As of the end of 2025, there is no longer any physical Paris Office of Tourism in the most visited city in the world.
Instead, there is the multi-lingual website, Paris Je t’Aime, which has some practical information, event listings, and basic info for accommodation, museums, nightlife, shopping, children’s amusements, and transportation, however much of it is so minimal that you’ll still end up having to Google for more info (and the English version is full of embarrassing factual errors…I don’t know who’s getting paid to write it).
There is a telephone number: +33(0)1 49 52 42 81 (press “2” for English). It’s supposedly open daily 10am-5pm, however I have never succeeded in actually getting through to anyone, it just rings and rings, then says to call back another time. There is also an “instant message” service (Whatsapp) where a question I sent several days ago remains unanswered (and unacknowledged).
They have replaced brochures and maps with an app (web app, Apple and Android), which assumes tourists all want to walk around Paris constantly staring at their phones (which is also dangerous, since they can be ripped out of your hands on the street in broad daylight, especially in touristy areas of central Paris). But there’s also little PRACTICAL info, such as “how do I get a metro pass?” (the only info about public transportation at all on the app is under “FAQs” and still has outdated info about “carnets” that no longer exist).
The tourism office website itself has better public transport into (mostly linking you to the official Paris public transport website), but they are selling transport passes at a HIGHER price than you’d get them at any metro station (for example, their “Navigo Easy pre-loaded with 10 tickets” is €29.95. However tickets are €2.55 each, and the Navigo Easy pass is €2. So they’re charging you more than €2 more to get it from them (and they only deliver it to a French address, not outside France).
They also sell their Paris Pass Lib’, aka The Official Paris City Pass, where you choose 3, 5, or 6 activities from a list of about 30 museums (but not the Louvre), monuments (Eiffel Tower, but only to the 2nd level), and activities such as river cruises, cooking classes, and bike tours. The pass is currently priced at €59, €109, and €179, respectively. Once purchased, you have to download the Paris Je t’Aime smartphone app to access your Pass and choose the places you want to book. I find this Pass completely bewildering, because it doesn’t give you any details of the activities (What does “a guided tour of key districts of Paris” include? How long is it? How many people will be in the group? Is it available every day?) and many of the museums and monuments still require you to book a separate time slot, which, if you can’t get during your stay, too bad, pick something else. I wouldn’t recommend it.
So what is the Paris Tourism Office good for? Browsing its free website/app for some ideas of what to see and do in Paris, sure. But as a source of free, reliable practical information and a human to answer your questions? Nope.
Heather’s Rant
Longtime Secrets of Paris readers knows I’ve never been a huge fan of the Paris Tourism Office, even before they closed their physical offices and stopped answering the phone. Why?
- I have been told by their staff (when they were still physically present) that they aren’t allowed to recommend anything or have an opinion. If you want advice on a hotel or a restaurant, they simply give you a list of all of them. I realize this is to be “impartial”, but it’s not very useful for travelers looking for more than a glorified Yellow Pages. People don’t need more information, they need discernment (or at a minimum, an explanation of the differences so they can decide for themselves).
- They will only list businesses which pay to be members of the Tourism Office. I was a member for a year when I was a tour guide and thought it wasn’t worth what they charged me; they kept sending me large groups of visitors who didn’t speak English, even though I was clear in my description that I only gave tours in English for up to six adults. Unfortunately, anyone can be a member if they pay the fee for the promotion. There are no actual standards beyond being legally a registered business in France, and no guarantees of quality. If a bunch of tourists report a bad experience with a company listed by the Tourism Office, it doesn’t mean they’ll remove that business from their listings.
- Finally, I don’t know what they study in tourism school these days, but the people working at the Paris Tourism Office just don’t seem very knowledgeable about Paris unless you want to buy a ticket to something. Once I called to ask which Paris bars serve Absinthe, and the person on the phone didn’t even know that the liquor was legalized in France since 1988. “So I guess you don’t know about those bars, then?”
I’d love to be proven wrong, but I’ve been trying to find the usefulness of the Paris Tourism Office since 1999, and it’s only been getting worse.
Other Tourism Offices
The Explore France (www.france.fr) is the country’s official government tourism office, with locations all over the world. Check out their website for the latest promotions, practical info and to request brochures. This is a good resource for visitors who will be traveling throughout France, or those who simply want to keep up with the latest cultural news and events.
See the Paris Resource Guide for more information on planning your trip to Paris.
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