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Paris on a 5k budget...Possible???

FuturePsyD

FuturePsyD

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Messages
309
Hi Everyone...

My ff and I have been discussing going to Paris for a week in early spring, probably early March. I have been when I was a toddler, my ff has never been, so we would love to be able to go explore Paris together. However, we have a budget that we definitely cannot go over. Everyone we know warns us that 5k is not a generous enough budget to, comfortably, travel to Paris with. :errrr:

We have priced flight prices, which will be approximately $1800 for both of us.

We have also priced hotels and a friend recommended this one which would come out to about $1100-1200 for 7 nights.
http://www.hotel-splendid-paris.com/uk/index.php#hotel.php

So this leaves about $2,000 for food, entertainment, activities, etc. Unless we are able to find a decent hotel with a cheaper rate or perhaps shorten our stay??

I would appreciate any input. Having never been to Paris, we are flying blind. We've just had a lot of negative things happen to us lately and we are rarely able to afford vacations, so we thought we could treat ourselves this spring. If 5k is truly not a reasonable budget, we will wait.

Thanks in advance!! :))
 
I would book on priceline. look on betterbidding.com. there is an other countries section and people post their "wins". You can see what hotels typically go for, the star rating, and there is also a list of all the hotels in the city that have come up. Based on the postings you can see if it's worth it for you to try and bid.

I was able to get the marriott in london (4* in marble arch) for $100, and on hotels.com it's $300/nt! Got our Bruges room for $80 and Amsterdam for $70 (museum quarter), and those were both 4* and over double what we paid when i priced it elsewhere. For our 10 night stay, we only paid a lil over $900 including tax. Think my friends used priceline for Paris and saved a lot as well. Good luck!

Here is the list of hotels: http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showtopic=123&

Here is the list of "wins". you can search for Paris and see all the results, then go back a few pages until you see what prices are like this past spring... it should be a pretty good gauge. http://www.betterbidding.com/index.php?showforum=177
 
FuturePsyD said:
Hi Everyone...

My ff and I have been discussing going to Paris for a week in early spring, probably early March. I have been when I was a toddler, my ff has never been, so we would love to be able to go explore Paris together. However, we have a budget that we definitely cannot go over. Everyone we know warns us that 5k is not a generous enough budget to, comfortably, travel to Paris with. :errrr:

We have priced flight prices, which will be approximately $1800 for both of us.

We have also priced hotels and a friend recommended this one which would come out to about $1100-1200 for 7 nights.
http://www.hotel-splendid-paris.com/uk/index.php#hotel.php

So this leaves about $2,000 for food, entertainment, activities, etc. Unless we are able to find a decent hotel with a cheaper rate or perhaps shorten our stay??

I would appreciate any input. Having never been to Paris, we are flying blind. We've just had a lot of negative things happen to us lately and we are rarely able to afford vacations, so we thought we could treat ourselves this spring. If 5k is truly not a reasonable budget, we will wait.

Thanks in advance!! :))
Click to expand...


I would find a cheaper hotel. If you guys are planning to spend outside of the hotel then does it really matter how pretty the hotel is? I have had tons of friends who stayed at hostels in countries all over the world including Paris and they spent less than 5k. Could you guys stay at a hostel? Fiance and I have done both, stay at really nice hotels and other times stayed at mediocre hotels. We had amazing times at both kinds. We stayed at mediocre hotels if we knew we wanted to do a lot of sight seeing and eating out at different restaurants. We stayed at the nicer hotels when we just wanted to really relax and just hang out. I would not shorten your stay because I imagine Paris has a ton of amazing things to do.

Also, where are you from? Maybe you could select a different place to visit that might not be as costly as Paris on a 5k budget and you might have more room to play with the money you have left over after plane and hotel costs?
 
Hotels in Paris are very expensive for what you get, I wouldn't skimp too much. If you are staying for at least a week, look at getting an apartment. That way you can eat in for some of your meals, and have a lot more space for the same money as a moderately priced hotel.

$2000 spending money for a week is a lot, IMO, it's more than enough. Unless you plan to eat at very expensive restaurants every night.

Buy a Paris museum pass, that and some metro tickets will be most of your activities budget. The most popular museum pass covers all the main attractions except the Eiffel Tower if I remember correctly.

Good food in Europe (even in Paris) is not very expensive, you can generally get a 3 course meal for around 15-20 euros. We usually have one big meal per day, if we have a big lunch we'll have a light dinner, and vice versa. Sitting down for a leisurely lunch is a good break, we need the rest as you will do a lot of walking in Paris. Plus, you're not expected to leave large tips like in the US.

