Last Updated on June 4, 2026 by Tavernier’s Travels
For many, visiting Paris is a fairy tale, a dream that promises to be a transformative experience. But the cost of visiting the city often keeps the holiday just that – a dream. If you indeed have a dream of visiting Paris but your funds are a little tight, here’s how you can visit the City of light on a budget.
A little while ago, we decided to take a trip to my favourite city, we hadn’t visited for quite some years and really wanted to go back (we used to go very often beforehand), money was a little tight as we had a big house move in the works, but we found a way to visit Paris by keeping the costs down and being a little financially strategic.
This is coming from a UK perspective especially London in terms of getting there. But wherever you live in the world this post can still be helpful to you once you have found a way to travel over.
How to Get to Paris
My favourite way of getting to Paris is via the Eurostar train, it’s easy for me to get to St Pancras International and in about 2 1/2 hours you are in the centre of Paris. Unfortunately, the Eurostar isn’t cheap, however what we did was book well in advance and had to choose unsavoury times to travel (1st train out at 6am), but we were able to book our seats for £39 each one way and the same on the way back, but it is doable.
There are also cheap flights via budget airlines such as Easyjet, Ryanair etc, flying out of most major airports across the UK. The two things I dislike about this form of travel is; 1. With the budget airlines you can only take a small rucksack unless you want to pay extra then you can take a suitcase but if you’re trying to keep costs down the luggage restrictions can be very stressful. Not to say you need a big suitcase, if you’re going for just a few days then a small cabin suitcase will do, but again if you don’t want to spend extra money on flights I suggest just taking a rucksack. 2. I find getting out of the airport and into central Paris a lot harder than if you took the Eurostar, there isn’t really any restrictions when it comes to luggage and I like to do a little grocery shopping in France to take back to the UK. So I would recommend taking the Eurostar to my fellow Londoners.
Also from London Victoria Coach Station, you can get a coach to Paris, obviously this is a somewhat longer journey 9 1/2 hours direct and around £38 being the cheapest.
Booking a Hotel in Paris
Personally on my many visits to the city when not staying with family/friends I would book a hotel in the centre and that way we could just walk more or less everywhere which is our favourite mode of transport in Paris. Seriously, walking around the city you get to see a lot of the sights and discover some true delights as you explore. It’s a very walkable city and it’s said, just walking around and even getting lost, you will find your own Paris and will get to know the city very well. For me this works, I have been visiting Paris since I was a child in the early 80s with my mother, visiting family and friends and little pre teen me fell in love with the city instantly, I used to go to the nearby shops on my own and was very comfortable doing that despite having very little french, so if a child can go wandering so can an adult!
However, hotels in the centre can be very expensive, so on our last couple of trips we booked outside of the peripherique (the ring road that surrounds the city centre. Once out of the city centre prices can drop by quite a bit, so if like us you choose a hotel that is on one of the major metro lines such as the Line 1, you can get from your hotel into the city centre very easily.
One of the hotels we stayed at was Le Ruisseau Hotel in the pleasant Eastern suburb of Sainte Mande, it’s a typical Parisian boutique hotel, nothing like the chains you get, it gives you a typical sense of being in Paris and is family run. The staff were nice they didn’t speak English but if you make an effort with some French it will go a long way. We were given complimentary coffee and pastries just before we checked out, although the decor is tired and could do with some updating and paint it was still a pleasant stay even for fussy people like us.
There is also a restaurant below run by the same family which is convenient, it was always full with locals which was a good sign although we didn’t have a chance to try it as our itinerary was full and we ate out mostly in the areas we were visiting. But getting to and from Le Ruisseau Hotel, was extremely easy and convenient as the hotel is just a two minute walk from the metro station literally on the same main road and on Line 1,book well in advance as it can get booked up quickly. You can also look on hotel sites such as Booking.com and Expedia in order to find a hotel that suits you and your needs.
Also I would recommend Vincennes just up the road from Sainte Mande both places are easy to get in and out of the city centre either by metro or bus. Staying out of the centre you really get to savour Paris through the lens of a local. Paris has changed immensely since say the 2000s, it’s now jammed filled with tourists looking for that great instagram shot, staying in one of the nearby suburbs will give you time to breath and recharge your batteries. Although extremely touristy, Paris is still a beautiful city to visit.
One thing I would say when booking a cheaper option hotel is to not book in areas North of Paris such as St Denis, these areas can be a little rough and I have read that people have felt a little intimidated walking around some areas. I personally wouldn’t book anywhere north of Montmartre. Also be aware about booking around the Pigalle area especially if you are travelling with children, it’s the red light district and can be quite seedy at night, during the day its ok.
Eating and Drinking in Paris
Depending on what you like to eat, the best thing to do in my opinion is to find a restaurant off the beaten track, DO NOT go to restaurants around the attractions as they will be overly expensive and not necessarily tasty (the food). Walking around Paris you will stumble upon eating establishments especially around the side streets, where you will find reasonably priced food and drink that won’t break the bank. People from the UK, if you think that you will just order a McDonalds every day of your stay, think again. McDonalds is a lot more expensive in France than in the UK and really, who wants to go abroad, especially a place like Paris and eat fast food.
