We are going to Paris on Sept 20 for 6 nights then going on to Amsterdam for 1 night and flying home to Dallas. The problem is that our travel budget has been cut in half because of our water heater going out and I had to use some vacation money to replace it. We had $1,250.00 but I used $500.00 for the water heater. Now we only will have $750 or $800 for all 7 nights. I have already paid for the hotels and the visit Paris cards. Our money will need to feed both of us, get us into some tourist places, transportation to our hotel in the 4Th. and transportation from the dam area in Amsterdam to AMS. I don't have a credit card. It took us 9 months to save enough for this vacation. It's only about 3 weeks away and we're going.. come hell or high water (or water heater!) Any suggestions or advice on how to make this small budget work would be truly appreciated.

Please tell which hotels you will be using in both cities, so advice can be offered on transportation, restaurants, and such. You'll have about 580€ to work with for meals, entrance fees, and incidentals for 7 days.

Do you also have your train tickets for Paris-Ams paid for?

We have already paid for our train tickets. Our hotel in Paris is Hotel Bellevue et du Chariot D'Or at 39 Rue de Turbigo. Our hotel in Amsterdam is the Ramada city centre at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 50.

Hi

I'm not sure I can offer any great advice. Sorry to hear that your budget has been cut down by the problems with the heater. But I do hope that you will have a great trip anyway. My wife and I went to Paris last year and it is a great city to visit. Here is my trip report with pictures, links and maps: http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there Have a great trip.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

pinchme, sorry to hear about your water heater.

One way to save money is get food from markets and grocery stores. Maybe you can splurge on one good restaurant meal.

I enjoyed walking in Paris. You may have to cut out some sites if you walk more and it takes longer, but walking lets you get a feel for the neighborhood and see into windows you would have missed on the Metro or in a taxi.

First, sorry to hear about the water heater problem.

If you have already purchased and paid for air-hotels-train, then all you have to pay for is transport between airports and cities plus food.

This is definately doable and throw in some splurge items on top.

The only problem I see, and it could be a biggie. You say you don't have a credit card, but do you have a debit card or are you planning on just carrying cash?

If you are just doing cash, dollars, then you can lose a chunk of your money in exchange, I mean like up to 10%. Also, that is really chancy. If you are using the debit card, just be sure to tell your bank you are going overseas.

Now, back to the budget. You have about $100 per day for both of you. That's not bad at all. Deli sandwiches are great and cheap. You can also find many small eateries, not tourist ones. We love these, the food is good and inexpensive. Nothing like sitting on the banks of the Seine, having a great picnic.

Buses/Subways instead of taxis. I prefer this method anyway. The only time I take a taxi is if my back is out or the buses have stopped running.

Ignore the souveniers. Let's face it, most of them are made in China anyway, so what are you actually buying? Now, with that said, some locally produced products can be fun and usually pretty cheap. Be selective.

$100 per day can go a long way. Most of all, HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!

dave

Thanx for the advice everyone. Yes we will have a debit card. Can we drink wine with our deli food in a park or by the seine....is it legal?

Yes, it is legal. You don't see much public inebriation in France as wine is drunk with the meal.

Hi P,

Your hotel is about 0.6 km from a Monoprix supermarket at 164 r Temple.

Although you will be doing a lot of walking, for transportation buy the 10 ticket carnet for about 11E.

Check out the local bistros and cafes in your neighborhood.

As noted don't buy a lot of souvenirs.

Figure per person
bkfst 2.5E (croissant and coffee)
lunch 5 E sandwich and salad
dinner 20 at a local spot.

That leaves you about 20E/day for incidentals.

You can do it.

Enjoy your visit.

Here is more:

Transportation:
You've bought Paris Visite passes, so for most of your days in Paris you will have metro and bus covered. From CDG airport, you can buy a train ticket (for the RER to Paris) for about 8 € per person.

You can buy tram tickets (called "strippenkaart&quot across from Centraal Station at the GVB office, which shares space with the Tourist Office. Amsterdam center is very walkable so you probably won't need many. I think your question about "Dam to AMS" means how to get to the airport? You could roll your bags to Centraal Station and take the train directly into Schiphol terminal for about 4€ per person. It takes about 15 minutes. Make sure the train you board is going to Schiphol. www.ns.nl for schedules.

