austine

Am going to Paris in early December. With our dollar so weak to the Euro and Paris being a fairly expensive city can anyone offer some money saving tips. We love to shop for bargains and eat in nice restaurants. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

isabel

Paris does not have to be expensive. In fact there is a thread going right now (poster's name is "night" I think) where he points out how little he spent in Paris to have a great time. Do you have a hotel yet? There are plenty of places to stay for under €100 double, right in the central areas. That's cheaper than many cities.

My major money saving tip though goes against one of your requirements - "eat in nice restaurants". I love to buy food at markets (and street markets, of which there are many in Paris) and have picnics (in the hotel room even, when the weather is bad, in a lovely park when it's nice). I also love street food, which is far less expensive than a "nice restaurant". However, there are lots of cafes and small restaurants where you can eat for less. Try the area around Place St Michele in the fifth - lots of ethnic, and French, restaurants with price fix meals for €10-15. Many people on this board would not consider them "nice", but I do.

My favorite place to shop is BHV, a non-clothes department store next to the Hotel de Ville. The major department stores (Galleries Lafayette) are not inexpensive, but they are worth going to just to see them, even if you don't buy anything. The dome in Galleries Lafayette is wonderful. And there is a reasonably priced cafe on the top floor with good food and great views (and you don't have to eat there to take in the view).

The metro is wonderful, and very reasonably priced. There's really very little reason to ever have to take a cab. And my favorite things to do in Paris are just walking around exploring neighborhood - and that's free. Most church's are free, and as I mentioned street markets,etc. Many people will suggest the museum pass, but that doesn't really save you any money, unless you plan to do a whole lot of museums for a short time each. But considering what the Louvre has to offer, you actually get quite a lot for your money, certainly compared to some museums in other cities.

Paris is very easy to do on a budget.

ira

Hi austine,

Paris is cheaper than Rome and London, according to the US State Deptper diem rate table.

>We love to shop for bargains

There are no bargains.

>..and eat in nice restaurants. <

What's your budget?

mdmomof7

Just got back from a 14 day European trip. It was my second trip to Paris and I find it very affordable. If you are going solo, then your hotel will be more expensive than if you were sharing. For example, at Hotel Marignan in the 5th a single in December is 42 Euros while a double is only 55 Euros. If you want a clean, comfortable place to stay, try Hotel Marignan. http://www.hotel-marignan.com You are steps away from Notre Dame, have kitchen privileges and laundry at the hotel. There's no AC but you won't need it in December! Hotel Marignan has no ambience but is a step up from a hostel.

To save time and $$ buy the carte musee at a metro ticket window and museum hop during the week. On the weekend Paris museums offer reduced or free entrance fees and the city is packed. I'd say it was at least twice to three times more crowded on the weekend than during the week. And some of the best things are free - Place des Vosges, Luxembourg Gardens, the Tuileries and people watching.

Compared to New York City, Paris is inexpensive! Enjoy!

jay

Isabel gives good advice. We always stay in 2 star hotels so we can spend more time in a location. You can always get food at a street market or a price fix menu at a restaurant. Have fun.

suze

I did not find Paris to be expensive at all compared to several other European cities I'd visited. Money saving tips, as usual, would be a less expensive hotel and having some picnics from bakeries or grocery stores.

Eating in "nice restaurants" is where you will have a hard time, I mean there's really no "saving tips" for that!

suze

Oops! actually I just thought of one... having your large meal at lunchtime instead of dinner. A good steak (for example) is common at sidewalk cafes on the noon menu.

Beatchick

If by "nice" restaurants do you mean good food? Expensive? Well-known? Pretty, romantic or historic ambience?

I've got an affordable restaurant list for Paris that covers all those. It includes suggestions for expensive well-known restaurants (such as Les Bouquinistes, go during lunchtime and get the set menu), famous budget hearty/comfort food places like Astier, Chartier and Petit St-Benoit, cafés, bistros, brasseries, tea salons, French chains, boulangeries (pop in, get a sandwich & a pastry to go), along with fast food places (always handy for bathrooms). A lot of the baby bistros are listed and many meals can be had for around 30€ not including wine. I've listed price ranges where I've found them. It may need some updating but at least you get an idea for your budget.

It started off as a list of fast places to take the kids and kind of grew from there. But let's be honest, I'm a list-maker!!

Pretty much, everything is around 35€ or under. The list is gleaned from sources such as Patricia Wells "Food Lover's Guide to Paris", the Hamburgers "Bistros of Paris", Ellen Williams "Historic Restaurants of Paris", Daniel Young's "The Paris Café Cookbook" and various guides such as Fodor's, Frommer's, Rick Steves, Cadogan's Guide.

It's listed by arrondissement and I've tried to group everything by area as much as possible within each arrondissement.

Just e-mail me if you'd like a copy. A few others have found it useful.

