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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Drinking in Public

If you’re out and about, take advantage of the city’s 820 drinking fountains (check out this map) including 120 historic Wallace drinking fountains or its new brand of sparkling water fountains that offer chilled bubbly water on tap.

How to Order Free Water in a Restaurant

If you’re in a Paris café or restaurant, water, like bread, is always free.

And it’s the only drink in France that comes with a free refill.

Just ask for a glass of water (un verre d’eau) or a carafe (une carafe d’eau) to indicate that you plan to revel in the complimentary pleasures of the city’s “grand cru.”

Or if your waiter gives you a nudge by asking whether you prefer flat (plat) or sparkling (gazeuse or pétillante), asking for “Château-la-Pompe”–the cheeky nickname for tap water that translates roughly to “Château of the Water Pump”–will demonstrate your command of French wit and the knowledge that there’s no need to pay for something you can get for free.

Eau de Paris Souvenirs

In an effort to encourage Parisians to drink tap water, the publicly funded city water company Eau de Paris makes colorfully designed 1-liter carafes for home use that have the perfectly balanced mineral content of Paris water printed on the side.

The sturdy glass carafes come in limited edition designs including a carafe for each arrondissement to promote neighborhood pride. But there’s no reason you can’t bring one of these babies home and fill it with your own tap water (or wine).

And if you’re not in the mood to lug a glass carafe in your carry-on, you can pick up a reusable Philippe Starck-designed plastic water bottle from a vending machine at the sparkling water fountain at André Citroën park in the 15th arrondissement.

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Sparkling water fountains are popular in Italy and were first introduced in Paris in 2010 in an effort to reduce the plastic waste produced by the over-consumption of bottled water.

La Pétillante (The Sparkling) fountains are able to deliver chilled sparkling water thanks to a clever system that cools public water to a precise temperature using an ice block and adds carbon dioxide to the carefully cooled water to make it bubbly.

The sparkling water is distributed in roughly five ounce portions to avoid waste. But you can bring your own bottle to refill. And at the fountain at Park André Citroën new Philippe Starck-designed reusable water bottles are now on sale for €3.

The city’s two other sparkling fountains are located at the Jardin de Reuilly in the 12th arrondissement, and at the headquarters of Eau de Paris on 19 rue Neuve-Tolbiac in the 13th. And this year Eau de Paris plans to install an additional two new fountains, at Jardin d’Éole in the 18th arrondissement and Parc Martin Luther King, ZAC des Batignolles in the 17th, with another at the Square Tino Rossi in the 5th arrondissement coming in the spring of 2014.

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This piece of advice may seem quite obvious, but it’s also surprisingly easy to forget or brush off. After all, when you get thirsty walking down the rue de Rivoli toward the Louvre, dropping a euro or two for a small, yet convenient bottle of water seems like the best option.

Quite often, however, a giant bottle for a fraction of the price sits waiting for you on a shelf, only a minute or two away…

Check in and hit the grocery store

I’m quite proud to say that I’ve now got my grocery routine down. As soon as I check into a hotel in Paris, I usually ask at reception for directions to the nearest grocery store. Not only are French supermarkets fun (you can spend an hour in the cheese section alone) and mix you right in with the locals, they save you money and offer healthy food alternatives to boot.

I usually pick up several bottles of water, along with bananas and oranges, and, if I have a mini-fridge back in my hotel room, yogurt for breakfast. All of these items will be much cheaper in the grocery store (perhaps 50-60 cents for a bottle of Evian that would cost €2-3 at a train station), and they allow me to eat something healthier than the usual hotel offering for breakfast. (I don’t know about you, but after a week of a morning croissant, I start to look a bit like a stick of butter.)

After my cheapo breakfast en chambre, I head to a cafe for a tasty espresso or cappuccino (standing at the bar, of course!).

Back to those water bottles

One note about those bottles of water waiting for you at the supermarket: They’ll be packaged in groups of six or so, and usually priced to be sold as one unit. Don’t panic, in most cases you’re allowed to break up the packs and buy single bottles.

