UKC

I am going with my 18 yr old grandson to Paris to see the finish of the TdF in July. We have booked flights for a 3 day/2nights trip. Does anyone out there have any advice about accommodation & spectating please?

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

Great idea - I've been a few times with my dad before he passed away. in terms of spectating spots you need to get there quite early (2hours ahead of the caravan should be ok)

the best spot we found is about here (well on the corner behind the bus: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.8641379,2.3201304,3a,75y,104.08h,90t/data...

It means you see them come into the circuit, and see them cross the back of the place de la cncorde from rue de rivoli as well as coming past on the way out of the Champs Elysees

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

In terms of hotels, my old man used to book a small 4* independent this one I think: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Hotel+Fran%C3%A7ois+1er/@48.8700567,2.2...

But we used to do it on the euro star travel & hotel deals so worked out quite cheap

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

I was there last year and was stood under the 1km to go inflatable and there were gaps around the barriers all day but that said the weather was terrible.

My biggest disappointment is that we were unable to get anywhere near the post race presentations as we were on the outside of the loop. It seemed to me that you could get around on the inside of the loop, maybe someone could confirm if this is what you are looking to do? We watched the presentations in a pub so it wasn't all bad!

Accommodation there is a lot to choose from, we stopped at the Best Western Ducs de Bourgogne which was a short walk to the Rue De Rivoli.

Enjoy

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

I was in Paris the weekend of the finish in 2014, although more for my wife's birthday treat on the way home from the Etape than the actual race.

We stayed in Holiday Inn Express Paris - Canal De La Villette, which was very nice in the evening, although somewhat noisy at night from the nightclub underneath it. One of the main reasons was it had a secure car park so I didn't have to worry about my bike in the car - it's underneath the hotel and very tight, but managed to get in and out with no scrapes.

It was a pretty easy ride from there down to the course in the morning - you can ride around a lot of it until they start closing bits of it to finish setting up. Alternatively, you can get the Metro from the hotel and walk.

Sadly, we couldn't stay to watch it live

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:
I know this isn't the answer you want but the previous stage in Morzine would will be a far better watch, then go up to Paris for the finish.

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

....or Megeve, which is a delighful village. You can see it on two days there.