How much should I budget for a trip to Paris?

[jewelspirit]

I was blessed with a "free" trip to Europe from an Orbitz contest this summer. My friends were already going to Paris next year (and invited me ) so I used my winnings, two roundtrip flights to Europe and $600 in orbucks, to book part of our trip.

We are combining Paris with the Inaugural Disneyland Paris Half Marathon , which should be interesting as I'll be running it .

Flights have been booked (woot! woot! only $140 in taxes for two roundtrip flights!). Our marathon package is booked and paid, at a full disney price . Friends are covering hotel costs for rest of the trip (I did give them a $1500 flight voucher ). But I'm at a loss for what to budget for the other expenses.

Here's the question: How much should I save up for food/activities/purchases for my trip?

Trip Info: Sept 2016, 10 days: 6 in Paris and 4 at Disneyland Paris. Besides the Half Marathon and Disneyland Paris, not certain what other places I'll be planning as everything is still in the works.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Oh yeah, I'm going to Paris!!!!!!

 

[eliza61]

Paris is absolutely one of my favorite cities.

One thing I love is that you can visit very well much cheaper than Disney IMO.

Ok first I would get a museum pass. a museum pass will get you into just about every museum and attraction with a few exceptions. a four day museum pass will run about 50 bucks. I can't remember if it gave you front of the line privileges but check it out.

http://en.parismuseumpass.com/rub-t-points-of-sale-3.htm

It does include, the louve, Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, Musee D'orsay, and the Arc du triomphe (yes there is stuff inside)


Next, Paris is made up with Brassieres and Bistros. seriously!! you cannot turn around without hitting one and the food is awesome. You don't have to worry about making reservations unless you want to eat at some really high end places.

Many places have "prixe fix" menus that offer great value. so for say 25 bucks you can get either and entree and app or entree and desert usually along with a soup or a salad include.

I was there in 2013 and I think I spent maybe 30-50 a day per person. Many times it was close to 35 bucks and this was with a hearty breakfast.

typically how I ate was:

Breakfast: hot tea, french pastry (really, you're going to Paris and don't expect to kill some croissant and pain du chocolate?), cereal/oatmeal.
Lunch: varied. some days we had a sit down lunch
dinner: french onion soup, salad and entree.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Paris is absolutely one of my favorite cities.

One thing I love is that you can visit very well much cheaper than Disney IMO.

Ok first I would get a museum pass. a museum pass will get you into just about every museum and attraction with a few exceptions. a four day museum pass will run about 50 bucks. I can't remember if it gave you front of the line privileges but check it out.

http://en.parismuseumpass.com/rub-t-points-of-sale-3.htm

It does include, the louve, Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, Musee D'orsay, and the Arc du triomphe (yes there is stuff inside)


Next, Paris is made up with Brassieres and Bistros. seriously!! you cannot turn around without hitting one and the food is awesome. You don't have to worry about making reservations unless you want to eat at some really high end places.

Many places have "prixe fix" menus that offer great value. so for say 25 bucks you can get either and entree and app or entree and desert usually along with a soup or a salad include.

I was there in 2013 and I think I spent maybe 30-50 a day per person. Many times it was close to 35 bucks and this was with a hearty breakfast.

typically how I ate was:

Breakfast: hot tea, french pastry (really, you're going to Paris and don't expect to kill some croissant and pain du chocolate?), cereal/oatmeal.
Lunch: varied. some days we had a sit down lunch
dinner: french onion soup, salad and entree.

I agree with you on the museum pass.
I hated the food though. I know it sounds so weird but I found the food to be very hit or miss. I think i had some of the worst food I've ever had in Paris. Maybe it's because people rave about the food.
Oh, look into a segway tour. They are so fun and a great way to see some sights.
I did the one with Fat Tires Bike Tour. .
Yes, I realize this past has nothing to do with how much to plan for spending money.
Oh, book your Eiffel tower tickets ahead online too. You'll skip the huge ticket line.

 

[nycdisneygal]

museum pass has "front of the line" for some musuems. Versailles is also included (or it was when we went).
definitely book eiffel tower tix ahead. We did it MONTHS ahead.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'd say $200/day if you want to really be able to do anything you want any day. You don't know if the Euro/$ exchange rate will be really good or really bad by then, and this should cover you either way. If you still get an awesome exchange rate, you'll be able to do some awesome stuff or have money left over. If it's really bad (I remember paying $1.38/1 euro years ago - that hurt), you'll still have enough. Since the rate is pretty awesome now, I might pre-buy some things to "lock in" the good rate, if you can.

 

[jewelspirit]

Definitely will look into the museum pass and possibly pre-buying some things. Now that my Christmas wdw trip is all planned (and paid for ), I feel like I can finally start working on this Paris trip, and it's great to be getting a rough idea of what to plan and how much to save.

 

[Pookles]

I second the museum pass. Getting a pass for the subway doesn't hurt either, depending on what you want to see you will take it a lot, I don't remember what version they have in Paris. (How many days, cost etc.)

Walking is great, but you will walk a lot. We'd had a long day of walking, went to the Louvre, and then up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. My poor mother nearly died, I nearly killed my sister for making us do it. (We were 8 days in at this point.) Since you are running the marathon I'm guessing you are in much better shape than I, but I'd say spring for a cab once in a while. It was losing the time I regretted. We were so exhausted and it was all we could do to drag our carcasses along. If we'd have taken a cab rather than trying to squeeze in one more leisurely stroll, well, we'd have gotten to the Arc before it closed. Instead it took us so long to walk there that we missed it.

