Paris is the perfect city to explore on your own, but if short time and tired leg muscles do not permit, try taking an introductory guided tour.

There are many, from the luxury motor coach tour through inexpensive hop-on, hop-off double-decker buses with upper-level open-air seating. There are bicycle tours, Segway tours, walking tours and many special interest tours. Have a look at these.

Several companies offer tickets good for up to 48 hours, meaning that you can buy your ticket in the afternoon and continue to use the service all the next day.

For self-guided walking tours, you can't do better than the free tours offered by History Walks Paris. More...

Tours to the outskirts are also good bargains. You can join a three-hour tour to Versailles, an afternoon excursion to Chartres, or an afternoon visit to Fontainebleau and Barbizon. You can also combine a tour to Versailles with a visit to Chartres or Fontainebleau.

Nighttime tours of Paris, such as a drive around the city to see the floodlit monuments, are popular but more than that can be expensive, especially if they include visits to famous nightclubs such as the Moulin Rouge, Lido, or Folies Bergère. Check them here.

A particularly pleasant—and Parisian—type of tour is the cruise on the river Seine. A guide gives a running commentary in several languages as you cruise along past the major sights and beneath Paris's dozens of bridges. A Seine cruise is particularly memorable at night. More...

Even cheaper is the river shuttle service, the Batobus. You can cruise for several miles through the heart of Paris.

The Batobus western terminus is La Bourdonnais-Tour Eiffel, near the Eiffel Tower (Métro: Bir Hakeim or Trocadéro; RER: Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel).

The eastern terminus is at the Hôtel de Ville (Métro: Hôtel de Ville). Stops along the way, from west to east, are Solférino-Musée d'Orsay, Quai Malaquais (opposite the Louvre), and Quai Montebello-Notre Dame. Hop on or off the boat at any stop.