Escorted & Package Tours

An organized tour can provide good background information on the city and help you get your bearings. There are a number of different tour options on offer in Paris, including boat tours, bus tours, and walking tours. Many visitors are looking for more and more creative ways of getting to know Paris. Whether you dream of learning to speak French or perfecting your French culinary skills, here are several ideas for exploring Paris in a different, more innovative, way.

Boat Tours

Whether you choose to explore the Seine or Paris's canals, a boat tour is a lovely way to see Paris. Bateaux-Mouches (tel. 01-42-25-96-10; www.bateaux-mouches.fr; Métro: Alma-Marceau) cruises depart from Pont de l'Alma on the Right Bank of the Seine, and last for a little over 1 hour; cruises run regularly from 10:15am to 11pm from April to September, and from 11am to 9pm from October to March. Tickets cost 10€ and the commentary is in French and English.

On the other side of the river, in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Bateaux Parisiens (tel. 01-76-64-14-45; www.bateauxparisiens.com; Métro: RER Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel), offers smaller boats that run every half hour from 10:30am to 10:30pm from April to September, and every hour from 10:30am to 10pm from October to March. The tour lasts for an hour, the commentary is available in 13 languages, and tickets cost 11€.

Vedettes du Pont Neuf (tel. 01-46-33-98-38; www.vedettesdupontneuf.com; Métro: Pont Neuf) runs hour-long cruises from the Square du Vert Galant at the tip of the Ile de la Cité. Tickets cost 12€ and boats depart roughly every 30 minutes from 10:30am to 10:30pm from mid-March to October, and less regularly from November to mid-March.

The best canal cruise is Canauxrama (tel. 01-42-39-15-00; www.canauxrama.com; Métro: Jaurés or Bastille), which tours the picturesque Canal St-Martin. Boats leave from Bassin de la Villette at 9:45am and 2:45pm, and from Bastille at 9:45am and 2:30pm; tickets cost 16€, and the cruise takes about 2 1/2 hours The service runs daily from May to September.

Bus Tours

A bus tour is a good way to get orientated and see the major sites. L'Open Tour (tel. 01-42-66-56-56; www.parislopentour.com) offers four bus route tours -- Paris Grand Tour, Montmartre-Grands Boulevards, Montparnasse-St-Germain, and Bastille-Bercy -- which run from around 9am to 8pm. A 1-day pass costs 29€, and a 2-day pass 32€. Les Cars Rouge (tel. 01-53-95-39-53; www.carsrouges.com) offers a hop-on, hop-off trip that stops at nine sites, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Champs-Élysées. Buses leave every ten minutes in summer and every 20 minutes in winter. The commentary is available in eight languages and a 2-day ticket is 24€.

Cooking Schools

Auguste Escoffier was one of the great pioneers of modern French cuisine, and one of the first chefs at Paris's Hôtel Ritz. The Ritz-Escoffier Ecole de Gastronomie Française (tel. 01-43-16-30-50; www.ritzparis.com; Métro: Concorde, Opéra, Madeleine) offers demonstration classes of the master's techniques for amateurs, professionals, and even children. Classes are taught in French and English and last between 1 hour and 19 weeks, depending on the class. Prices start at 55€.

Le Cordon Bleu (tel. 01-53-68-22-50; www.cordonbleu.edu; Métro: Vaugirard) is the most famous French cooking school -- this is where Julia Child mastered the art of French cooking. The best-known courses last 10 weeks, after which you are awarded a certificate; prices start at 1,500€. If you'd prefer a less intense immersion, you can opt for a 2-hour demonstration class (prices start at 41€) or 4-day workshop (869€-930€). Classes are in English.

Less grand but equally enjoyable are the cooking classes offered by La Cuisine Paris (tel. 01-40-51-78-18; www.lacuisineparis.com; Métro Hôtel de Ville), a friendly school, set up by a Franco-American team, that offers French cooking classes in both French and English. The calendar of classes is updated every month and prices range from 65€ for 2 hours to 150€ for 4 hours. Similarly, Cook'n with Class (tel. 01-42-55-70-59; www.cooknwithclass.com, Métro: Château Rouge, Lamarck-Caulaincourt) offers a range of small-group classes, including walks to local markets. All classes are in English and prices range from 125€ for 3-hour classes to 185€ for 5-hour classes.

