24 hours in Paris

9am: By eco-taxi

 There is no better way to start your day in Paris, particularly in the International Year of Biodiversity, than by exploring its natural assets in a low-emission Toyota Prius.

Tours by Eco Visit Paris start at Place de la Concorde and put a green spin on some of the city's famous landmarks: the Eiffel Tower, for instance, limits the number of nights it is lit to save energy, and there are beehives on top of Palais Garnier. And did you know that Paris has arguably more trees (in its 400 woods, parks and gardens) than any other city in Europe?

Eco Visit's vehicles are eco-taxis, too; and besides being hybrid vehicles, their carbon emissions are offset and drivers are trained to drive fuel-efficiently. Eco-visit Paris has one- and two-hour tours by day (9am-5pm) and by night (9-11pm) from €80 ($110) and airport transfers from €60.

See www.ecovisitparis.com.

10am: By bike

Fired up by the Tour de France? You've come to the right place. Paris loves bicycles, there are more than 370 kilometres of bike lanes in the city and French drivers seem tres content to share the roads with their two-wheeled compatriots.

For an offbeat, off-the-tourist-track experience, join Bike About Tours, which was set up in 2006 by a Kiwi and an American. Their friendly expat guides lead small groups on small-wheeled Dahon folding bikes, popular with Parisian apartment-dwellers, through backstreets to see, for instance, dead rats hanging in the window of Paris's most famous exterminator (who features in the film Ratatouille) and video-game graffiti, with a lunch stop for baguettes from a favourite bakery.

Bike About's four-hour tours start at Notre Dame cathedral, rain or shine, at 10am (and 3pm, June-September) and cost €30. Bike rental costs from €15 a day. See www.bikeabouttours.com.

Noon: By boat

For an aquatic alternative, catch a hop-on-hop-off Batobus that travels in a short loop on the Seine. There's no commentary but it is a relaxing way to get from one Parisian icon to the next without negotiating traffic or the Metro's underground mazes.

There are eight stops: Tour Eiffel, Musee d'Orsay, St Germain-des-Pres, Notre Dame, Jardin des Plantes, Hotel de Ville, the Louvre and Champs-Elysees. River travel is an attraction in its own right, too, as you cruise past moored barges, couples strolling on the river banks, models in outlandish outfits posing for photographers or painters sitting at portable easels.

The entire loop takes a little more than 90 minutes and boats leave from each stop every 17 minutes. Batobus runs daily, times depend on the season; a day pass costs €13. See www.batobus.com.

2pm: On foot

A short Metro ride from the Seine lies Belleville, a "bobo" (slang for "bourgeois-bohemian") neighbourhood in eastern Paris. A not-for-profit organisation set up in 2008, Paris Par Rues Meconnues runs walking tours through Belleville and other "participatory tourism" experiences all over Paris (during which tourists interact with residents).

Your guide has the door codes to secret courtyards and private gardens and in three hours you'll wander Belleville's narrow streets and meet sculptors, photographers and painters in their studios and chocolatiers and patissiers who are happy to offer tastings. Belleville is also home to actors Juliette Binoche and Jean-Marc Barr (from The Big Blue; Gerard Depardieu once lived here, too); and legend has it Edith Piaf was born under a Belleville lamppost.

The tour ends with a view from Parc de Belleville of what seems like the whole of Paris. Paris Par Rues Meconnues runs three-hour walking tours in various districts from April to October, for €20 a person. See www.paris-prm.com.

6pm: By Velib

If you really want to feel Parisian, join the Velib revolution. This public bike rental scheme (its name is a play on "velo" meaning "bicycle" and "libre" meaning "free") was introduced in July 2007 and there now are thousands of Velib bikes available around the clock from more than 1500 "stations" throughout the city, none more than 300 metres apart.

You'll see these shiny grey bikes ridden by everyone from business suits with briefcases in the front baskets, to women in heels with stylishly windswept hair (helmets aren't compulsory). But you don't have to be a local to ride a Velib bike: sign up at any station for as little as €1 (plus a €150 refundable credit-card deposit).

Velib subscriptions cost €1 (for a day), €5 (a week) or €29 (a year), and the first 30 minutes of any journey are free. See http://velib.paris.fr.

8pm: By 2CV

Nothing says "Paris" like a man in a beret driving a shiny red Citroen 2CV (deux chevaux). These curvy cars were produced for 42 years, between 1948 and 1990. Sure, they're a little noisy and bumpy on cobbled streets but that's part of the fun. And there's no better way to see this city after dark than from the back seat with the canvas roof open - all the better to look up at the sparkling Eiffel Tower or the spotlit Arc de Triomphe.

Seeing Paris in this way, in just 90 minutes, is like flipping through a pack of postcards. Cushions, lap-belts and blankets are provided. Remember to smile at diners at footpath cafes who'll regard your little car fondly as it zooms past. 4 Roues sous 1 Parapluie (literally "four wheels under one umbrella") runs 90-minute Paris by Night tours at 8 and 10pm from €54 a person. See www.4rs1p.com.

Louise Southerden travelled courtesy of Thai Airways and UTracks.

Thai Airways flies to Paris from Melbourne and Sydney for about $1890, low-season return including tax: to Bangkok (9hr), then to Paris (12hr, 40min).

Mercure Suffren Eiffel Tower, 20 Rue Jean Rey, near the Eiffel Tower and the Seine, has rooms from $220. See www.mercure.com.