How to do Paris on a budget

*Eiffel tower at dusk; Photo copyright Wazim Photos*

Paris is home to luxury hotels, haute couture, Michelin starred restaurants, and luxury stores but it’s not all about breaking the bank. Find out how to do Paris on a budget with these handy hints! Plan ahead, book in advance and know when to go!

All in the timing

Surprisingly August is a relatively calm month in the city, as it’s when many Parisians escape for their own holidays elsewhere. Another great time is at the end of January or early February, when queues are minimal, accommodation is cheaper, and you can even catch the end of the sales. Costs for train travel will vary enormously depending on when you book: avoid popular visit times like Valentine’s Day and Fashion Week.

Insider tip: For train tickets, flexibility on dates or times is a budget-winner – avoiding peak commuter times can halve the cost. And check all the prices, as little as €5 might get you into first-class.

Getting around in Paris

Some people shy away from the Metro, but it is the most efficient way to get around. You can buy single-use tickets, but the Paris Visite travel pass includes unlimited use of the metro plus tramway, bus, and local Paris trains from 1 – 5 days. There’s also an option for the Greater Paris area including the airports, Disneyland and Château de Versailles. And try out the buses: they give you a tour of Paris with a whole new perspective, without paying for a tourist bus!

Insider tip: Free app City Mapper, or Google maps are invaluable in Paris: tap in where you are and where you want to go, and it will tell you which Metro lines or bus routes to use, the station or stop, and the next scheduled departures.

Location: where’s best for a hotel in Paris

Okay, Paris is huge, but don’t assume that your best option is to be right in the centre. Parisian neighbourhoods (arrondissements, generally shortened to Arr.) are numbered and, like French département numbers, become a shorthand geography reference. They spiral out from the centre, so that the Eiffel Tower sits in the 7^th Arr., yet the 9^th Arr. is actually further from it than the 16^th! Choose a base that works for you, depending on which sites you want to visit, where you’ll arrive and which transport options you prefer.

Insider tip: If you’re driving to Paris, then opting for a hotel on the end of a Metro line can give you free parking during your stay.

Surprisingly, hotels in Paris aren’t always exorbitant. You can find a dormitory bed from €46 in a smart hostel (not just for youngsters), chain hotels from €90 a night, and even a classic Haussman-style hotel room near the Louvre for €153. While your room may not be the biggest cost, food and drink in Paris can soon add up, so consider booking a hotel with a good buffet breakfast to set you up for the day or, even better, choose a studio apartment with its own kitchenette which gives you flexibility on what you eat and when, and it drastically cuts the budget as you can grab essentials from the local supermarket – including tea and coffee.

Eating & Drinking on a budget in Paris

The first rule is the same as in all capital cities: any café or restaurant near a major tourist attraction will charge a premium. If a restaurant advertises a menu touristique, it’s likely it won’t be great food, and it will be expensive. Website thefork.fr is great for checking restaurant prices, food themes, reviews and special offers (in French but easy to understand). As for drinks, many bars offer half-price ‘after work’ cocktails but check when the discount ends before you get carried away!

Top tips for eating out in Paris:

For a white coffee, ask for crème allongé. Only tourists order café au lait, and they receive an expensive dishwater concoction that no Parisian would accept!

If you’re eating out, have your main meal at midday, as a 3-course lunch is about 30 percent cheaper than dinner.

As elsewhere in France, drinks are cheapest at the bar, they cost more at tables and at the outdoor tables they can be twice the bar price.

Free things to do in Paris

*Montmartre, Photo copyright Paul Saaggo*

It has been said that the biggest mistake people make when visiting Paris is trying to do too much. You have to allow time to enjoy the experience and to simply meander.

Don’t feel obliged to buy entry tickets. You can stroll along the Seine and enjoy the sights, browse the stores of Montmartre, and marvel at the Eiffel Tower from the outside, especially on the hour from sundown to 1am, when the lights sparkle for five minutes! Some of the best memories in Paris come from people-watching, either in cafés or sipping a takeaway drink in the Jardins de Luxembourg or by the fountains of the Jardins des Tuileries near the Louvre.

If you do want to visit cultural sites, invest in the Paris Museum Pass for entry to over 50 museums and attractions including the Conciergerie, the Musée d’Orsay, the Pantheon, Musée de Rodin and Musée Picasso as well as the Château de Versailles. Its value increases the more you visit, and you can skip the queues, giving you more time to explore the city. And some museums are free to visit, like the lovely Petit Palais.

For unbeatable value, visit Père Lachaise Cemetery, which is completely free. Home to more than 70,000 tombs, this 110-acre site is nothing like a conventional churchyard; cobbled pathways lead you past trees, gravestones and ornate mini-temples. This is the final resting place of Molière, Edith Piaf, Eugène Delacroix but also foreign princesses, dignitaries and stars such as Oscar Wilde and American rock star Jim Morrison.

Insider tip: the cemetery is built on a slope – arrive via Gambetta Metro station and you can explore going downhill rather than upwards.

By Annaliza Davis – an editor, translator and writer. She lives in Brittany after falling in love with the area on a school exchange and loves to explore the coast with her scruffy dog Mimi!