A lot of restaurants have menus outside which you can check out before going in. Eating at a real Paris restaurant will only add to your experience of visiting the City of Light. To keep costs low, for lunch for example, there are many boulangeries (bakeries) in Paris where you can pick up a baguette sandwich, pastries, cakes, quiches etc and head to one of the city’s many parks and just sit and have a picnic especially if the weather is decent.
What to Do in Paris
The best thing to do before you even get on the plane, train etc is to think about what you want to see in Paris, draw up an itinerary for the length of your stay, if you want to visit a museum for example, try to book online and in advance as places at popular attractions get booked up quickly. When planning your day, don’t try to cram loads of things in one day, leave plenty of time when visiting one attraction and if you can just visit one a day and spend the rest of the time chilling and exploring the city. Also, don’t think you have to spend money visiting everything, we very rarely pay to go into any of the attractions, we are just happy saving our money and just exploring the Paris and going to places that are free. here is a list of things you can go and see for free;
The Eiffel Tower obviously! You can visit the tower during the day to get that famous picture, there are many areas around it where you can take a good picture of the tower especially at the Trocadero. But I have to say, get over to the tower or nearby in the evening when the sun goes down. The tower sparkles every hour on the hour for a few minutes, it is truly spectacular and absolutely free of charge. Many people head over there especially.
Things to do for Free in Paris
Take a walk along the Seine River, if you want to pay you can take a basic cruise along the river
Take a walk through the Covered Passages in Paris like Galerie Vivienne
Discover Le Marais district and The Latin Quarter
Head over to Il de la cite; which was the area where the city was started by the Celtic Parisii tribe
Browse through the many English language books at the famous Shakespeare and Company Book Shop
Have a picnic or just chill out and people watch in the many parks of Paris, such as; The Luxembourg Gardens and Palace, The Tuileries Gardens, Butte Chaumont, Place des Vosges for example
Take a look around Hotel de Ville
Explore the famous Saint Sulpice Church which was featured in the film The Divinci Code
Make your way over to Montmartre; A lovely area set high up on a hill overlooking Paris, Was once it’s own village and somewhere I was thinking of moving to when I had my dream of moving to the city. Unfortunately, now it’s filled with tourists and feels more like disneyland but still very pretty. I now have another area I would move to, but I’m not saying! Whilst in Montmartre, you have Sacre Coeur to explore as well as just walking around the area, although touristy, you still have quiet streets to walk through.
Arc de Triomphe; You can pay to go up to the top with wonderful views of Paris or just take a great picture, from there you can head down the famous Champs Elysee, which is filled with an array of shops including exclusive designer ones.
Les Invalides; which holds Napoleon’s tomb and is an army museum
The Louvre Museum and Palace; If you don’t want to pay to go in it’s still a nice place to see from the outside as well as the Palais Royal and the Palais Garnier.
Visit the major department stores of Printemps and Galeries Lafayette, you don’t have to buy anything but these a nice to see inside especially at christmas.
Canal St Martin; to hang out, eat, drink or have a picnic weather permitting
Moulin Rouge
Pere Lachaise cemetery; is also popular if you like that kind of thing, it holds many tombs of famous people gone by
Some Useful Tips
When you get into Paris the first thing you should do is purchase a Navigo card, it works like an Oyster card where you put money on and use it for travelling on the metro and buses inside of Paris. Unfortunately you cant use it to get out of the airport area.
Bring some Euros for tipping, to pay for many things you can use your bank card as you do at home
I’ve heard the street food in Paris is pretty good so give it a try if you want to keep food costs down
Use Google maps to get around as its super useful
If you do want to visit and enter the famous sites and museums get there really early
Wear comfy shoes, just because you are going to Paris, you don’t have to dress as though you’re on a catwalk. We are all living in a global world now where we have many of the same clothing shops. A lot of people in Paris dress the same as we do in the UK. Jeans/trousers, trainers/comfy shoes, summer dresses are all more than ok. Wearing things like high heels wouldn’t be the best idea as you will be doing a lot of walking and there are many cobbled streets in Paris, not to mention the many stairs inside the metro stations. Just be yourself, dress as you do at home, just make sure your clothes are clean and not in disrepair and that you are comfortable, most importantly.
Paris is a safe city, but there are pickpockets and scammers just like most major capital cities, don’t worry about this too much but be vigilant and don’t fall for any tricks. Be especially aware around the tourist attractions and on the metro.
Also please remember that Paris is a real working capital city, with normal people going about their daily lives, be respectful when travelling around the city and outside of residents homes, do not put your feet up on the seats of buses, trains and metros, if you are caught you will get fined. When travelling on public transport, in restaurants etc keep your voice down, the French are demure people, they do not appreciate people being all loud and boisterous. Thankfully, we, Karis and I are quite demure folk too so this works well for us.
When walking into any establishment in France, always start by saying Bonjour (Hello) as soon as you walk in, learn the french words for please (S’il vous plait) and thank you (Merci) and goodbye (Au revoir), these basic words will help you have a more pleasant stay in France.
Also never walk into a restaurant and just take a seat, walk in, say hello, and ask for a table for… however many, and wait to be seated. Also never click your fingers and call out ‘Garcon’ this will guarantee you a less than good service.
But most of all, just go and enjoy yourself, take pictures but also learn to put your phone away and just savour all that Paris has to offer.
Bon Voyage!
