Paris City Break on a Budget.
Welcome to my £250 short break series. Throughout 2024, I challenged myself to visit a new destination each month. BUT, the challenge was to have each trip cost a TOTAL of £250. On top of this, I have a full time job so I had to do this around my holiday allowance. For some reason, I seem to enjoy making things difficult for myself by visiting expensive places. Anyway, for part 8 of the series i spent 3 days trying a city break in Paris on a budget. And to add to the silliness, I booked the fights without considering the Olympics were on! Fortunately, I arrived the day they ended, although the inflated prices were most likely still there. Some trips were with other people, but for this trip, I went solo.
Some important things to note here are that I don’t include transportation to and from the airport in the UK. The reason being, it is so different for everyone. So, I can’t give a reasonable figure that is suitable for all travellers. Equally, everything I do include can be replicated by the vast majority of people.
Anyway, enough rambling, here’s how it went.
Parc de Luxembourg
Cheap Flights to Paris
These were the most expensive flights so far, coming to £69.42. The outbound flight was from Bristol to Orly (Paris) and departed at 1.50pm on Sunday afternoon, meaning I arrived at 4.20pm. Honestly, it feels such a waste to fly at this time, but there were no cheap early flights available. After this, the return leg left Orly at 7.15pm on Tuesday. This is also not the best time because it means you have to leave the city in mid afternoon and meant this was my shortest trip of the year. Other things to note are that these flights were hand luggage only without seat selection. This is how I always travel, as this brings the price down a lot across the whole journey.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that some people want the comfort of extra luggage and having a chosen seat. Equally, I’m here to show you that the more efficiently you can be with your money, the more opportunity you have for additional trips because you’re not spending unnecessarily.
Flights for this price are a lot easier to find and more common than a lot of people think. If you struggle to find these prices, and want to guarantee best prices on flights, check out my expert guide. Click here and use the code BLOG for another 25% off the marked price.
Eiffel Tower Light Show
Accommodation in Paris on a Budget
I always list accommodation per person. So, as I travelled solo for this trip, the price is not split between anyone else. The accommodation totalled £60.
As I was solo travelling this time, I stayed in a hostel again, as I did in Copenhagen. I know this isn’t for everyone, and I did see apartments starting at £100 (for two nights). As well as hotels/ home stays starting from about £80. Also, the hostel I stayed in did offer private rooms for around £120. Obviously, if you are sharing with someone, you can still pay £60 per person based on these prices. The place I stayed was a basic hostel, not a capsule hostel like I stayed in before. This hostel was located in Montmatre, which is also a must visit area when you are in Paris.
Some great places to check for accommodation are TripAdvisor. Or, if you’re happy to use hostels for even more savings, try Hostelworld.
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Activities for Paris on a Budget
Surprisingly, I didn’t spend any money on activities specifically. This is mainly because I had a short time in Paris and I wanted to visit a few areas. So, I decided to spend my time exploring, rather than doing anything particular. This was the first trip that i spent nothing.
Day 1
As I arrived into Paris quite late, I spent an hour wandering around the area near the Chatelet metro station. Here, I saw the Eglise Saint-Eustache which was absolutely magnificent, inside and out. I’m in no way religious but find the architecture to be quite impressive! After this, I walked to the Louvre but it was closed when I got there. So, I headed back to the metro to check in to the hostel. After this, I then went to the Sacre Coeur for sunset. Clearly, this is an extremely popular thing to do because it was absolutely packed, despite the sunset being in a different direction to the view point! All of these activities are free of charge which is great when you’re on a budget in a pricey city!
Day 2 –
Another free day of activities followed. This included heading back to Sacre Coeur for sunrise. However, this time I found a place to actually watch it and it did not disappoint, it was incredible. After this, I went to explore some of Paris and started with the Notre Dam. Then, I continued exploring, ending up in the Latin quarter which included the Pantheon and Parc de Luxembourg. This Park is stunning and well worth a visit if you are around the area.
