Great 'MoneySaving city guides, part 1: Paris' Hunt

snowleopard61

We got by with buying our food for actual meals from supermarkets and bakeries - also super-cheap wine, which came in the sort of bottle I've otherwise only ever seen sunflower oil in, ridged plastic with a plastic flip-top, and which didn't taste that great! - but it felt very authentic having camembert and baguette and French wine while looking down at the Paris street from our hotel balcony. We ate out only for little treat things like patisserie and hot chocolate, or croque-monsieur (ham & cheese toastie!) or frites.

The Paris mosque is worth a visit and they have a cafe where they serve mint tea and there were people smoking these hubble-bubble pipes. It rather surprised me at first as I thought they were smoking something else ...!

Walking, as suggested by someone else, is good fun because you just happen upon things that you wouldn't otherwise have seen. A free way of entertaining yourself for a morning!

Some of the very smart and expensive department stores are fun just to look at, if you can cope with feeling as if you don't fit the obvious demographic (no offence; I mean I don't - perhaps you do, but possibly you wouldn't be on MSE if you did!).

Personally I found Montmartre an absolute nightmare as I can't stand being pestered by vendors and it happened ALL the time there.

snowleopard61

By the way, the guide we used when we first went (27 years ago, I think!) was 'Pauper's Paris' by Miles Turner. I should think it is out of print but available second-hand through Amazon. Obviously it would be in many ways out of date too though.

When we last went, I just borrowed guides from my local library, which was fine - can't remember what they were, but at least it didn't cost me anything!

keepersgirl

use the metro quick and easy, walk around ile de louis definatley whilst eating an icecream from berthillion, walk over to shakespeare and co a day trip in itself, walk along the banks of the seine and enjoy the paris plage (beaches in paris) on all through august. Go on giant ferris wheel in jardin tullieries, no queue when we visited, cross road and have stregthening hot choc in angelinas, the street markets are fantastic bastille especially was very good, visited last summer with dd.

mippy

Buy a carnet - a book of individual tickets for the Metro - and walk as much as you can. It's a great city to walk in.

We stayed at the Hotel Formule 1, which is very basic halls-of-residence type accommodation, but perfect for us. £30 a night for a double room and you can walk to the Porte de Vanves flea market or get the metro a few stops into town from the one in Port D'Orleans.

Go to bakeries for your lunch and sit in the park - there are many many gorgeous parks round and about. Food is generally cheap from supermarkets - especially alcohol - but other goods are not - we paid £5 for some own-brand nail clippers.

ellesters

snowleopard61 - I remember "Pauper's Paris!" I too used it on my first trip over 20 years ago. Suspect most of the restaurant listings are out of date, even if you can find it.

Save restaurant dining for lunch time. Most restaurants will have a "plat du jour" for 10euro or prix fixe menu, often 3 courses for 15-20 euros max, this includes tax and service. A great way to dine in style for less!

Picnic in your hotel room for dinner. Lots of markets in Paris, buy great wine, cheese, bread, pate and hole up in your hotel room. My favourite is the Richard Lenoir market on Sundays, runs north from Place Bastille. Amazing organic/farmers market. My husband still dreams of the spit roasted chicken and the potatoes cooking in all that lovely schmaltz! If you can't wait for dinner, you can take your booty and go sit by the Canal St. Martin, south of Place Bastille, very pretty and peaceful.

Walking around Paris is the best way to get to know it. People watching in the Marais is free and fascinating. I love the Jardin de Luxembourg and the Marches aux Puce too.

According to Time Out Paris, lots of bars/cafes are turning themselves into impromptu live music venues this year. Nurse a Ricard and check out the vibes guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/may/06/10-best-paris-music-venues

1st Sunday of the month - all museums in Paris are free entry!

xx

Riyazi

newtothemoneytips wrote: »

I suppose its a user led forum, which is okay, just like trip advisor!

My tips for Paris:

Excellent list and some good tips - thanks!

newtothemoneytips wrote: »

Pickpockets: This is more about keeping hold of your money than losing it! As the tricks with "dropping a gold ring on the floor" has been well documented by guidebooks such as lonely planet etc, the new trick is to approach you with a clipboard, seemingly with a charity list or a petition. As you say no, they will push into you, and in my husbands experience, attempt to slide their hand into your inside pocket of your coat whilst leaning on your chest. A bit intrusive, and from my experience they hang around the exit of the CDG airport, Canal St Martin student area and the tourist areas such as outisde the Louvre/Arc de Triomphe/Bastille/Republic

I saw a few girls/women with clipboards, running around near the Eiffel Tower trying to gather signatures for a Deaf & Dumb charity or something. Someone told me that it was a scam and not to get sign or talk to them. I couldn't figure out how it could be a scam - but your explanation makes sense

carefulcath wrote: »

When is the best time of day to visit the Eiffel Tower to avoid queues?

I went there about 2 hours before opening and I was the 5th in line!!! We went again in the evening and still waited for 2 hours! However
this was during the busy Easter weekend. I think you are better off getting tickets online well before you go - you can pick times etc but unfortunately they are all booked well in advance.

+1 on the ticket book - cheapest way to travel on the Metro (not as clean or modern as the London Underground though )

snowleopard61

Hi Ellesters, clearly you and I have both been saving money a long time then (Pauper's Paris) even if we're not the most prolific posters on MSE!

Perhaps my best money-saving tip when in Paris is to go with someone you're in love with (as I did the first time). That way you get free entertainment even before you leave your hotel room.

Nothing to do with money-saving - but on no account do what my teenage daughters and I did on the Metro a few years ago. I'd bought them each a cheap but VERY VERY LOUD personal security alarm for use in the UK and one of them happened to have it in her bag in Paris, and accidentally pulled the pin out on the Metro. You can imagine how much the Parisians loved us, in that crowded and confined space, as we blushed and giggled and tried with shaking hands to put it back in PDQ.

Bargainbagger_2

carefulcath wrote: »

Yes I am going in August. I am going with Riviera Travel and staying at the Ibis Alesia. Does anyone have any tips, advice etc.??

I am taking my 12 year old daughter. For travel on the metro I intend to buy a Carnet. Do I get a child's version of the Carnet for her?

A friend & I returned fom this very trip yesterday. we found everything to be fine. Hotel clean, breakfast very plentyful. The inclusive trips left us little time to need to use metro etc.

There is a small shop on the corner selling everything needed for luches very reasonably, Monoprix, just 5 mins walk and very reasonable. Loads of places within walking distance, with plat du jour etc. Hope you enjoy the trip as much as we did. I'd certainly go again!

Andy_Ros

Tesco do a few rewards for Paris. I used their rewards for a trip up the Montparnasse Tower, this was a wonderful trip, we could see miles as well as into local back yards. Well worth it. There is also the opportunity to get boat trips, I haven't tried these but imagine they are well worth it. A trip down the Seine on a hot summer's day sounds great.

signol

I lived for a year in Paris, so I got to know some of the good cheap places
Never mind Monoprix, the cheap supermarkets are: Franprix, Leader Price and Ed: l'Epicerie Discount. There is also a huge Auchun hypermarket under the Grande Arche de la Defense, and a Carrefour hypermarket near Roland Garros tennis stadium.
I never thought the Paris Visite card was very good - you really had to make a lot of museum visits to make it worth it. Instead the Carte Mobilis 1-day travelcard was cheaper (not valid on RER to CDG airport, but is valid on the bus 350 or 351 there).
One of my favourite sights to see was the Arènes de Lutèce - the old Roman amphitheatre. Not quite as big as the Colosseum, but used by kids to play football in, people relaxing on the tribunes, etc. And free

signol