Renting an apartment in Paris - Several tips for France travellers and a feedback about my experience staying in Paris-France.
Together with my girlfriend we went to Paris 25 days ago.
We booked superb one bedroom apartment in the Saint Germain through Paris rentals services. The windows were wide, letting in a lot of light. There was also a small balcony which belongs to the room. Relatively cheap & situated within a walking distance of popular sights. That helped us to save transport costs.
We looked through websites of dozens of agencies to rent a flat in Paris and now we can tell you for sure why we stopped at Glamourpartments.
First, they have real English descriptions and instructions (not translated). Some of the descriptions were not written by the native speakers, of course - but we didn’t care. They speak and write good English. Second - 50 percent of the rental price is paid upon arrival (NOT 30 days before it ). Third, that apartments on the website were available for my dates. Glamour apartments accepts credit cards and you can pay in US currency. We can pay the rental fee by my credit card and a security deposit we paid in cash. The whole sum was returned thought we broke nothing on the check-out.
We called to the agency mobile number +33698765775 to confirmed that we landed. When we arrived to the apartment the employee of the agency was waiting for us in front of the entrance to make a check-in. They even gave us a bottle of champagne as a present!Then, the next day, the agent emailed to ensure that I was ok.
If you’re going to visit France, don’t forge my several tips for you:
1. Always check the 3-day forecast at your destination on the internet. You never know when it’s going to get really cold.
2. Avoid wearing tennis shoes (Nikes etc.) because it tells everyone you’re a tourist. Black shoes are a necessity if you want to go into most nightclubs. Also, bring along black pants and try to avoid jeans. The Parisian women dress with style and if you don’t approximate a little bit of it yourself, you’ll feel under dressed and dowdy. Bring along some scarves, costume jewelry and forget your jeans and white athletic shoes.
3. Buy a weekly Metro pass for 16.80 Euros!!! Weekly passes are available for unlimited travel in zones 1-2 (the most you will likely need that covers all quarters of Paris) beginning on Mondays through Sundays. You will need to get a pass called Carte Orange in order to buy a weekly subway ticket. Bring an extra passport sized photo of yourself, or use one of the many photo booths available at Metro stations, and then ask for a Carte Orange at the kiosk.
4. Buy a museum pass! If you want to visit as many world-class museums as you can in 2, 4 or 6 days, get the convenience of a museum pass. Ticket are available may be bought online at the website of the Paris Tourism Office. If you prefer to visit galleries at a more leisurely pace, admission is in fact very affordable - anywhere from 9-20 Euros per ticket. (PS If you’re in Paris the first Sunday of the month, many museums have free admission.)
5. Traveling in and around France? Consider a Rail Europe rail pass. You need to buy a Rail Europe pass in advance of your trip while you are still in North America. There are many advantages to traveling by train, (but also keep in mind Europe’s own budget airlines make air travel very affordable.)
6. Save on bank fees, use traveler’s checks. Instead of relying on ATMs in Europe which can charge high fees for withdrawals, consider the safety of bringing traveler’s checks on your trip. There’s an American Express center in the tourist heart of the city in the 8th arrondissement that will cash your (American Express) traveler’s checks without any fees. They speak English there, as well as at least 10 other languages.
Hope you’ll enjoy the beauty of Paris. We want to thank the Glamourapartments if you looking for flat rental services! I have spent pleasant vacation in Paris!