Girly Guide to Travel: Paris on a Budget

Booking Up

If flying from the UK, Ryanair offers cheap flights from several airports and I paid £26 for return flights in July from Glasgow Prestwick to Beauvais Airport including online check-in. Easyjet also offer cheap flights to Paris. So look around before you book and avoid travel agents if possible. Flying to Beauvais tends to be cheaper and it takes about 1hr on the bus to transfer to Porte Maillot in Paris city centre, costing around 15eur one way.\From there take the Metro or a taxi to your hotel. (An example of cost of taxi from Porte Maillot- taxi to the 9th arrondissment is under 10eur).

Hotels

I can recommend 2 budget hotels, both of which I’ve used.

Tonic Hotel Du Louvre offers an amazing location in the 1st arrondissment, just off Rue de Rivoli. It is within walking distance to the Louvre, Les Halles Shopping area and Notre Dame Cathedral. Rooms are tiny but that is the norm in Paris. Rooms have bath/shower, TV (with pay movies in English), safe, hairdryer, complimentary toiletries, mini bar and decent ward robe space if you are only there for a few days. The TV only offers 2 English speaking channels which are both news channels so unless your French is great or you have an amazing tolerance for BBC world news being run on a loop then bring a mini DVD player/laptop or books/magazines if you intend to be in the room for any great length of time. That said, it is Paris and it would be absolutely criminal for you to use our room for anything other than briefly sleeping, showering and dressing. Breakfast is expensive in the hotel so if you’re not getting it for free I would go elsewhere. Look at the hotel website but discounted rates are often available through hotels.com.

http://www.tonichotel.com/

Hotel Peletier Haussman Opera- I found this hotel to be a hidden gem. It’s in the 9th arrondissment and is near the Hard Rock Café, several shops and Sacre Coeur. There are several Metro stops nearby so getting to the main sights is easy. Rooms include shower, TV (only 1 English channel so follow the advice from the above hotel), complimentary toiletries, a mini bar, safe and hairdryer. Rooms are a fraction smaller than the Tonic Hotel Du Louvre but it cost me half of what I pay for the Tonic. Breakfast is 6eur for croissants, bread, jam, butter,tea,coffee and fresh orange juice. We booked through hotels.com and were around £140 for 2 nights for a twin room.

http://www.peletieropera.com/index-gb.htm


Both hotels are basic but ideal if you want a clean, safe base to sightsee from at a decent price.

Budget Tips

Eating/Drinking- Street vendors sell beautiful crepes, paninis, croquet monsieur’s, hot dogs etc for a few euros so take advantage of these for lunch. Alternatively, visit a Monoprix or Franprix and buy picnic essentials for lunch at the Eiffel Tower or on a Seine Cruise. Several little cafés are reasonably priced, particularly around the Latin Quarter. Look out for happy hour menu’s at night for dinner.

Getting around- Buy a carnet of metro tickets for 12 eur and remember transfers are free and walk as much as you can. There are also travel passes from 1day + although I have only ever used a Mobilis pass for visiting Disneyland. Take a Seine Cruise (prices vary, I paid about 11eur for a 1hr cruise) to see loads of sights and take some amazing pictures. Transfers from the airport can be pricey but several buses and Metro’s operate so check the airport website to be sure of details.

Sightseeing- Book tickets in advance where possible so that sightseeing doesn’t take up your spending money. Take photographic ID and you can receive discounts on sights such as the Eiffel Tower if you are under 26. Use Viator if you intend to do a bus tour or a cabaret such as the Moulin Rouge as it tends to be much cheaper than buying tickets once your there.