Hotel recommendations - France and Italy

[amdg]

Mrs amdg and I will be going on our honeymoon soon to Paris, Venice and Rome, and are about to start looking for hotels to stay at in each city. Neither of us have been to any of these cities before so we have no idea and I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for hotels - (or "must-see" tourist attractions as well I guess). We're looking at the medium price range and would ideally like hotels that have a bit of cultural flavor. Thanks in advance!

[Mulboyne]

Sorry amdg, those are two countries I can't help you with.

[Boris]

Mrs amdg and I will be going on our honeymoon soon to Paris, Venice and Rome, and are about to start looking for hotels to stay at in each city. Neither of us have been to any of these cities before so we have no idea and I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations for hotels - (or "must-see" tourist attractions as well I guess). We're looking at the medium price range and would ideally like hotels that have a bit of cultural flavor. Thanks in advance!

Hope you didn't leave already

For Paris, I don't know the hotels, but I recommend that you go to http://www.booking.com, they have interesting discounts and a lot of pictures, reviews for all the hotels...

The must see are quite famous so I won't reinvent the wheel:

If you like art (pick one of the two first if you stay for a short time): The Louvre (stuff from -4000 to the late 19th century, pick two or three departments and the masterpieces you want to see, it's too big to see everything) Musee d'Orsay (impressionists and early XXth) and Beaubourg a.k.a musee Georges Pompidou (contemporary art).

If you like shopping: the Grands Magasins (Galeries Lafayette, Printemps) and perhaps the Champs Elysees (nice but over-rated to my mind).

Historical stuff: the cathedral Notre Dame, the Jardin des Tuileries in front of the Louvre, the Sacre Coeur and above all the "Sainte Chapelle" which has amazing stained glass windows. This one is not that easy to find but it should be indicated on a map (it's really close to Notre Dame). The Eiffel Tower is nice to see from the bottom, but I never climbed because of the japanese-style length of the queue.

The "quartier latin" is also a good spot (a lot of restaurants and quite animated neighborhood but expect to be charged as a tourist and the food is often not that great in this neighborhood).
If you have time, the neighborhood called "Le Marais" (with the Place des Vosges) has a lot of small streets filled with art galleries and nice shops.

And if you stay a week or more, take a picture of you and of your wife, ask for a "carte orange" (free) at a metro station and buy a one-week "carte orange" ticket, worthwile if you want to take the metro or the bus more than two-three times a day.
The town hall also installed recently a system where you can rent a cheap bike from everywhere and leave it everywhere (stations where to drop them are all over the city). It's called Velib' but I haven't tried it and wouldn't as it's suicidal, so if you want to get rid of your wife, it is an option to consider.

Don't forget to look depressed and/or angry in the streets to look like a real parisian!!:cool:

[baka tono]

Aaaaaah Paris.....
I like tripadvisor.com for reviews and a general price range. Too bad the exchange rate isnt in your favour. Things to see in Paris .. sigh ... everything. So many must sees in one city but two in particular I recommend. One a view over Paris from the Arc, the Eiffel tower, or where I saw it Notre Dame. Second not to miss thing a Seine river cruise in a bateaux mouche (boat.)

Rome and Venice I cant comment since I havent been to either city yet. I had been checking airfares to Rome but its far too expensive for when I can take my holidays. You and mrs amdg are lucky.
One more thing I suggest is taking a look in the Japanese language travel guide for gaikoku section at a bookstore. I like the magazines they have and at 1000 yen cheaper than English guidebooks.
Bon Voyage.

[amdg]

Thanks Boris and Baka Tono!

Good tips there. I will try to make use of them.

One question - I will be "charged like a tourist"? Damn, any way to avoid that? besides speaking fluent French? Is the tourist gouging restricted to certain areas or types of shops? That also reminds me, is there a tipping custom in France?

[Boris]

Thanks Boris and Baka Tono!

Good tips there. I will try to make use of them.

One question - I will be "charged like a tourist"? Damn, any way to avoid that? besides speaking fluent French? Is the tourist gouging restricted to certain areas or types of shops? That also reminds me, is there a tipping custom in France?

No way to avoid the "tourist overprice" of some places since the price is written on the menu at the entrance (take a look at the menu before entering a restaurant since they are always exposed in front).
The problem is actually more of a "pay the price of a normal restaurant but eat barely average food" because french or foreign tourists stick to the immediate surroundings of the "hot spots" to eat, whatever the quality.
I got screwed once or twice with friends so my only advice would be to look in the guides to find good places or believe in luck.
It also appears that next to the "fontaine st Michel" ("quartier latin") some restaurants have hired guys trying to convince people to come in their restaurants as they do in Roppongi for the strip clubs.

Apart from the quality/price ratio of restaurants in the touristic hot spots, I wouldn't say that the fact of being a foreigner is a great handicap. The service might be poorer in some restaurants maybe and of course there is some difficulty to understand ze french accent when the staff speak english but that's all what noticed my visiting friends.

No mandatory tipping in France, service is included. If you are pleased with the service though, you can leave a few euros on the table (I usually leave 1 or 2 euros but a lot of my friends even for high bills don't leave anything).