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

song_of_calliope

I lived in Paris for 7 years. My number one tip is to get a Museum Pass and visit as many as you can in one day. You'll save a bundle this way and you get to skip the queues for tickets, saving a ton of time, too. More information is here: http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

In a cafe, it's cheaper to drink your coffee at the counter than to have it at the table. You can get a croissant or a pain au chocolate with your coffee and voila, breakfast. Or buy breakfast goodies at a bakery and eat them in the park if you don't need the coffee.

The Bateaubus is a much cheaper way to take a boat trip down the Seine than the Bateaux Mouche.

Buy cheap theatre tickets the day of the show at La Madeleine (although you'll need to understand French for going to the theatre to be worthwhile, of course!).

Get information on restaurants and concerts, etc from Cityvox http://www.cityvox.co.uk/city-guide_paris/city-guide

The food in the Latin Quarter is cheap but the locals call it "Bacteria Alley" for a reason. For cheap and tasty curries go to the Sri Lankan neighbourhood at La Chapelle metro stop and there are tons of restaurants around there, but it's a bit of a run-down area and you have to be somewhat adventurous to feel comfortable there.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

And if it all gets a bit too much for you, a trip towards the Pantheon will find you the Bombardier, which is a bilingual pub. Great food, lovely people!

(my boyfriend was a little tired of having me tell him what to say all the time)

Mr_Forgetful

Well I'm off soon to Paris and as it's only for a few days I am trying to plan as much as possible as it's taken nearly 40 years to get there. These tips are perfect so please keep them coming...

A good tip that I have read is to get a double ticket from the Musee de l'Orangerie which gets you into the Musee d'Orsay too. I guess going that way round will miss the queues for d'Orsay? These are the only 2 museums we are planning on going to as we want to do the shopping, parks, ice cream and Seine too on the batobus instead of the metro. Are there any other crackers we should aim for?

nomoneytoday

One of my friends got caught on a stag trip "con".
They were drinking throughout the evening, at EUR 9 for 500mls beer, so were expecting a large bill.

However, the waiter put it all through after midnight, so they had to pay a surcharge on their entire bill :eek:

Thefunkygibbons

Dare you do the sewer tour?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187147-d189688-Reviews-Sewers_of_Paris_Les_Egouts_de_Paris-Paris_Ile_de_France.html

Very different and not expensive

and guess what?

The exit is thriough the gift shop

Mr_Forgetful

Andy_Ros wrote: »

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.

Just ordered 2 tickets for the 1 hour boat trip with my clubcard vouchers. Thanks a lot.

Kailasa700

If you're looking for cheap but nice places to stay try "Housetrip" (Google it )

The places they advertise are often peoples homes when the owners are away and are good prices too - I've just booked four nights in Paris in a studio with private bathroom, wireless, cooking facilities etc for under £200 (£50 a night roughly :T)....figured cooking facilities would make life cheaper than a cheap hotel!!

Any suggestions on what would be fun to do in Paris while I'm there (end of August) with my 8 year old daughter would be great!!

amy72

Just come back from 3 months living in Paris. expensive business. A few top tips though:

VERY IMPORTANT TRAVEL TIP: The Paris Visite Metro card is great but it's geared at tourists so costs the same for two days as a week's Navigo metro pass. If you are going for a week or a month, take a passport photo and buy a Navigo card at a paypoint or office in the metro stations. You still get your unlimited travel within the zones you choose, and should save money. However there is one drawback, which I never really understood. The Navigo is only active for a calendar week or month, so Monday to Sunday. This means that to get the most of your card you should purchase on Monday. Otherwise a card you buy on Thursday will run out on Sunday and you haven't got your 7 days' worth of travel. This said, if you're going for longer than a day or two, it could still work out cheaper to get a Navigo for a week.

Under 26yrs get into lots of museums and galleries free or at least at reduced prices. This is a government-subsidised initiative so take your ID along and always ask!

Sales in large shops are government-regulated and only happen a couple of times a year from a set date. Check ahead to find out, but if you're lucky enough to hit the sales period, expect a scrum - shopping in Paris is expensive and no prisoners are taken during the sales!

Cheap and cheerful shopping try the area around Les Halles, or Rue d'Alesia in the 14e for some high-end over stock shops. The antiques market at Porte de Clignancourt is amazing but the prices are geared towards tourists. Try the Sunday market at Porte de Vanves in the south (turn right out of the metro) for real bargains, but get there early. For Paris souvenirs, I found the shops in Montmartre (8e) to be a bit cheaper than in Notre Dame and other places, and all sell the same stuff. The cheapest supermarket is called Leader Price. Also be aware that in cafes, most Parisians don't tip, so you can be a bit more frugal with your tipping without causing major offence.

Book aheadonlineto get up the Eiffel Tower/into the Catacombs. You don't want to spend your stay queueing! Or you can walk to the 2nd level of the tower, it took me a couple of hours but it's cheaper, there are fewer queues and I enjoyed the views more than just shooting up in the lift!

Nice stuff to do: Hire a rowboat on the lake at the Bois de Boulogne. Try the Deux Moulins in Montmartre, the cafe where Amelie was filmed. They have great 2 for 1 cocktails at Happy hour! Go to the Musee Jacquemart-Andre on Boulevard Haussman. Have a picnic at Versailles. If it's hot, take a bottle of wine to the steps of the Sacre Coeur and enjoy the view and the street performers. This is the garden of Paris, where everyone hangs out when it's nice. Go to the Grand Mosquee (Mosque) next to the Jardin de Plantes and have mint tea and amazing cakes in their cafe, which is full of flowers and birds. Lock a love-lock onto one of the bridges near Notre Dame. Go to the Bon Marche department store (on which Zola based Au Bonheur Des Dames) and then to the Grand Epicerie next door to see amazing displays of food and try tasters of wine and champagne. Get the best felafel on Rue des Rosiers in the Marais. Walk from the St Michel metro through to Odeon and enjoy the cute shops and cafes. Try bottles of wine for 2euros50 and find them drinkable!

And above all, enjoy yourself!

carefulcath

Bargainbagger wrote: »

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!

Thanks.
My daughter wants to go up the eiffel tower. Will we have time on this trip and if so at what stage of the trip? We are ging Saturday to tuesday and it seems it would be best to book in advance?

carefulcath

Will we have time for the 1 hour boat trip with tesco rewards on the riviera travel trip?