Paris on a budget
 

One full week

Is it possible for my wife and I to eat on $50US a day in Paris?

We have already rented an apartment so we can save on food, but any other help or tip would be appreciated.

Museum passes

Grocery stores

Transportation

I will also continue looking though the site here to find more ideas.

Welcome to Fodor's springfling. Is the $50 each or combined?

According to xe, the site I use for currency conversions, that's €38.29 euros. If its each then yes it can be done, but if its the total you have, then it won't be easy.

Breakfast - a box of cereal and milk - say, €10 total plus coffee and/or tea. But in Paris I'd prefer a croissant from the local patisserie at a couple of euros each.
Lunch - a baguette, a drink and piece of fruit per person will equal €8 each approx, leaving the rest for dinner and treats. Which won't be very much. You will need to shop at markets and cook in the apartment. It can be done, but you'll miss out on a significant Parisian experience.

There are grocery stores all over the place.

Booklets of tickets that can be used on both the buses and trains are called a carnet, and the price is about €1 per ticket - €10 for a booklet.

I haven't had a museum pass, so can't help with that sorry.

When are you going?

Where are you staying?

Yes, it's possible, but it would depend on some of the factors I've listed.

Folks on this forum seem to know the various areas of Paris pretty well, so this would help them out.

Actually, I think it's doable, but your food won't be very exciting or authentic. Basically your budget is 20 Euro/pp per day.

You can of course go cheaper if you cook. There are markets everywhere.

We also like Pomme de Pain (a chain sandwich shop, 6-8 euro per sandwich) and Paul's (bakery/soup place, similar to Corner Bakery Restaurants if you're from the West Coast). These types of places will get you lunch for about 10 Euro per person.

http://pommedepain.fr/accueil/la-carte/nos-sandwichs/

There are also cheap gyro places near Rue St Michel. Gyros run about 6-8 Euro.

You can also get "cheap" dinner meals at chains like Leon de Bruxelles---be forewarned. It's tasty but average. Sometimes it's not great. But it's a sit-down meal and its mussels so, hey. Cheapest bowl of mussels is about 14,20 Euro.

http://www.leon-de-bruxelles.fr/la-c...uvrez-la-carte

So if you do a cheap lunch, you can do a sit down dinner. Not too bad.

Of course your corner boulangerie will get you breakfast at 3 Euro per person, at most. If you stick with a plain baguette and make your own coffee at home then it's really nothing at all.

If you are used to starting the day with a pastry and coffee, the advice above is fine, but if you need lower carbs, then eggs, ham, cheese sausage from the Monoprix will supplement them. You can also these kinds of foods plus fresh fruits and veg from a street market either for a picnic or a light supper in your apartment, eating your big meal at lunch when almost every eating place has specials. Rotisserie chickens are also readily available and will do at least a nice dinner and a couple of lunches.

Bread prices are kept cheap by law, so have no fear of expensive looking bakeries as long as you can resist the expensive pastries! wine is laughably cheap at the supermarket.

Of course you can eat on 40 euros a day , if you are mostly eating groceries you have purchased and prepare in apartment. You can buy bread ( a baguette is about one euro and is easily enough for most people to share one a day) and make some sandwiches and take them for picnics( a popular way to take a break in middle of day,, visit a park, or sit on a bench by Seine, many places to choose from)

I particularily enjoy getting a crepe( I like the cheese and ham ones, but sweet tooths enjoy nutella ones, lol ) and a drink from street carts and kiosks, that can run about 5 euros. Same with going into a bakery, you can get pieces of quiche or sandwiches to go for 5 or less euros.

This does not mean you have to eat in every day, by saving alot by eating breakfasts in,taking some lunches, and eating some dinners in , you will have enough to enjoy a few meals out here and there. While dining out, do not order items like "coke" those are often more expensive then house wine, or a coffee, and are never refillable. If you want a soda, stock apartment with some. Avoid cafes that face tourist sites, you are paying for the view via 5 euro drinks.
When you order a meal, feel free to order tap water, not bottled, I always do, its tasty and free.


There are many cafes/bistros etc that serve 10-15 euro specials of the day, sometimes multi course. I also find the "Salad Compossees" ( meal size salads with a variety of things in it, cold veggies, hard boiled eggs, etc, each place makes there own little mix) make a nice lunch, usually about 10 euros.
There are pizza places. The pizzas are quite large, you could split one most times.

For transport, I spend very little on it myself. I stay in a central hotel and walk to most sites, sometimes just taking metro or bus "home" to apartment at end of day because I am tired.. of course some sites are farther out so you would have to take metro there. I buy a carnet of tickets, thats simply 10 single one way tickets, sold at a discount, good for one trip on bus or metro. Cost is 13 euros and you split tickets between the two of you. I find one carnet can last me 4-5 days..

Museum passes can save money if you use them well, a 4 or 6 day pass can work out to be a deal if you see at least two included sites a day, not that hard to do,, plus the MP is good for a visit to Versailles, ( thats an 18 euro value right there, but if you go on weekends there is a supplemental cost to enter formal gardens to see fountain show )

You're underestimating your food budget. $50 per day for 2 people won't allow you any cafe or ice cream stops and you'll have to pack a lunch. You'll be missing the cafe society ambiance that is so prevalent in Paris.

