Paris

Paris sits on the Seine in northern France, and most of what draws visitors is packed into a fairly walkable center split by the river into the Right Bank and the Left Bank. The city is organised into twenty arrondissements that spiral outward from the middle, a numbering system worth learning early because addresses and metro directions lean on it. The Metro itself is the practical way to get around; it is dense, runs frequently, and reaches almost everywhere a first-time visitor wants to go, though walking between neighbouring districts is often faster than it looks on a map. Spring and early autumn tend to be the most comfortable times to come, while August sees many locals leave and some smaller shops close for the month.

The headline sights are spread across the center rather than clustered in one spot. The Louvre Museum anchors the Right Bank near the Tuileries gardens, and from there the city fans out into distinct areas with their own character: the cafes and bookshops of the Left Bank, the hilltop streets of Montmartre in the north, the medieval lanes on the Ile de la Cite in the middle of the river. Many of the big museums and monuments require a separate ticket, and for the busiest ones booking a timed slot online ahead of your visit saves a long wait. A number of national museums also run reduced or free-admission days at set points in the month, so it is worth checking each place's own schedule before you plan a route.

A few practical notes help. Tap water is safe to drink, and asking for a carafe d'eau in a restaurant gets you a free jug rather than a bottle you pay for. Cafe prices usually change depending on whether you stand at the counter or sit at a table, and a service charge is generally already included in the bill. Pickpocketing is the main thing to stay aware of on crowded metro lines and around popular monuments, so keep bags closed and phones out of back pockets. English is widely understood in tourist areas, but a simple bonjour when you enter a shop goes a long way.