You must learn some money saving tips before visiting Paris, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Cost of living is higher in the city, and so is cost of visiting the city of light and love. If you are thinking and planning to visit this city of dreams then you need to learn all of the necessary things before actually arriving in Paris.

1. Do Not Take Your Breakfast at Hotel

Our breakfast is most important meal of the day, some say. If your hotel has arrangements for the breakfast then ask if it is included in the rent. Most of the time, you will be charged for the breakfast at outrageous rates. You may have your breakfast for 5 Euros in the cafe. However, in your hotel the same breakfast will cost you more than 12 Euros. Since one can find a bar or cafe at the corner of every street, there is no serious reason to have breakfast in the hotel.

2. Say No to Taxi. Metro Is The Best

Metro of Paris is very efficient. In addition, it serves the city very well. You can find a subway station within a five minutes walk. It will not take more than 45 minutes to reach any destination within Paris, provided that you have basic information about 14 Metro lines of Paris. Take some time to understand Metro and RER network in Paris and then use it to commute within Paris. If you are planning to stay for longer period then it is better to buy a Navigo card. In case you are planning stay less than a week, then prefer all-day-long ticket. Both of the options will allow you unlimited travel on bus, metro and RER. Use a cab only in exceptional situation.

3. Use Your Mobile Phone for Calls

To use hotel’s telephone will be very expensive. Don’t use it. Instead, buy a sim card, which is very easy to get. You will only need a photocopy of your passport. While submitting your photocopy, don’t forget stating that you are submitting this copy to purchase your sim card. At the moment, Lebara Telecommunications is offering best rates for local and international calls. Calling from Lebara will cost you even less than calling from a taxi phone. You can check and compare the rates on the internet for further information.

4. Visit Museums on First Sunday of the Month

Good news is that most of the Parisian museums offer free entry on the first Sunday of every month. If you like going in museums then dedicate the very first Sunday of each month as a ‘museum day’ and appreciate their collection at no cost.

5. Drink Like A Parisian

You do not need to order expensive drink, if you want to enjoy the street scene of Parisian life at any cafe or bar. You can order a simple cup of coffee and can sit as long as you wish. A cup of coffee would cost around 2 Euros only. This is something which Parisians do. They order coffee and sit for hours. Remember, however, if you take your coffee and drink at the counter then it cuts the cost more than a half. Therefore, if you need just a shot of caffeine or a quick thirst-quencher, then standing at the counter will reduce your bill by 50%. I hope above mentioned tips will help you save your hard earned cash and wish you best of luck for your stay in Paris.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Qasir_M._Chaudhry

A trip to Paris is a dream come true for many of us. But the financial crisis and the lingering recession may have you second guessing or even postponing that dream trip to Paris. Familiarity and bit of inside knowledge are often the key to enjoying your vacation without breaking your budget and Paris is no different. So let’s take a look at the ways that Parisians stretch their euros so we can enjoy the wonders of one of the most magnificent cities the world has to offer.