I took the above photo in a supermarket near the Bastille. Note that the packages of Vittel, Badoit and Evian have all been broken up into single bottles. If you don’t see any evidence of single sales, ask somebody working (if you can find anyone). Otherwise, just rip into a package, grab some bottles, and head to the cashier.

Your grocery advice?

Have some advice to share about Parisian supermarkets? Do you have your own rituals for shopping after check-in? Do you make your own breakfast en chambre? Share your thoughts in our comments section.

Also in our guide: If you’re heading to Paris, be sure to check out the reviews of our favorite inexpensive hotels. Our editors have scoured the city’s streets, visiting, inspecting and photographing every budget hotel we can find (water bottle in hand). Read more in our Paris guide.

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First, what makes it so darn hot here anyway? The main reason is that Florence is surrounded by hills which limits the airflow to the city. Mix this with smog and that big yellow ball in the sky and you’ve got yourself one gigantic pressure cooker.

Boat Tours

Believe it or not, even with that juicy river passing through the center, Florence doesn’t offer much in terms of boat tours. There are a few small private tours which float tourists along the Arno using vintage Tuscan “push boats,” but these can be quite expensive and change owners all the time.

My advice would be to pass by the Tourist Office on via Cavour 1r to inquire about which companies are still afloat and which are most affordable.

Head to the Lake

For those extra hot days, why not consider a short trip outside the city? One suggestion is Lago di Bilancino, Tuscany’s largest artificial lake. Just a half hour from Florence, it’s both cheap and easily accessible by buses and trains.

Click here for more info how to get there and what to do with yourself once you’ve arrived.

Free Water

One thing’s for sure. Taking in the sights during the summer means stocking up on plenty of water. And trust me, the cost of buying those little bottles in the center can quickly add up.

But great news, because the city of Florence has just installed purified bottle-filling stations around the city. And the best part is that they’re absolutely free! (How’s that for cheapness?) You can even choose between sparkling or still! Test it out at Piazza della Signoria behind the Zeus fountain.

And if you’re still desperate for a bowl of soup, I’d really recommend the gazpacho.

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1. St. Peter Line to Russia

The news last week that over 60 ships were trapped in thick ice in the Baltic for some days is probably no great incentive to go and book some ferry trips. But Baltic spring ice does melt–eventually–and this year sees some interesting new options for Baltic travel by ship.

Cypriot-owned St. Peter Line last year launched a thrice-weekly service from Helsinki to St. Petersburg and back. And next month the company expands its offering with twice-weekly sailings from Stockholm to St. Petersburg (on Wednesdays and Saturdays) and a weekly departure from Tallinn to St. Petersburg (on Sundays).

2. Brittany Ferries to Bilbao

French operator Brittany Ferries has long been one of the most adventurous operators in the Western Channel with a raft of routes linking England and Ireland with northwest France. Later this month, the company opens a new service from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Spain, so reviving a long established ferry connection that abruptly disappeared when P&O pulled off the route last September.

Last Saturday, Brittany Ferries also reinstated its Poole to Cherbourg service. This is a very useful short link from England’s south coast to Normandy’s Cotentin peninsula. At the moment, Brittany advertise sailings just to October, so the long-term future of the route is still in doubt.

3. Maltese Connections

Virtu Ferries are one of several operators serving the Maltese market. The company had a welcome dose of free publicity in late February as Virtu’s smart white catamarans were featured on many news reports as the vessels evacuating foreign workers from Libyan ports. Virtu operates a year-round fast-ferry link between Pozzallo in Sicily and Malta. This year the company will also offer a Saturday catamaran service from Catania to Malta, starting on May 7, 2011.

Virtu’s latest Australian-built catamaran hit the headlines in September 2010 when it encountered Somali pirates on its delivery voyage to Malta. Virtu prides itself on speed, and reports say that the pirates were easily outpaced.

