Like most major cities, Paris can be quite pricey, especially for first-time visitors who don’t know the little “tricks of the Cheapo trade.”  Fortunately, a little bit of planning before you land can help you save some serious euros while still experiencing the best the city has to offer.

More tips for Paris:

• 50 Ways to save on your vacation in Paris
• The 15 Best cheap hotels in Paris
• 25 Free attractions and things to do in Paris

10 Budget tips for Paris first-time visitors

Here’s a quick “Top 10” list of ways to save for first-timers in Paris:

1. Restaurants: Feast away… at lunch.

Paris and food go hand in hand. While yummy baguette sandwiches and pastries are everywhere – and they’re cheap – you’ll want to sit down at a restaurant eventually. You can do some research on Yelp or ParisbyMouth.com and find a nice restaurant for lunch instead of dinner to save some euros. Fixed lunch menus are usually cheaper, and you won’t usually need a reservation for popular places, plus you’ll get to sit for a while and enjoy your meal. Here are 5 set lunch menus we like under €12.

Related: Read more topics about saving on food in Paris.

2. Affordable lodging: Think central.

Pick a central hotel to avoid constantly taking the Metro. While the Metro is inexpensive and efficient, the costs can add up, in both euros and time. Often it’s better to book a central hotel that’s €20-30 more expensive to avoid buying an extra few “carnets” of Metro tickets. You’ll also save your feet the extra miles of walking.

Check out our cheapo guide to saving on hotels in Paris, and this smaller list of budget hotels with great, central locations and 8 favorites under €80.

3. Metro: “Un carnet, s’il vous plait.”

So when you do take the Metro inside Paris (not to the airport or to Versailles), make sure you buy a “carnet” of tickets (unless you decide to get a Mobilis pass). This set of 10 tickets will save you about 20% per ticket instead of buying them individually. But use up those paper tickets soon because they will expire in 2021. The city is moving to a new system, Navigo Easy, to replace the paper tickets. Good news though, you’ll still be able to get the 10-ride discount!

Related: 10 Tips for riding the Paris Metro like a local

4. Nightlife: Plan ahead.

Do some nightlife research and take advantage of happy hour(s). While Paris may not be a party town like Berlin or New York, there are still plenty of things to do at night. The challenge is to find them. Happy hour specials abound, sometimes until 11 pm, when drinks are significantly cheaper.

But if you want to hear jazz, go dancing, or experience other nightlife, it’s best to know where you’re heading ahead of time; otherwise, you might find yourself on the Champs-Elysées paying a €30 cover charge for a tacky club.

Read more about saving on Paris’s nightlife at bars and clubs and entertainment.

5. Museums: Should you “pass”?

Plan your museum trips ahead of time if you are planning to purchase a museum pass. It’s best to know how many museums you’ll actually be able to see during the few days that your pass will be valid. Otherwise, if you are buying tickets for each museum, visit the Louvre and the Orsay during their night openings (Louvre: Wednesday and Friday, Orsay: Thursday) in order to save on cheaper tickets and deal with smaller crowds.

Don’t forget the litany of free museums that may not hold any Mona Lisa’s but are just as memorable. The Carnavalet, the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, and the Victor Hugo museum are all favorites in the Marais that are worth a visit. (Read more tips for sightseeing in Paris.)

Related: 7 Tips for surviving the Louvre

6. Fixed costs: No getting around ’em.

Plan fixed costs ahead of time. The Eiffel Tower and a tour of the Opera, for example, offer no shortcuts or reduced fees (aside from booking your Eiffel Tower tickets in advance to save time), so you’ll have to pay full price.

And fixed costs don’t stop with sightseeing: Train tickets to the airport on the RER B, a ticket to Versailles, and a day trip to Giverny are all non-negotiable. While none of these will break the bank, they do add up, so it’s best to know which experiences you’ll be paying full-price for.

7. Fast food: Enjoy it, French-style.

Don’t shy away from fast food – falafels and baguette sandwiches, for example – just because you might have heard that Parisians don’t eat fast food. That’s a lie. Getting a falafel (€6) on rue des Rosiers and heading to the Place des Vosges or taking a baguette sandwich (less than €5) and fruit from the market to a picnic in a garden are all perfectly acceptable and encouraged.

