Budget for a week in Paris?
 

OK, there's 4 of us: Mom, Dad, 2 kids, 10 and 12. We'll be in Paris the last week of December. We have our apartment already ($165/night - they've raised the rent since then) for a 1 bedroom in the 6th.

Does 1600 Euro for 7 days sound do-able? We're pretty frugal, but this is a Paris vacation, so. . .

I figure (in Euros):
120 for 2 Museum passes (6 day)
92 for a Fat Tire Bike Tour
60 for 5 Metro carnets
120 for taxi to and from CDG
250 for apartment and take away food
200 for souvenirs and clothes
500 for eating out
250 for miscellaneous

What do you think? Aside from me needing to lighten up, which is a given. Too much for food? Not enough for unknowns? Did I miss an obvious big ticket expense?

Thanks!

-Dan

Budget looks pretty good. Some suggestions. Budget more for misc expenses. You might want a splurge meal or something in a shop window might call out to you. You might eat more ice cream or crepes than you think you will. Those vendors and ice cream shops are hard to pass up.

Will you be going to museums every day and do you need the 6-day pass or can you use a 4-day pass.

You also might need more food money unless you plan to totally skimp on stopping for coffee, water, and snacks. If it's cold or rainy and you need rest breaks that means stopping in cafes rather than sitting on a park bench. 500 might be a bit light for 4 people.

Don't buy the carnets all at once as you might walk more than you think.

Budget some taxi money for when you're very tired and can't face the metro. The difference between 4 metro tickets and 4 people in a taxi might not be that much and could prevent cranky kids or parents.

Will you be going to any sights that are not covered by the museum pass? Doing any concerts? Seine boat trip, especially at night. Walking tours.

Have a great time!

Aren't there some cheaper deals for transportation (Metro/Buses), esp for the kids? I think they qualify for some discounted pass. Worth investigating if you are watching your budget.

Also, where is the apt? Is it close to an RER or Metro station? You can save a bit by taking public transportation to/from the airport instead of taxi.

I agree that 750 euro to feed 4 people for 7 days is perhaps a bit tight.

Aren't there some attractions that are not covered by the museum pass? Seine cruise is one, and I think Eiffel tower as well. Also, audioguide rentals are extra.

Other ways to save money would be going to the municipal museums which are free, and visiting gardens and cemeteries (though a bit cold for December).

Hi L,

For your food budget, determine what you spend at home (eating in, take out, restos) and multiply by 1.25.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Sorry but I disagree with Ira's formula. At home you will be eating in more often and can buy food items on sale or with coupons. At home, eating out, you know the restos with the best values in your area. You won't have this benefit on vacation. Also when traveling there are more food expenses; that extra coffee, hot chocolate, coke, water, pastry, crepe, plate of fries, etc. that you wouldn't normally buy at home.

You may think you won't spend money on these little extras but when you're active and walking all day long in the fresh air (as opposed to sitting at a desk at work or school) you become hungrier and need to eat a bit more and there's the temptation to try the delicious food items in Paris. Budget more. If you don't spend the money that's fine but don't skimp too much on this special week.

BTW - there's a free Notre Dame tour (and it's a wonderful tour that explains about Gothic churches in general and Notre Dame in particular) Wednesday and Thursday at 2:00 and Saturday at 2:30. Meet the guide inside the front door of the church.

There's also a thread here on free things to do in Paris.

I forget to tell you that if you have a choice of eating in and there's a take out window then it will be less expensive to get take out food rather than sitting in the restaurant.

Your food budget is low. We're a family of 4 (but we have one teenager that eats like a horse and the other kid eats like an adult) and for a week in Paris at an apartment I'd allow more money for the apartment and take out food.

Your 500 euro budget for eating out would cover us for 4 or 5 dinners out max.

I'd be hungry if the food budget wasn't at least 1000 euros total but it really depends on how often you're prepared to eat in/ cook food. Just don't forget all those delicious pain aux raisons and croissants.

I agree that you should not buy 5 carnets all at once. Wait until you see how many you will use. Also, the bike tour in the last week of December might not be a good idea. Do you have a kitchen in your apartment? If so, try to find the nearest outdoor market and buy food there to cook at home. The cost will be considerably less and the quality of the produce you can buy there is superb. The Bastille market on a Sunday is outstanding. Also note that some taxis will not take 4 passengers. A good average meal out will cost around €25 pp, but the thing that really costs is a cup of coffee or tea. There you are going to have to pay around €4+ per cup.

