I'm taking my family to Paris for the month of August, and our friends are telling us that a cappuccino will cost $17 USD.

True?

False?

Should I be scared?

False

No

Enjoy Paris.

huh? 1.5 euro standing up in a bar.

But I don't doubt you could find a 17 USD café creme if you tried.

You just made our day! Thanks cafegoddess.

I suppose you could pay $17 at a fancy hotel but generally a cappucino will be between e4 and e6, depending on where you buy it.

If you don't order it at Harry's Bar or Tallevant you're probably safe to assume you'll only pay about 3.5 or 4 euros.

May be I am old fashion but I always think of Italy for cappuccinos, in Paris, a cafe creme, a cafe... and no way unless you stay in tourist enclaves they would be that expensive... follow my advice save a couple of those 17 $ cappucinos and for a bid more try the real ones in Italy...

Get a café crème. When you order a cappuccino in Paris, you often get an extravagant concoction with whipped cream on top. It is purely a tourist item charged at a premium.

And I do have a word of advice for a lot of visitors. Excuse me, but all caps for this one:

<b>LOOK AT THE PRICE LIST BEFORE YOU ORDER ANYTHING!</b>

This is true for coffee, for soft drinks, for ANYTHING! Otherwise, do not complain about the cost afterwards.

You are so right, kerouac! I'm alaways amazed whrn people are surprised with the bill. The prices are posted , for the bar, the terrace and tables!

Graziella I agree with you totally. We went to Italy and enjoyed lots of coffee, we were in France next and to be honest, I thought the coffee was pretty ordinary.

A 17 euro coffee - I don't think so. I can't imagine even the Ritz or similar charging that much.

Well, if Mel is correct and cappuccinos cost about 4 euro sitting down in a cafe, the bill for 4 people might be quite a bit more than $17US. If you are watching your pennies, those fancy drinks can add up.

And if you add a few pastries, and perhaps a couple of eggs once in a while, and you want to take breakfast seated in a cafe, you need to budget a couple of hundred dollars for breakfast on a week-long trip for a family of four.

One of my favorite breakfast spot is a place called Delmas in the fith at the top of Rue Montorguiel. The 11 Euro breakdfast consists of a crossiant, soft boiled egg, OJ, coffee, toast, and jam. It is quite good, and it is enjoyable to sit outside on the square and watch the world go by.

Another good place for a coffee is in Galleries Lafayette's food store. It is on the 2nd floor in the men's store. Not sure if the prices are good. The cappucino is great. They have many other drinks to choose from.

I'm sure you will find many great places to sit and enjoy a drink in Paris. They are everywhere.

I've even indulged in a cappucino or two at theose touristy places on Mont Marte.

I paid E4,40 for a caffe creme at a cafe in the 16th,away from the tourist haunts, and sitting indoors. So as a rough guide to a local price.

LovingParis - I have a simple tip for folks on a tight budget when it comes to breakfasts in Paris. If you must have 2 or 3 cups of tea or coffee, some yogurt & fruit, cheese & cold meats, a croissant or other starch like cereal, rather spend the euros at the hotel breakfast instead. Much better value.
Usually hotels charge around 9-12euros but you get also get boiled eggs or as in one hotel I stayed in, scrambled eggs and bacon!

If you are light on breakfast you may find the McDonald's breakfasts are fantastic value. For around 2 euros you can have a coffee with three little pastries.
At the metro station at Esplanade La Defense we sometimes grab a freshly made baguette and cheese with a coffee to go. Nowhere to sit but a handy little counter against the wall to put your food on while you eat - all for about 3 or 4 euros.

People who want the usual cappucino like back home will probably find Starbucks their best bet. Most cafe`s will give you a half a cup of coffee with very frothy cream whipped on top - and it will be practically cold having waited around for the waiter to fetch it from the bar.

If you go to Babington's Tea Room in Rome (just by the Spanish Steps) you can pay 30 Euro for afternoon tea for two with little cakes. Its a little bit of extravagant nonsense and worth every cent of it.

Cappucino isn't even a French drink. It's Italian, and a tourist drink that may or may not be ridiculously expensive depending on where you order it. But at an ordinary café it should run 4-5 euros. I can't imagine it being $17 even at some ritzy hotel, but I suppose that's possible. I'd just order a noisette or a café crème.

I think it would be that much or more at a place like the George V or the le Maurice.

The vending machine at my workplace makes a good cappucino for 0.30 € ;-)

All cafes must list their price schedules; in the heavily tourist areas there may be as many as three tiers, the cheapest being at the bar. When you sit at a table, on a terrasse, you are also paying a rental fee, in a sense.