L'Open Tour Bus

Never been to Paris...is it a good idea to take the open bus tour for the first day to become familiar, or just use some good maps %26amp; Metro?

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It depends upon what you are comfortable with. I prefer to self explore using a map and the metro. But if you want an overview, the open bus is a good way to go. By far, the fastest way to get between sites is to use the metro. That way you don%26#39;t have to wait for the next bus.

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I would say wait until you get here, if the weather is perfect, then it is nice to see Paris from the bus, although much slower than the metro that is easy to work out. But if it is raining, then the openbus is a misery....You get wet easily

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We went to London last month and took the equivalent tour over there. They use live tour guides who must be struggling actors and are absolutely fantastic, entertaining and informative. Nonetheless, the entire time I felt like I was viewing London, and had not yet actually arrived! All I wanted to do was to get off the stupid bus and visit the darn place...walking from sight to sight.

So personally, I will never take such a tour again.

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But on Opentour and les cars rouges buses, there are no live guides, only tapes recorded with a commentary in different languages.

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But on Opentour and les cars rouges buses, there are no live guides, only tapes recorded with a commentary in different languages.

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YES---it provides you with a basic overview and orientation to the city. While there are no live persons providing commentary (commentary is provided by a tape) it still manages to provide you with a basic overview of the city and sites along the way..and the ability to hop-on/hop-off the double-decker buses along each circuit to visit the sites at your own pace. Doing this tour with a good giudebook will probably provide you with as much information and insight as most 1/2 day escorted motorcoach orientation tours, where many of the %26#39;..guides..%26#39; simply %26#39;phone it in..%26#39; anyway.

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Sorry, didn%26#39;t make myself clear...

In Paris the commentary is the rather dry tape variety, but even with the mildly amusing entertainment provided in London, I was jonesing to hit the streets.

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KDKsail, i am myself a guide, so i would rather say there is a big difference between a tape and a real guide, good for us-and for the client, as long as the guide loves their job, they will make a huge difference...I wished the Cars rouges and Opentour would hire real guides, it would give us more work, but i reckon that the tape is still good for basic informations about the different monuments.

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; i am myself a guide, so i would rather say there is a big difference between a tape and a real guide, good for us-and for the client, as long as the guide loves their job, they will make a huge difference...I wished the Cars rouges and Opentour would hire real guides, it would give us more work, but i reckon that the tape is still good for basic informations about the different monuments.%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

I can certainly sympathize with your under-employment but the plain simple fact of the matter is that a great many of the %26#39;live%26#39; guides who often work these tours, simply %26#39;..phone it in..%26#39;. I agree that good guides who actually know their stuff and enjoy their jobs are a big asset....but most of these basic orientation tours are low-to-no paying and you more often than not get pretty much what ya%26#39; pay for. One also assumes that since they%26#39;re the ones standing at the front of the bus, holding the microphone, that they actually know more than they memorized from the Micelin Guide or the tour company%26#39;s boiler-plate %26#39;..fact sheet..%26#39; last week.

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I did the open bus tour and I was glad that I did. For about 25 Euros we got 2 days of unlimited hop on hop off access and it was great. We did it our first two days which was perfect because we got familiar with the different areas and figured out where we wanted to return for more exploring or where we didn%26#39;t want to return.

The ride also includes head sets which explain what you are seeing and its history.

I would recommend it. :)