BTW, which day of the week will you be arriving in Paris?

If you're arriving on or near beginning of the week, you will probably be better off getting a Carte Orange/Navigo Découverte for the 2 adults.

It is €5 for the Navigo Découverte card, and then €16,80 for a zone 1-2 Carte Orange.

For your 10 year-old, I think he will qualify for the reduced fare carnet.

Then on Sat & Sun, both kids can get the Ticket Jeunes Week-end (€3,20) which allows unlimited rides all day.

hi dan,

DH and i were in paris for a week in september. we had an apt. on ile de la cite.

i had originally assumed we would be going out to dinner every night ... but we were lured by all of the markets and grocery stores. hence, we only had two dinners out. we also had three lunches at sit-down restaurants.

i dug up my bills etc. and here's what i found ... in total, we spent about 500 euros in food. this included our nightly (except for one night) trip for ice cream/crepes, coffees/pastries during the day, supermarket/farmers market purchases, etc. etc. i'd say that we stopped for coffee/pastry at least once a day!

we made regular trips to the supermarket to buy breakfast supplies, cheese, snacks, etc. we found some great lunches at patisseries/boulangeries - drink, baguette sandwich, pastry for 6 - 8 euros each. we LOVED the food halls at lafayette and bon marche ... we bought dinner supplies here as well (pricey, but TASTY). we never bought bottled water - we bought bottles at the supermarket and just filled them up before we set out each day.

so, like the other fodorites, i think you might be a bit light in your food budget if there are four of you.

by the way, which fat bike tour are you doing? if you do the night tour, a boat ride is included! and if not, then there are coupons for the various boat tour companies online ... print them off before you go.

Excellent thoughts all - thanks!

Our miscellaneous budget might end up being a lot bigger if we end up going to Disneyland Paris, which is now up for discussion, believe it or not. But in my quest for zen (and against my basic nature), I will go with the majority.

We figure 4-5 restos during the trip, evenly spaced between lunch and dinner. We won't be hitting places we'd go if it were just the two of us, and the kids are thinking Leon de Bruxelles is the one place we must go. Chartier and Polidor are also on our radar, so we're not going high-end as you can see. Still, I can see us busting that 750 food budget pretty easily between our excellent picnic plans (the cheese competition should be fierce), cafe time, and the occasional Bordeaux.

And, the Seine cruise and Eiffel Tower are both in our plans. As is the ability for us to duck into a museum at any time, so the 6-day pass is a must. We arrive on a Friday (Dec. 26 - flying on Christmas!), so the weekly passes won't work. We'll buy the carnets (incl. a child price one) as we need them.

The apt. is very close to Odeon, and we'll consider RER back to CDG, but I'm guessing we'll want a taxi from CDG after leaving the West Coast Xmas morning and arriving Paris the following morning.

Thanks all for the reality check, which is why I posted in the first place. Happy to hear any other good ideas for the trip.

hi dan,

another restaurant that seemed to be quite popular is hippopatamus ... not sure what it's actually like. our hosts in provence told us about it. we passed a few in paris.

we never ate anywhere fancy ... except for our splurge lunch @ christian constant. there are lots of affordable places to eat.

btw - bring a few ziplock bags with you (they're always good for liquids and other things in your luggage). we had amassed such a huge collection of cheese that we started cutting it up and throwing it our daypacks with some crackers. great snack.

and don't worry about the taxi vs. RER vs. shuttle debate. take a taxi. it's expensive but you'll be jetlagged, you're schlepping luggage around, and you're in a foreign country. i speak conversational french and it took me a while to get into the language groove when we landed!

some other fodorites can chip in with their advice on additional taxi fees -- something about extra passengers and bags.

have a great trip!

"The apt. is very close to Odeon, and we'll consider RER back to CDG, but I'm guessing we'll want a taxi from CDG after leaving the West Coast Xmas morning and arriving Paris the following morning."

btw - what apt are you staying at??

Thanks, lilaki -

Full disclosure - we took the kids about 8 years ago, in the spring. We went to Hippo, and it was so bad, even the kids (ages 2 and 4) knew it was bad. They enjoyed splitting omelets in the other restaurants we went to. Now they are looking forward to steak frites and moules frites - really anything with frites. Glaces frites?

