• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

BOAT

For pleasure cruises on the Seine, Canal St-Martin and Canal de l’Ourcq, Click here.

For a more flexible, hop-on-and-off approach, sail with the Compagnie de Batobus ( 08 25 05 01 01; www.batobus.com; adult 1-/2-/3-day pass €12/14/17, student €8/9/11, child 2-16yr €6/7/8; 10am-9.30pm May-Aug, 10am-7pm Sep–mid-Nov & mid-Mar-Apr, 10.30am-4.30pm mid-Nov–mid-Dec & Feb–mid-Mar, 10.30am-5pm mid-Dec–Jan). Its fleet of glassed-in trimarans dock at small piers along the Seine and tickets are sold at each stop or tourist offices. For those keen to combine boat with bus, its Paris à la Carte deal allows two/three consecutive days of unlimited travel on Batobus boats and Open Tour buses Click here for €37/40. Boats depart every 15 to 30 minutes from various stops:

* * *

CLIMATE CHANGE & TRAVEL

Climate change is a serious threat to the ecosystems that humans rely upon, and air travel is the fastest-growing contributor to the problem. Lonely Planet regards travel, overall, as a global benefit, but believes we all have a responsibility to limit our personal impact on global warming.

Flying & Climate Change

Pretty much every form of motor transport generates CO₂ (the main cause of human-induced climate change) but planes are far and away the worst offenders, not just because of the sheer distances they allow us to travel, but because they release greenhouse gases high into the atmosphere. The statistics are frightening: two people taking a return flight between Europe and the US will contribute as much to climate change as an average household’s gas and electricity consumption over a whole year.

Carbon Offset Schemes

Climatecare.org and other websites use ‘carbon calculators’ that allow travellers to offset the greenhouse gases they are responsible for with contributions to energy-saving projects and other climate-friendly initiatives in the developing world – including projects in India, Honduras, Kazakhstan and Uganda.

Lonely Planet, together with Rough Guides and other concerned partners in the travel industry, supports the carbon offset scheme run by climatecare.org. Lonely Planet offsets all of its staff and author travel.

For more information check out our website: www.lonelyplanet.com.

* * *

* * *

GETTING INTO TOWN

Getting into town is straightforward and inexpensive thanks to a fleet of public-transport options, listed under airport headings. Bus drivers sell tickets.

Pricier, door-to-door alternatives include taxi (€40 to €50 between central Paris and Orly, €40 to €60 to/from Charles de Gaulle, €110 to €150 to/from Beauvais; Click here for taxi telephone numbers); or a private minibus shuttle such as Allô Shuttle ( 01 34 29 00 80; www.alloshuttle.com), Paris Airports Service ( 01 55 98 10 80; www.parisairportservice.com) or PariShuttle ( 01 53 39 18 18; www.parishuttle.com). Count on around €25 per person (€40 between 8pm and 6am) for Orly or Charles de Gaulle and €150 for one to four people to/from Beauvais. Book in advance and allow ample time for other pick-ups and drop-offs.

Aéroport d’Orly

Unless noted otherwise, these options to/from Orly call at both terminals.

Air France bus 1 ( 08 92 35 08 20; www.cars-airfrance.com; adult single/return €9/14; 6am-11.30pm from Orly, 5.45am-11pm from Invalides) This navette (shuttle bus) runs every 15 minutes to/from the eastern side of Gare Montparnasse (Map; 30 to 45 minutes) and Aérogare des Invalides (Map; 30 to 45 minutes) in the 7e. On the way into the city, passengers without baggage stowed in the coach hold can ask to get off at metro Porte d’Orléans (Map) or metro Duroc (Map).

Jetbus ( 01 69 01 00 09; adult/under 5yr €5.70/free; 6.20am-11.10pm from Orly, 6.15am-10.30am from Paris) Jetbus runs every 15 to 25 minutes to/from metro Villejuif Louis Aragon (Map; 55 minutes), a bit south of the 13e on the city’s southern fringe, from where a metro/bus ticket gets you into town.

Noctilien bus 31 ( 08 92 68 77 14, 08 92 68 41 14 in English; adult/4-9yr €6/3; 12.30am-5.30pm) Part of the RATP’s night service,