Paris travel guide — where to stay, what to do, and where to eat in Paris, Île-de-France, France.
Local currency: Euro.
Daily budget by traveller style
Typical per-person daily spend in Paris.
- Luxury
- €690–€2,400/day (~$752–$2,616)
Cost breakdown
Typical price ranges across major spending categories.
Items
- Typical
Trip budgets by length
What a typical trip to Paris costs end-to-end.
Items traveller
Money-saving tips
Practical ways to stretch your budget further.
Buy a weekly Navigo pass (€30/~$32.69) if staying 5+ days — it covers unlimited Métro, RER, bus, and tram across zones 1–5, including CDG and Orly airports
Eat the formule déjeuner (set lunch menu): two courses + a drink for €14–€22 at restaurants that charge €50+ for dinner
Shop at Lidl, Aldi, Monoprix, or Franprix supermarkets for picnic supplies — supermarket wine from €3–€5/bottle; cheese from €1.50
The Paris Museum Pass (€55 for 2 days / €70 for 4 days) pays for itself with two major museum visits and eliminates ticket queues
Visit the Eiffel Tower's first floor (€11.80 / ~$12.85) rather than the summit (€31.80) — the views are excellent at a fraction of the cost
Book museum tickets online 2–4 weeks in advance to avoid the same-day timed-entry premium and sold-out windows
Travel on foot between close attractions: Notre-Dame to Sainte-Chapelle is 5 min; Louvre to Tuileries is 10 min; saves Métro fare repeatedly
Vélib' bike-share offers a 24-hour mechanical bike pass for €5 (~$5.45) — unlimited 30-min rides
Use the Île-de-France Mobilités Bonjour RATP app for digital tickets rather than single paper tickets (same price but more convenient)
Stay in the 10th, 11th, or 18th arrondissements for lower hotel prices while remaining well-connected by Métro
Free things to do
Memorable experiences that cost nothing.
Walk along the Seine embankment (Quais de Seine) — one of the great urban strolls in the world
Jardins du Palais Royal — free to enter; colonnaded 18th-century garden with Buren's striped columns
Jardin des Tuileries and Jardins du Luxembourg — free to enter; beloved public parks
Champ de Mars (Eiffel Tower lawn) — free picnic and photography spot, best at dusk
Sacré-Cœur Basilica — free to enter the church; Montmartre streets are free to explore
Notre-Dame de Paris exterior and Parvis — cathedral rebuild visible from the plaza; free
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (19th arr.) — one of Paris's most scenic parks; free
Promenade Plantée (Coulée Verte René-Dumont) — elevated greenway from Bastille to Vincennes; free
Marché d'Aligre (12th arr., Tue–Sun mornings) — most atmospheric flea and food market in Paris; free to browse
First Sunday of each month: national museums free (Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, Musée Rodin, Cluny, etc.)
Canal Saint-Martin waterway walk (10th–19th arr.) — iron footbridges, locks, and café terraces; free
Père Lachaise Cemetery — free to enter; burial place of Chopin, Proust, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf; peaceful and fascinating
Fondation Louis Vuitton exterior (Bois de Boulogne) — free to see Frank Gehry's landmark building from the park
Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Site Richelieu) — free to visit the renovated Labrouste reading room on open days
Paris municipal beaches (Paris Plages, mid-July to late August) — free deck chairs and animations on the Seine bank