Paris on a budget in two days.
I’m not a planner. It’s not intentional – I don’t have a set philosophy about how life is more fun when lived spontaneously – I just don’t often end up planning out the details of things. If there are any planners out there getting stressed by simply reading this: let me defend myself:
1) I rarely worry. I am usually not put out by unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, having a plan is generally superfluous to my activities.
2) Everything works out. It really does.
3) You and me, we will get along. You can do all the planning you want, and I will go along with it. I will be happy with whatever you plan, and I will be happy to give any input if you so desire. We will not clash heads over which is the best plan.
With that preface, I would like to share some information about my trip to Paris. This is for planners. I was forced to become one when I accidentally became the leader of my recent trip, and I know that I personally would have liked to have read a detailed, recent account of a budgeted two-day Parisian adventure.
*If, however, you aren’t a planner, you can stop reading. A couple days in Paris is easy to do without any plans. Most of the tourist attractions are very close to each other (walking distance), and when you arrive, you can pick up a free map at the metro station and figure out what you want to see. Popular tourist spots are all marked on the map, and many of them have metro stops named after them.
Transportation
Ryanair offers insanely cheap inter Europe flights. There were one way offers between Stockholm and Paris for $9.00 each.
I honestly have no problem with Ryanair. They have baggage restrictions and a free for all seating policy. Aside from that, I find the experience perfectly fine. The only issue with Ryanair is that it flies to non-central airports – Paris Beauvais – and you have to take a bus to the city.
The bus from Paris Beauvais to the city is 15 euro each way.
The Metro is how we got around. A one way metro ticket is 1.70 euro. We each bought a packet of 10 for 12 euro. We only ended up using about six of these in two days.
You can walk between many of the tourist attractions. We were there in January, and it was cold but not unbearably so.
Costs
Notre Dame: free
Champs Elysees: free (shocker, eh?)
Luxembourg Gardens: free
Eiffel Tower: free to visit/look at. Costs to go up it though.
Sacre Couer: free
Pantheon: 5 euros for 18-25 year olds. under 18 free.
L’arc de Triomphe: free :P
Louvre: free for EU residents under 26.
That’s it for now. I was going to be very detailed and extensive, but I need to go pack for another trip tomorrow. I’m pretty sure this information is already out there anyways. Still, if you have any questions, feel free to comment.
2 comments:
I'm not a planner, either. Not even remotely.
I was going on a simple day trip a few weeks ago to visit a friend and due to circumstances out of my control, I had to plan it. I had to say "I'm leaving at X time. We will meet up at X location. I will, then, depart at approximately X pm."
By the time it was over, it was far more than I could handle. Oy!
Thanks for following my blog!
Amy told me you were the perfect traveling companion. Probably the non-planning thing...she's a PLANNER! Also, soooo jealous of the Ryanair thing....when I lived in Norway it was really expensive to get anywhere in Europe, so I only took two really extensive trips. With $9.00 fares, I might have seen a bit more. Of course, much of it was behind the Iron Curtain. My traveling companion was your dada...also, A PLANNER. I was "you"...maybe it's a first child thing to plan. Will? Nah.
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