4. Scotland-Northern Ireland: Kintyre Express

Not for many years has there been any direct ferry link across the North Channel between the Mull of Kintyre (in western Scotland) and Northern Ireland. The last operator to offer a service was the splendidly named Argyll & Antrim Steam Packet Company which turned out to have rather flaky finances, and the service stopped in 2000.

Now Kintyre Express will fill the gap with a new fast passenger ferry from Campbeltown to Ballycastle. Services start on May 27, 2011. The route will be operated by fast RIBs with a heated cabin, so the 90-minute crossing is surely going to be a whole lot more fun than the average ferry journey. We reserve judgment on whether this is an inspired idea by Colin Craig, the man behind Kintyre Express, or whether perhaps it might be the balmiest idea in the history of European ferry transport.

We hope it is a great success, but Kintyre Express really needs to get its act together in terms of publicity and having a functioning online booking system on its website. This new ferry link creates a raft of new travel opportunities allowing visitors to Kintyre and Islay to make an easy hop over to the most beautiful part of the coast of Northern Ireland. The Antrim Glens and the Giant’s Causeway are both within easy reach of the Ballycastle ferry terminal.

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This southern Spanish archipelago is a hotspot throughout the year, so here are some tips to help steer clear of the tourist traps.

Budget travel guide to Canary Islands

Fly right and fly light

Located just 60 miles west of Morocco, the Canary Islands are easy to fly to from the European mainland. Low-cost airlines like RyanAir, easyJet, Air Berlin, Monarch and TUIfly offer round-trip fares at very decent prices. London, Germany and Spain seem to provide the most departure destinations.

An island-hopping itinerary requires either more flying (see BinterCanaries.com) or ferry rides ranging from 20 minutes to a few hours. One-way tickets will costs between $40 and $80 USD, depending on time and season.

Regardless of where in the air you are, pack light for your flight to avoid extra luggage fees. Low-cost airlines charge big for checking suitcases, so leave your Euro-gear at home and come armed with nothing but a backpack. The rest can be purchased cheap at “one euro” shops on any island.

Choose your island wisely

Lanzarote is local: “You usually don’t see mass tourism in Lanzarote. It’s a sporty island with many younger travelers,” says Roberto Merli, manager and co-owner of Kalufa Surf School in La Santa. Lanzarote offers surf, hang gliding, and a lot of bicycling–perfect for the adventurous type.

Grand Canary Island is Spain’s Cancun, full of nightclubs and shops overflowing with tacky trinkets and touristy apparel. However, the island is also probably the most diverse, with beaches and family-friendly activities. It’s also easy to navigate if your Spanish is no bueno.

Tenerife is the most-visited island and packed with big-spender activities (think golf courses) and nightlife. Its sightseeing pull is the varied landscape, which ranges from green forests to volcanic craters and the islands’ highest mountain.

Fuerteventura has the longest beaches and a drier climate than the rest–a recipe for some serious sunbathing by the sea. Family activities range from water parks to zoos, and the island is a stone’s-throw away when going to or coming from Lanzarote.

Rent a car

The cheapest place to rent a car is usually at the airport. The best price will be around €10 per day for a four-person economy rental (one-week minimum). Taxis are a good deal for locals, but beware of “tourist prices.” Buses (“guagua” in Spanish) are around, but the route system is limited and more for hopping from town to town. Besides, gas prices are jaw-droppingly cheap.

Eat Out

A good way to decide whether a restaurant has a decently-priced menu is to compare prices with how much you’d pay for the ingredients at a supermarket. Surprisingly, the price for a home-cooked seafood meal is often about the same as in a local restaurant. The natives will say it’s due to the low-tax law, but either way this comparison is a good rule of thumb to follow.

Note: The special tax system on these islands also means vices are cheap: Alcohol and cigarettes come at a very low price.