Cycling and Running Tours

Fat Tire Bike Tours (tel. 01-56-58-10-54; www.fattirebiketours.com/paris; Métro: RER Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel) offers a 4-hour day- and night-tour of Paris by bike; tickets cost 28€, including the bike rental. Tours leave from the south leg of the Eiffel Tower daily at 11am and 3pm from April to October and daily at 11am from November to March. This company also offers bike tours of Versailles and Monet's gardens in Giverny.

Paris à Vélo, C'est Sympa (tel. 01-48-87-60-01; www.parisvelosympa.com; Métro: Richard Lenoir) offers four 3-hour bike tours in French and English: Heart of Paris, Unusual Paris, Paris Contrasts, and for the early birds, Paris at Dawn. The tour schedule varies, so check the website for departure times. Tickets cost 34€, which includes bike rental and insurance.

Paris Running Tours (www.parisrunningtours.com; Métro: Alma-Marceau) offers jogging tours of the city. The standard tours -- Paris West, Paris East, Paris North, and the popular Da Vinci Code tour -- take participants on a 10km (6-mile) jog, and cost 50€. (Each additional runner costs 25€.)

Guided Tours

Paris is a dream come true for shopaholics. Chic Shopping Paris (tel. 06-77-65-08-01; www.chicshoppingparis.com) offers tours that are designed to give visitors a behind-the-scenes shopping experience. Focusing on new shops and discovering new trends, tours include a boutique tour, a Sunday shopping tour, and an arts and antiques tour of a flea market. All of the standard tours last for 4 to 4 1/2 hours and cost 100€ per person, and custom tours are available.

Created by professional travel writer Heather Stimmler-Hall, Secrets of Paris (tel. 01-43-36-69-85; www.secretsofparis.com) offers private, customized tours of Paris. All tours are designed with the client, and each unique tour aims to reveal a previously unseen side of the city. Suggested themes include Multicultural Paris, Graffiti Art tours, and Paris After Dark. Prices range from 150€ to 600€, depending on the length of the tour.

Entrée to Black Paris (tel. 212/658-9351 in the U.S.; http://entreetoblackparis.blogspot.com or www.discoverparis.net), which is affiliated with Discover Paris!, offers visitors the opportunity to discover the vibrant legacy Africans, African-Americans, and other peoples of African descent have left on France through a selection of self-guided, downloadable PDF itineraries. Subjects include Josephine Baker, star of the La Revue Nègre (The Black Revue), and the writer Richard Wright. Itineraries cost $25.

Hot Air Balloon Tours

A unique way to see the city from above is by a hot air balloon. Located in the Parc André Citroën in the 15e, Ballon de Paris (tel. 01-44-26-20-00; www.ballondeparis.com; Métro Javel or Balard) has a hot air balloon that reaches an altitude of 150m (492 ft.) but remains tethered to the ground. Tickets cost 12€ Saturday and Sunday, 10€ Monday through Friday.

Language Classes

The Alliance Française (tel. 01-42-84-90-00; www.alliancefr.org), a highly reputable nonprofit organization, offers French language classes at its Paris school. Evening courses (4 hr. per week) start at 53€, general French classes (9 hr. per week) start at 93€, and the intensive course starts at 213€; the price decreases per week the longer you stay. Reservations must be made at least 6 weeks in advance.

Les Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne (tel. 01-44-10-77-00; www.ccfs-sorbonne.fr) offers French-language classes for students of all levels. There are four semesters per year, and within each semester a range of different classes are offered. Prices vary depending on the course and the semester; a 2-week conversation class costs 260€, while the 12-week intensive summer session costs 2,750€.

Walking Tours

Paris was made for walking and the best way to discover the city is on foot. Context (tel. 01-72-81-36-35; www.contexttravel.com) organizes small group and private walking tours led by scholars and experts. Tours range from general 2-hour orientation strolls to more focused themed walks, such as an in-depth tour of the Louvre or a gastronomic stroll. Prices range from 40€ to 85€ per person, depending on the walk. Sight Seeker's Delight (tel. 06-65-98-01-66; www.sightseekersdelight.com) offers a range of walking tours, including one of the Seine, Montmartre, Jewish Paris, and Père-Lachaise. Prices vary between 20€ and 40€. Paris Walks (tel. 01-48-09-21-40; www.paris-walks.com) organizes 2-hour walks of the city, based on either a theme or a neighborhood. Most of the walks cost 12€ and do not require a reservation, but some of the walks, such as the Chocolate Tour, are a little more expensive and need to be booked in advance.