Help with travel costs for Paris

[winnied]

How much should H and I save for a 5-7 day trip to Paris?

Interests include

Eiffel Tower
Few museums
People watching/neighborhood exploring
One really nice dinner

We don't have to stay somewhere super nice and we're flying from DC. I just really want to go next Spring the money we had set aside for it was taken up by car expenses.

I was thinking around $4000 - 4500. Is that "too much" or too little?

[sporky]

With the cost of airfare and Paris being a pretty expensive city overall, I would say $4K would be the minimum to plan for.

[hz80408]

Looking quickly on kayak, it looks like right now you could book Fri-Fri flights in March 2013 for $1K each for non-stop

-Depending where you want to stay, I would budget $200 USD/night on hotels. We rented a one bedroom apt for $180/day after finding that hotels rec'd to us were btwn $200-$250/night
-Eiffel Tower is ~$18/person to go to summit (make sure you make reservations).
-Museums vary, we bought a 2-day Paris Museum Pass at ~$55each and utlized that to get into Musee Rodin, Orangeria, Louvre, Notre Dame tower and Orsday
- Our nicest meal (included app, bottle of wine, entrees and desserts) was $101; but I think that's "cheap" for a "nice" meal there...

So if you're thinking 7 nights:
Flights: $2000 <this may be low though considering recent pricing as been high)
Hotel: $1400
Nice mean: $120
Museums/Eiffel: $140
Metro: $140 (easiest way to get around: $10/person/day)

From your $4K budget that'd leave only $200 for food for 7 days/extra; which is nothing. You'd probably going to want to plan more on the $5k budget scale.

[frangoldsmith]

Depending on how picky you are about your hotel, you can find one much cheaper than $200/night. We are leaving for Paris in just under 2 weeks and our hotel is $67/night using a 50% off deal we found thru Cheap Tickets. It is near the Bastille, so not super central, but not far by Metro. Sign up for emails from all of the major travel sites and you can find great deals. As pp mentioned, the Paris Pass will save you a ton.

[winnied]

The hotel we were originally looking at is about $120/night so that would help. We may also get to use our family's hotel points (we all share).

Thanks for the tips so far! I'll sign up for the major travel sites.

[mgm]

Hi! We are planning a Paris trip in the fall - we are staying at an apt I found on a apt rental website.

We've never been to the apt before, but this tiny place has good reviews and works well for our budget. Plus, the location is amazing - although it's 4 flights up with no elevator.

If you use the website, look for somewhere with plenty of positive reviews...

www.airbnb.com/rooms/136810

[stephanie305]

I agree with the others- budge at least 5k. We went for six nights in July and spent around 6k. We flew nonstop from Dulles (about $1500 each) and stayed near Notre Dame (250 euros/night). We mostly ate at cheap cafes and only did one nice dinner. If you go in the spring, I bet your plane tickets will be a lot cheaper.

[marytini]

We are going in a few weeks. I have heard of www.thefork.com which is a restaurant reservation website. You can read reviews on restaurants and make a reservation. You can also search by places that offer deals, and sometimes get up to 40% off. That might be one way to save money on a "nice" meal.