Posting for a coworker- She will be travelling to Paris in Dec. She was wondering if food and entertainment is very expensive there.

I have found it to be not much different that in big cities in the USA. Take your plastic with you and enjoy yourself.

You just posted this on the US board and were given wonderful advice which your co-worker will find very helpful. Please have her post back with more detailed questions.

You really need to give a lot more specifics. In Paris, like everywhre else - you can eat modestly - or you can splurge all the time.

We have most recently found food prices in paris to be a little higher than in NYC for similar things - but this would be MUCH more than in smaller towns - esp given the low value of the dollar vs the euro.

You can eat on the cheap or spend a fortune; it depends on your budget. I have had wonderful lunches (baguette, ham and cheese) on a park bench overlooking the Seine for less than $5 and quiche bought for dinner in my hotel room for about the same. If she hasn't been to Paris before, I would just advise her to pick any restaurant on any street, check the menu outside for food and prices, go eat and enjoy. It's often the "unknowns" that are a delight.

From my experience, the beverages are what put a big dent in the budget!

It depends. On how you eat, and what you call entertainment. If you are gastronomically inclined, you can spend hundreds on dinner. If a neighborhood restaurant is OK with you, you can get by for much less. Entertainment will run from free to hundreds a night, if your tastes run to the Moulin Rouge. Sitting at a table at a cafe and watching the passing scene will be much less. Walking along the Seine, looking at Notre Dame and other sites is free. Museums and historical sights are reasonable. The Metro is a low cost alternative to taxi's, walking is free. Like anywhere else, it's depends on how you want to spend your money.

Amen to the statement that drinks put a crimp in your budget. We ordered a soda and an iced tea at our first dinner in Paris. The small soda was 6 EU and the medium iced tea was 8 EU! We didn't make that mistake again. What a ridiculous amount to pay for simple iced tea.

Besides that, we found very reasonably priced and wonderful dinners. We usually paid about 30 EU for a three-course fixed prix dinner. She shouldn't have trouble, as she can check out the menus posted outside by the front doors. Do avoid the priciest neighborhoods, like near the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower.

If you click my name above, you can find my trip report of London-Paris-Amsterdam, with specifics about the hotel we liked in Paris and a few restaurants we enjoyed, too.

Yes, sodas and fruit drinks and iced tea are ridiculously expensive, which is why one should, if one can, always opt for the ridiculously INexpensive wine and beer.

StCirq, you are so right! Only wish we'd known that in advance. Glasses of wine were usually about 4 EU. With two teens in tow, we did let them have beer or wine if they chose, but the 16 year-old preferred water. Now, the 20 year-old, that's another story! We'd usually split a bottle , the three of us wine drinkers.

Nothing wrong with <i>une carafe d'eau</i>, and I noticed that most inexpensive restaurants provide automatically.