Wishing you well on your Paris-on-a-budget venture!! ~ciao Beatchick

moondoggie

oh yes, you can do paris on a budget--we've done it four times in the last five years. first, rent a studio with kitchenette thru vrbo or cyberrentals or another site like that. location isn't critical, because metro stops are everywhere. second, hit the open air markets and supermarches. we usually eat one meal a day at a bistro or cafe, and fill in with frequent boulangerie and patisserie visits during the day. use your in room foodstuffs for snacks, light meals, or picnics indoors or outside. third, DON'T TRY TO DO IT ALL! we generally plan one 'thing' to do daily, i.e. museum, baton mouche river tour, and fill the rest with walking around and absorbing the beautiful architecture and views of paris. there is SO MUCH to do/see, and we love just being around the people, shopping for small things, and practicing my poor french. fourth, use a metro ticket for a bus trip--you will see and enjoy so much for about a buck. take the underground metro everywhere. fifth, take photos of the people, doorways, and storefronts, not just the monuments. some of our best pictures are of 'typical' paris sights. and finally, be nice to someone else. buy a small bunch of flowers and give them to someone (an older person perhaps?) you meet strolling in a park.
enjoy! we'll be there over thanksgiving--it is wonderful being in the city during the holidays.

Michel_Paris

Some ideas...
Take RER train/metro to get from airport to hotel (unless you are wighed down)..or alternativle the Air France shuttle to the core, then metro.
Buy a carnet of 10 metro tickets. Walk everywhere (easy to do if you are exploring the core), perhpas only using the ticket to get back to hotel at end of day.
Breakfast and lunch: breakfast at local cafe, skip hotel breakfast (my rule, could depend on your hotel) have coffe, OJ and toast. Lunch I have a sandwich or crepe, bottled water and a sweet from patisserie. You will find lots of places that serve this stuff. Sometimes I also just stop for a Croque Monsiuer and cafe au lait at a cafe and just watch the world go by...nice thing is that the waiters won't rush you to leave.
Bottled water cheap, have that instead of other drinks (exepct for wine at dinner of course!)
For dinner, note that restaurants post their menus and prices outside so you can decide if it is for you. Many places will have one or more prix fixe meals..instead of a la carte dining, they offer a complete meal for a price. Typically could be soup, main course, and desert. Wine in or out. Some restaurants will also have prix fixes at different prices levels, so you can splurge if you want.
House wines by the glass and half-bottles can be a cheap and good. Don't order soft drinks at a restuarant, too expensive (opinion!)
There are many good restaurants in Paris that you can go to without blowing the budget. I used the Red Michelin guide, the Time Out guide, Fodors, and have heard that Patricia Well's book is good.
Buy a good guide book and follow some of their tours, cheaper than paid ones, but sometimes it is worthwhile considering paying for one, since they can be much more in-depth, and of course interactive.
I beleive in taking a bus tour of a city when it is the first time I have been there...but they are not cheap, so decide if you want the 4 hr overview or would rather do it on your own (Parisvision is one such company)
A Seine cruise is nice (there are a few companies that do these...Vedettes du Pont Neuf,Bateaux Mouches) , but skip the dinner ones, Batobus is another option. Don't bother with Moulin Rouge, Lido, Crazy Horse unless this is a dream of yours...and if you do go, skip the meal and eat elsewhere before hand.
Hope this helps,
Mike

austine

Thanks for all the great info. My budget is about $30-$40 for dinner.

elaine

Is that for one, or for two?

austine

For one person.

Gretchen

You can eat VERY well on that budget--we do every time we go to Paris. It is also the bargain destination of the world, in my opinion. We can eat better and cheaper there than in our home medium size city. There are a lot of threads with restaurants for that price. Search for rue Cler restaurants--many in that thread.

mdmomof7

Cafe Du Marche in Rue Cler on the corner of Rue Cler and La Motte Picquet. Also Le Bistrot du 7eme at 56 Blvd. de Latour-Maubourg has yummy plate du jours.

Don't forget Falafels for lunch in the Marais 34 Rue du Rossiers. It's my favorite meal in Paris! LOL!!

kittrdg

Just got back from 4 days in Paris and actually didn't spend too much secrets...

a) walk everywhere - around every corner is something cool and I think you miss out on so many shops if you take a taxi or even the metro unless you really need to get to something far away. We walked from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower back to Notre Dame. Oh remember to wear decent comfortable shoes.

b) we always grabbed a lovely croissant and drink on the go for breakfast - saving lots of money getting both a caffeine and sugar high going for our morning adventures and because we didn't sit it was 4 - 8 euros...

c) brasseries are great for meals - cheap solid food - mmmthe steak au poivre and pommes frites spring back to mind and wine is pretty cheap. also I was a big fan of a savory crepe for lunch stuffed with cheese and tuna -

d) bring film, batteries et al because it's more expensive in Paris. I bought a replacement battery for my Canon and Elph that was more than the price of dinner one night - bad idea.

e) stay away from the mini bar and bring your own water bought in a little to go shop - i drank like a camel in the desert every night...

Don't splurge on gifts for yourself - because after some of the money saving tips you will be able to afford that special something for yourself - like my cool boots and new matching necklace and earrings i got in St Germain de Pres.

ira

Hi Austine,

$30-40 pp for dinner is quite adequate. You won't have to skrimp.

strass

My husband and I had some great dinners and never spent more than 60E for the two of us (and yes, we drink! Half-bottles of wine can be a real bargain, by the way). You'll be fine with that budget!

Curt

Wine in the local shops is a real bargain as well if you want it go with your picnic meals. Had some really good wines for under $5 bottle many times.

Gretchen

Cafe du Marche is actually a couple of blocks down rue Cler--not on the corner.I think there are lots of better restaurants within a block of that one--just my opinion.