Paris - Prepare

Bring cultural curiosity for all those museums, ultra-smart clothes to blend in and a good book to while away long afternoons in literary cafés.

Spend and save at the January sales. Don't miss the Paris Film Festival in March or the Paris Marathon in April. Relax in summer at the Seine's Paris Plage beach, La Villette's Jazz Festival and Saint-Cloud’s world-class two-day rock festival Rock en Seine (end Aug). Join the firemen's dances on July 14th's Bastille Day. Party at September's Techno Parade and stay up all night at October's Nuit Blanche (White Night), when monuments don't close. Ice-skate on the Eiffel Tower and in front of the Hôtel de Ville in December.

New Year's Day (1 Jan), Good Friday (Mar/Apr), Easter Monday (Mar/Apr), Labour Day (1 May), 1945 Victory Day (8 May), Ascension (40 days after Easter), Bastille Day (14 Jul), Assumption (15 Aug), All Saints' Day (1 Nov), Remembrance Day (11 Nov), Christmas Day (25 Dec).

When the temperature drops to around 6°C in January, Parisians still gather on café terrasses, huddled around giant heaters. Spring and autumn are mild. In August the mercury hits 24°C and locals escape to the seaside, leaving the city pleasantly empty for visitors. Those who stay find relief from the heat on Paris Plage, the artificial beach lining the Seine).

230V AC, 50 Hz, two-pin plugs are standard.

+33 (national), (0) 1 (Paris).

Euro (€) is the currency, although locals still call the smaller denominations centimes, a throwback to the French franc.

GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 in summer).

Paris Tourist Office website

Ile-de-France Tourist Office website

Dress in understated chic – choose designer labels in the Avenue Montaigne, rustic colours in villagey Montmartre and urban cool outfits in the gay Marais.