If it's $50 each per day then you'll be fine.

<< Museum passes>>

Only you can know if this is a good deal for you as no one else knows what museums you're planning to visit (no crystal balls here!!). Do the math. Visit the web sites for the museums you want to see, check the admission fees, and then compare with the museum pass prices.

<< Grocery stores >>

There are tons of grocery stores in Paris. The person who greets you at the apartment will tell you where the nearest one is.

<< Transportation >>

Walk a lot. Buy a carnet (book of 10 tickets) which is less expensive than buying individual tickets. If you plan on taking lots of public transportation then check out the Navigo Decouverte pass.

Please be more specific in your questions as you'll get better answers that way. When you give 1 word it's difficult to interpret what you need to know.

Pack your own instant oatmeal and coffee singles.

Thank you everyone. I think we will juggle a bit so we can allocate more money towards out food budget. We don't want to miss the "cafe society ambiance" :D Scrimping is no way to travel.

Good decision springfling, I hope you have a lovely trip.

<< Any advice on special things to see? So far we have Père Lachaise Cemetery, The Paris catacombs, and The Louvre as possibilities. >>

Some of my Paris favorites:

- Cluny Museum (Medieval art)
- Ste-Chapelle
- Free Notre Dame tour (Wed/Thurs 2:00; Sat 2:30 but check for updated schedule)
- Jacquemart-Andre (European art 15th - 18th centuries. French, Italian Renaissance, Flemish paintings, Furniture, Objects d'Arts set in a period 19th c. house)
- Rodin Museum
- St-Etienne-du-Mont Church (contains one of the few surviving rood screens made from filigree stone)
- Bottom of rue Mouffetard on Sundays about noon with accordions, singing, and dancing. So entertaining!

Thank you adrienne! I have written these down and even included Sunday noon on rue Mouffetard and the Notre Dame tour on our calendar since we know the days. Will check schedules an the other activities/museums.

PS: We have decided not to do a "budget" trip after all. It's PARIS for goodness sakes, right?! Still, we're happy to do the free stuff when it's available. That allows more money for good food and wine :)

If you're near the Luxembourg Gardens then stop in to Dallayou and buy a couple of their delicious lemon tartlets. They are divine! I know there's lots of pastry all over the city but I fell in love with their lemon.

Glad you've allocated more money so you can do Paris properly! We expect a post upon your return.

Lots of museum have guided tours in English - check their web sites.

And take a look at Parks Walks tours. I think they're great. I've taken about a dozen of them and loved them all. They're very reasonably priced and all guides are certified.

http://www.paris-walks.com/

I am glad you are not doing the spartan tour, but I still maintain that Paris can be the bargain destination of the world. We can stay/eat in Paris cheaper than in our southern city!! And better!!
Enjoy.

What time of year is your trip? My most favorite memories of my one time to Paris were mostly just walking around the city (for free). I loved visiting all the parks and outdoor spaces. I was only even on the Metro one time, the rest we just walked (and walked and walked). There is some very nice food to be had like at a bakery (fond memory of a chicken salad sandwich eaten on a park bench at the Sorbonne).

It would be good to have a little more money than you originally stated just to be able to afford a 'pitcher' of house wine in a sidewalk cafe for some world-class people-watching.

Hey , "pitchers of house wine" in Paris can be better then bottles we purchase here at home at restaurants, and alot cheaper too!
I agree its nice to splurge and not deny yourself some treats, but as some others have stated , you CAN enjoy Paris on a budget by juggling a few things, a few cheap crepe cart or bakery lunches leave more money for a nice dinner out, or can justify stopping for that 5 euro coke or coffee at a cafe with a nice street view.

We currently in paris for a few months but spent a week here a few years ago and we found that did so much running around during the day that most evenings I was very happy to get back to the flat for some cheese, pate and a baguette. It was too much for me to sightsee all day and have enough enthusiasm to go out every night too.

Find the market near your flat and get the preprepared rotisserie chicken with potatoes and a salad - they're very good.

Falafels on the Rue Rosier are cheap but you'll enjoy it and you won't feel like you're scrimping.

Eat lunch out instead of diner, its much cheaper.

In what part of Paris is your apartment? I am asking that because a rotisserie chicken in my part of Paris (northern 18th) costs 4.50€ but I keep hearing reports from the center of Paris about people spending 12-15€ for them. While not all price differences are so flagrant, I would say that anybody staying away from the tourist core would save 25-30% on just about everything food related.

When we stayed in the 20th in September, we pretty much ate (and drank) for $50 a day for the two of us. We did have a kitchen to use, though, and I don't eat that much.

Kerouac, I've seen rotisserie chickens at markets in the Dordogne going for 19 euros, and people grabbing them up!

We would grab cheeses and thin meats with some wonderful bread at different markets - a bottle of sparkling wine and then would picnic out or in our room! Loved it