8. Touring: Take a freebie

Take a free tour — like these — to get introduced to the city. If you’re a first-timer, a tour will be a perfect way to break you in and familiarize yourself with the city’s layout and history. Sure, it’ll be more information than you’ll be able to retain, but you’ll meet new people and your guide, most likely a local, will have insider information to share with you — if they’re good!

If you have a few extra euros to spend, here are 11 specialty tours worth splurging on.

9. Hydrate: Drink the free stuff.

Water is one of the few truly free things in Paris – like, really free. If you go to a café and ask for a glass of water, the waiter must give you one. Never hesitate to ask for a “carafe d’eau” while at a café or restaurant, even if you just have coffee. They’re legally required to give it to you.

Also, the famous Wallace fountains keep fresh drinking water running through Paris all spring and summer long (they’re shut off in the winter to avoid freezing). If you want a bottle of Evian, head to the grocery store to browse the Mecca of water brands available for as little as 15 centimes a bottle – but be warned, cold water can cost up to €2 for a small bottle at any other bodega or snack shop.

10. Timing: What’s your style?

We’ve talked about when is the best time to visit Paris before. But we’ll stress it again: Pick your period wisely – Christmas and summer tend to be expensive, but have their own perks, so weigh your values and pros/cons. Do you want to picnic? Spend time lounging in the gardens? Fight impossible crowds at Notre Dame and the Louvre? Sounds like late spring and summer.

Or do you want to come in April or October with some warmer clothes and an umbrella and relax a bit more with fewer tourists around? If you want to cut down on hotel rates and airfare, look to the low season, just be prepared for all weather conditions.

Your first-time tips?

Have a tip for a first-timer in Paris to add to our list? Share with us in the comments section below!

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Toots, I did it again. I fell head over heels in love with Paris all over de nouveau.

Setting the scene, I had just finished inspecting a slew of hotels in the Latin Quarter, and was headed to meet friends at the wine bar 5ème CRU. This Cheapo haven is located at 7 rue du Cardinal Lemoine, so I decided to trek it there by way of the River Seine.

And there she was. As I turned the corner at the river, there was no mistaking the Cathédrale Notre Dame, glowing like an over-sized Lucite jewelry box. I got all smitten. Tears were shed, which caught me off guard (because I tend not to find inspiration at touristic hotspots), but on this bewitching night—there was nary a soul in sight. It was summertime and the swooning was easy.

For the love of Quasimodo and Esmeralda, let’s take a sentimental journey, shall we?

Stop one: Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris
6 Place Parvis Notre Dame
5th arrondissement (Métro: Saint Michel)
Web site

Queen of the French cathedrals

This iconic darling has had its share of monumental ups and downs throughout the centuries. Maurice de Sully (that’s “Bishop” to you) set the project in motion back in 1163. It was a very good year, but as time marched on, it took a toll on the cathedral’s interior and exterior. Well, we’ve all been there. Touché!

Thank writer and historic preservation activist Victor Hugo for jump-starting a sensational sightseeing frenzy, along with the much-needed renovation that followed the publication of his very first novel, Notre-Dame de Paris, in 1831 (released in English in 1833 as The Hunchback of Notre Dame much to the author’s dismay). A “vast symphony in stone” is how the eloquent and passionate Hugo described Notre Dame.

Word quickly spread, making Hugo a literary superstar, and inspiring beaucoup de visitors to pay homage with copies of the book in hand. However, at the time Notre Dame was pretty much in ruins because of the French Revolution and general lack of routine maintenance. Cheapos, it was high time for an extreme makeover: cathedral edition!

Paved paradise

Enter architect Viollet-le-Duc in 1841. Contributing his own interpretive gothic revival twist, he added a fantastical spire, and gargoyles to keep the evil spirits at bay, along with a good cleaning and various other minor changes.

Shortly (bare)after, 19th-century urban renewalist Baron Haussmann completed the redo by demolishing the medieval houses surrounding the church and creating a public square. Times are always a-changing.

Shakespeare & Company

Second stop: Shakespeare and Company
37 Rue Bûcherie
5th arrondissement (Métro Saint Michel)
Web site

To read or not to read, daddy-o

Yearning for your own copy of Notre-Dame de Paris? After getting an eyeful of the real thing, stop by the English bookshop Shakespeare and Company, located across the street in a former 16th-century monastery. Both paperback and hardcopies of the book are available.

