Car Hire: Take advantage of the special easyJet inflight rates. Visit the Europcar desk on arrival or call +33 (0)8 2582 5460. Open from 6.30am-11pm seven days a week.

Airport Transfer: Pre-book your door-to-door transfer with easyJet’s transfer partner, Holiday Taxis—from home to the airport, then city or resort (easyjet.holidaytaxis.com).

Train: The RER B4 (OrlyVal) travels between Orly and Châtelet (central Paris) in 30 minutes. Trains run every eight minutes from 6am-11pm. Tickets: €9.50. The journey on line C2 between Orly and Invalides takes 40 minutes, from 6am-11pm. Tickets: €6.10.

Taxi: The fare to central Paris is about €35.

Bus: The OrlyBus stops at Place Denfert-Rochereau every 12 minutes from 5.45am-11.30pm. Tickets: €6.30.

Car Hire: Take advantage of the special easyJet inflight rates. Visit the Europcar desk on arrival or call +33 (0)8 2582 5490. Open from 6am-midnight seven days a week.

Airport Transfer: Pre-book your door-to-door transfer with easyJet’s transfer partner, Holiday Taxis—from home to the airport, then city or resort (easyjet.holidaytaxis.com).

Train: Take the RER B3 on a half-hour journey to central Paris (Gare du Nord). Trains leave every 15 minutes from 5.24am-11.58pm. Tickets: €8.50.

Taxi: The fare to central Paris is about €45.

Bus: The Roissy Bus stops at the Opéra every 15 minutes from 5.45am-11pm. Tickets: €8.90.

Le Taverne Henri IV
( 13 Place du Pont Neuf, 1st. Tel. 01 4354 2790 )
Cosy and conveniently located next to the Seine River cruise port at the western tip of the Ile de la Cité, this friendly wine bar serves hearty quiches, cheese and charcuterie platters, and country paté that perfectly accompanies the many excellent wines.

La Victoire Suprême du Coeur
( 27-31 Rue du Bourg-Tibourg, 4th. Tel. 01 4041 9503 )
It’s not easy finding a good vegetarian restaurant in the centre of Paris, but this eatery in the heart of the trendy Marais district is a sure bet for creative, fusion cuisine for vegetarians and vegans.

Le Boudoir
( 25 Rue du Colisée, 8th. Tel. 01 4359 2529 )
Following the trend in all things girly and sexy, this new restaurant has an elegant and fun pink boudoir décor perfect for the posh ladies shopping on the nearby Champs Elysées. The cuisine is gourmet brasserie style, open from breakfast till dinner.

Davé
( 12 Rue de Richelieu, 1st. Tel. 01 4261 4948 )
It’s almost impossible to get a table at this famous low-lit Chinese restaurant near the Palais Royal, unless you’re well-known in the fashion or entertainment industries. Dress to the nines and you may be able to charm the diminutive host Davé into letting you in.

Bar du Closerie des Lilas
( 171 Boulevard Montparnasse, 6th. Tel. 01 4051 3450 )
The historic piano bar at the Closerie des Lilas has the plaques of all of the great writers and artists of the 1920s who hung out there, including Hemingway and Beckett. The crowd is a mix of all ages, formal and casually dressed, enjoying cocktails and snacks in the low-lit ambience.

The New Morning
( 7-9 Rue des Petits-Ecuries, 10th. Tel. 01 4523 5141 )
Check out the latest international jazz performers at this legendary club, located on a somewhat scruffy street in the lively Faubourg St-Denis quarter. Nightly concerts at 9pm, doors open at 8pm. Get there early for a good seat.

La Loco
( 90 Boulevard de Clichy, 18th. Tel. 01 5341 8889 )
There’s something for everyone at this multi-floored club next door to the Moulin Rouge, with different DJs for different moods (disco, rock, R ’n’ B and house). Despite its grown-up location in the racy Pigalle district at the foot of Montmartre, the club tends to attract a student crowd.

OPA
( 9 Rue Biscornet, 12th. Tel. 01 4628 1290 )
A hip, laid-back crowd hangs out at this bar behind the Bastille Opera. Free entry, live concerts and clubbing on the weekend, as well as a smoking room, make this a popular place for a stress-free night on the town.

Unprepared for the chilly Parisian weather? Hunt down a cheap and chic autumn jacket at the Marché au Puces de St-Ouen (metro Clignancourt, 9.30am-6pm Saturday-Monday), where you’ll find all styles, new and vintage, at prices you can bargain down.

You can now buy a 'disposable' phone pre-loaded with 60 minutes of calling time and a fully charged battery without a subscription for €49—you can also buy Mobicarte recharge minutes if you don’t want to throw it away. Available at shops in Paris.

Hipper than Les Halles, with a street fashion sensibility, the Montorgueil district attracts an edgy crowd to its many cafés, tiny restaurants, DJ shops and vintage clothing stores. The Rue Montorgueil itself is an old-fashioned market street, paved in off-white cobblestones. Don’t miss the sweets at the historic Alsatian pastry shop, Pâtisserie Stohrer (number 51).

It would be hard to miss the festivities surrounding the arrival of the year’s first wines from Beaujolais, but the biggest concentration of cosy wine bars can be found in the first arrondissement around the Palais Royal and the Place du Marché St-Honoré, such as Le Rubis (10 Rue Marché St-Honoré, 1st. Tel. 01 4261 0334).

Chantilly – Just a 45-minute train journey north of Paris, Chantilly is a perfectly-preserved town in the centre of one of the largest forests of the region. It has a prestigious Living Horse Museum in 18th-century stables and a world-renowned collection of paintings at the Musée Condé (in the Château de Chantilly).

While Chantilly may be known for its eponymous lace thanks to the Elvis tune, the town is also where whipped cream topping (called chantilly in France) was invented at the Prince of Condé’s dairy farm at the Château de Chantilly in the 17th century.

Compiled by Heather Stimmler-Hall