Don't try to plan to much in one day. If you love art, as I do, allow yourself time to walk through. For my money I would rather visit a few sites well than run through the Louvre...again. The museums are huge, ENJOY them.

And it looks like you might get lucky, the conversion rate is really close to 1 to 1 right now. Prices are actually quite similar to here. We'd get a sandwich ($6 or so) and eat it as we walked around. We'd find a little bistro or something when we got hungry. Ate pastries every day. And cheese glorious cheese. Some of the most memorable items of my life. Eat til you burst. It really depends on how you eat, if you need sit down meals you will spend more. But the food is far above the average fare here. We ate good food out of gas stations. It's a different world.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Just remember that wine or beer is much cheaper than soda! I love Paris. Agree that the museum pass and the metro pass are the way to go. For lunch we would often get some bread and cheese and maybe a couple of slices of ham and eat in a park. Or take it to a cafe and order a glass of wine to enjoy with your lunch. At dinner the pre fixe dinner is usually a get price.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

I spent a summer in Paris while I was in college. I would definitely invest in a carte orange for the metro (unlimited rides for a period of time, you can by them by the day or week), a museum pass, and a book called "Plan de Paris par Arrondissement" if you aren't going to have a cell with GPS, or downloading the app onto a cell with GPS. We went in the era before smartphones and this book was small enough to carry around and has detailed maps of every area in the city, including metro stops. As far as food, we mostly ate from corner bakeries or street vendors, with the exception of a few nicer dinners at cafes or restaurants.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I think 4 days at Paris Disneyland is far too many.

I have been to Paris many times; it's one of my favorite cities as well. Watch out for gypsies and their many scams, especially around high tourist areas. Here's some good information about them:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187070-c85876/France:Beware.Of.Paris.Scams.And.Pick.Pockets.html

http://parisjourney.com/17-paris-scams-gypsies-and-thieves-revealed

Having a credit card with a true chip and pin can be very useful, especially when buying subway tickets from machines in stations where there is no attendant.

The Metro is very easy to use and the best way to get around. I always just buy a carnet of 10 tickets, but passes are available:

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/paris-metro-tickets.htm

 

[jewelspirit]

The 4 days at Disneyland Paris is mostly dictated by our Race Weekend Events and our Marathon Package (required minimum 3 night stay to guarantee a spot in the races). Most recommend 2-3 days, and we'll have 3 day parkhoppers and hope to tour leisurely (esp as we'll be running both the 5k and Half Marathon on consecutive days).

Already working on the credit card issues, that and my passport were the first things I checked .

Too bad wine and beer are cheaper, since I actually don't drink alcohol (due to personal and medical reasons).

 

[kawc1945]

We went to Paris a year ago and didn't have any problems using a credit card that didn't have a chip in it. We did buy a Paris Metro pass which was very handy, but they are very small so keep it some place safe so you don't drop it! Also, we purchased the Museum Pass and felt it was worth the money. I never thought food or drinks were really expensive, just a little more than here. Enjoy your trip! It sounds great.

 

[soccerchick]

For the metro (includes bus and subway), take a look online for details, but you can get a weekly pass for a great deal. Bring a picture from home for the pass and go to a station that has an attendant. It saved us a ton of money.We did have to use two credit cards as on the third pass, it didn't accept it. It was fine, just a security feature to thwart fraud.

The Paris Museum Pass is also a good deal and saved time and money if you plan to visit several. Figure out what you want to visit and add up the admission costs to see what your break even point will be. We purchased ours at the airport with no waiting in line. Some museums have free days/nights, but will be more crowded then. Also consider your touring style. Using the pass means you'll have to visit one site per day. Sometimes we did two. If you like to relax and meander more, paying as you go may be better. I love to plan and did a sheet with the places we wanted to go, prices, free days and planned to maximize the pass because it was good for XX consecutive days and we were there for 12.

After deciding if those will be worth it, I'd figure on 100 euros/day for food and incidentals. You can add in for museums, etc. you might want to do.

Getting Eiffel Tower tickets in advance is a must to avoid the lines for tickets. Don't be discouraged if you don't get them right away. Keep trying.

Use Tripadvisor. Lots of menus, reviews, and tips for making the most of your time and money. I have the username vasoccerchick there and posted several reviews from our 12 day trip in July 2014. stayed in St. Germain des Pres. Our favorites were Versailles, Cluny, Louvre, Notre Dame towers. River cruise was inexpensive and a good way to see the sights from a different perspective.

Don't forget taxi money for to and from airport. Monoprix is an inexpensive store to get groceries and souvenirs such as cookies, jams, Poulain (my fam's nostalgic favorite). Gallerie Lafayette was also good for Paris/touristy souvenirs.

GEt a tour guide book from the library or Amazon. I read DK Eyewitness Travel Paris and Rick Steves' Paris.

 

[summabreeze85]

I agree with one of the previous posters about the $200/euro day if you want to do whatever you want. That will get you 3 quality meals, some great wine (because it IS cheaper than soda. I love orange soda so I kept ordering it until I realized I was paying 6 euro for an 8 ounce glass! Wine was 3/4 for the house stuff), and allow you to do whatever sightseeing tours you want. I recommend a day if you have it to tour Versailles - the palace is amazing and the gardens are so peaceful.