Paris on a tight budget

[paulhollywoodshairgel]

Hello all. We are going to Paris this half term. Money wasn’t that tight when we booked it. It is now!! Any hints or tips? Places to eat that don’t cost a bomb? Thanks all.

Paris has too good to go…..

Creparies are cheap and fun, Paris has v. good sushi ( near the Efiel tower). Parks, walks where are you staying ?

Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur are our favourite places and not expensive browsing, people watching and going round the church. Plenty of snack/fast food places that aren’t really expensive too. There are also “express”-type supermarkets (Intermarché, Carrefour etc) dotted around where you can pick up croissants/bread/cheese/ham etc and picnic. The most expensive places to eat tend to be around areas you’d expect like the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysées so just plan these parts for sightseeing rather than eating. Enjoy!

The Bouillon restaurants are great value.
I just tend to walk around looking at the beautiful buildings or wander through the parks. Musée Carnavalet is free. Markets and brocantes too.

Don't eat anywhere touristy looking! Get rotisserie chicken from the market or supermarket with a baguette for dinner, or Vietnamese from the Asian trattoirie. Where are you staying? There are lots of student restaurants around the Pantheon: crêpe, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Syrian. You can eat take away in the Jardin du Luxembourg, or they often have a cheap lunch menu. Same in other office districts. How old are the kids? You can go looking for every place in Emily in Paris. The traffic is worth watching round the Arc de Triomph. The bois du boulogne is nice. There's the roman ruins in the Latin Quarter, and the holocaust memorial. Play tourist bingo: very rich Chinese couple on wedding photo shoot, spot the 2CV tour, first person to 10 socks and sandals, students from the fashion college, best gargoyle, worst insta pose at the Sacre Cour...

One thing we did was go on the public bus boat down the seine from the eiffell tower same trip as private ones but a lit cheaper

Excellent value Vietnamese food in Belleville, for example Pho Belleville

https://maps.app.goo.gl/w6fyZyjNC2Sh4tB4A

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a nice place to walk if you've gone to Belleville for food. Has some good views across the city

https://maps.app.goo.gl/3HPfKXfAHeC1Lvbw5

Love walking along the Canal St Martin

https://maps.app.goo.gl/M2gX44P7toTED4dZ6

Excellent crêperie near Jardins de Luxembourg, very filling

https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kvdvTADKr28cLnB8

Cosi is a good sandwich shop in St Germain, think they have another branch somewhere else too. Again, good value and filling lunch

https://maps.app.goo.gl/byGEUxwZZ5XcaUJt9

Another good focaccia place in the 9th

https://maps.app.goo.gl/k1A9d8tGeS4Vpsdj9

And a Vietnamese sandwich place in the 6th

https://maps.app.goo.gl/sCPxvgtWJacCGu8f8

Inexpensive falalel places in the Marais. DS is a huge fan of Chez Hanna on Rue des Rosiers, and the Marais is fun to walk around. Upscale boutiques, restaurants, gorgeous Art Nouveau synagogue on the rue Pavée, designed by Guimard, the Place des Vosges Musée Carnavalet, the Musée Picasso (and the house of Nicolas Flamel is nice to walk past, if you have any HP fans), and the Centre Georges Pompidou.

Pére Lachaise cemetery is free -- download a map of famous graves in advance and no need for a tour. Even if your children aren't Oscar Wilde, Piaf or Jim Morrison fans, interesting to see fan devotion and strangely-decorated graves.

How old are your children? DS used to adore the Jardins du Luxembourg when he was little -- playground, the old carousel with the hoops, the pony rides etc, but especially renting a sailboat to float on the big pond. Wednesday afternoon and weekends all day. Inexpensive from what I remember.

Yep, Bouillon Chartier very cheap and fun. But be prepared to queue at busy times.

You can get a gorgeous view for free on the roof of galeries lafayette

Bouillon Pigalle, Julien and others are also good.

Any suggestions very welcome for the best cheap and safe areas to stay, for myself (disabled) and older teen daughter? We don't mind walking, but I'd prefer not to be in a dodgy area!

I've been looking around the 14th arr. Does anyone know if that's any good? Apologies for the mild thread hijack op.

All the "big" State art galleries/ museums (Louvre, Orsay, Rodin, Pompidou if it was open but it's closed for a refurb) are surprisingly affordable for families, because U18s are free.