I'm a very keen shopper, but I don't find a lot to buy in Paris. Shopping in Paris is either pretty cheap and junky, or very expensive. You might want to stroll through some of the shopping centres (eg Galleries Lafayette) to have a look, but I mostly window shop in Paris so don't allow much extra for shopping, only for some moderately priced souvenirs.
 
I would totally second hostels as a great cheap option. No they aren't luxurious but they're soooo much cheaper than a hotel and most of the time, you really only use a hotel room for showering and sleeping if you're somewhere like Paris. Lots of times hostels have rooms you can get for just two people, they aren't all dorm-style rooms with bunks (though of course there's always some of those too!) Often you get a room for two people that's pretty much like a low-end hotel room, and the bathroom is down the hall or something. Occasionally you can find them with bathrooms in the rooms- but not often.

I would definitely shop around for hotels on the net if you aren't up for a hostel, if you haven't already done so; you might find an even better deal than the one you're looking at.

Keep your purse/bag really securely attached to you, like carried on one shoulder then across your chest. I had a bag stolen in Paris, I'd set it down next to me with a foot on the strap for about two seconds while I was fussing with another bag, and that was all it took for someone to snatch it and run. (Granted it didn't have much in it, but it had my journal and I was super pissed to have lost that.)
 
It depends on what you want to do. If you want to eat in 3 star restaurants every night then no.

Granted you are talking to someone who 20 years ago traveled for a month in Europe for $500, eurail pass included. I was lucky in that while in Paris my boyfriend and I stayed with his relatives. But other places we stayed in France we stayed at what are called family motels, basically motels oriented to european families travelling, still inexpensive but you don't have to share rooms with strangers. Mainly what we did was go to museums (Louvre, Rodin museum, Pompedei sp), walked around alot, sit at a cafes, and eat at relatively inexpensive restaurants that were still good. One thing I remember, I almost wish I smoked cigarettes and drank coffee, because everyone looked so chic doing that.
 
I'd suggest the book Europe Through the Back Door by Rick Steves. It totally changed my approach to travel and it has great tips for how you can save money by living like a local. He shows you great ways to find inexpensive food places, gives great tips on "picnicking", and has tips all over his books about how to find less expensive, but still clean and safe places to stay. Can't recommend him enough.

You'll be fine with $2k spending money, but you'll need to cut out expensive meals and concentrate on what is important to you. My best tip is to look at whatever the students seem to be doing and follow their example. Best example of this--skip the pricey Seine boat tour with the tourists and take your bottle of wine, baquette and cheese (all for 10 euros or so!) out on the steps of the Seine banks. Beautiful and so cheap. You don't need money to enjoy Europe.

Enjoy your trip!!
 
Of course! My ex and I went to London/Amsterdam and Paris for one week in each place for about $6000. You just have to be saavy. We got our hotel for about $100 per night and it was nice, an old walk up style place in the center of town. I think you can cut the budget there in your tally a fair bit. The guide book "Let's Go" was really helpful as it is a little more upscale than Lonely Planet but still great on a budget.
 
I second the suggestions to try to find a cheaper hotel. My DH proposed in Paris and the trip was a surprise, so he planned the entire thing (thus I don't know how much was spent), but I do know that we didn't spend much out of pocket while there. D did tell me that the hotel was relatively inexpensive and it was a small boutique hotel near the Eiffel tower. Not super fancy, but it was cute and had an amazing view. I feel like mid-level boutique hotels are fairly reasonable.

While I do think the sights are worth the price of admission, cheap food in Paris is so delicious that I had a tough time justifying an expensive meal. All of our cheap meals (and even street food...mmmmm, crepes) were amazing!

I also love Rick Steves, though we hadn't yet discovered him when we were in Paris. I second the suggestion to pick up his guide--he suggests a lot of great, inexpensive hotels and restaurants, plus he has a lot of great walking tours, which I love. You feel like you're getting a guided tour for free :)
 
Yup it's doable but definitely try to rent an apartment near a metro station. Hotels are rather expensive, even the not so nice ones.

Museum pass is also a great tip.


I'm going this month, but for a special occassion, so staying at the Ritz.
 
I agree with the trying to rent an apartment. We did this a couple of years ago and it worked out much cheaper than a hotel. We ate most breakfasts and a few dinners there, saving us tons of money as well.

I think it's do-able. March will be pretty cold though!
 
