lisa036

I won a 3 day two night trip to Paris!!!!! We can stay longer we just have to pay for the extra nights and food. Is there any advice to doing this cheaply and still getting the Paris 'experience'??? Thanks for any advice in advance!!!

Underhill

How cheap is cheap for you?

jules4je7

Run out and buy a copy of Paris 2006 by Rick Steves, he's a great resource for budget first-timers...and his walking tours are great too.

You can stay and eat cheaper in Paris than New York City (by a long shot), in fact Paris is very affordable on Hotel & Food at $100/day per person if you're travelling with a second person to share a hotel room. That leaves $100/night for a hotel (you can even do less), 10 for breakdfast, 15 for lunch and $25 for dinner. If you buy the Museum Pass you can get into most major sites with the cost of the pass.

I've stayed at the Hotel du Champ de Mars in the 7th (near the Eiffel Tower) for $87/Euro a night (about $100), and also at the Grand Hotel Leveque (also about $100 per night for a double), and both hotels are lovely, close to Rue Cler, and just blocks from the Eiffel Tower and busses and subways about town.

Also, you might get a video of Paris from your local library (or two or three) so you can get a sense of what to see, etc. But I also recommend Rick Steves books and website (ricksteves.com).

Enjoy!

lisa036

Thanks I appreciate the info! I will go get the book asap!!!

suze

There's so much to do in Paris that is totally free. There are many gorgeous public gardens. You can see all the various famous monuments from the outside. Walking around the city is amazing. Plenty of reasonably priced food like great sandwiches from the bakeries, crepe stands on the corners, casual cafe type places.

Unless you're just dying to eat at upscale restaurants or do loads of expensive organized tours, I do not believe that how much you spend directly related to having a real Paris 'experience' at all.

Underhill

If you post a price range you will get many helpful replies.

grsing

A price range would definitely be useful, as well as a bit of a description of what you consider the "Paris Experience" (could mean a lot of different things to different people).

suze

Well if it happens to mean drinking house wine from clay pitchers in sidewalk cafes, strolling the neighborhoods, visiting street markets, sitting on park benches having picnics... then YOU'RE IN!

JWitt

One of my favorite adolescent memories is of those gyros with the french fries stuck in them from the street.

Intrepid1

For some folks doing anything in Paris is preferable to doing the same thing at home whether it was suggested by Rick Steves or not...go for it

lisa036

Well as for price range. We aren't drinkers so that's going to save quite a bit. I have been reading about all the free things to do. We would like to go to the street markets I hear about and maybe spend what we would at a Red Lobster here in the states for dinner . We will probably do the bakeries and vendors at breakfast and lunch. Between $80 and $100 a night on a nights stay somewhere would be wonderful. I got a few of those from someone above. I also heard that we might be able to rent an apartment for a few nights for about that much. Is that true? It actually souns as though we might run out of time before money if we stick to walking tours and museums.

gomiki

Welcome to Fodors and congratulations on your good fortune! (I need a little green envy face right now!)

I like the DK Eyewitness Top 10 guide for just what the title says. Good to take with you after you have done the rest of the homework.

Paris is a wonder. So many beautiful things to see as you just soak up Paris. Street food (crepes and baguette sandwiches are very inexpensive), the churches have free entry...amazing.

When are you going? That will help with suggestions. Have you done a search here? Lots of info. And if I may ask ... how did you win this?? I enter contests all the time...and nada...

lisa036

I entered an online sweepstakes with Roc face creams last month and they called me two weeks ago and told me I had won the trip which includes a day at the SPA!!! I was so excited I about wet myself! I ran around telling everyone I came into contact with that day! I have won a few things but nothing this big! Then we thought three days wouldn't be enough to look at everything so we asked if it was alright to stay longer and just pay for everything and they said sure it was fine so we just have to pay for however long we stay after the three days! They still cover the round trip ticket and the first three days! The plane tickets are the biggext expense I think. Although I looked at the fall prices for tickets and round trip is only about $700 a person. We are going the first week of August which I think is at the end of tourist season but still tourist season! But my daughter goes back to school in August and my husband said he can't wait until Oct (her fall break) for a vacation! So I guess we will just enjoy the sights and sounds and people with what we have! This is a dream trip. I don't think we would have ever gone if we hadn't have won the trip!

wug

CONGRATS Lisa036!! I'm very excited for you. Congrats also that you have decided to stay some extra days. You were very smart and savvy to ask about that. Yes, you can rent an apartment for your price range. I'd start with VRBO.com and take a look there. There are also many others

rentparis.com
rentalfrance.com
perfectlyparis.com
ownerdirect.com
greatrentals.com
parissweethome.com

and on and on. Have fun searching! An apartment will save money on meals and it's a great way to go!

you're going to have a wonderful time. I think everyone should experience Paris at least once in their lifetime... or two, or twenty, or two hundred...