Were you initially thinking of going April, not just over the Easter period? I'd imagine that the sights will be busy at that time.

How long were you thinking of going and what is it you'd especially like see/ do?

I can see the advantages of an organised tour but also the disadvantages too.....

Maybe if you let us know what you're after someone maybe be able to help you decide.

It's been many years since I was in Paris so I doubt if I'll be able to help. Sorry.

In any country where it is reasonably easy to get around by public transport or on foot I think it is far better to dispense with the services of a guide. It sounds as though you've already got a good idea of what you want to see. Apart from anything else, if you aren't with a group you can set your own pace, spending longer somewhere you find particularly interesting and moving on when you feel like it. You can also discover places to eat which suit your budget rather than the places where the guide gets commission for taking you. If you were going to darkest Borneo a guide might be advisable but I don't think you really need one in Paris.

My sister is in OZ at the minute and she has been on several organised tours but then, she is hardly likely to visit OZ again and so wanted to see most thing Australia has to offer and using organised tours is by far the best way to do this
.However Paris is a different story. You will have the chance to visit again as its so 'nearby'. Its extremely easy to DIY, all the major sites are near to tram stations, there are maps galore to buy and study beforehand, even here in the UK.
If you go it alone you can choose which day to visit which site, if the weathers wonderful, (and it was when we were there in April), you may want to spend hours in the large park (cant recall its name at the mo) near the Louvre as we did - a tour would have you in the Louvre for hours and you may not visit the park at all.

Just because it's an organised tour it doesn't mean that you have to always stick with the group itinerary. As long as you let the guide/rep know when you won't be going with the group then there shouldn't be a problem. There are often advantages to going with a group at a busy popular time. For example, a tour group is likely to have a pre-booked group ticket for a set time at a popular sight and taking up the opportunity to go with the group means that you might avoid queuing and get in cheaper than if you went DIY.

So personally I would weigh up the overall cost of this tour compared to what you had in mind, factoring in the cost of entry tickets eat as well and if it comes out less than a DIY then go for it and pick and choose which things you'll do with the group and the times when you will go off and do your own thing. On the other hand if if works out more expensive then, yes, go for a full DIY but remember that there probably won't be too many bargains to be had in Paris in April - it is a very popular place to go.

It's comparable to a fairly last minute trip I was looking to book Portugal one year. It was an AOA but I didn't care about that because the cost of the 14 night holiday was cheaper than I could get flights alone so we would have booked our own SC accommodation as planned and let the reps knows that we wouldn't be using the accommodation. As it turned out we got an even better deal and went to La Gomera off Tenerife in the end but if I hadn't found it we would have booked the AOA in the Algarve just for the sake of the flights.

SM

SM

I've just remembered doing a tour in Cyprus with my friend years ago. It wasn't so much the places we went to but the history of the island that she told us about on the coach as we moved from place to place, that enthralled me. It was so interesting and like listening to a story.

We did the Holy Land tour on that trip also. We definitely needed a guide then.