1. Free entry to museums and cathedrals – There are over 180 museums and monuments in Paris many of which offer free entrance at specific times. Almost all churches and cathedrals offer free admission daily (except for la Sainte Chapelle), but you may need to pay an extra fee to visit the crypts or climb the towers (e.g. Notre Dame Cathedral). Many major museums, including the big favorites such as the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso, offer free admission the first Sunday of every month. The same museums, plus many more, offer free admission daily to citizens of any nation of the European Union who are under 26 years old and to children and youths under 18 years old, regardless of nationality.
2. The Paris Museum Pass – Museum lovers who plan to visit lots of museums should buy the Paris Museum Pass. The pass allows unlimited entry to over 60 museums and monuments, including the Louvre Museum, Château de Versailles, the Musée d’Orsay, the Rodin Museum, the Picasso Museum, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Sainte Chapelle. You can visit any number of participating museums, without waiting in line, during the pass’ period of validity (2, 4, or 6 days). Anybody who wants to see as many museums as possible during a short visit, also needs to manage their time. So one of the most attractive features of the Paris Museum Pass is the ability to visit museums without waiting in line to buy tickets.
3. Free concerts Paris has a great deal to offer music lovers. If you’re fortunate enough to have a flexible schedule, you should be sure to consider visiting Paris during the Summer when you can experience the Fête de la Musique (June 21) or the Free Summer Jazz concerts held every weekend in the Parc de Vincennes. If you’re time is not so flexible, you can still take advantage of the free concerts that are frequently offered at the Maison de Radio France. Dates and times vary, but a schedule and free tickets can be collected in the office at, 116, avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 Paris.
4. Shop for designer clothes at department store sales and designer outlets – Paris is the capital of fashion and the home of myriad designers and labels. The high priced boutiques along the Rue du Faubourg St Honoré and luxury labels such as Hermes and Louis Vuitton may only be accessible to the few, but savvy shoppers can pick up close outs or seconds of designer outfits for huge discounts at designer outlet stores. Inside the Paris city limits, the Mouton à 5 Pattes on the Boulevard Saint Germain is a favorite, as well as the many ready-to-wear shops found in the 14th arrondissement, on the rue d’Alésia. If close outs aren’t your thing, big department stores like Bon Marché, Galleries Lafayettes and Printemps have twice yearly sales in January and July, typically discounting designer duds by up to 70%.
5. Visit the Flea Market – The world famous Paris Flea Markets are a shopper’s delight and a good way to spend an afternoon, whether or not you’re planning to buy something. The largest of the Flea Markets is located at Porte de Clignancourt to the North of Paris. A huge selection of art, antiques, clothing and many other items are on sale. Entry is free and the atmosphere is reminiscent of the Great Bazaars of Middle Eastern cities like Cairo and Istanbul.
6. Visit the Paris Opéra – Paris boasts two great opera houses: the Opéra Bastille and the Opéra Garnier. The Opéra Bastille is the newer of the two. It opened in 1989 and claims that every seat offers a clear view of the stage. The neo-Baroque Opéra Garnier is a renowned architectural masterpiece and the home of the Paris Opéra Ballet. It opened in 1875 and seats over 2000 people. Tickets for performances at either opera can go for over 100EUR for the best seats, but the cheapest seats (which may not always offer a great view) often cost less than 10EUR.
7. Visit a Paris Cabaret – Cabarets like the Moulin Rouge, Crazy Horse and Lido are Paris institutions. While tickets featuring dinner and a bottle of champagne can cost up to 200EUR or more per person, most cabarets offer tickets that allow you to see the show for much cheaper by going to the second performance (without dinner) purchasing a ticket to the afternoon matinee, a ticket without drinks, or a seat at the bar. These cheaper tickets cost about 80EUR.
8. Eat a good meal outside of the Paris City Center – Most areas that tourists are likely to visit (the Champs-Elysées, Saint Germain, Marais) can be much more expensive than less central, but still very nice neighborhoods. Paris offers many neighborhoods with concentrations of ethnic restaurants that are good, yet affordable. Authentic Indian restaurants can be found on the Rue Brady in the 10th arrondissement, as well as the area north of Gare du Nord. The area in the 13th arrondissement just south of Place d’Italie is Paris’ Chinatown and many affordable Chinese restaurants can be found here, as well as along the rue des Gravilliers in the 3rd arrondissement.
9. Get a cheap Paris Airport transfer – Getting from the airport to the Paris city center can be expensive! Taxis typically cost 40EUR – 60EUR, depending on your destination, time of day and traffic. But a ticket on the Metro only costs 8EUR50. If you have too much baggage for the Metro, consider the shared airport shuttle which can cost as little as 17EUR per person.
10. Rent a Paris Vacation rental apartment – Hotels in Paris aren’t cheap, so if you’re planning to stay for an extended period or if you’re more than two people in your group, a short-term vacation apartment rental is a good option that will also allow you to cook your own meals and get a better ideal of what it’s like to live like the locals do.

All things considered, with just a little bit of advance planning, some of the most desirable attractions that Paris has to offer can be available to you absolutely free of charge or for a much more reasonable price than most tourists typically have to pay.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joshua_Green

Paris is the number one tourist destination in the world. That might seem surprising, considering what an expensive place it can be. But there are so many jewels just lying around this great city to dazzle even the most jaded tourist, that it is no wonder that people come back again and again.

Here is a list of seven categories of free destinations in the city. If you dedicate one day to each category you will have a full week of first class sightseeing in this unique city. So buy your “carnet” of tickets at the local metro station (11.10 euros for ten tickets), or better yet, get a weekly pass for the public transport, (you’ll need a small ID photo and some ability to negotiate in French) and take in Paris for a week, for free!

1. Churches

I picked this category for day number one, because I always recommend that people arrive on a Sunday, to avoid the bustle of other days. Notre Dame has ten million visitors per year. It’s no wonder: the cathedral has been the symbol of Paris for many centuries, and it is an architectural monument of astounding intricacy and beauty. And entrance is free. If you go on a Sunday morning, you can stay for the mass or you can quietly stand on the sides, while the ceremonies are performed and listen to the choir.