Entrance fees-Paris:
Paris - what are the "must see" sights you have on your list that require an entrance fee? Note that there are many nice things to do for free in Paris, and you don't have to spend a lot of money to go 'into' places to have a wonderful time.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34977632

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...e.html#6007902

Food- Paris:
Does your hotel rate include breakfast? If not, a cafe breakfast (croissant/coffee or hot choc.) will probably cost 5-6€ per person. Those familiar with where your hotel is might have more specific and cheaper suggestions. You can buy 'street' food at good prices - crepes, sandwiches, small pizzas... go to the grocery store to buy bottled water... fruit stands for that...You can get a plate of food (ex. roast chicken/fries) at most any cafe/brasserie for around 8-9 €.. (all menus are posted outside)

Amsterdam:
Again - what do you want to see that has an entrance fee? Since your time here is short, you can have an enjoyable visit without having to pay much to see anything. A canal boat tour is not expensive and a great way to see Amsterdam. There are boats at the marina between Centraal Station and the Dam. I'd expect somewhere around 9-11€ per person and the ride takes maybe 30-45 minutes. If the weather is nice, be sure to walk down to Leidseplein and into Vondelpark, where you could have a picnic for lunch or early dinner. You should be able to buy sandwiches, fruit and beers/sodasfrom a deli/bakery and small grocer on your way down Leidsestraat. An inexpensive place is the Wok to Walk chain, where you order toppings for rice or noodles - with a drink, you can get out for 20€ easily.
Close to Central: Kolksteeg 8 Leidseplein: Leidsestraat 85

I passed a bunch of people having picnics with wine on the Seine today... it was really sweet. Good wine here is incredibly cheap, so you won't have a problem there.

Like daveesl said, the sandwiches in the little bread/sandwich shops you'll pass are fantastic for lunch and only cost a few euros.

I also had the famed falafel on Rue de Rosiers in the 4th today, which was just as good as promised, and again, only a few euros.

Dinner is harder, but there are some great budget dinner places. Maybe post something for Kerouac asking for dinner restaurant suggestions? Or another poster recommended a place called L'Insulaire at 16 Rue Gregoire de Tours in the 6th for a good cheap dinner. You can also try sites like Timeout.com and select budget restaurants in their Paris entertainment section.

I've gone on a few Paris Walks tours here and I love them, but at 10 euros pp, it might be out of your budget. But you could easily fill up a few days by getting a good guidebook with city walks planned out. Someone I met liked Rick Steves' book. I like the Eyewitness guides.

Hope that helps. I'm so sorry to hear about the water heater!

Of course you can do it, I do it all the time. As others said, buy picnic type foods in Monoprix or where ever. Wine at Monoprix is CHEAP and GOOD. September will be warm enough to eat in parks, etc, but if it rains you can still picnic in your room. There is also an abundance of street food in Paris - almost every corner has places selling sandwiches (panini) and crepes, etc. For sit down meals go to the area around Place St Michele, just across the river from Notre Dame. It's full of ethnic restaurants and French restaurants too. Not considered elegant dining and the foodies will certainly turn up their noses, but it's perfectly acceptable food and they have price fixed meals starting at around 10€. There will be signs outside advertising the menus. Go on the early side (6ish) becasue they often discontinue the least expensive menu around 7:30.

Walk most places, take the metro or bus (uses Metro tickets) for the rest. Take the RER from the airport for about €8 (taxis from the airport are over €40).

Most of the best stuff in Paris is free - take walks, there are "guided" walkes in many guide books, if you don't have one already go to Barnes and Noble and spend a few hours coopying down some. That way you can just explore neighborhoods. In addition to walks in the major guidebooks, there are several with titles like "Paris Walks". Churches are free. Pick one or two museums and don't bother with a museum card. They don't save money unless you want to see a lot of museums in a short amount of time. You can deal with the long lines by going at "off" times, early morning when they first open, etc. For the Louvre go in the underground entrace (via the metro, or the red awning on the side on Rue du Rivoli, don't wait in the long line at the pyramid. Sorry, not familiar with the visit Paris card you say you have, what does that cover?

<<visit Paris cards>>

Do you mean "Paris Visite" cards? If so, then most of your transportation is covered too.

You can eat well very cheaply in Paris. I'd make lunch the biggest meal of the day and have something light for dinner.

Go to all the wonderful smaller free museums.

I'm sorry I meant the visite Paris pass. We have 5 day ones. Our hotel does not include breakfast, that would be an extra 6 Euros each per day. For Amsterdam I did mean transportation to the AMS airport from the dam sq. where our hotel is located. We have the frommer's and Fodor's 2007 guild books on Paris from the library and are waiting for the Amsterdam guide. Must see things for us is.. the Louvre, eiffel tower and notre dame. We love gyros and falafel. Thank you.

Please don't stress - Paris has a reputation for being very expensive, but I find it one of the easiest first world cities to have an incredible time on a cheap budget. And, $100/day is a good amount (more than I'm budgeting for my next trip) to see the sights in Paris without feeling like you're skimping. Here are my thoughts:

1. Visit the Monoprix that Ira mentioned on rue du Temple. The baked good there are great - pick up a croissant or pain au chocolate for breakfast for under a euro. Filling sandwiches are about 4 euros. Buy picnic goods there - there are many good French wines that you can buy for around 5 euros a bottle. Also, stock up on bottled water there for our room/carry when you're sightseeing.

