Cost per day · France
Paris on $40, $150 or $500 a day
How much does Paris cost per day? Budget travellers get by on about $40 a day, mid-range trips run around $150, and luxury starts near $500 — accommodation, food, transport and activities included.
That makes Paris the 21st most expensive of 82 cities for a mid-range trip — see all 82 ranked.
Paris is the city the world measures all others against — art, food, fashion, and a quality of light that makes everything look better. From a €12 croque-monsieur at a zinc bar to a €400 tasting menu at a three-star palace, Paris delivers at every budget if you know where to look.
Paris on a budget is harder than people expect but very doable. The secret: eat standing at a boulangerie, use the Navigo weekly metro pass, and hit museum free days. The city's parks, bridges, and street life are completely free and world-class.
✈️ How to Get There
🗺️ What to Do
Beaux-Arts railway station turned Impressionist temple — the world's greatest collection of Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Van Gogh.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →Gustave Eiffel's 330 m wrought-iron tower — Paris's tallest structure and its most-visited paid monument.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →44-hectare cemetery in eastern Paris — Chopin, Édith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Wilde, Balzac, and 70,000 others.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →🏨 Where to Stay
The Paris house of the design-hostel chain, on the Canal Saint-Martin side of the 10th with a rooftop bar looking towards Sacré-Cœur. Dorms are well equipped and the private rooms undercut Paris hotel rates substantially, which in this city is worth a great deal. The 10th is lively and well connected rather than picturesque, so you are a metro ride from most of what you came to see, and the bar runs late.
Check prices on Klook →Social hostel with bar, easy Eurostar access, mixed dorms
Check prices on Klook →A small, plain two-star near the Louvre and the Tuileries, and one of the few genuinely cheap hotels left in the first arrondissement. Rooms are basic and small in the way that old central Paris buildings always are, but they are private, clean and in a location that would normally cost three times as much. There is no lift in parts of the building, no restaurant and no lobby to speak of — the address is the entire proposition.
Check prices on Klook →Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Icons & the Seine ~$35
Day 2: Montmartre & Hidden Paris ~$30
Day 3: Left Bank & Gardens ~$40
Get a Navigo Semaine pass (€22.80 for unlimited metro/RER). Every first Sunday of the month most national museums are free. Eat lunch — not dinner — at good restaurants for set-menu deals under €15.
🧳 What to pack for Paris — full checklist →Mid-range Paris is arguably the best value in Europe. You can stay in a proper boutique hotel in the Marais, eat at genuine bistros, and visit the Louvre without queuing. This is Paris as Parisians actually live it.
✈️ How to Get There
🗺️ What to Do
The world's largest and most-visited art museum — 12th-century royal fortress turned home to 35,000 works from the Mona Lisa to Napoleon's coronation.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →Auguste Rodin's 18th-century mansion and rose gardens — The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell in the sculptor's own workshop.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →Louis XIV's baroque power move — the Hall of Mirrors, 800 hectares of formal gardens, and the Marie-Antoinette hamlet at the far end.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →🏨 Where to Stay
A boutique four-star in South Pigalle from the team behind the Experimental Cocktail Club, and the bar downstairs is as much the point as the rooms. Interiors are warm and Italian-influenced, rooms are well sized for Paris, and the neighbourhood has become one of the best in the city for eating and drinking. Pigalle retains an edge at night and the hotel is small enough that it books out well ahead in season.
Check prices on Klook →Four-star chain hotel, reliably comfortable rooms and full service without luxury pricing.
Check prices on Klook →Four-star chain hotel, reliably comfortable rooms and full service without luxury pricing.
Check prices on Klook →Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Classic Paris ~$120
Day 2: Art & Le Marais ~$110
Day 3: Versailles Day Trip ~$100
Stay in the 11th or Marais — better value than Saint-Germain. Book the Musée d'Orsay online to skip the queue. Lunch at starred restaurants is 40% of dinner prices.
🧳 What to pack for Paris — full checklist →Luxury Paris is the global benchmark. Palace hotels with Michelin-starred restaurants, private museum access after hours, and couture shopping experiences that no other city can replicate.
✈️ How to Get There
🗺️ What to Do
The world's largest and most-visited art museum — 12th-century royal fortress turned home to 35,000 works from the Mona Lisa to Napoleon's coronation.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →Auguste Rodin's 18th-century mansion and rose gardens — The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell in the sculptor's own workshop.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →Louis XIV's baroque power move — the Hall of Mirrors, 800 hectares of formal gardens, and the Marie-Antoinette hamlet at the far end.
Read guide → Get tickets on Tiqets →🏨 Where to Stay
Reopened in 2016 after a four-year closure, the Ritz on the Place Vendôme is once again the benchmark: the Bar Hemingway, a Chanel spa, a swimming pool under painted skies, and a garden that is the quietest space in central Paris. Everything works and nothing is understated. The rates are the highest in the city and the hotel knows exactly what it is — you are buying the name and the Vendôme address as much as the room.
Check prices on Klook →Facing the Tuileries on the rue de Rivoli, decorated in the manner of Versailles, with a three-Michelin-star dining room and a Philippe Starck-designed bar. It is the most overtly grand of the Paris palaces and the garden-view rooms are extraordinary. The formality is total, which is the point for some guests and oppressive for others, and the rue de Rivoli side is noisier than the address suggests.
Check prices on Klook →Five-star international hotel with a full spa, notable restaurants and the service standard the brand implies.
