I’m going to be honest with you. Our first trip to Paris was a beautiful disaster.
We did almost everything wrong. We ate bad food near the Eiffel Tower. We tried to “do” the Louvre in a single afternoon (spoiler, we saw about 4% of it and left with sore feet and a grudge). We spent way too much money on taxis we didn’t need.
So consider this post a public service announcement from someone who learned the hard way. Here are 10 mistakes to avoid in Paris, all of which I have personally made so you don’t have to.
1. Only Staying in the Tourist Triangle
There’s this invisible triangle between the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre-Dame where 90% of first-time visitors spend their entire trip. I get it. These are the places you’ve dreamed about since you were 12.
But here’s the thing. The 1st through 8th arrondissements are gorgeous, sure. They’re also the most expensive, the most crowded, and the least representative of what Paris actually feels like to live in.
Stay in the Marais (3rd/4th), Saint-Germain (6th), or even further out in the 10th or 11th, and you’ll get a completely different city. The kind with locals actually sitting in the cafés instead of tour groups. The kind where your morning croissant costs €1.20 instead of €3.50.
2. Not Learning Basic French Phrases
I know what you’re thinking. “Everyone in Paris speaks English.” And technically, a lot of people do. But that is not the point.
The point is that saying “bonjour” when you walk into a shop changes everything. I mean everything. The difference in how you’re treated when you lead with a cheerful “bonjour” versus just launching into English is night and day. The French aren’t rude. They just have social rules, and greeting people is rule number one.
You don’t need to be fluent. Learn “bonjour,” “merci,” “s’il vous plaît,” “excusez-moi,” and “l’addition” (the check). That’s it. Five phrases and suddenly Paris is the friendliest city in Europe. I’m not even exaggerating.
3. Eating at Restaurants With Picture Menus Near Landmarks
If a restaurant near the Eiffel Tower has laminated photos of its food on a stand outside, I need you to keep walking. Please. For your own sake.
We learned this the hard way on our first trip. We were starving after climbing the tower, sat down at the nearest place with a big “MENU TOURIST” sign, and paid €22 for a croque monsieur that tasted like it was microwaved sometime last Tuesday. The wine came in what I can only describe as a juice glass.
Walk two blocks in any direction away from a major landmark and the food gets exponentially better and cheaper. Look for places where the menu is handwritten, the seating is tight, and there are actual French people eating there. Also, bouillon restaurants (like Bouillon Chartier or Bouillon Pigalle) serve traditional French food at genuinely affordable prices. We’re talking a three-course meal for under €20.
4. Not Understanding the Metro Ticket System
Paris has basically gone fully digital with its metro tickets. Paper tickets are being phased out entirely by mid-2026, so if you’re planning a trip, you need to know about the Navigo Easy card.
The Navigo Easy is a reusable contactless card that costs €2 at any metro station. You load it with single tickets (€2.55 each) or a 10-pack at a discount. If you’re staying a week, the Navigo Découverte weekly pass is €32.40 and covers all zones, including trips to Versailles and the airports. That’s a steal.
The important part that trips people up (literally). You must tap your card at the purple reader every time you enter a station. On some RER lines, you also need to tap when you exit. Don’t be the person holding up the turnstile fumbling for a paper ticket that no longer works. Also, download the Bonjour RATP app before you go. You can buy and store tickets right on your phone.
5. Trying to See the Entire Louvre in One Visit
The Louvre has over 380,000 objects and 35,000 works on display across 72,735 square meters. If you spent 30 seconds looking at each piece, it would take you over 100 days to see everything. I’ll let that sink in.
We tried to “do it all” on our first visit. After three hours, we were speed-walking past Renaissance masterpieces like they were wallpaper samples. Will was grumpy, my feet were done, and we’d barely made it through two wings. It was the opposite of enjoyable.
Pick one wing or one collection. The Denon Wing has the Mona Lisa and the big Italian paintings. The Sully Wing has Egyptian antiquities. The Richelieu Wing has French sculptures and Napoleon III’s apartments, which are absurdly over-the-top and honestly more fun than the Mona Lisa. Go for two hours max, then leave and get a coffee. You can always go back.
6. Skipping the Less-Famous Neighborhoods
Most first-timers never leave the central arrondissements, and I think that’s the single biggest thing they miss. The outer neighborhoods are where Paris gets really interesting.
Belleville (10th/20th) is one of the most multicultural neighborhoods in the city. It has jaw-dropping street art on Rue Dénoyez, some of the best Chinese food in Paris, and views from Parc de Belleville that rival anything you’ll get from a paid observation deck. It’s also where Edith Piaf grew up, if you care about that sort of thing (I do).