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If you’re itching to explore the shores beyond the city, you have plenty of options. Most beaches around Lisbon are accessible by the train linking Lisbon and Cascais. (Trains depart from Lisbon’s Cais do Sodré train station.) Round-trip fares are generally under €10, making these destinations perfect for a Cheapo-friendly day trip. Visit the Lisbon transportation Web site for more information.

To cool off Portuguese-style, grab your towel and sun block and head to one of the following stretches of shore:

For convenience: Tamariz Beach

Located in the resort town of Estoril, Tamariz Beach is dotted with sun-shade umbrellas for rent. Flanked by a giant casino, golf courses and a race track, Tamariz Beach is not the most obvious Cheapo destination. It does have its perks, however: It’s only a 30-minute train ride from Lisbon (take the Lisbon-Cascais line to the Estoril stop), and it boasts a stone castle owned by the royal family of Monaco as its backdrop.

There’s a beachside restaurant and a number of bars that stay open late during the summer months. Make sure to check out the lush Estoril gardens: They provide a taste of the luxe resort life for free.

Costa da Caparica. Photo: Endless Autumn

For a lively beach scene: Costa da Caparica

Situated on the south bank of the Tagus River, Costa da Caparica is a long stretch of calm, sandy shores (read: a beach bum’s paradise). Costa da Caparica is a good destination for nightlife, as the bars, restaurants and cafés stay open late as revelers drink and dance.

The beaches of Costa da Caparica are accessible by bus from Lisbon’s Praça de Espanha terminal.

For water sports and peaceful surroundings: Guincho

If you’re looking for a quick escape from metropolitan Lisbon, head to the sedate shores of Guincho Beach. There’s scenery to boot: Trees line the sand, and the Boca do Inferno cavern sits among rocky cliffs. Add a beach blanket and a good book, and you have the perfect place for a lazy afternoon.

More active Cheapos can take advantage of Guincho’s strong waves. The area is popular with both windsurfers and surfers. To get there, take the train from Lisbon to Cascais. From Cascais, Guincho is a short bus ride.

For a real day trip: Ribeira das Ilhas

For those who don’t mind heading further afield, Ribeira das Ilhas in the town of Ericeira provides a good option. This is an especially surfer-friendly destination. The beach has hosted numerous high-profile surfing championships, and the waters are sure to be dotted with people riding the waves.

Besides top-notch surfing, Ribeira das Ilhas offers plenty of bars and restaurants. From Lisbon, the train ride takes an hour and a half. Trains depart from Lisbon’s Grand Campo Grande terminal.

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Although excited (a bit like a child on Christmas morning), I had no difficulty falling back asleep, lulled by the steady rainfall. At 9 AM, when I went downstairs to breakfast, I headed straight to the hotel’s front door to check out the scene. Sure enough, the water had come, turning my street, the Calle de Botteghe, into a stream.

A metal water guard.

My hotel is the charming, 10-room Locanda Art Deco just off Campo Santo Stefano, in Venice’s San Marco district. Last night before heading to bed, the receptionist had warned me about the water’s expected arrival. “It should start in the morning and peak at 10 AM, when it hits 1.15 meters [above the water table],” he explained. They really have this down to a science.

I’ve been in Venice all week, visiting about 50 hotels for our Venice guide, updating reviews and scouting out new picks. In between rooms, I’ve had a chance to talk water with the hotel owners. Yesterday, one owner showed me a text message she received during the day warning her of today’s expected flooding. They’re high-tech!

The water hits the city unevenly, depending on elevation. The Piazza San Marco is one of the lowest points in the city, and is thus constantly flooded. I took the photo at the top of this post yesterday in the piazza, while hardly any other streets were flooded. Note the pedestrian walkways the city constructs to help tourists cross the most heavily-trafficked areas.

This morning, I approached the hotel’s front door to find a metal guard secured in the doorway, locked against the front of the building to keep the stream at bay.

The Calle de Botteghe, this morning.

