Romantic Paris on a Budget – Best Places to Save and Splurge

What’s not to love about Paris? The City of Lights manages to live up to its every accolade around each corner. Marvel at the steel and lace of the Eiffel Tower. Breathe in the aroma of freshly baked croissants wafting from a bakery on the Left Bank. Spend an afternoon with the lovers at Musée Rodin. Window shop ’til you drop along the Rue du Faubourg Sainte-Honoré. Visit the haunts of Ernest Hemingway and Julia Child.

Some might opine that “budget Paris” is an oxymoron. I beg to differ. Many of the pleasures in the city that Ernest Hemingway described as “a moveable feast” are free and there are savvy ways to scrimp and save. But just because you haven’t won the lottery doesn’t mean you shouldn’t indulge in a few frivolous fantasies. Here’s how to make the most of your euros and enjoy la vie en rose.

(Note: all prices are approximate.)

The “cheap thrills” save list – Paris on a budget

Homage to Monet

Situated in the Tuileries Gardens right in the heart of Paris, the Musée de L’Orangerie, renovated in 2006, offers the visitor a unique presentation of Impressionist painter, Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. The paintings were inspired by Monet’s garden at Giverny, just outside Paris.

Both monumental and intimate, the paintings are housed in two elliptical rooms, encouraging the visitor to gaze and contemplate the artist’s brilliant use of colour and light. Adult admission: €12.50; free the first Sunday of the month.

Fantastic Falafels

In the heart of the Jewish quarter of Le Marais, L’as du Fallafel (34 Rue des Rosiers) reigns as king of kosher Middle Eastern food. Folks line up for the garlicky chickpea fritters, served in a pita with hummus, pickled red cabbage, salted cucumbers, fried eggplant and just-hot-enough harissa (€10). It’s so good you might contemplate becoming a vegetarian!

My (No Longer) Secret Hotel

Finding a well-located, quiet, commodious hotel room in Paris is easy if you’re on an expense account or related to the Rockefellers. But for those who don’t want to blow most of our Paris budgets on beds, I’ve found a moderately priced gem in the fifth arrondissement. Hotel des Grandes Ecoles (75, rue Cardinal Lemoine) has 51 spacious, immaculate rooms. Some, on the main level, open into the garden. What sets this apart from most Left Bank hotels is the idyllic, peaceful location down a cobblestone path leading to a Provence-style courtyard garden where guests mingle and enjoy alfresco picnics.

Proximity to the Sorbonne explains the hotel’s name. The Metro Cardinal Lemoine is two minutes away. The Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame Cathedral and more delights of the Latin Quarter are all nearby. Lively Rue Moufftard, two minutes away, is crammed with inexpensive restaurants, bars and café, plus butchers, bakers, fromageries, fruit vendors, chocolate makers and more.

Take a Free Walking Tour

There may be no free lunch, but Discover Walks offer free walking tours of various parts of Paris. I have toured Montmartre, from the Moulin Rouge to Sacre Coeur. I also learned a lot about the trendy Marais area, including where Victor Hugo lived on the Place de Vosges. Although Notre Dame was still closed when I was there in November (re-opened December 8, 2024) after a devastating fire in 2019, the Left Bank, Notre Dame and Latin Quarter tour taught me much about the cathedral’s iconic gothic architecture, took me to Shakespeare and Company, Paris’ famous English bookstore and (now) also a coffee shop, and ended at the Pantheon near the Luxemburg Gardens.

Book online and meet your guide, who wears a pink vest, at the designated time and place. Note: Your guide’s income is based on tips, so be generous if you liked the tour.

Le Petit Pontoise

I always book dinner at Le Petit Pontoise (9, rue de Pointoise), a cheery bistro that never tries to be cool or chic. Try their delicious artichoke tart followed by herb-crusted rack of lamb served over roasted vegetables. Other specialties include duck parmentier–a sort of gourmet shepherd’s pie consisting of layers of duck confit and mashed potatoes topped with foie gras. But who’s counting calories in Paris?

Scenes from the Seine

Embarking from the foot of the Eiffel Tower, a cruise along the Seine aboard Bateaux Parisians offers the ideal way to soak up the major sights. A tape-recorded commentary provides history and anecdotes as the boat floats under Paris’ many beautiful bridges, passing the Assembly National, the Musée D’Orsay, the Louvre, Notre Dame cathedral, plenty of joggers and the odd troll who’s camped out along the shores.

Parisian monuments and architecture seem even more impressive when viewed from the water. The approximate hour-long cruise, €17, also offers new camera angles for avid shutterbugs.

Romancing Rodin

The Rodin Museum gets my vote as the most beautiful in Paris. Start in the park, fragrant in summer with masses of old-fashioned roses. Sit on a wooden bench and admire the master’s work. Le Penseur seems to be thinking with every muscle and sinew of his body. Walk around the Burghers of Calais and note the anguished facial expressions. Inside, the 18th-century Hotel Biron houses more masterpieces, including Rodin’s pièce de résistance Le Bazier (The Kiss). Musée Rodin is closed Mondays; admission to park and museum, €14.

