You've booked the flights, saved the Instagram spots, and packed your most walkable shoes. But Paris has a way of humbling first-timers fast. Here's what to actually know before you land.
The mistakes every first-time visitor makes
Paris is dense. The Louvre alone can eat a full day if you let it. First-timers tend to stack five neighbourhoods into one afternoon and end up exhausted and underwhelmed. Pick two areas per day, max.
Contactless bank card payment is not yet available on the RER B — you need a physical ticket. Buy a "Paris Région - Aéroports" ticket at the machine before you board, or load one onto a Navigo Easy card. Keep it until you exit: fare inspectors are not a myth. Note: paper Origin-Destination tickets will stop being sold by autumn 2026 — the Navigo Easy is your safest bet.
If the menu has photos and it's positioned six feet from a major landmark, walk two streets further. The food will be better and cheaper.
Timed entry is required — you cannot just arrive and queue. Book on billetterie.toureiffel.paris. In high season (June–September), book 6 to 8 weeks ahead. Mid-season (April, May, October): 3 to 4 weeks. Low season: 1 to 2 weeks is usually enough.
Service is included in French restaurant bills by law. Rounding up or leaving a euro or two is appreciated — a 20% tip is not expected and will confuse your server.
Paris tips for tourists — 10 practical and insider tips
Transport
Food
Timing
Language
The Paris moments worth slowing down for
Find a zinc bar with locals reading Le Monde and order a coffee and a tartine. No rush, no English menu. Try any café off the main drags in the 11th or the 18th — this is Paris at its most itself.
The canal runs through the 10th and it's where Parisians actually spend their warm evenings — picnicking on the banks, watching the locks operate. No plan needed. Just show up.
Five minutes from the Louvre, in the middle of the 1st arrondissement, there's a courtyard most tourists walk straight past. Arcaded galleries, the Buren columns, and genuinely calm energy even in high season.
In the 12th arrondissement, one of the most local, least tourist-facing markets in Paris — fruit, vegetables, wine, vintage brocante. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 7h30 to 13h30 (14h30 weekends). Monday it's closed.
Not on a boat, not at a restaurant — on the banks, below street level, with a bottle from a nearby cave à vins. Free, legal, and exactly what Parisians do on warm evenings.
How to make sure you don't miss anything
The problem with Paris isn't finding things to do. It's leaving and realising you forgot half of what you meant to do.
That's exactly the problem The Punchcards was built to solve. It's an illustrated card — part souvenir, part bucket list — with 20 iconic Parisian experiences to tick off as you go. Bring it with you, punch what you've done, send it home as a postcard, or keep it as a memento. The kind of souvenir that's actually useful before, during, and after your trip.
Pick yours up at thepunchcards.com before you land — or grab one once you're there.
Paris rewards the people who slow down, take the side street, and say bonjour first. Come with a loose plan, a good map, and a way to track everything you want to do. The rest tends to take care of itself.