Hello all,

My husband and I have a flight to Paris booked for early September and unfortunately, we have experienced some unexpected cash flow problems. We have only $2,500 we can comfortably spend (not including the airfare already paid for) and have hotel reservations in the 12th at 65 Euros per night.

How cheaply can we do our trip for 8 nights and 9 days? Are we out of our minds to attempt this or should we plan on shortening our stay to enjoy it more? We are both pretty frugal by nature and would not mind traveling on the cheap and experience the simple pleasures of Paris. However, neither of us have traveled in Europe before and we would like to avoid surprises.

Any comments and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

If the hotel is also coming out of the $2,500, you will definitely be on a "budget." Fortunately, so much of Paris is in the looking and walking. Get the cheapest metro pass that fits your schedule and use it or the bus system; no taxis. Use the Batobus on the Seine for a "tour" instead of the guided boats. For meals, think picnic. Some of my best memories are the baguette sandwiches, a box of fresh raspberries, and whatever bought from many of the "delis" and market stands. For breakfast, buy pastries the night before or that a.m. instead of having a 8 Euro breakfast. Take a water bottle and fill it at the hotel; the tap water is perfectly drinkable and free. Focus on the parks and cemeteries and the city museums which are free entrance, and the "neighborhood" churches which are gorgeous and also free. There's a "free" fashion show at Galerie Lafayette on Tuesday; need reservations through its website though. Buy your scarves and posters, etc., from street vendors and compare prices. There's a great three hour canal ride that's only about 12 Euros per person. Church concerts are either free or with tickets at about $22. There are guided walking tours that are 10 Euros per person. Sundays in the Marais are full of street musicians and lots of people watching. Window shop without buying. You may still have to dip into your credit card, but there's so much that can be done on the "cheap."

Hi, if I am reading this right you have 2500.00 above what you have already paid for airfare? At the current cost of the Euro that means your room would cost you 80.00 per night. Of your 2500.00 budget that would leave you approx. 200 per day for meals and sights. Even if you each bought a 3 or 4 day museum pass and didn't eat lavishly every meal I'd think you'd have lots of wiggle room in your budget. I would try a carnet of tickets the first day or so and see how much you actually use the metro. I would use the metro to get to my first central sight of the day, walk all day and then use the metro to get back in the evening. There are plenty of things to see for free and if you don't get the museum pass pay attention to the days/times they have free admission or reduced admission. You should be fine. Have fun....

I've done Paris for 6-8 nights including airfare within $2500.
We don't eat 'gourmet' meals; our dinners for 2, usually incl glass of wine, top out at 45E, and are more likely to run 30-35E.

Parks, bridges, squares, cemeteries and all the walking you can handle are free. Many museums are free; otherwise use the Carte Musée for entry to the 'big' ones, as well as the climb up Notre Dame or Arc de Triumphe.

Your hotel is very reasonably priced, very inexpensive, actually. (sounds like the Lux Hotel Picpus, perhaps..?).

The Carte Orange id & ticket for metro/bus/RER use within Paris is a great bargain at 15.40E per person (good from Mondays-Sundays). Fill in with a carnet of tickets (set of 10) for the other days.

So let's say your hotel w/breakfast is more like 80E x 8 = 640E
City transportation = 50E
Carte Musee - 5 days = 108E
Meals for both/60E/day= 500E
Spending 100E / day = 800E
Total Euros / $ = 2098E / $2560

Hi
Assuming the air fare is not in this budget, I think you'll be better off than other budget travelers.

There are some message boards/guidebooks that are specifically very budget-minded--try roughguides.com, frommers.com, ricksteves.com and slowtrav.com

My long Paris file has some suggestions on resources to find places to eat; if you'd like to see it , email me at
[email protected]

Gustafson's book "Great Eats in Paris"
has a lot of good-value cafes and restaurants, not necessarily the cheapest, but reliably of good value.