Take a Pass

Paris is vast. You’ll want to explore its many neighbourhoods on foot, but to get from one end of the city to the other, buy a Paris Visite  (3 days €68.50) for unlimited travel on the subway, RER trains and buses in zones one to five including airports. (Other packages also available.) The bus system is well mapped and often preferable to the metro. Wouldn’t you rather see more of Paris’ streets and less of its tunnels?

Pay Your Respects

If ever there were a who’s who of cemeteries, it would have to be Père-Lachaise. Named after Louis XV’s confessor, Father Lachaise, the 43-hectare park is the final resting place of Molière, Balzac, Edith Piaf, Chopin, Proust and rock star, Jim Morrison, to name but a few. Oscar Wilde’s Egyptian-style gravestone is covered with lipstick kisses. You can easily spend a peaceful afternoon wandering through the maze of graves.

Admission is free and maps of grave locations are available at the Conservation Center inside the gates. Metro stops: Père-Lachaise or Gambetta.

The “You Only Live Once” Splurge List

Café Society

Opened in 1927, La Coupole is an unabashedly brash brasserie in all the best ways. The glamorous Art Deco setting is the ideal spot to dive into a dozen or more oysters or tackle the tiered platter of crustaceans. Ernest Hemingway and his literary pals were regulars at this Montparnasse eatery.

Trace Julia Child’s Footsteps

Eating Europe offers food-walking tours in several European cities, including Paris. If you were a fan of Julia Child, who co-wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking, consider the “In the Footsteps of the French Chef Food Tour. “You will savour decadent eclairs, sample a classic quiche, taste wines and cheeses at Café Flore and see where Julia and hubby Paul lived.

I recently took the “Left Bank Food & Wine Tour” with a charming and informative guide named Claire. Our first stop was the original Poilane boulangerie, famous for its sourdough bread cooked in a wood-burning oven. At Barthelemy, cheese supplier to the French President, Claire introduced us to some unique products including one called Fontainbleu, a whipped version of cow’s milk and cream.

At Rose et Pearl, owner Jean Chillet offered us smoked salmon and tarama (a fish roe spread flavoured with sea urchin) and some crisp Corsican white wine. I was soon discovering that Paris is full of amazing chocolate shops. Jacques Genin, one of the most creative, uses seasonal flavours such as fresh mint and saffron-orange in his pralines. At Ryst Dupeyron, a fifth-generation family-run bottle shop, Claire poured tastes of fine old Armagnac and vintage tawny port.

At the standing-room-only Avant Comptoir du Marché we rubbed shoulders with the regulars and munched on caramelized pork belly bits with fresh baguettes and mounds of butter. For the grand finale, Chapon chocolatier, once ice cream provider to the British royal family, served us a decadent white chocolate mousse. What’s great about this tour is that beyond all the delicious tastes, participants learn a lot about the history of this fashionable area called Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Tour price per adult:  €134.

Window Licking

We say window-shopping, but the French say ‘lèche vitrines’, which literally means window licking. No city creates more delicious displays. Start with a stroll down the fashionable rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré. At Hermes (number 24), you might be tempted to buy the ultimate French status item, a silk scarf or tie.

Château Envy

The Château Versailles has been the stuff of legends and movies, but why not visit the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, the estate that inspired Louis IV to build Versailles?

Its creator, Nicolas Fouquet, was appointed superintendent of finance to King Louis in 1653. Fouquet, who had a flair for hiring genius, brought together architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun and landscape gardener André Le Nôtre. With a seemingly unlimited budget, the talented trilogy created a palace and gardens of unparalleled beauty and harmony. When the King visited Fouquet’s masterpiece, it is said that he was envious and went on the hire Le Nôtre to create the gardens of Versailles.

The audio tour of the château is entertaining and the gardens are truly magnificent. If time is short, rent a golf cart. To get there, take the RER R train (about 30 minutes) from Gare de Lyon to Melun and take a 10-minute taxi from the Melun station to the château. Buy tickets online.

Eat With Locals

Eat With offers the opportunity to dine in the homes of Parisians. You can choose from an elegant dinner with wine pairings in Montmartre to taking a soufflé lesson and lunch in the 17th arrondissement. A couple of years ago, I selected “A Cozy French Luxury Dinner” for about, €80. Carla and her husband were the consummate hosts. Their apartment was stylish and Carla was a fantastic cook. Somehow, they managed to orchestrate a gourmet dinner with fine wines and still be on hand to chat and make guests feel like friends. This was a five-star experience for me. When I return to Paris, I will try another Eat With experience, sans doute.

Puttin’ on the Ritz

I doubt Hemingway ever forked over €40 for a cocktail, but the intimate Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Hotel ritzparis.com with its comfy leather armchairs and paneled walls covered with photos and memorabilia from the Nobel Prize-winning author, is worth a stroll and a sip down memory lane. Legend has it that in 1944, Hemingway stormed into the hotel and declared he was liberating the Ritz Bar from the Nazis. He rang up a tab for 51 dry martinis. The Bar Hemingway was named in his honour in 1994. Bar Hemingway has been named the best bar in the world. So splurge!

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