The morning receptionist explained that, in fact, the water wasn’t as bad as expected. “They told us to expect 1.15, but it turns out it will only be 1.05,” she told me, with a bit of a smile and a shrug. That’s nothing, in fact. If it goes over 1.2 meters, the water will enter the hotel’s lobby, forcing them to move all of the furniture (and there’s quite a bit!) up a staircase to the second landing.

Meanwhile, outside on the Calle de Botthege, Venetians sloshed by in their rubber boots, unfazed. A delivery man pushed a cart past the hotel stacked with boxes headed for the wine shop next door. Life goes on.

The water is set to peak at 10 AM (which is, by the way, right now as I write this in my room), and then subside over the next hour. The rain stopped about two hours ago, but it will take that long for Venice’s drainage system to do its work.

As for the city’s tourists, you either stay put and wait, or shove off. A British couple sitting at the breakfast table next to me decided to go for it. With the rest of us watching from our tables, they stood a bit apprehensively at the door, behind the metal guard, “Lonely Planet” in hand, sporting their heaviest shoes (decidedly not rubber boots). And then they took the plunge. The water went up over their feet, and they pushed off down the street.

As for me, I’ll give it a few minutes to drain before I set sail. But alas, the rain just picked up again.

Hmmm. Which pair of shoes do you think…

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Fortunately, in Paris there are 108 “fontaines Wallace” and three functional “puits artésien” (artesian wells). Situated around the city’s busiest squares and at intersections in each arrondissement, the water is free for sipping; all you will need is an empty bottle.

Wallace 101

The “puits artésien,” with their over-sized faucets made of chrome, certainly possess that sleek French chic we associate with marvels like the TGV, but my heart belongs to Wallace.

“Les fontaines Wallace” were named after the British philanthropist and art collector Sir Richard Wallace, who generously financed the installation of 50 fountains throughout Paris after the Franco-Prussian War left the city with almost no clean drinking water. Designed by Charles Auguste Lebourg, these cast iron fountains in four versions remain iconic darlings of the Paris streetscape. They are uniformly painted a deep emerald green.

The largest model, nicknamed the “Brasserie des quatre femmes” (brewery of the four women), sports four fetching caryatides, each symbolizing kindness, simplicity, charity, and sobriety. The figures are draped in sinuous tunics that are pinned just-so to reveal a handsome knee. Ooh la la!

Artesian… well!

Grab your bottle and follow me to my favorite “puits artésien” in Paris. In the 13th arrondissement, in the quaint little village of Butte-aux-Cailles (Quail Hill), at Place Paul-Verlaine, an historic well has been in operation since 1866.

Many locals, like actress Nausicaa Giavarra—with whom I spoke on a recent trip to Butte-aux-Cailles, count their lucky stars to live nearby one of the old fountains. Each day, Giavarra fills a dozen water bottles along with a small plastic atomizer.

“I mist my face throughout the day. This place is my fountain of youth!” she told me.

Across the street from the fountain is one of the oldest Parisian public “piscines” (swimming pools) fed by the pressurized well water. Both are worth a look.

A Wallace fountain at Place des Abbesses.

To visit this delightful watering spot, take the Metro to “Corvisart” or “Place d’Italie.”

Tip: After topping off your bottle, check out the surrounding hilly, cobblestoned neighborhood. Once an infamous red light district (prostitute=quail), Butte-aux-Cailles now offers an impressive number of cheap eats, bars, and shops, but few tourists. You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time.

Practical Information

For a full list of “les fontaines Wallace” in Paris, click here. Another good list is available here, though it’s only in French.

Finally, I can’t resist leaving you with a cinematic tidbit: In the 2001 film “The fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain,” Amélie’s concierge was named “Madeleine Wallace” because she cried like a Wallace fountain.

About the author and photographer: Theadora Brack is a writer working in Paris. Her fiction has appeared in more than 30 literary publications, including 3AM International, The Smoking Poet, Beloit Fiction Journal, Mid-American Review, and the Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal.

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