During your Study Abroad semester at UNYP, visit Paris in the spring

Whether you are coming to Prague to begin your Study Abroad program or returning to UNYP from the winter break, you should consider visiting at least one more European capital during your spring semester. If you plan your time off strategically, you might be able to cover a few destinations without affecting your studies. After all, making memories with your university friends outside the classroom is an essential component of your college experience, no matter whether you study International Relations, IT Management or Communication and Media. Traveling around Europe from Prague can be very convenient because of the Czech Republic’s central location.  For this article, we have picked some things to see and do in Paris during a weekend trip. 

Studying Abroad in Prague provides you with an opportunity to travel across all of Europe! 

Getting there

It only takes 90 minutes to fly from Prague to Paris. If you book a few weeks in advance, you can get round trip tickets for as little as 1,500 CZK (approximately 66USD). Uber in Paris is a lot more expensive than in Prague, so we suggest looking into taking RER or an airport shuttle bus to the Opera Garnier when getting to the city from Charles de Gaulle Airport. 

What to see

Paris is a visually stunning city with a vibrant culture and incredible history. One weekend definitely won’t be enough to cover a tenth of what the city has to offer, so we suggest planning your cultural program ahead of time. After all, it is better to enjoy yourselves in a new setting rather than end up footsore and bewildered after a rushed weekend of endless museums and historic sites. If you are only going to Paris for one weekend, pay a visit to the Musée d’Orsay instead of the Louvre; it is impossible to see all of the Louvre pavilions in one day, so save it for a more extended trip. The Musée d’Orsay offers a collection of 2,000 paintings and 600 sculptures (including Renoir, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, and Toulouse-Lautrec) so you can stroll rather than run between the artworks. You also might enjoy the permanent exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, located in the western wing of Palais du Louvre. This rather compact museum is famous for its extensive collection of decorative arts, fashion, jewels, and furniture.  

What to do 

While Paris is still a fashion capital, it makes no sense in today’s interconnected world of online shopping to spend your precious weekend browsing through boutiques and department stores. However, if it is your first time in Paris and you want to treat yourself to a special and unique item, check out the variety of styles and items in some of the vintage and second-hand stores like Kilo Shop, La Marelle, or Free’P’ Star. Two days in Paris will give you enough time to spend an afternoon exploring the district of Montmartre. Formerly a little village, Montmartre became home to bohemian artists of the turn of the century, including Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse, and Modigliani. If you are traveling with a few friends, it might be worth booking a private guided tour around Montmartre at Airbnb Experiences. 

Getting around

The city is much larger than Prague, so if you are not ready to walk 30 kilometers per day, consider getting a Paris Visite travel pass, which will allow you to travel on all kinds of public transport in the selected zones. It is much cheaper than buying individual tickets for each metro or bus ride, and will also give you a 25% discount on the entrance fee to the Arc de Triomphe. Of course, the Arc de Triomphe can’t compare with the iconic view from the Eifel Tower, but it is uniquely beautiful in its own right, and the line is usually much shorter. However, locals often say that the best and most breathtaking view of Paris can be found from the Montparnasse Tower Panoramic Observation Deck. 

Did you know?

There are around 130 museums in Paris dedicated to the visual arts including painting, photography, sculpture, installations and cinema), music, history, design, architecture, nature, and science. For those of you who want to cram in as many museums and historic sites as possible, we recommend getting the Paris Museum pass, which also allows you to use the hop-on-hop-off buses.