Bus routes for L’OpenTour buses in Paris
L’OpenTour provide bus tours in Paris on large open topped double decker buses, and covering different routes that get you to some of the more unusual places, this is an ideal way of getting to see many of the different tourist attractions and monuments that you may never get experience any other way.
Running every day of the year including on Sundays and French National holidays, there are actually three different routes that you can travel, and being a hop on and hop off service, you can disembark to visit one of the landmarks in Paris and then jump on another bus to see more.
The Paris grand tour
The Paris Grand Tour starts at 13 Rue Auber, which is where the office is situated within the 9th Arrondissement of Paris, and this particular tour will take you to some of the most famous tourist attractions in Paris. And for a point of reference, the buses have the colour code blue on the windshield for this tour circuit.
Located here you will find the Musee du Parfum, the famous Printemps for shopping and then you proceed towards the Palais Garnier Opera House and the Place Vendome, and on again to the Palais Royal and its gardens.
The next stop after these is the Musee du Louvre, which has got to be the most famous museum in Paris, if not the world, and while here you can also visit the Jardin des Tuileries Gardens, the I M Pei Pyramid of the Louvre, the Jeu de Paume, the Musee de l'Orangerie and the triumphal arch known as the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
From here you would travel to the Pont Neuf, which is actually the oldest bridge over the River Seine where you can then get to the Conciergerie and the Saint Chapelle that are located on the Ile de la Cite island, not forgetting the impressive Notre Dame Cathedral, then over the Petit Pont bridge to another Open Tour information point where you can also hop to another line.
The Paris Grand Tour on the OpenTour buses then travels onto the Musee d’Orsay and from here you can then discover the incredible Place de la Concorde with the oldest monument in Paris called the Luxor Obelisk and the Musee Orangerie within the Tuileries Gardens that we mentioned earlier.
You can then discover the Champs Elysees Avenue where there are actually three different stops en route starting with the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, then the Avenue Montaigne and by the Metro station called the George V, which is right by The Lido, which is the famous cabaret in Paris that is home to the Bluebell Girls.
Carrying on you get to the Arc de Triomphe and the tomb of the unknown soldier with its eternal flame and from there you go to the Jardins du Trocadero where you can enjoy the Palais de Chaillot, museums such as the Musee de la Marine, even enjoy CineAqua, Aquarium de Paris within the gardens or savour the spectacular view across to the Eiffel Tower.
The most famous landmark in Paris has got to be the Eiffel Tower, and this is the next stop on the Paris Grand Tour with OpenTour and you can also experience the Champ de Mars, the River Seine with the tour boats and the Musee du Quai Branly.
From there you carry on along the River Seine until come to the ellaborate bridge called the Pont Alexandre III, where you can then also discover Les Invalides, which is home to the Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte and several museums including the Musee de l’Armee. Plus there is the Musee Rodin located within the Hotel Biron that was the prior residence of this sculptor, Auguste Rodin, which is also close by.
The tour then takes you past the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, then back down the Avenue des Champs Elysees before going back round the Place de la Concorde and finishes at Place de la Madeleine with the Eglise de la Madeleine church. So as you can tell, this is a very comprehensive tour circuit of some of the most famous tourist attractions in Paris.
However, this is just scratching the surface, as there are two other tour circuits you can discover with the OpenTour bus tours in Paris.
Montparnasse - Saint-Germain tour
The colour code shown on the windscreen of the OpenTour buses for this route is green and the tour starts at 4 Rue du Petit-Pont in the Latin Quarter and the first stop is the Luxembourg Gardens and the Musee du Luxembourg, plus you can also discover the Pantheon close by.
From here you could then discover the Observatoire or the Musee Zadkine, yet perhaps walking a little further to experience the incredible Catacombes would be more interesting to you. However, getting back to the green tour of Open Tour sightseeing hop on and hop off tours, the route then travels to the Ile Saint Louis and over the River Seine to Place de la Bastille where you will also see the Opera Bastille.
Travelling on to the Hotel de Ville, this route then goes round the Pompidou Centre and stops near the Forum des Halles, and Chatelet where you can also discover the theatres and Tour Saint-Jacques before going over the Ile de la Cite and back to its start point.
Montmartre - Grands Boulevards tour
The Montmartre - Grands Boulevards Tour is recognised by the colour red shown on the windscreen of the OpenTour buses and again this starts from the main office at 13 Rue Auber and takes you first to the Montmartre area of Paris where you can see the Moulin Rouge with its famous red windmill.
You then have a stop by the Funicular that takes you up to the Sacre Coeur Basilica, the Place du Tertre and there is also the Espace Dali museum close by, but continuing on your journey you see the Gare du Nord train station where the Eurostar arrives and the Gare de l’Est, with the Musee du Cristal nearby.
Continuing on to the Republique and then the Grands Boulevards where the Musee Grevin waxwork museum is located, then the OpenTour sightseeing bus tour continues to the Opera Garnier, before getting back to its start point.
Paris Open Tour bus sightseeing tour maps with stops and timetables:
Open Tour Bus Map and Timetables - PDF
Open Tour Bus Map and Timetables - Image
So as you can tell, the circuits of the OpenTour Bus Tours in Paris are very varied and you will be able to get to see far more of this incredible city, all with commentary available in different languages, and these are a great way of getting around, especially if you have a limited time while on holiday in Paris.
