We are deep in the credit crunch, but that shouldn’t stop you from wanting to go abroad. Here are my recommended tips to get you to Paris on a budget.
1) Book the Eurostar early
Taking the train from St Pancreas to London, Gare du Nord, takes 2.5 hours. However, if you leave it too late to book your ticket, it can be very expensive to go to Paris. You need to book at least two months in advance if you want to get the best deal. If you are more flexible with your dates, don’t go to Paris for the weekend. I went from Sunday to Tuesday and it cost £34.50 each way so £69 return.
2) Choose the menu – special of the day
Eating out in Paris can be expensive, but go for the smaller, less commercial brasseries and have the daily special “le formule” which can be three course meal for around 16 euros. My friend and I found this traditional brasserie “Le Carrefour” near the Boulevard Haussmann and we had our “formule” which filled us up. We stumbled upon “Le Carrefour” in the summer as we were trying to get out of the rain. The beers are reasonably priced and the staff are friendly enough – as far as French waiters go.
3) Walk around Paris
Instead of always hoping on the mtero, walk around the city. The metro stops in Paris are often within walking distance of one another. So you do not need to use your carnet of metro tickets in a day.
4) Drink wine
France is the home of wine lovers and this is reflected in the low price. Beer is quite expensive, a corona is 5 euros and in some places as much as 8. If you fancy a drink, order a bottle of wine and if you drink only half of it, you pay for half.
5) Visit the Christmas market
I went to Paris at the end of November and there was a Christmas market from up the Place de la Concorde all the way up to the bottom of the Champs Elysees. There were lots of stalls where you could pick up a Christmas present, but also get some mulled wine and roasted chestnuts – although 4 euros for a cup of mulled wine was a tad on the expensive side!
So there you have it, a few things to do in Paris on a budget. If you are in Paris and fancy writing a post about it, let me know.