Jardin des Plantes is free (and lovely), and from there you can wander along the Seine towards Notre Dame, perhaps passing Place Tino Rossi where everyone goes to dance tango in the evening.

Best view of the Eiffel Tower(and IMO better than actually going there!) is from the terrace close to Trocadero metro.

Breakfast from a bakery - pastries and coffee to takeaway (Cafe a emporter) can be cheap as chips. You can get decent sandwiches from bakeries for about 4-5 euros. Keep an eagle eye out for "formules", especially at lunchtime- the French love them. Basically special offer menus of various kinds- the "formule enfant" menus for kids are usually particularly good value.

I had similar this summer- grand Interrailing tour of Europe, all transport and accommodation booked and paid for, then had several jobs cancel on me a month before we left, so the anticipated money for spends suddenly wasn't there. Let's just say that we basically travelled from Lidl to Lidl across Europe! 😆 We also went to a LOT of kebab shops- thank God for the Turkish diaspora!

14e is nice and generally a good area. Rue Daguerre is a great place to hang out. It is up a steep hill from the rest of Paris though! Check which metro stations have lifts, otherwise you'll have to rely on Uber

Are you still there on 2nd Nov? First Sunday in the month a number of museums open for free.

Thanks for all of this ❤️❤️

I second Montmartre, since Sacré Coeur is both beautiful and free. Advice, approach Sacré Coeur from the Lamarck - Caulaincourt métro station, not Anvers, if you want to avoid rougher area with touts at the bottom of the Funicular.

If possible, hire street bikes and cycle around (I find the paths along the Seine are very straightforward). Alternatively, walking along the Seine and cross crossing the bridges can be fun. I walk from Notre Dame towards the Eiffel Tower. You'll see plenty of landmarks.

Rue mouffetard/ Rue Montorgueil can be fun markets to spend some time and buy a few food items (we allow the kids a budget for food items they might want to try).

The Galeries Lafayette (Haussmann) has a free observation deck on it's roof. It's a nice view of Paris imo. Good for a toilet break too.

Good site for free/ cheap family ideas....

https://www.sortiraparis.com/en/child-and-family/guides/322870-not-to-be-missed-family-events-in-paris-in-october-2025#:~:text=For%20an%20outdoor%20outing%2C%20head,run%2C%20play%20and%20observe%20nature.

There’s a museum called something like the Petit palace that’s free to go in and really lovely.

Walking is good loads to see on the way. Sit on parks for picnics. Google free stuff to do.

Seconding Bouillon chain restaurants - so cheap! No kids menu but my daughter loves the chicken.

Stay at the Hotel Avenir in Montmartre (totally Mumsnet unofficially approved as it's often recommended) it's really cheap with amazing views of sacré coeur. And then Bouillon Pigalle is super close.

Jardin du Luxembourg is indeed awesome but the play area is not free. So stick to the lake bit, or go to Parc Monceau if kids are small enough to want a good play area.

Notre Dame is free, and the no ticket queue moves as fast as the ticket one.

I like to just get takeaway crêpes for lunch to keep costs down.

When we went we mainly did packed lunches each day. I think we only ate out once.

Flunch is always bargainous. I think there are a couple in Paris.

We took a picnic and ate on the banks of the Seine. Baguettes, cheese, fruit, mini pots of salad all purchased from the intermarche before getting on our train as we stayed at Eurocamp. Walked miles (metro shutdown), I budgeted for specific attractions, we used Bateau Bus as it doubled as a Seine boat trip. We did the Arc d’triomphe, Natural History Museum, Eiffel Tower, Rodin Museum & Louvre, Jardins Tuileries and lots of window browsing & sightseeing.

Can book the glass floor at the Galleries Layfette. Book, it is free. You need to check how far in advance it can be booked. From there, a short walk to public
bus (I think)40 all around Montmartre - eventually approaches from behind and drops you right at the entrance. Great tour for E2. Free entrance to Sacre Coeur but queues.
At the front, a great view over Paris so you can argue about which building is which (that may just be us)
As you wander down the hill to the love wall and abbessess, you can see a couple of galleries with works by Dali if that appeals.
we loved boullion Julien
jardin Luxembourg was lovely and there is a fountain nearby (s side) which is impressive.