I am a student going to Paris, France; what is the best area to stay? (next to the tourist attractions..)?

In actual fact Paris is a small city and can be walked through very easily. I'm talking about the city within the ancient walls not the banlieu which is very big. I wouldn't suggest you to stay in the area of the Eiffel Tower as this is the only nice thing of the area. I would suggest you instead to stay in Montmartre and I would suggest you to rent an apartment instead of taking an hotel. It has the advantage that you can cook by yourself and save some money. The cost of a short term rental for an apartment is more or less the same then an hotel. Montmartre is the only hill in the city from where you can see the entire Ville Lumiere. In my opinion it is the most parisian corner of the city. When you are there you understand why several artists such as Monet and Picasso wanted to live and work there and why most of the celebrities of French Cinema and TV have chosen it as their home. When I go to Paris I usually rent an apartment and I always use the same company as they always gave me a very good service. You can have a look at their site here: http://www.paris-apartment-rent.com/

The closest place to stay by the eiffel tower without breaking your wallet would be chatelet area (2eme) (however this place is quite seedy at night), or st. michel (a tourist trap but student area) However if you want to compromise you can try Pigalle or the 18th arrondisement. There's the Sacre Coeur, the Moulin Rouge, Opera.. and a bunch of cool bars, concert clubs, and restaurants. It's cheaper than going into the 1,3,4,6,7 (which is where the eiffel tower is),8, 9, and 16 arrondisements and has a higher concentration of tourist spots than the other cheap spots to live like the 11 (oberkampf, 13 asian district, 19 and 20 le canal st martin. There's also easy access to the metro line 2 and 4 to get you across town. And it will take 30 minutes from metro Pigalle to the Eiffel tower by metro.

you should get a map of Paris and start studying it now if you are moving it will be very helpful. the Eiffel tower is in the 7th arrondissement the closest streets to it are the avenue de suffren and the avenue de la bourdonnais. I imagine you have some idea of how much it would cost to get even a studio here? it is very expensive. however if that is not a problem, I suggest you start looking at some of the online apartment rental sites. look for apartments near the metro stops Champ de Mars / Tour Eiffel, Ecole Militaire or Bir-Hakeim . in sources I've included some websites where you can browse apartments it will give you some idea of what you can get in your price range and where if you are looking for something with a view of the Eiffel tower, you might consider the 15th arrondissement. it is not as touristic or as central as the 7th but there are some apartments out there with good views of the tower that can be had for cheaper than an apartment with a view in the 7th. I'm going as a student too so that is why I know all these sites, finding the right place to stay is a big deal so research area of any apartment you are interested in to make sure it is safe and has a good reputation. I used google maps so I could actually see the streets of any apartment I was interested in. they have almost all the streets in Paris except for some small side streets and the pedestrian area of montorgeuil. I personally use Lodgis, of the apartment rental companies listed...do a search for apartments in the 7th the choose the option to locate them on a map (it will be directly above your search results) you will be able to see just how close any apartment is to the Eiffel tower and clicking on the little house icon will give you a link to that apartments page. good luck!

Although Paris is not a very large city area-wise, all of the attractions are not next to each other. The point is moot though, as the Metro is a fast, convenient and inexpensive way of traveling the city. As the previous poster stated, it can be pricey to stay by the Tower and it gets very quiet after dark. In other words, prolly not the best place to stay.

if you are a student then you should study and not go to the tourists attractions sure you can visit some sites forget about staing near the eiffel tower.very expensive try 11 12 13 arrondissements