Your style is much like ours - lots of supermarche (Champion is around the corner from our apt.) shopping and schlepping. Really looking forward to the epicerie at Bon Marche and sidewalk sandwiches and crepes.

I checked - Fat Tire doesn't do night tours in December/January, or we would do it. We'll take the tour one day unless it is just pouring the whole time.

Re conversational french: as my wife says, her French improves dramatically with a verre or deux of vin rouge!

hi dan,

tks for the honest re: hippo. i'm glad we didn't go! :)

sounds like you're all set.

if i recall correctly, there's a huge monoprix near the st. germain metro stop (just one down from odeon?) ... and i think you're also quite nearby the st. germain covered market ...

enjoy!

Hi again,

Please do not go to Chartier. I went once, expecting great things based on an article that Pauline Frommer wrote and was so completely disappointed. I liked the atmosphere and decor but the food was not at all good.

There's an inexpensive restaurant on rue St-Andre-des-Arts between Blvd St-Michel and rue de Buci (can't remember the name) with decent food. This is near your apartment.

For Italian try Vesuvius sort of on the corner of Blvd St-Germain-des-Pres and rue Bonaparte. There's actually a Parabas bank on the corner and there's a small street behind the bank. The resto is on that corner.

North African foods are reasonably priced and the restaurant attached to the Mosque is inexpensive. I didn't eat there so can't comment on the quality but perhaps someone else has and can say if the food is good.

Hi Dan,

Here are some budget info I've compiled from my trips to Paris in the last year from my receipts. I tend to stay in apartments and try to travel economically when I travel with my two sons, 6 and 7 years old.

I would up the food budget a bit. Even though I carry snacks and drinks for the kids with me, after a long day of sightseeing, the boys sometimes "hit the wall" and I end up stoping for a break at a cafe and spending 20-30 euros on a crepes, pomme frites and hot chocolates. Or stopping by a street vendor for crepes and waffles. It keeps the kids happy and ready to "go again".

Here is a budget for a typical day of sightseeing at the Louve, Eiffel Tower, etc.
http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_budget_day.html

Here is a list of how much common groceries cost for a apartment stay in Paris, and snack foods from vendors.
http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_groceries_cost.html

Here is a list of prices of common items in Parisian cafes:
http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_cafes_cost.html

I would skip Eurodisney. If you've been to Disney in the US, you will be very disappointed.

My kids like Leon Bruxelles and the Pizza Pinxo chain. Also,do the Bateaux Mouches- that is always a highlight with the kids.

Hope this info helps with your trip planning - C

Regarding ways to keep food expenses down -- this appealed to us (wife and I) -- it may or may not appeal to you:

We thoroughly enjoyed our morning walk down the block to the bakery and produce shops for pastry and fruit -- made us feel like locals. Our hotel had a fridge in which we kept juice and milk bought at the neighborhood minimart. Coffee takeout from (I'm embarassed to say) McDonald's for 1.10 euro. This was our breakfast every day in our hotel room.

The bakery trip - deciding what each of us would choose that day -- was a highlight of the morning.

SS

One more thing...

If you are trying to keep expenses down, don't spend so much on souvenirs. Something inexpensive, small, and lightweight will do.

Just take tons of photos.

I keep my pix online, and my wife and I love looking at them over and over again. They make the best souvenirs!

SS

My favorite cheap eats were:

- Brioche Doree (good combo meals with yummy dessert + coffee/tea/hot chocalate) -- these are everywhere

- on Blvd. St. Germain (cross street Blvd. St. Michel or Rue de la Harpe) by the Minelli shoe store and the McDonald's, there is a tiny, tiny creperie/"sandwicherie" that sells simple sandwiches with a drink for 3euros (at least back in late 2006) and has really, really good crepes. I would then walk across the street to the small park and people-watch and soak in Paris.

- Galeries Lafayette cafeteria PLUS an amazing view of the Opera Garnier and the Eiffel Tower

- La Boite a Pizza - they have really different pizzas plus the familiar ones (e.g., pizza au saumon with creme fraiche, etc.). Since you'll be at an apt., you can order these to go or have it delivered! For some reason, I got a kick out of "American" things like pizza delivery when I stayed in Paris.

- Museum cafes are a good option as well -- allows you to break up the museum visit and just relax. Pretend the Louvre is your house and you're just in your kitchen sipping cafe!

BUT, try to treat yourself once in a while, too, of course! ENJOY! I miss Paris!