I did a weekend in Paris on just €50 a day – here’s how I made it easy

Food and drink

I started my morning in Paris as any day here should begin: with a considerable lie-in, an in-bed espresso and then a jaunt down to a cafe for brunch. I went to the vintage, vibrant Le Pure Cafe, and got a huge portion of avocado toast for €9 (even saved what I couldn’t finish to snack on later). For an early dinner, I went to the charming Aux Bons Crus bistro in the 11th Arrondissement, where we smashed through a steak and frites for €25 each. 

Activities 

Paris wears its beauty on its sleeve, which renders the simple act of walking itself a gorgeous way to experience the city. Wherever you are, from the ultra-tourist spots in the 1st Arrondissement to the narrow alleys peppered with cafes and boutiques around the Latin Quarter, there is something to marvel at. While in the Left Bank, I visited the brilliant Musee d’Orsay – if you book ahead, you can get an evening ticket for €10 on a Thursday evening, when it stays open until 9.45pm (or for free on the first Sunday of the month). 

Going out

Even going out in Paris doesn’t have to break the bank. When night fell, I met with a friend who suggested a bar called Lipstick in the 9th Arrondissement, near Monmartre. Cool, kitsch, and cheap – beers are €3, and cocktails go for as little as €6 – the bar is abuzz with young Parisians, and open until 5am. A few Parisians even bought me a drink. 

Total budget left: €99

Food and drink

Just because you’re on a budget, does not mean you should have to skip two of Paris’s greatest joys: oysters and wine. Cannibale Café in Belleville offers half dozen for €10 and a carafe of wine for €15 – course I said oui. Filling, it was not; but sure evidence that one can enjoy a posher palette on a budget in Paris. To line my stomach, I headed to a supermarché (Carrefour) for picnic bits – top quality bread, cheese and chicken – for under €10. If the weather allows, tucking in with a blanket under the Notre Dame is an unbeatable experience. For dinner, I grabbed an outdoor table at the atmospheric Brasserie Chacha in the 11th and had salads, frites and wine under the sunset – €40 all in, and well worth it. 

Activities

Picnicking by the Seine with the Notre Dame as a backdrop is not just a postcard pretty lunch, but a great location for further afternoon antics. Bookstore Shakespeare & Co is right beside it in the Latin Quarter, and is impressively maintained to reflect its 1920s structure and timeless ambience. If you like books, you could spend a whole afternoon in its sun-soaked passages. If you don’t, go anyway; this is legendary Parisian literary history, where culture meets counterculture.

Going out

Pastis, a liquorice tasting liqueur made in France that comes in at an impressive 45% alcohol by volume, can be as cheap as three euros at bars, and a bottle of properly good wine as low as €15 at most bars I went to. I noticed a number of happy hours with cocktails going for as little as €5 too. We found ourselves bar hopping, spending a considerable amount of time sat outside Oberkafe, also in Belleville.

Total left: €54

Food and drink

Once outside of the main tourist zones – the restaurants boasting Eiffel Tower views, bistros across from the Notre Dame – and into the just as beautiful, but less busy residential areas, dining prices are noticeably cheaper. I spent the day in Belleville and Ménilmontant, dipping into the first bistro I saw for French onion soup and fries (€17), and heading to Bistro du Commerce in the evening for beef bourguignon (€18). 

Activities

I went thrift shopping in the 1st and 4th arrondissements, specifically for three stores called FREE’P’STAR, which are all within walking distance of each other. The stores have clothes dating back to the 1970s, some going for as low as a euro. With rails declaring price points in the single digits, I found a lovely vintage jacket for just €8 – worth skipping my next glass of wine for. 

Going out

After dinner, we returned to the more central region of the city, and caught a free outdoor gig in the Fontaine du Palmier square within the historic Place du Châtelet, which often hosts live music during the spring and summer months. 

Total left: €8 

My eight euros left over was nearly perfectly neutralised by the three Metro tickets I bought that weekend, €2.50 each.

My budget weekend

My main takeaway? That’s the savings I made by avoiding dining in the more touristy zones. Spending the weekend dining in the residential areas instead let me experience a Parisian weekend as young people who live there do. The drinks were significantly cheaper in the east of the city, and it was a more enjoyable atmosphere too: who doesn’t want to visit a city and feel like a local? Plus, when the quality of even chain supermarket bread, meat and cheese is so markedly impressive, picnicking is not only a serious money saver, but a beautiful way to see the city at a slowed-down pace. Weather dependent, of course.

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