Fashion Forum

I'm planning a trip to Paris for later in the year and was wondering if anyone knows the best time to travel, preferably when there are less tourists and flights/accommodation are cheaper.

I've always found Continental travel best at the tail end of Summer, heading into Autumn. Tourists have returned to their designated countries, the weather is still nice, and the world is your oyster.

Try to go in spring or autumn to avoid the flood of tourists in Summer. Summer in Paris can be a bit uncomfortable too as many of the building slack air conditioning.

I've been in February two years in a row now and while its still a bit cold its really nice when you get a sunny day - you can walk around in 5 degree weather in a t-shirt and not be cold.

You can find cheaper accommodation - you just need to search for it. They have a website equivalent of our wotif.com and you can search it for discount deals.

I can recommend The Hotel Residence Chalgrin - it's right near the Arc de Triumphe. Its only 1 star, but its really comfortable and the owners are really nice. Its top value for its location too. You can walk to all the major tourist sites and its right near two major metro interchanges as well. We stayed there for 8 days the last time and our bill was under 500 euros. We nearly fell over. Their site is http://hotel-chalgrin.com/.

And dont panic if you dont know any French. Just learn some basic phrases (like how to ask for help, and if someone speaks english) and most Parisians will be happy that you've made the effort.

Thanks guys that's really useful information.