Canal Saint-Martin (10th) is all tree-lined canals, iron footbridges, and cafés that feel like they’re straight out of an Amélie scene (because they literally are). It’s gorgeous for an afternoon walk.
Batignolles (17th) has a village-within-a-city feel, with a lively market street on Rue LĂ©vis and a park with an actual grotto and waterfall. Almost no tourists. We practically had the place to ourselves.
7. Only Eating Croissants and CrĂŞpes
Look, I love a good croissant. I will eat a pain au chocolat every single morning and feel zero shame. But if croissants and crĂŞpes are the only French food you eat in Paris, you are missing out spectacularly.
Paris has some of the best food on the planet, and most of it isn’t what tourists think of as “French food.” Get a jambon-beurre (ham and butter sandwich on a perfect baguette) from a random boulangerie. Try a tartine at a wine bar. Eat a duck confit at a neighborhood bistro. Get falafel from L’As du Fallafel in the Marais and argue about whether it’s the best in the city (it is, and I will fight about this).
Also, the cheese. Please eat the cheese. Go to a fromagerie, point at things that look intimidating, and ask for recommendations. The worst that can happen is you discover a new obsession. The best that can happen is Comté, and Comté is always worth it.
8. Not Budgeting for How Expensive Paris Actually Is
I don’t want to scare you, but Paris is expensive. Like, genuinely, shockingly expensive if you’re not prepared for it.
A coffee at a sit-down café runs about €4-5. A glass of wine at a bar is €7-10. A mid-range dinner for two with wine will easily hit €80-100. Even a basic sandwich and drink for lunch is going to be €12-15. Multiply that across a week and suddenly your budget is in trouble.
The good news is that Paris also has great budget options if you know where to look. Eat lunch as your big meal (many restaurants offer a “formule” or set lunch menu for €15-25 that’s a fraction of dinner prices). Buy picnic supplies at a market and eat along the Seine. Drink your espresso standing at the bar instead of sitting at a table, because yes, they charge more for table service. And take advantage of the many free things to do. Most parks, churches, and even some museums (on first Sundays) cost nothing.
9. Taking Taxis Instead of the Metro
The Paris Metro is one of the best public transit systems in the world. There are 16 lines, over 300 stations, and you’re rarely more than a five-minute walk from one. It’s fast, frequent, and a single ride costs €2.55.
A taxi across Paris? That’s going to run you €15-30 minimum, and that’s before you sit in traffic that makes the Metro look even more appealing. We took a taxi from Gare du Nord to our hotel in the 6th on our first trip and it cost €35 for a ride that took 40 minutes in traffic. The Metro would have been €2.55 and 25 minutes.
The only exceptions I’d make are late at night (when trains stop running around 1am), if you have heavy luggage, or if you’re traveling with small kids and strollers. Otherwise, just take the Metro. You’ll get there faster and save a small fortune. Download the Bonjour RATP app and it will route you door to door.
10. Going to the Top of the Eiffel Tower Instead of Other Viewpoints
Here’s the irony of going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You can see all of Paris, except for the one thing that makes the Paris skyline, which is the Eiffel Tower.
Don’t get me wrong, going up the tower is a fine experience. But the lines are brutal (often 1-2 hours even with a timed ticket), it’s pricey, and the views, while cool, aren’t actually the best in the city.
Better options that I personally prefer? The Arc de Triomphe rooftop gives you a perfect view straight down the Champs-Élysées with the tower in the background. Sacré-Coeur’s dome in Montmartre gives you a panoramic sweep of the entire city from the highest natural point in Paris. And if you want the best photo of the Eiffel Tower from above, the Trocadéro gardens are free and right across the river.
A note on Tour Montparnasse, which used to be my top pick for views. The observation deck closed at the end of March 2026 for major renovations and won’t reopen until at least 2030. So that one’s off the table for now, unfortunately.
The Real Secret to Paris
The biggest mistake of all, the one that encompasses everything above, is treating Paris like a checklist. Run to the Eiffel Tower, check. Run to the Louvre, check. Run to Notre-Dame, check. Collapse at your overpriced hotel near the Opera, repeat.
Paris is not a checklist city. It’s a wandering city. It’s a sit-in-a-café-for-two-hours city. It’s a get-lost-in-a-neighborhood-you’ve-never-heard-of city. The best moments we’ve ever had in Paris happened when we had absolutely no plan. A random wine bar in the 11th. A park bench in the Marais with a baguette and some questionable cheese that turned out to be life-changing.
Slow down, say bonjour, eat the cheese, and take the Metro. That’s really the whole secret.
More Paris Planning
We’ve spent a lot of time in Paris and have written about it extensively. Here are some of our other guides that might help you plan your trip.