A favorite Beat Generation haunt, George Whitman (Walt Whitman’s nephew) opened the rue Bûcherie location in 1951, under the name of “Le Mistral.” He changed its name to Shakespeare and Company as a tribute to his friend Sylvia Beach after she closed up the original shop by the same name, which had been a few blocks away. And yes, film buffs, here on rue Bûcherie is where the opening scene in the film Before Sunset was shot!

Stop Three: 5ème CRU Cave à Vin
7 rue du Cardinal Lemoine
5th arrondissement (Métro Cardinal Lemoine)

Are you ready for a break? Keep walking along Quai de la Tournelle until you reach Cardinal Lemoine, and then make a right. The wine cave and bar is located a few doors up on the left. A perfect place for quiet reflection on our mad, mad world, the wine is inexpensive, and their charcuterie and fromage platters are divine.

My favorite passage

I’ve decided to end this week’s post with one of my favorite passages from Notre Dame de Paris. Enjoy and keep on ringing the bells, Cheapos!

On that day the air was so fresh and clear that Quasimodo felt his affection for his bells returning. Clapping his hands, he ran to and fro from one rope to another, awakening his six songsters by this voice and his gestures, as a maestro leads his skilled musicians.

“Go on! Go on, Gabrielle!” he said, “Pour all your music into the square. Today’s a feast day. Thibauld, don’t be lazy. You’re slowing down! Go, go on! Are you becoming rusty, loafer? That’s it. Quick! Quick! Don’t let the clapper be seen. Make them all deaf like me. That’s it, bravo! Thibauld! Guillaume! Guillaume! You’re the biggest, but Pasquier’s the smallest, and Pasquier swings better than you! Those who can hear, I’ll wager you, hear him better than you! Well done! Gabrielle! Louder, louder! Hey! You up there, you sparrows! I don’t see you making any noise. What’s the matter with those brazen beaks of yours, that seems to be yawning when they ought to be singing? Come on, work! Sing! There’s beautiful sunshine; we have to have beautiful music!

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Here’s a list of our top five favorite free attractions.

1) Père Lachaise Cemetery

Frédéric Chopin, Guillaume Apollinaire, Honoré de Balzac, Édith Piaf… This cemetery is a “who’s who” of famous names, and not all of them French (Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and other expats are buried there as well). Bring flowers to leave graveside or just stroll the cobblestone paths and well-landscaped grounds. Better yet, take a virtual tour on the cemetery’s web site. Check out Baron Haussmann’s mausoleum! Very schmancy.

Open: Monday through Saturday 8 AM to 6 PM and on Sundays from 9 AM to 6 PM.
Note: When sundown occurs before 6 PM, the cemetery closes at dusk.

2) The Seine and Islands

Man, if this river could talk! It has certainly seen its share of history, revolution, and passing love interests. Take a walk along the Left Bank and browse the local bookseller wares. The Seine’s stream flows to name a few). Cross the Pont-Neuf bridge for an added plaisir and visit Île de la Cité. Behind Notre Dame, cross the Pont St. Louis to visit the charming Île St. Louis.

3) The Eiffel Tower

Now, wait: Before you get all worked up, yes, it costs €11.50 to ride the elevator to the top of the tower. But, it costs rien de tout to take one of those novelty photos where you look like you’re giving it a pinch or kissing its pointer. And, here’s an added bonus: Each night at sundown, the Eiffel lights up the sky until 1 AM (2 AM during the summer months). Each hour on the hour after sundown, there’s a ten-minute light show, too.

4) Victor Hugo House

We first fell in love with Hugo when we read Les Misèrables (we finished it–we swear). Jean Val Jean is like a personal hero. Today, you can visit all permanent collections in Hugo’s first home—at the Hôtel de Rohan-Guéménée, which sits proudly on the gorgeous Place des Vosges in the Marais. Hugo lived here from 1832 to 1848. The collections, which are free to visit, showcase an impressive array of ancient Chinese pottery, original furnishings and beautiful classical paintings. Just don’t steal any bread.

Open: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5:40 PM.

5) Sacré-Coeur Basilica

Sit on top of the world, or at least Paris, when you trek up to the glistening white “Sacred Heart” basilica, perched 420 feet above the City of Lights. While it costs €5 to climb up the spiral stairs of the famous white dome, there’s no charge to walk through the gorgeous Byzantine-style Basilica, built in 1875 after the Prussian and German invasions. Afterward, you’re free to traipse through the picturesque streets of Montmartre.

Open: Daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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