You're in a less touristy area of Paris, so you'll be able to find more local, less pricey restaurants. Around the corner from the Monoprix is Place de Republic - many Paris chain restaurants like Pino Pizza, and Bruxelles Mussels where you can get a good dinner for 8 euros. Walk up the Canal St. Martin and try the Chez Prune at 36 rue Beaurepaire, 10e. Its a young, friendly hip place and I had an incredible dinner there for around 10 euro.

For drinks, a fun place and one of my favorite bars on Paris is Footsies on 10-12 rue Daunou, 2e. Footsie is a play on FTSE - the London Stock Exchange and there are 3 boards above the bar with the prices of most drinks listed. Every 4 minutes, those prices will change – going up or down – based on the “market” consumption of the patrons. I’ve seen beer drop down to less than water - and don’t forget this includes all drinks even the top shelf liquors. You can have a fun night out here and spend next to nothing if you "play the market".

Here's some money savers that I use when I go to Paris:

http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_money.html

And some free things to do, including a free walking tour:

http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_fa...ites_free.html

Have a great trip - C

Coffees cost less if you stand at the counter, a little more if you sit down inside and a little more if you sit outside. Don't order and then try to move or you'll get in trouble.

Did we mention those Asian deli-type places? point at what you want, pay, and they'll heat it up for you. Two can eat well for 20€.

Oh and here is something we always do. I bring along a "hot pot". These are kind of like big electric pots. I get them at Walgreens for about $10, they draw about 800 watts. I have a 1500 watt transformer/converter. So that powers it nicely and I don't need an expensive dual voltage unit.

The pot doesn't really take up any room in the luggage as I stuff it full of things like socks.

Anyway, I always bring along those Folgers coffee packs and Nestle hot chocolate packs, along with some sugar packs, creamers, plastic knives/forks/spoons. We aren't big breakfast eaters, so we just heat up some water and make our own coffee in the mornings. It can also be nice to have a cup of hot chocolate in the evenings. We always hit the local markets and load up on bread, cheese, some sandwich meats (if a fridge is avail).

Nothing beats breakfast,lunch or supper, in Hyde Park, in Circus Maximus, or anywhere that is just amazing. Sure, you can drop $100 per person in a heartbeat on a fantastic meal in a wonderful restaurant. But then, can't you do the same thing at home?

Good deal on the debit card. That is all we use. Like I said, remember to tell your bank when and where you are going. If possible it is good to have 2 cards from 2 accts, that way if one doinks up, you still have some backup. Remember, you'll get the best exchange rate from ATMs.

Once more, have a great trip!!!

dave

You can snack economically rather than dine. The cafes and other places have wonderful composed salads, tartines (open faced grilled/broiled sandwiches with amazing ingredients), and so forth.

In fact, a sandwich often comes with a bit of salad, and the salads tend to be larger than you would expect, so if you order a sandwich and a salad, it will be a LOT (probably too much).

At many restaurants, salads will be in the entree (appetizer) section of the menu, but will be large enough for a meal, or to share as an appetizer.

At a restaurant with sidewalk tables, they don't mind if you order just entrees (appetizers), which is plenty for us, or even if you do this inside.

Don't miss Luxembourg Gardens, excellent and free! The gardens at the Rodin Museum are only about 1 or 2 Euros and also a beautiful place to have a snack on a bench.

Here are some relatively inexpensive but good restaurants. You might want to try one.

Auberg de Jarente, rue Jarente (small street, middle of the street)in the 4th arr. A good three-course meal with wine for 28 Euros for both of us.

La Cantine du 3eme, 5 blvd. du Temple (11th arr), Open on Sundays, which many restaurants aren't, we had several very good three-course meals there for 32 Euros with wine for both of us. This is right on the edge of the 4th arr. No prix-fixe menu

Chez Imogene, 25 rue Jean Pierre Timbaud (11th arr). Wonderful crepes and salads, 36 Euros for both of us with wine. Very popular, go early.

Au Coin de Malte, 21 rue Oberkampf (11th) . Family style cooking, very small, only open from 8:00 -9:30 pm, simple, good cooking, 3- course prix-fixe meal for 11 Euros each with wine.

Le Grand Bleu, Port de l’Arsenal, Blvd. de la Bastille (12th arr). Right on St. Martin's Canal and lovely to eat outside. Seems to be a favorite for Sunday lunch, great seafood and salads. 32 Euros for two plus wine