The Real Cost of a Week in Paris Caught Us Completely Off Guard

Online answers about the cost of a week in Paris are often vague or out of date, so we added up every category ourselves: flights, transfers, hotel, meals, metro rides, attractions, a day trip, shopping and the small costs nobody mentions, like the tourist tax on your hotel bill. In this video we give you real numbers per person, for a couple sharing a room. All prices are from when we filmed.

Our budget, category by category

  • Flight: about 1,500 euros round trip in premium economy on a major airline. Book around three months ahead.
  • Airport transfers: from 14 euros on the RER B to a flat-rate taxi, Uber or private driver. We budgeted 130 euros.
  • Hotel: 1,050 euros, based on a four-star boutique hotel at about 300 euros a night split between two, plus the tourist tax.
  • Food: 50 euros for boulangerie breakfasts, 175 euros for lunches using the formule midi, and 350 euros for dinners.
  • Getting around: 100 euros. A Navigo Easy card costs 2 euros and works on the metro, bus and Montmartre funicular.
  • Attractions: 300 euros, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Orsay, the Catacombs, Sainte-Chapelle, a Seine cruise and a food tour.
  • Day trip: 250 euros, for Versailles or a trip to Champagne, the Loire Valley or Normandy.
  • Shopping and hidden costs: 200 euros for pharmacy finds and souvenirs, plus 100 euros for insurance, phone roaming, toilets and laundry.

The grand total

Our total came to about 4,205 euros per person. A budget version with a low-cost airline, a simpler hotel and more bakery meals is closer to 3,000 euros, while a premium trip with a Michelin dinner starts around 6,500 euros.

Ways to save

Make lunch your main meal, since it is the best food value in Paris. Walk a few blocks away from big attractions to avoid tourist traps, ask for a free carafe d’eau, and enjoy free sights like Notre Dame and the Luxembourg Gardens. Visitors from outside the EU can also reclaim part of the VAT on shopping.

For the VAT refund, we used ZappTax, which handles it from your phone. You can also browse our favorite things to do in Paris, read our Eiffel Tower guide, and plan hotels, restaurants and itineraries with our Paris Guide Bundle.