For most Indian travellers, Paris is not a city — it is the mental image of Europe itself. The Eiffel Tower draws around six to seven million visitors a year, the Louvre is the most visited museum on the planet, and yet the whole historic core is compact enough to walk in a weekend. Better still, the same French Schengen visa that gets you to Paris currently opens the door to 29 European countries, which is why so many families from Surat, Ahmedabad and Mumbai make France the anchor of their first Europe trip. This guide covers exactly what first-timers ask us: summit versus second floor on the tower, how Louvre timed entry works, whether Versailles fits in a day, how to survive the metro, where the vegetarian food is, and how to shape 5 to 7 days — with an optional dash to Nice or the Swiss border.
Flights from India and the Schengen visa through France
Air India flies nonstop from Delhi and Mumbai to Paris Charles de Gaulle in roughly 9 to 9.5 hours, while from Ahmedabad or Surat the practical route is a one-stop itinerary via Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Istanbul on Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways or Turkish. Return fares move with the season — expect roughly ₹45,000–₹80,000 in economy, with April to June and the Diwali window at the top of that band. On paperwork, France files through VFS Global (Ahmedabad serves most Gujarat applicants), and the Schengen visa fee is currently around €90 per adult — roughly ₹9,000 depending on the exchange rate — plus VFS service charges, with fees revised from time to time. Decisions commonly come in about 15 working days but can stretch in peak season, and you can apply up to six months before travel, so start early. Our step-by-step Schengen visa guide for Gujarat and the Surat-specific document checklist walk you through funds, insurance and the cover letter; just remember the golden rule from our best Schengen country to apply from Gujarat explainer — apply to France only if France is genuinely your longest stay or first entry, and when you are ready, start your France visa application with our desk.
Eiffel Tower: summit or second floor — and how to book it right
The tower has three visitable levels, and here is the honest advice: the second floor, at about 115 metres, is where the classic postcard views of the Seine, Trocadéro and the Paris rooftops actually live, while the summit at around 276 metres is more about the bragging rights, a tiny champagne bar and a windier, hazier panorama. Lift tickets to the second floor currently sit in the low €20s per adult and summit combinations in the mid €30s — treat these as movable numbers and check the official toureiffel site, which releases dated time slots weeks in advance; sunset slots vanish first. Budget travellers can climb roughly 674 steps to the second floor for noticeably less money and usually a shorter queue. Two free bonuses no first-timer should miss: the head-on view from Trocadéro early in the morning before the crowds and the selfie-sticks arrive, and the tower's sparkle show — five glittering minutes at the start of every hour after dark, best watched from the Champ de Mars lawns or a Seine cruise deck.
The Louvre, a Seine cruise, Montmartre and mastering the metro
The Louvre now runs almost entirely on timed entry, so book a dated slot online — currently around €22 per adult — and remember it is closed on Tuesdays; enter via the Carrousel underground entrance to dodge the pyramid queue, head straight up the Denon wing for the Mona Lisa in the first half hour, then relax into Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory and the Grande Galerie. For the Seine, a one-hour cruise with Bateaux Parisiens or Bateaux-Mouches typically costs somewhere in the €16–€20 range, and the after-dark sailing that catches the tower sparkling is worth planning an evening around. Give another evening to Montmartre: ride the funicular or climb the steps to Sacré-Cœur (entry to the basilica is free), watch the portrait artists at Place du Tertre and stay for sunset over the whole city. Getting around is genuinely easy — buy a Navigo Easy card at any station and load single rides (currently around €2.50 each, cheaper in a 10-ride carnet), and the driverless Line 1 alone strings together the Louvre, Champs-Élysées and Bastille. One caution repeated by every guide because it is true: pickpockets work Line 1, the RER B airport train and the tourist spots, so keep your phone out of back pockets, zip your bag to the front, walk past anyone with a petition clipboard or a found gold ring, and pay by contactless card instead of carrying thick cash — our forex card versus cash guide explains the cheapest setup.
Versailles in a day, and the 5–7 day plan with Nice or the Swiss border
Versailles is the easiest grand day trip in Europe — the RER C train reaches Versailles Château Rive Gauche in about 40 minutes to an hour, the Passport ticket covering the palace, Trianon estate and gardens currently costs somewhere in the high €20s to low €30s depending on fountain-show days, and the palace is closed on Mondays (Tuesdays are extra crowded because the Louvre is shut), so book the earliest slot on a mid-week morning and treat it as a full day. Around it, five days is the honest minimum for Paris: day 1, land, walk the Latin Quarter and take the evening Seine cruise; day 2, Eiffel Tower with Trocadéro first, then the Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées; day 3, Louvre in the morning and Montmartre at sunset; day 4, Versailles; day 5, Notre-Dame's restored exterior, Sainte-Chapelle and Galeries Lafayette before the flight home. With 7 days you have a delicious choice: TGV south to Nice in about 5.5 to 6 hours (or a 90-minute flight) for the Promenade des Anglais and the hilltop village of Èze, or TGV Lyria toward Geneva or Basel in roughly 3 hours to bolt on the lakes and peaks from our Switzerland travel guide. Many first-timers instead pair Paris with Rome and Venice — our Italy guide shows that version — and if you want the full multi-country picture before choosing, start with our Europe first-timer itinerary from India.
Frequently asked questions
Will I find Indian and vegetarian food in Paris? Easily — the La Chapelle quarter near Gare du Nord and the Passage Brady arcade are packed with Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants, Saravanaa Bhavan serves reliable South Indian thalis a short walk from Gare du Nord, and falafel in Le Marais plus boulangerie breads and crepes keep vegetarians happy between meals; strict Jain travellers should read our Jain and vegetarian-friendly destinations guide for how to brief restaurants and pick hotels.
How much does a Paris trip cost from India? As a hedged estimate, budget roughly ₹1.2–₹2 lakh per person for a comfortable 5 to 7 day trip including return flights, visa costs, a well-located 3-star hotel, attraction tickets and metro travel — less if you travel in winter or share a family room, more in June or if you add Nice or Switzerland.
When is the best time to visit Paris? April to June and September to October give the best mix of mild weather and long evenings, July and August are hot and crowded, and December is cold but magical — see our month-by-month Europe timing guide, and if festive lights tempt you, the European Christmas markets guide makes a strong case for a winter Paris.
Paris rewards planning more than almost any city — the right tower slot, the right Louvre morning and the right visa file are the whole game. Explera Vacations builds France and Europe trips for Gujarati families all year, from the VFS appointment to the Versailles tickets, so browse our tour packages from Surat or simply contact us on WhatsApp with your dates and travel month, and we will send you a day-by-day Paris plan with honest costs within a day.
