The reference budget of €180/day/person corresponds to a comfortable couple's stay in Paris: 3-star hotel or boutique hotel (€130-200/night for two), bistro lunch (€20-30/person), traditional restaurant dinner (€40-65/person), museum entries and transport included.
A backpacker can manage on €100-120/day: hostel (€30-50/bed in dorm) or modest Airbnb, popular restaurants and bouillons (Chartier €12-20), public transport (Navigo Découverte €30.75/week), selected museums. The luxury traveller (Parisian palaces like Ritz/Bristol/Plaza Athénée, 3-star restaurants) easily exceeds €500-1000/day.
By category: accommodation (40-50% of budget) — hostel €30-50/bed, B&B €80-120/night, 3-star hotel €130-200, boutique hotel €200-350, palace €800-2000. Food and drink (25-30%) — bakery €5-10, brasserie €18-30/person, traditional restaurant €30-55, starred €80-200. Museums (10-15%) — Louvre €22, Orsay €16, Eiffel Tower €14-30, Sainte-Chapelle €11.50. Internal transport (10-15%) — 10-ticket carnet €16.90, Navigo Découverte €30.75/week (unlimited including airports + Versailles + Disneyland).
A few practical tips: tipping is not mandatory (service included), but 5-10% at restaurants if satisfied is appreciated. A local SIM is unnecessary for Europeans (free EU roaming). The Paris Museum Pass (€52 for 2 days, €70 for 4 days) includes skip-the-line access to 50 sites and pays off from 3 museums. EU under-26s benefit from free admission to all French national museums (Louvre, Orsay, Versailles, etc.) — remember to bring ID.
Read also
- Versailles, the Sun King's palace — The pinnacle of French Baroque 20 km from Paris: palace, UNESCO gardens, Hameau de la Reine.
- Île-de-France — The region around Paris: Versailles, Fontainebleau, Disneyland, Giverny.
- France — Complete country guide: entry rules, regions, budget, gastronomy.
- Mont-Saint-Michel — The thousand-year-old abbey in Normandy, accessible in 4h by train from Paris.