Paris on Your Own

Have you done this excursion?

We will do this from Viking Sky, on April 23.

Wondering how the day will proceed.

Where will we be dropped off and picked up,and at what times?

Will a map or any ideas be given?

What can we reasonably expect to do in the time available?

Please help!

Have you done this excursion?

We will do this from Viking Sky, on April 23.

Wondering how the day will proceed.

Where will we be dropped off and picked up,and at what times?

Will a map or any ideas be given?

What can we reasonably expect to do in the time available?

Please help!

We have no experience with this excursion but since no one else has responded I felt the obligation to note that the travel time from LeHavre to Paris is about 2.5 hours EACH way so you will have to decide how you wish to spend your very limited time in Paris. The Metro can be very useful in getting you around the city and if your interests lie with the Museums the Museum Pass can help you avoid some of the lines (it can also get you to the top of the Arc de Triomphe) but only you know what you really really want to see in Paris. I wish you a good trip and hope that you enjoy your visit to the City of Light!

Write to tellus@vikingcruises.com and ask them where the bus will be dropping you off and picking you up. Also, ask them how long the panoramic tour portion of the tour is planned to take and what sights you will be seeing on that tour. Tell them that you would like to make the most of your day and would like to plan in advance how you will be spending your limited time in Paris. These are basic questions and they should be able to answer them for you.

Viking will most likely provide you with a map of Paris but personally, I would not want to wait to see how detailed a map I was being offered. Lately, I have been loading maps in PDF format on to my smartphone. PDF so that I don't have to go online to use them. Still, I prefer paper maps and depending on where we are headed will bring them as well, so that I can study the map in advance and have an idea of what I want to see; I still find paper easier to use than my smartphone. Google maps is very good for figuring out how long it will take to get from place to place.

The description of the tour says that it is 10.5 hours long; that is ship to Paris and back to ship. It also says that you have about 3 hours on your own. Previous poster says that travel time round trip is five hours, so that leave 2 hours unaccounted for. The tour description says that it includes a "brief" panoramic tour of the city. I would be asking Viking for more details on the panoramic tour portion of the day (how long it will take and what will be seen) so that I could decide ahead of time if I wanted to waste my time driving around Paris on the bus or get off as quickly as possible so that I could see the things that I want to see. Sitting on the bus driving in circles would drive me crazy and I would want to get off at the first Metro station we see just so that I would not waste time driving by a lot different places. I know I can't see it all in one day, so let me choose what i do see. But that is just me and other people will have a different take on the day.

Dieliz

We are on the same cruise as you and we are not going to waste 5 hours to and from Paris for a couple of hours there. We are going to take a taxi from the port to Honfleur or someplace else.Our friends are doing Normandy with a local tour company, much cheaper than Viking's tour. We were very disappointed that the only excursion in that port LeHavre was to Paris. I did email Viking and tell them this. The other port that there are no local tours in is Warnemunde (for Berlin). I did email them about that as well. They answered me and told me that the only included tours were to Paris and Berlin and that I could check onboard for local options.

Thank you all for your help - will try to get the information I need from Viking as suggested.

I haven't done a Viking Ocean cruise yet, but did do a Paris-Normandy river cruise two years ago.

My husband and I arrived in Paris two days early, bought a museum pass, and hit the ground running, once we dropped our bags at our hotel, around 9 am on a Friday. In addition to the 3 days (including embarkation day) pre-cruise, we had an additional day at the end of our cruise, in Paris. We still didn't do everything we wanted to do.

My advice, with a limited time in Paris, you're not likely to see much, in one afternoon. OTOH, if you'll never be back, it may be worth it to do the superficial Griswald-type tour.

Since you will be on the coast, if the D-day beaches don't speak to you, then I would highly recommend Honfleur and/or Etretat-both breathtakingly beautiful.

Robin

Dieliz

 

We are on the same cruise as you and we are not going to waste 5 hours to and from Paris for a couple of hours there. We are going to take a taxi from the port to Honfleur or someplace else.Our friends are doing Normandy with a local tour company, much cheaper than Viking's tour. We were very disappointed that the only excursion in that port LeHavre was to Paris. I did email Viking and tell them this. The other port that there are no local tours in is Warnemunde (for Berlin). I did email them about that as well. They answered me and told me that the only included tours were to Paris and Berlin and that I could check onboard for local options.

Which cruise was this? When we did Viking Homelands which docks in Warnemünde, one could do the 12 hr excursions to Berlin (one included and the rest $) or do the shorter closer excursions to Lübeck & Wismar ($) and a Hanseatic & Rostock Brewery Tour (included).

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We are on Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond leaving April 15. No included tours in Warnemünde or Le Havre except Berlin or Paris, thus our disappointment. We really wanted something local. But I emailed Viking and they told me that there was nothing else and we could check onboard about local booking opportunities (for $). Very disappointing.

That's a pity. Seasonal? Because it's April? It's still pretty cold. I remember doing a meeting in Paris in April and packed thinking woo hoo it's April! It'll be great! And I was sooooo glad I'd packed a polartec hat and some gloves. We actually had a pounding sleet/hail storm during one of our meetings.

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We are on Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond leaving April 15. No included tours in Warnemünde or Le Havre except Berlin or Paris, thus our disappointment. We really wanted something local. But I emailed Viking and they told me that there was nothing else and we could check onboard about local booking opportunities (for $). Very disappointing.

So don't do an 'included' excursion. If you don't want to go to Paris, get a private independent Normandy Beaches tour or go to the Tapestry Bayeaux. Or take a cab to the bus station and spend a lovely day in Honfleur. Wonderful, charming little town.

We're taking our first Oceans cruise this fall and will not be taking any of the included excursions because a bus ride with 30 or 40 of our fellow pax doesn't interest us at all.

I'm not taking an included excursion, I'm taking a taxi to Honfleur as I stayed earlier in the thread.

I was answering CharTrav's question because she stated that on her cruise there were included excurusions that did not involve the long trip to Berlin.

That's a pity. Seasonal? Because it's April? It's still pretty cold. I remember doing a meeting in Paris in April and packed thinking woo hoo it's April! It'll be great! And I was sooooo glad I'd packed a polartec hat and some gloves. We actually had a pounding sleet/hail storm during one of our meetings.

The song April in Paris wasn't based on the weather, but the need for the line to scan. Charles Aznavour had it much better with J'aime Paris au mois de mai.

The song April in Paris wasn't based on the weather, but the need for the line to scan. Charles Aznavour had it much better with J'aime Paris au mois de mai.

[emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]. Yup. When the group I'm part of held its meeting there two years later it was in June. And boy! What a difference. It was wonderful!

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Le Havre: go to Honfleur. Only one bus per hour from Le Havre bus station Takes about 40 mins. Taxi would be better but pricey.

Warnemunde: Go to Lubeck. Bus or train from port gates, or walk into Warnemunde and get the wee boat to Lubeck. Real marzipan, proper stuff in Warnemunde and downstairs in the big department store in Lubeck

Le Havre will be a Sunday - not sure if the trains or buses will be frequent that day, or the shops etc open.

From what I've read a taxi to Honfleur is 30 euros per taxi each way. I think that is what we are going to do. If we are lucky somebody else will be wanting to share, if not, that's ok....still cheaper than the cruise ship excursion and on our own timeline. I hate to shop, so shops closed is not an issue for me!