Don't cut your trip short. Have a couple of picnics in your hotel room, supplies can be bought at many markets.
The Monoprix chain (many locations)has stores that are like very very small Walmarts, and they also have groceries, even refrigerated goods, and wine at reasonable prices
In your checked luggage pack a corkscrew and some paper/plastic plates and utensils.

The museum pass helps you skip ticket-buying lines at the Orsay and Louvre, and proves to be a good way to save on admission fees to all the participating museums, but keep in mind it must be used on consecutive days, so plan accordingly.

Use your credit card for as many purchases as possible for a more favorable exchange rate, just keep track of your expenses so your bill a month later won't have any unpleasant surprises. Use cash (from ATMs) only for very small purchases or where cards aren't accepted.

Tell people in advance not to expect gifts, if that is a concern, send a post card instead. But do buy yourselves at least one thing that you really want and that will be evocative of Paris, even if it's just a refrigerator magnet of the Mona Lisa purchased in the museum gift shop. But perhaps something better than that.

Would you mind saying which hotel you have chosen and what street it is on? For such a low price, I'm curious.

Although you have to watch your budget, you shouldn't have to constantly feel like you're pinching pennies. You still have a decent amount of money to work with.
You might try having your main meal as a late lunch. Many restaurants offer excellent lunch deals...for example, Les Fous de l'Ile in the Ile St. Louis offers a tasty three course lunch for under 15 euro per person (good food, too, as the handwritten menu changes daily based on what the chef finds particularly fresh at the market each morning). A carafe of water is free; house wines "en pichet" at moderate restaurants are usually pleasant and cheap. Treat yourself to some street food--frites from La Rose de Tunis near the Place St. Michel, takeaway dessert crepes from the stands in the Latin Quarter.
Paris is surprisingly easy to manage on a budget.

$2500 is plenty of money for 8 nights. Don't get breakfast at your hotel; it's less expensive to go to a bar or cafe. The churches are free, so is the mosque and Roman arena. Street markets are good places to pick up some picnic food for lunch and then to to a park. Notre Dame has a free 1.5 hour tour and the Deportation Memorial behind it is also free.

There's no need to cut short your trip. As others have said, just walking around neighborhoods is a delightful experience.

I too would like to know about your hotel.

You have plenty. I would get the Carte Orange if your days fit the Monday to Sunday time frame. It is a bargain and you can use it on the bus also--some bus lines are like a tourist bus route! Travelnut gave you an excellent rundown. We usually budget $100/day for both of us (actually it needs to be about $120 for the exchange rate today) for food and eat at very nice restaurants. It breaks out at $10 for breakfast, $30 for lunch and $60 for dinner. As with any budget, you'll perhaps go over one day and under another. I wouldn't get a 5 day museum pass. Get a 3 day and then see what you "need" but it was a good illustration for the budget purpose.

A good way to save money on meals is to look for restaurants offering a "menu touristique." Those are reasonably priced complete meals. If you have dinner in the Latin Quarter you will find restaurants catering to students, with suitably low prices.

I think your budget is very possible. My 17-year-old son and I spent 929 Euros for 7 nights in Paris and 5 nights in Berlin which included all expenses, except the hotel and airfare which were paid for already. I think we spent about 650-700 of those Euros in Paris. When in Paris, I went to museums and concerts as much as possible, although he mostly focused on exploring Paris and Versailles by foot. I got breakfast items from a grocery store most days. I had one or two cafe meals per day (mostly one) plus snacks but he chose to get pizza every day and visit creperies and boulangeries. Both of us were sufficiently well-fed.

Your hotel would cost 520 Euros, leaving you with about 1500 Euros for 8 nights which sounds like more than enough for me.

you have plenty of money to have a great trip. I don't consider myself a budget traveller and I spend around $350 - $400 per day max including hotel. Taking off $80 for your hotel would leave you with $230 per day - which is plenty. $100 for dinner, $40 for lunch, $40 for breakfast leaves $50 per day for transport, museums, coffee etc.

