tour company (can't remember name) that was only a few blocks from Le Louvre and did the Effiel Tower dinner and Seine Cruise and also booked Disneyland Paris through them. They were great and we met lots of people

 

[A Small World]

Didn't someone say it was possible to buy tickets the evening before? Maybe that might beat the queues in the morning if we did that

We went twice during our recent trip. First time we turned up in the morning to buy tickets and the queue was massive. We ended up getting them from the machines but they werent mobilis tickets.
2nd time we got tickets (mobilis) the night before soon after the park closed. There was still a queue but not nearly as bad as the morning one.

Report on first Paris day of holiday due to be posted later tonight

 

[kevankiki]

Thank you so much A Small World, presumably the tickets aren't dated if you can buy them the bight before?

Looking forward to reading your trip report