NEWS
EVENTS
Paris on a budget
Other | Thursday 30th August 2012 | Osh
Paris is an incredible city offering entertainment and culture everywhere, it also offers to rob you blindly of all your euros pretty easily, making it a difficult place for students and the like to visit and actually gain anything from.
The biggest issue with Paris is the entry fees for all of the museums and attractions, averagely being at €10 a pop means limiting what you can visit on your trip and choosing what you are most desperate to see. I picked up a tip from a local during my visit; what the Parisians don’t like to advertise is that if you’re under 26, you can get free entry to most of the attractions and museums they have to offer, or at least discounted rates by showing proof that you are an EU citizen. That means free entry to the Notre Dame cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Panthéon, Musée national de l’Orangerie and the list goes on. The best way to find out is by showing your passport on the door and seeing what happens. It really disgruntles the security guards when they realise you know the secret but, that could be an extra €10 to spend on alcohol; you’ll need it.
A beer or wine in a bar can set you back €8, go to a supermarket, buy a pack of beer for €4 or a bottle of wine for €2 and go to one of Paris’ famous gardens such as the Tulieries outside of the Louvre or the Luxembourg gardens, and work things that way. It may sound like you’re underage again, chugging cider out of a bottle in a park, but most Parisians do it in order to save money. Plus, the scenery isn’t bad.
To go on a bike tour around Paris and get to grips with where everything is, it costs €26 for a student or €28 for an adult. Companies such as New Paris Tours offer free walking tours normally ran by students. The tour guides rely on your tips, so they work their arses off to impress you and give you as many helpful tips and information as possible. The tour starts everyday at 11am or 1pm by the fountain on Place St Michel, it takes three hours and ends with the offer of joining the tour guide in a local, cheap restaurant. The restaurant offers authentic French food such as frog’s legs and snails with a drink of your choice for €11, which is pretty cheap for Paris.
Tamsin Wressell