However, there’s a good chance that you find the ten million fellow tourists a turn-off. No matter, there are hundreds of beautiful churches throughout the city, all open many hours of the day. Try Saint-Eustache, the parish church of Les Halles to hear its famous organ. The church is in a state of disrepair, but it is redolent with the spirit of working class Paris.

And everyone knows Sacre-Coeur, the kitschy but beautifully decorated early Twentieth Century sand castle which dominates the northern Paris skyline, and the ancient Saint-Germain-des-Pres. But there are also others that are less well known and quite interesting as well: stroll to Saint-Paul in the Marais with its Delacroix painting, or get way off the beaten track and visit St-Denis de la Chapelle on rue de la Chapelle in the north of the city, where Joan of Arc heard mass in 1429 just before re-entering the city.

2. Parks.

Save this for one of the sunny day of the week: you should have two or three. The Tuileries and the Jardin du Luxembourg are on everyone’s must-see list, and rightly so, but there are many others, like the scenic Parc des Buttes Chaumont and the Parc Montsouris, or the modern park at La Villette. However, these parks are very large, and maybe you didn’t come all this way to spend the day so far from urban delights.

So take in some of the smaller squares, gardens and green plazas that are so seamlessly integrated into the neighborhoods, like the Square du Temple next to the town hall of the third arrondissement. A possible itinerary: start out somewhere along the unusual little park called the Promenade Plantee. It is constructed on an old elevated right of way that used to hold a railway line that ended at a terminus where the Bastille Opera now stands. It is a long and narrow garden that feels like a conveyor belt of tranquility passing by the facades of middle class apartments and over neighborhood streets.

At the end of the park you will be close to Place de la Bastille, where you can have lunch at an outdoor table at a brasserie, then continue on to the beautiful Place des Vosgues, a small square park surrounded by royal apartments dating from the seventeenth century.

3. Cemeteries:

Yes, cemeteries. It’s not so ghoulish as one might think, and in fact, the Pere Lachaise cemetery has been quite a mecca for Jim Morrison fans for decades already, but don’t miss Edith Piaf, she’s there too.

Other musicians and artists can be found at Montmartre: the iconic pop singer Dalida, and the dancer Nijinsky, or at Montparnasse: Serge Gainsborough. After saying hello to Serge, you can stroll along and find the grave of Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz. If your musical taste is more classical, check out the de Passy cemetery near Trocadero, for Faure and Debussy.

The cemeteries of Paris are brimming with the graves of famous people and a directory at the entrance of each one will give you an idea where to find each, (bring a notebook to make a map for yourself, as you may get disoriented by the many lanes).

4. Museums:

Unless you have the good fortune of being in Paris on the first Sunday of the month, when the state museums are free, you may find that the museums in this city can be quite pricey. However, one absolutely wonderful museum, Le Petit Palais, has a free permanent collection (one pays to see the seasonal exhibits). This beautiful Beaux Arts building, built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900, is a marvel in itself, and the artwork it houses in its permanent collection, particularly rich in late nineteenth century art, is nothing to sneeze at.

The permanent collection at the Museum Carnavalet is also free. This collection is dedicated to the history of Paris. Also don’t forget the attraction of museum bookstores, they are worth a visit all by themselves. I like the Louvre store, Les Invalides and the gift shop at Centre Pompidou.

5. Exhibits:

Many exhibits charge entrance, especially if they are housed at a museum. However, there are some bright exceptions. The City Hall puts on free exhibits all year round, often two of them concurrently. These are always of a very high quality and well worth the visit. Several public areas of this beautiful building are also open, free of charge, to group visits.

Check listings for free exhibits at other public buildings, where the architecture can be just as beautiful as the art.

Some ideas: the National Archives, the old National Library. Or put on your best upper class airs and prance into any of the art galleries that line the posh boulevards.

For an weekend day of antiquing and collectibles, there is nothing like the enormous flea market and antiques quarter at Saint-Ouen, but if jostling through the crowds is not your style, then go for the covered arcades that stretch from rue Faubourg Montmartre and twist down across boulevard Montmartre into the second arrondissement. They are full of small shops of collectibles that will fit far better in your luggage that a faux Louis XV armoire.

6. Views:

There are great memorable views of Paris,. Who can forget a glimpse over the rooftops while riding up the escalator at Pompidou, or from the Eiffel Tower, the Montparnasse Tower or the Arc de Triumph? But there are free vantage points that are just as thrilling.

Crowds gather in awe on the steps of Sacre-Coeur not only to look up at the whipped cream architecture, but also to look back at the city laying like a carpet before it. Start there and walk back downhill through Montmartre to the department store district for another view that is truly spectacular: the one from the 9th floor of Printemps department store.