Hi FuturePsychD
My husband and I just got back from a week in Paris for our 10 year anniversary, and I think your budget is totally do-able. 2K on food, and admission to various tourist attractions is more than generous. We took public tranportation...buses, Metro, and even the batabus (boat bus) you can buy a 5 day pass for about 20 euro, and it takes you to all the tourist attractions. We ate at the Latin District (St. Germain) a lot because it feature small restuarants and cafes from all cultures, and were not pricey at all. Average sit-down meal was around 20-30 Euros for 2 people. If you get sandwiches and Crepes, they're only in the 3-7 Euro range. We only went to a couple "fancy" dinners, and one expensive lunch at Le Jules Verne on the Eiffel tower, and those were over 100 Euros. As someone mentioned above, a museum pass is recommended, there are a lot of museums to see! But really, take time to research, and have FUN. It's a great walking city. We loved it.
 
Definitely, definitely do-able! That said, if you are the type who would want to stay in a nice 4/5* hotel, then you better cut your travel time in half. We usually go for nice B&B's or smaller individual-owned boutique hotels that have lots of character and give you a better 'feel' of the city and the people, but at significant savings.

Also, breakfast and lunch will be super cheap in Paris. A croissant and cafe in the morning will run you less than 5E, lunch of a baguette combo (baguette, cookie and drink) will run you 7E. Dinner is the only thing that will put you back some moolah. But a nice meal is relatively affordable considering the biggest cost for a nice meal in North America is typically the wine....and wine is cheaper than water at most French restaurants.

So, my opinion would be: DO IT!
 
I mean, the first time I went to Paris I did it on around $200, so I'm going to go ahead and say $5k is fine. (Granted, I used miles to get there and stayed with a friend....so take this with a grain of salt.) Most guidebooks will be able to give you an estimate of what the price will be for certain attractions, or you can look them up online. So you can figure out your "must sees" and adjust your budget accordingly. Also, Paris is an amazing city to just walk around, so give yourself at least a day for that. Hit a grocery store and buy yourself some staples (bread, cheese, fruit) and take it with you and have impromptu picnics wherever you go. Street vendors are great (teach yourself to point and say "Une, si vous plait" and you'll be alright!), as are small coffee shops. I was content eating croissants each morning, bread and cheese for lunch, and wine, bread, and cheese for dinner (with Nutella crepes as a snack) the whole time I was there, but when I went back with my family we ate out a lot more. Generally we just wandered and found a place that looked good and ducked in it. As far as I'm concerned, you really only need one or two good meals some place - the rest of the time, go to the grocery store and eat like you normally would. Cheaper and (usually) healthier.

The biggest thing I can tell you is make sure you don't try to overextend yourself. Leave money for fun things (like buying a painting in Montmartre) and save it on the things you can't keep with you when you leave. Paris is amazing, but debt is not.
 
My husband is French, so we've traveled to Paris many times. Depending on your expectations, $5k for 2 people for a week is most definitely doable if you are conservative.

Last year (March/April '09), we traveled to France for 3 weeks, family of 3, and spent a week of that time in Paris (the rest with my MIL in the country) and spent a total of around $5k (got a great deal on our plane fares, around $700 each if memory serves, from Seattle). In Paris, we rented a modest studio apartment in a terrific central location, walked almost everywhere (or took the subway when walking wasn't feasible) and ate at cafes and greek sandwich stands and other places that were not too pricey. We didn't do any of the costly tourist activities because we've done them before, but things like the Eiffel Tower, boat ride along the Seine, etc. are wonderful and I really enjoyed them on prior trips. There's lots of great free/cheap stuff to do too, like Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur/Montmartre, Arc de Triomphe/Champs Elysee, etc.

On prior trips, we've been perfectly content in charming little 3-star hotels. In fact, I don't think we've ever stayed in anything higher than 3.5 stars (for us 4+ stars is overkill - we'd rather spend that money on food and souvenirs!), and they were very comfortable and clean, with lovely continental breakfasts and courteous and professional staff. If you want to save some money, see if you can find a well reviewed boutique 3 star hotel that doesn't have a view or is too close to a major tourist attraction - Paris is a very walking-friendly city, and as long as you're centrally located you can save some money by choosing a hotel that's a few streets off the beaten path, but still within your preferred arrondissement.
 
A couple of other points re food - the French aren't big on breakfast, big 'american' cooked breakfasts are rare, so you'll only need to budget for a coffee and a pastry from a bakery. I wouldn't pay for included breakfast at a hotel, it's not worth it IMO. This suits me because I'm not a big breakfast eater.

Also, it's law that restaurants have to display menus with prices outside, so you can pick somewhere affordable before you even go in.
 
I stayed in this apartment a block from the Louvre and a half block from the Metro in May. It was gorgeous, and HUGE (2 bathrooms!!!), and the price they're asking in this link is NOT what we paid. They'll negotiate, especially in off season. http://www.vrbo.com/183079

There are tons of other great apartments on VRBO, but this particular one was as nice as most 4* hotels we checked out while we were there.
 
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