My decision to buy this package was rather last minute, and if I 1)had the time to open and study each Day's guide before I left home to fully understand how they were structured, and 2)had the freedom to plan how to spend my days while in Paris, the guides would have been well worth the cost. But I ended up trying to use them on the fly, which did not work well. First, I would suggest the digital books be labeled on each cover with the areas explored (as the digital maps are, such as Day 2 - Left Bank: Latin Quarter....). As to point 2 above, I was in Paris as a guest on this trip planned by a friend, and she decided where we were going each day. On the street, using my digital map on my cell to find recommended sights near where we were only worked a few times. There are so many data points its overwhelming, even when deselecting all but the "Day #". I relied more on the printouts of each Day's checklist/Food & Drinks pages, but again, these were not labeled with the area so I had to keep looking things up on the map. Later in the trip I had 2 1/2 days on my own, and at that point, the itineraries were most helpful in making up a list of what I had missed in each neighborhood and figuring out how to group them efficiently. I have been home 2 weeks now and I am still going through the itineraries, a bit sad that I missed getting to a number of really interesting sites. Also, be aware that having a digital guide and the digital maps open consumes a lot of both cellphone battery and cellular data pretty quickly. Invest in a cellphone charger pack with attached cords and be prepared to buy extra 5G high speed cellphone data. I used my allotted monthly high speed in 4 days.
Thank you for such a thoughtful review. We’re glad the itineraries came in handy during your solo days!
One thing worth clarifying: our itineraries are curated routes rather than area guides, with each day following a planned path through major sights and hidden gems. That said, the digital maps can absolutely be used to spot what's nearby wherever you are, so your instinct there was spot on!
We always recommend reading through the full guides at least a week before you travel. Because we offer a range of options within each day, a bit of planning ahead makes a huge difference to how much you get out of them on the ground. We hope you make it back to Paris to catch those spots you missed!
We had a wonderful time in Paris, partially thanks to Lily’s itineraries. We had already planned some guided tours when I received the itineraries, but we did book one or two of the recommended guided tours, and they were excellent. I used the itineraries to make a master list of sites we wanted to see, and possible eateries. But we were not up for the massive amounts of walking, so we broke each itinerary up onto multiple days.
Please let your readers know how many cobblestones they will encounter! My wife doesn’t do well on those, and they are everywhere in Paris. Also, if Lily says the place is great for coffee and people watching, don’t have lunch there! We found that the food was not good beyond what Lily recommended for each eatery.
We were there in early May, and the crowds were already very big. There are lots of holidays in France during May, so expect crowds. We went to the Louvre on a Friday/holiday and it was wall-to-wall people. Also, we went to Versailles on a Tuesday and it was horribly packed - we were told because the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, so everyone goes to Versailles. By the way, skip-the-line tours are well worth it!
Lily recommended an eSIM company and we tried it. While the price was right, the service was bad. We could not get 5G service, so my phone was spinning, battery running down, when trying to locate places on the itinerary. We ended up going back to our major carrier. As it turned out, we had 12 free international days saved up with them.
Lily’s info was really helpful, overall, and we would take advantage of that again. Thanks!
Awesome info! Love! Love!
Great time saver. I was able to select the most popular places and interesting ones I didn't know about. Was able to book my events way ahead of time.