Check prices on Klook →Sample 3-Day Itinerary
Day 1: Palace Hotels & Haute Cuisine ~$650
Day 2: Art, Champagne & the Seine ~$600
Day 3: Champagne Country & Farewell ~$700
Book La Tour d'Argent for the Seine view at sunset. Request room 412 at The Ritz (Coco Chanel's suite). The Louvre has private after-hours tours — ask your hotel concierge.
🧳 What to pack for Paris — full checklist →About Paris
Oceanic climate with mild summers (25°C) and cool winters (5°C). July–August is warm but many locals leave and some bistros close. November–March is grey but uncrowded — ideal for museums. Pack layers and an umbrella year-round.
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Paris has one of the world's best metro systems (16 lines, runs 5:30am–1am). A single ticket (t+) costs €2.15; a carnet of 10 saves money. The Navigo Easy card works on metro, bus, RER, and tram. Most arrondissements are walkable. Vélib' bike-share stations are everywhere. Taxis are metered; avoid unmarked cars near tourist sites.
Pont Neuf, Sainte-Chapelle and Notre-Dame, then up the hill to the Panthéon and the Luxembourg.
The windmill, the wall of I-love-yous, Picasso's studio, the painters' square, the white basilica and the museum where Renoir painted.
Half a day in the museum, lunch under a glass arcade, then the jewellers' square and the opera house.
The oldest square in Paris, the free museum of the city's history, falafel on Rue des Rosiers, the Picasso museum and the cemetery where everyone is.
Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle at opening, the Louvre, the Tuileries for lunch, the Orsay across the river, Rodin's garden, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe at dusk.
The palace at opening, the gardens and the Grand Canal, Marie Antoinette's Trianon and hamlet, then back to Saint-Germain and a boat on the river after dark.
A travel eSIM gets you online the moment you land in France — data plans start at $4 — no roaming bill, no queue for a local SIM, and nothing to swap in and out of your phone. Install it before you fly.
Medieval streets lined with galleries, concept stores, and falafel joints on Rue des Rosiers. Home to Place des Vosges — Paris's oldest planned square. Vibrant day and night without feeling touristy.
Best for midrangeThe intellectual heart of Paris. Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots are iconic but overpriced — walk one block for better value. Antique dealers, independent bookshops, and some of the city's best restaurants.
Best for luxuryThe hilltop village of Sacré-Cœur, with winding cobblestone streets and artist squares. Tourist-heavy around Place du Tertre but genuinely charming on the quieter north side. Great cheap wine bars and the best city views.
Best for budgetThe university district since the Middle Ages. Shakespeare and Company bookshop, the Panthéon, and the Jardin du Luxembourg are all here. Rue Mouffetard is one of Paris's oldest market streets — excellent for cheap crêpes and cheese.
Best for budgetThe grand avenue from Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde. Flagship luxury stores (Louis Vuitton, Dior, Cartier), palace hotels, and Michelin-starred restaurants. The chain restaurants on the avenue itself are tourist traps — side streets are better.
Best for luxuryParis's most diverse neighborhood. Chinese, North African, and Vietnamese food at local prices. Parc de Belleville has panoramic views rivaling Montmartre without the crowds. Emerging gallery scene and the best nightlife in the city.
Best for budget- ✓Open every interaction with "Bonjour" — skipping it is considered rude
- ✓Use "vous" (formal you) with strangers; switch to "tu" only if invited
- ✓Take time over meals — a Parisian lunch is typically 1–2 hours
- ✓Carry cash — many small cafés and markets are cash-only
- ✓Dress neatly in public — Parisians take personal presentation seriously
- ✓Queue patiently at bakeries, pharmacies, and post offices
- ✗Dive straight into English before saying "Bonjour" — it's seen as presumptuous
- ✗Photograph people in restaurants or on the street without permission
- ✗Make a restaurant booking and not show up — it's considered very rude
- ✗Eat or drink loudly on the Métro
- ✗Tip lavishly — service compris is included; rounding up is plenty
- ✗Loudly criticise France to French people — they know, and prefer to say so themselves
Travel Insurance for Paris
Travel insurance is strongly recommended for any trip to Paris. Safety is rated Generally safe — even in safe destinations, unexpected medical emergencies or trip cancellations can be costly. Make sure your policy covers emergency medical treatment, hospitalisation, trip cancellation, and emergency evacuation.
Visa note: Schengen zone — 90 days visa-free for most nationalities. Some countries require proof of travel insurance as part of the visa application.
Get travel insurance for Paris →FAQ: Paris Travel Questions
Is Paris safe to visit? ▾
Generally safe
When is the best time to visit Paris? ▾
April – June, September – October Oceanic climate with mild summers (25°C) and cool winters (5°C). July–August is warm but many locals leave and some bistros close. November–March is grey but uncrowded — ideal for museums. Pack layers and an umbrella year-round.
How much does a trip to Paris cost per day? ▾
- budget: $40–$65/day
- midrange: $150–$250/day
- luxury: $500–$900/day
- business: $200–$450/day
Do I need a visa to visit France? ▾
Schengen zone — 90 days visa-free for most nationalities
How do I get around Paris? ▾
Paris has one of the world's best metro systems (16 lines, runs 5:30am–1am). A single ticket (t+) costs €2.15; a carnet of 10 saves money. The Navigo Easy card works on metro, bus, RER, and tram. Most arrondissements are walkable. Vélib' bike-share stations are everywhere. Taxis are metered; avoid unmarked cars near tourist sites. Paris has a metro system. Taxi base fare ~$4. Day pass ~$16.
Is tipping expected in Paris? ▾
Service included (15%). Round up or leave 1–2€ for good service.
What currency is used in France? ▾
The local currency is EUR (€), and the official language is French.