In the afternoon, I took a train to saint Germain en Laye for the afternoon. Honestly, this was a bit disappointing. It’s a nice little town and has a beautiful palace however, there was not a lot to see there. Finally, in the evening I tried to see the sunset again, but got lied to by the internet and it set behind a building rather than behind the Eiffel tower. Equally, I did see the light show, which isn’t actually much of a show, the tower just sparkles for a few minutes.
Day 3 –
For the final day I spent nothing, again! Today, I went to explore Montmatre properly. Montmatre is such a beautiful place, one of the oldest areas of Paris and one of the most popular districts. I ate some lunch here before heading back to the main centre of Paris and to be honest just found some nice places for content! I know this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I like photography/ videography. There is still plenty to do in Paris for a variety of budgets!
So, the total cost of activities for this trip to Paris was £0.
Avenue de Camoëns
Food and Drinks on Your Paris City Break.
Usually, I try to find accommodation with kitchen facilities to help bring costs down. However, I was in a hostel for this Paris city break. Surprisingly, there are more cheap options than I expected considering I was in Paris.
Day 1
I ate before I left home on the day of travel, so I only needed an evening meal. For this, I found a traditional french restaurant called Mamie Collete in Montmare. I also love to try traditional foods on all of my trips. So, I tried foie gras and beef tartare, which totalled €26.50 (£22.79). I also bought a 1.5l bottle of water for €1.00 (£0.86) which I used to refill from the water fountains around the city.
Day 2
On day 2, I stopped for a coffee by the Pantheon which was €2.50 (£2.15). Then, I did my usual and ate lunch from the supermarket in Saint Germaine en Laye. For this, I bought a loaf of bread, two packs of chicken and a pack of sliced cheese to last today and tomorrow, and a protein drink. This totalled €12.90 (£11.09), split between two days equals £5.55 per day. I also went to a patisserie which cost €4.50 (£3.87) for a finger cake.
For dinner on day 2, I was recommended a cheap restaurant called Boullion. This place was in Montmatre again, and the prices were honestly incredible for Paris. So, I tried snails for starter and just had chicken and chips for mains which tottaled €17 (£14.62). The snails were double the price of most starters so it can be even cheaper. They also give you a big bottle of water on the house, so you can do 3 courses for under £20 very easily.
Day 3
For my final day, I had a coffee in a beautiful cafe which looks onto the Arc de Triomphe. This cost €5 (£4.30). I then ate a burger and chips in Montmatre. This area is definitely heavy on the tourist tax and cost €19 (£16.34). Finally, I had stuff left over from my supermarket trip which was £5.55 as described in day 2.
So, the total cost of food and drink across this budget trip to Paris was £76.02.
Parc de Luxembourg
Transportation in Paris on a Budget
The transport for this trip was simple as I bought a 3 day transport pass. This looked to be the most cost effective choice to visit Paris on a budget. So, the cost for this was €44 (€42 + €2 for the actual card), or £37.84. The annoying thing about the transport card in Paris is that it isn’t timed like a lot of other places. In Paris, it is charged per day. So, buying a 1 day pass at 3pm will then expire at midnight. While a lot of places I have been to measure it in hours. For example, buying a 24 hour pass at 3pm will then expire at 3pm the next day.
One good thing about the transport passes in Paris, is that they have different passes based on your travel distance. The pass I bought covered an area covering all my travel, including an hour-long train out of the city.
La Maison Rose, Montmatre
Paris City Break – Conclusion
So, the total for this Paris city break was £243.28. Which, is within the £250 budget however, I would not recommend Paris as a budget destination. Firstly, this was my shortest trip at just 2.5 days and it still took my whole budget. Secondly, it’s just too easy to overspend in an expensive destination. Therefore, I would avoid visiting on a strict budget and come back when you have more flexibility with what you can spend.
Flights – £69.42
Accommodation – £60
Activities – £0
Food & Drinks – £76.02
Transportation – £37.84
Total for 3 cheap days in Paris – £243.28
Let me know in the comments if you like this post. Or, if you have any suggestions of things the community can do on their Paris trip. Thanks for reading! Check out the other trips I have done for this £250 series – Bucharest, Sofia, Lake Como, Marrakech, Geneva/ Annecy, Albania and Copenhagen.
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