There are several Printemps buildings so be sure to enter the Beauty store and take the elevator up to the cafe-restaurant. One can sit at a table, but it is also possible to simple stroll around on the terrace without buying anything and take in the view from this great spot right in the heart of the city. See how many landmarks you can identify among the rooftops that stretch like a jungle canopy around you.

Then find your way back down to the streets, without stopping to shop in the great store. Impossible? Be sure to have your passport with you if you come from outside the E.U., you may get the sales tax refunded, which is like a ten percent discount on your purchases.

7. New Districts.

The image that we all have of Paris may be the Champs Elysées or the other great Hausmannian era boulevards, and the romantic bridges, like the Pont Alexandre III, but Paris also includes several newer districts where modern development has been concentrated, so as to preserve the urban fabric of the city.

Take the metro out to La Defense to see an extensive modern planned city. There is an exhibit of the history and development of the district right there on the Place de la Defense. Then go clear across town to the 13th arrondissment, where the National Library is only one of the many new structures.

Cross the river on the elegant new pedestrian bridge, the Passarelle Simone De Beauvoir, to the Bercy district where fine modern structures like the Ministry of Finance line the waterfront. Walk over to the Cinematheque Francaise, housed in the former American Cultural Center, a modern structure designed by Frank Gehry.

Now that you have saved all that money on sightseeing, you can afford to dine in a good French restaurant. The sky is the limit on prices here, but there are still bargains to be had. The better brasseries offer moderately priced meals that are often excellent.

So ignore the fast food golden arches that tempt you with their convenience and complete your day with a real steak (do not allow them to bring it to you rare: there is only a fine line between rare and raw in France!), and a bottle of fine wine (almost anything that is served from a bottle with a cork is fine wine in France.)

And enjoy your stay in the surprisingly inexpensive city by the Seine.

(Article credit removed beecause the author’s site no longer exists – please contact us if you are the author of this ‘explore Paris for free’ article)

An endless amount of fun can be had in Paris for under $20, even in the capital of haute couture and high-end cuisine.

The Louvre offers reduced ($8 per ticket) prices Wednesday and Friday nights and free admission to those under 26. It’s free on the first Sunday of the month, and always free to visitors under 18.

The Musee d’Orsay drops its prices on Sundays and Thursday evenings, and it’s free on the first Sunday of the month.

Centre Georges Pompidou, the home of modern art, is also free on the first Sunday of the month

Stop by a newsstand for a 55-cent copy of a weekly publication named Pariscope. It provides lists of free cultural events, gallery exhibits and church concerts. It’s all in French, but easy to translate

The stunning and opulent Opera Garnier has cheap seats available on the day of a performance, and many churches hold free classical concerts, usually on Sunday afternoons.

Walking up the Eiffel Tower is cheaper than riding the elevator — and a good way to work off all of those croissants and baguettes that you’re sure to stop and buy! Even if you take the elevator up, consider walking down for the breathtaking view

Of course, we always need to stop and eat during a busy day of sightseeing in Paris. How about a picnic in Paris? A lot of people don’t know that behind the Notre-Dame there is a very nice park with shade trees and park benches. The beautiful grassy lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower is always a popular spot; Luxembourg Gardens, the possibilities for a picnic in Paris are endless.

As you wander the streets, you’ll find dozens of food shops and supermarkets in every neighbourhood. You can choose a baguette, some fromage (cheese) add some fruit, and you’re nearly ready. You could purchase a sandwich made with a crusty baguette, some ham and fresh cheese, or perhaps you’d like to add some fresh vegetables and a bottle of wine to your gourmet picnic. Don’t forget to bring a corkscrew – and a couple of glasses or plastic cups.

Of course the best way to see Paris is on foot! There’s nothing quite like walking along at your own pace, stopping to gaze at a beautiful window display, smelling the fragrant scent of fresh baquettes, or stopping at a sidewalk cafe and having a leisurely cup of coffee

Once you begin strolling around Paris, you’ll find endless possibilities. There is wonderful architecture to discover with a self guided walking tour. There are many wonderfully talented artists setting up shop along the banks of the Seine and around Montmarte. Even just sitting on the grass at the foot of the graceful Eiffel Tower, holding hands with the one you love is an experience you’ll cherish forever, and it’s completely free!

Enjoy your budget vacation in Paris!

Author and article credits

Terri is a successful businesswoman who shares her passion for travel with her husband, James. They specifically like to pursue budget travel options, and share their adventures at Traveling Tuttens

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terri_Tutten