How to spend a day in Paris with €50
I find it’s so easy to lose track of spending when you are in a city like Paris for the day. There’s so much to see and savour. If you’re interested in knowing how to spend a day in Paris exploring the overlooked charms of the city, which won’t break your budget, then this post is for you. There’s places to explore, views to be photographed, places to eat and drink, some lesser known nooks and crannies of the city and a few money saving tips to pick up along the way. Checkout my earlier guides on 50 free things to do in Paris ,my guide to the best budget places to stay in Paris and also the perfect day trip from Paris: Lile
1. Du Pain et des Idees
Address: 34 Rue Yves Toudic, 75010
Start the day with a visit to the award winning bakery, Du Pain et des Idees (34 Rue Yves Toudic, 75010 Paris). I highly recommend their chocolate pistachio snail or their Le Pain au Chocolat with banana or both (€2-2.50 each). Wash it down with a cup of coffee.
2. Musée D’Orsay
Address: 1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris
After this lovely breakfast, hop over to the Musée D’Orsay (1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris).
It’s free to enter on the first Sunday of the month, so if you can time your visit accordingly, you will be treated to some of the world’s best impressionist paintings. Alternatively, if you’ve landed in Paris via the Eurostar, then you can avail of 2 for 1 tickets to the museum with your Eurostar ticket.
3. Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
11, Avenue du Président Wilson
If all else fails, then visit the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (11, Avenue du Président Wilson, 16th arrondissement of Paris) for something a bit more edgy. Feast your eyes on the museum’s permanent collection of 10,000 works, including paintings by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Man Ray and Max Ernst among others. Best of all, entry is free to the permanent collection.
4. L’as du Falafel
Address: 34 Rue des Rosiers
For a tasty lunch, I recommend you try the delicious falafels at L’as du Falafel (34 Rue des Rosiers) in Marais (€7) If the weather is nice, you can enjoy your lunch in the nearby Place des Vosges or in one of Marais’ secret gardens.
5. Tulieries Gardens
Walk off your lunch with a ramble through the Tulieries Gardens (113 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris) Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get a picture in front of the iconic pyramid at the Louvre.
6. Pere Lachaise Cemetery
You may or may not enjoy the sombre ambience of cemeteries but it is definitely worth checking out the Pere Lachaise Cemetery (16 Rue du Repos, 75020 Paris) to pay homage to some of the most famous names in world history. Graves of Jim Morrison and the renowned French writer Colette are some of the famous people you will find buried here.
7. Follow in the footsteps of Hemingway
“This was how Paris was in the early days when we were poor and happy.” – A Moveable Feast.
If you are looking for more literary inspiration, then follow in the footsteps of Hemingway and visit the houses he stayed in when he lived in Paris. At the time, he was a young struggling author, married to his first wife Hadley. He lived at 74 Rue Cardinal Lemoine.
This is also very close to 71 Rue Cardinal Lemoine, in whose courtyard James Joyce penned Ulysses.
Just a hop, skip and a jump away is 39 Rue Descartes. Hemingway lived here from 1921-1925. If you’re interested in more Hemingway hotspots in Paris then the Hotel Angleterre at 44 Rue Jacob is where the great man spent his first night in Paris.
For a nice pick-me-up, I recommend a coffee at the famous Cafe de Flore– at the corner of Rue Saint-Benoît and Boulevard Saint-Germain, Saint Germaine des Prés in the sixth arrondissement. Favoured hangout of the Parisian intellectuals, more particularly Jean Paul Sartre and Simone Beauvoir, it’s always bursting at the seams. You might have to hang around a bit for a chance to get a table but its worth the wait.
Another unmissable Paris experience I recommend, is hiking up to Montmartre for a chance to capture a birds-eye view of Paris by sunset. If you’re feeling peckish don’t miss out on the opportunity of downing a Nutella crêpe from one the stalls in Montmartre (€2.50).
8. Pizzeria Tripletta
For dinner I recommend Pizzeria Tripletta in Belleville, for their Neapolitan style pizzas. The pizza will cost you 9-10 Euros.
9. Galeries Lafayette Haussmann
Before you are ready to call it a night, head to the top of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, at La Terrasse, for a shot of the Eiffel Tower at night. This marks the end of what should be a perfect day in Paris. I believe you’ll have plenty of spare change from that 50 Euros you started out with in the morning.
Top tip: A busy day in Paris is surely made easy on the feet by a few Paris metro tickets, which include travel on the subway, the RER train, buses and also the cable car to Montmartre. Each ticket is currently priced at €1.90 per ticket or save money by buying a pack of ten- a carnet that costs €14.50.