Bear in mind, that you won't always be spending so much on meals since many days can be a croissant and coffee for breakfast, a crepe or something at lunch time and you are not really starving for lunch. You can pick up a great baguet etc for $4 or less at street food places. When you have sit down meals, my budget includes for dinner a prix fix meal for two including 1/2 carafe wine, coffee etc. At sit down lunches - the prix fix is also a good option 11-15 Euros.

I posted this message at about 5:00 a.m. because my worrying would not let me sleep. It was great waking up to all of the info and fantastic suggestions! I feel confident now that we will have a great time.

Travelnut, thanks so much for the breakdown. You saved me much time and uncertainty since I was going to do it myself.

Elaine, and the others who are curious about our hotel, it's the Hotel de la Porte Doree in the 12th Arrondissment, 273, Avenue Daumesnil, 75012. A co-worker of mine suggested it, having stayed there himself because it was clean and comfortable and nicely decorated. The hotel stood out for me because it is owned by a woman from Sacramento, California, who married a Frenchman. The establishment thus has "American" style service and is very helpful to English-speaking travelers in planning itineraries and offering suggestions. Also, it recently got a favorable write up in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Although it is out of the way, (about a 10 minute metro ride to the center), it is located near a small wood in the suburbs with plenty of cafes and bistros in the vicinity. I like to be away from the bustle anyway and the price was right at $65 E for a double with bathroom.

I will report back on the hotel when I return.

What a great forum!
Thanks again for all of your help!

I think you'll be just fine with all these tips...and one of MY FAVORITE things to do in Paris is the Carnavalet museum..and not because of but just that it is free...and is beautifully done.

I love the Carnavalet, too, but it really helps to read French in order to understand the exhibits. It doesn't make many allowances for English speakers. Rick Steves' Paris guidebook has a pretty good tour of the Carnavalet, but I still had to do a good bit of translating of labels for my husband as we went through. (I'm far from fluent in French, but I do read it reasonably well.)

Oh, rue Daumesnil. That is where the ARtistes Viaducts shops are. Be sure to go. Also not far from Le Train Bleu. Treat yourself (on your budget) to a glass of wine in the lounge of this Belle Epoque restaurant in the Gare de Lyon.

night...go to sleep you will be just fine. on the positive side a lot of walks and simple (but great) food will allow you to have a much better time than if you went "first class".

i suggest you use cash from the machine rather than charges so that you are more likely to stay in budget and not cause more problems when you return. that is if you think you might have problems staying in budget.

Just stay away from the department stores and the luxury-good specialty stores, and you'll be okay like everybody's telling you. But if you love shopping, then $25,000 may not be enough...

night, I like staying out of the center, too. I've read the Sacramento Bee article about the hotel, and it looks very nice on the websites. I think there is a metro stop very near - that will give you the best of both worlds, that is, a quick ride into the heart of Paris, and a different experience in the evening when you return 'home' for the night.
Have a wonderful trip. (p.s. getting those photos developed can be expensive, too, unless you're using digital).

My AutoRoute map shows the Metro Port Doree (Line 8) less than 100 meters from 273 Avenue Daumesnil.

I do plan to take LOTS of pictures, both digital and film. I am thinking of taking at least 16 roles of black and white film, my favorite, and a digital camera. The good news for me is that I will have plenty of cash around in October to develop my pictures, just not in time for my trip!

Gretchen, what is an "Artistes Viaducts" shop?

Walkinaround, my thoughts exactly. First class is not a prerequisite for a great trip. Now that I am more confident about the basics, I will sleep well. There is a great thread in this forum started by someone who wanted to know what everyone did for a living to be able to afford to travel so much. There were over a hundred replies and most of them focused on budget travel so they could travel more. I agree and if I'm able to keep the costs down, I'm much more likely to return sooner and more often.

Thanks again for everyone's input!