Although Paris is considered one of the most expensive cities in the world, you can still make your Parisian dreams come true while sticking to a budget. Some may argue that you can’t truly experience Paris unless your wallet is bursting with big bills, but I disagree. Although you may have to cut back on some of your spending, you can have the time of your life in Paris for under $50 a day.
Travel
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris is fairly large, so getting a direct flight into Paris for a decent price shouldn’t be a problem. However, if you haven’t had the pleasure of traveling around Europe before, you can get extremely cheap flights between European cities, or catch a train from a different city to snag some views of the countryside. So, if you happen to find a cheap flight from your home city to another city in Europe, or even if you already have plans to come to Europe and want to jump over to Paris for a day, this should still be within budget. If you decide not to fly directly into Paris, Dublin is also a great airport to fly into and easy to navigate from. If you don’t mind Paris in the winter, you can also travel in the off-season between January and March. You might have to bring a blanket with you to curl up in front of the Eiffel Tower, but you will be rewarded with cheaper plane tickets and accommodations.
Accommodations
As far as accommodations in Paris go, there are a few different options, depending on your budget and how much privacy you want. My first go-to would be Couchsurfing if you don’t mind sharing space and want to stay somewhere for free. The next step up for a bit more privacy is hostels, but typically these are much more expensive in Paris than in other cities. Instead, I would suggest one of two options; Either using up those credit card points to splurge on a fabulous hotel, or staying just outside the city.
If you have never utilized a credit card before to bank up hotel points, this becomes a little more complicated. Thankfully there are many other experts out there with eons more experience than I have that lay out the whole “credit hard point hacking” strategies for travel. If you are interested in learning from some of the experts, my two favorite newsletters come from The Points Guy and The Daily Drop. These are both great resources to start with if you are looking to get into the credit card game.
On the other hand, if credit card hacking seems too daunting for you, you can still save some money by staying just outside of Paris. Whether you choose a hotel, Airbnb, hostel, or campground, all of these are much cheaper just outside the city limits. And because of the great public transportation system, you can catch a train or bus into the city for only a few euros.
When we were in Paris, we bounced around to a few different places. First staying at a hotel in Bussey-Saint-Georges. It was cheap and split between three people wasn’t bad. After a couple of days, we moved to a campground, Camping De Paris, right outside of the city. We pitched our tent, and it was 40 euros a night split between three people bringing our total to around 13 euros a night. Our third stay in Paris was a hostel in the city center for around 30 euros per person per night. Not only was this a high price but the hostel was less than desirable.
FOOD
A baguette a day keeps the doctor away. Well, not exactly, but it will keep your stomach happy as you are strolling the streets of Paris, the city of love and lights. Believe it or not, you can still splurge in Paris by eating fresh patisserie and baguettes while sipping a bottle of wine and staring at the Eiffel Tower. There are countless shops and carts you will walk past in Paris where you can grab a freshly baked treat for around 1 euro. Typically, people will be selling bottles of wine on the street around the tower, and you can talk them down in price. If you are really pinching pennies like I was, you can buy a fresh baguette for 1 euro and some sliced cheese or meats from a deli for only a few more euros and munch on and off for the entire day making it last.
If you want to experience Paris in style you can still find a cheaper café to have a real sit-down meal. Unfortunately, I have zero recommendations for places to eat because while I was there, sightseeing was more important for me than food. Feeding my grumbling tummy came last and exploring came first. Now, if I visited Paris again, I would absolutely dine out around the town, but I still have no regrets from the first time I visited!
FUN
Paris is one of those cities where you could spend days on end just aimlessly wandering the streets and taking it all in without spending a cent. You could walk along the graceful Seine riverbank, crossing over each bridge, and perusing the artisan booths along the way. You could walk around marveling at the magnificent architecture. You could spend an afternoon on a picnic blanket soaking up the sun on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. Paris is a city filled with rich history, gorgeous architecture, and bustling life.
Walking Tour: If you are accustomed to walking tours by now, Paris is NOT the city to miss! For only a few euros to tip your guide at the end, one of the best things you can do in this gorgeous city is to explore with an expert. If you end up just wandering around by yourself some of my favorite sites to visit were the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, Louvre, and the banks of the Seine.
Museums: Even if you aren’t a museum fan, if you are in Paris, you must take some time out to visit one museum at the very least. The Louvre, and Musée d’Orsay, would be two of the most well-known but do some research on your interests and depending on what you want to see. Typically, you will pay upwards of $10 or $20 to get into a museum for the day. However, there are a few different options if museums are at the top of your list. First off, there are now museum passes available which allow you to get into multiple museums and landmarks for just one price. This Website gives you some options for passes available that start at 62 euros. It may seem like a lot of money up front but the more museums you visit, the more it pays for itself.
If you are really into planning your travel schedule, even better news, if you are in Paris on the first Sunday of a month, you can get into the majority of the museums for free! YES FOR FREE! You will want to look up each museum individually to make sure they participate but chances are they do. The only downside to this is that the museums will be packed since it is a free day, However, again if you travel in the wintertime you won’t have as many tourists to deal with.
Paris Catacombs: Depending on the time of year you travel, you will pay anywhere from 15 euros to 30 euros for this attraction, but it is well worth the money.
Climb the Eiffel Tower: Your legs better be in climbing shape for this because it is cheaper to climb the stairs up to the second level rather than take the elevator. If you are up for climbing the 600 and some stairs to the second level, it will only cost around 10 euros to climb up. However, if you need to take the elevator, you will shell out another 6 euros to travel the tower in luxury.
If you have deeper pockets and want to explore the outskirts of Paris, the Palace of Versailles is well worth your while, even if you don’t explore inside and just spend an afternoon in the gardens. Also, Paris Disney was on my bucket list as well because well, why not? Unfortunately, it was the extra stops like these that blew my travel budget and was the reason why I ate French bread and croissants every day instead of treating myself to a Parisian restaurant.
If you are traveling on a tight budget, make sure before you leave you take time to think about what means the most to you and what you are willing to give up. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the gorgeous attractions in and around Paris but just some of my personal favorites. I always thought that Paris would be out of my budget for traveling but if I was able to spend a week and a half in Paris living off $50 a day, so can you!