Paris, the Broke Ass Way...
The city of lights, and love, and crepes! Paris is always a good idea!
There's so much to see in the city, from museums to shopping, it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Paris is on everyone's bucket list and it is an expensive city, but if you plan correctly you can do it the broke ass girl way. I want to share the details of my trip to show you all that its possible to go for cheap.
Of course I had to find a reasonable flight. For this trip I flew with Iceland air for the first time. The flight left from Chicago in the evening, we had a one hour layover in Reykjavik Iceland and then we went on to Paris where we arrived around 11am. Overall the experience with Iceland air was good, there were some short delay's but everything turned out ok. My round trip flight cost $600, I did not have flexible dates because of the concert, but if you're flexible you can find flights starting at $450 round trip! If you need help finding the cheapest flight, email me.
We stayed at the Hotel Peyris Opera, for our 5 day trip we paid $395. It was a great budget hotel in a centrally located, really walkable area. The front desk attendant was nice and very helpful. Paris has lots of similar budget hotels that are really chic.
Another plus to this hotel, free breakfast and snacks! Broke girl heaven.
While we were there, we spent most of our time sleeping eating and shopping (check out le Grand Magasin above!). We bought a daily pass for a hop on hop off bus tour of the city, and used the bus as transportation, wherever we wanted to go we found the closest stop and made our way from there. The bus was also great because you could see all the sights the city has to offer at you own pace.
We also went to see Beyoncé, which was everything. Like in my previous post, Cheap ass travel tip of the week, you can see we paid way less than what the tickets cost in the US.
All in all, the city can be very expensive. Food and drink are pretty high in Paris, you will often spend £5 for a coke at a restaurant. My advice is to buy bottled water from people selling it on the street or if you are at a restaurant ask for flat water so you don't get charged for fancy sparkling water. For alcohol of course its always cheaper to drink at home, my friend and I went to the store, bought a bottle, and had a drink before we left the hotel.
Below is the total price breakdown for the trip:
Price for round trip flight- $600
Hotel split w/ friend - $197.50
Beyoncé Concert tickets- $180
Red bus tour - $32-$36
Total price $1,010 not including food and shopping. That might seem like a lot, but that included the concert and bus tour which are optional. Also, it will be slightly cheaper if you are flexible with days so you can get cheaper airfare. If you can save about $250 a month for 4 months you're good to go!
Of course there is the credit cards rewards route: if you have it like that, you can apply for an American airlines credit card and if you spend $3000 in the first 3 months you will have enough points to get a round trip flight to Paris, basically you will pay a charge of about $179. But this option is not worth it if you cannot afford to pay the balance in full. But just so you know similar options are available for hotel rooms.
What are some of your vacation money saving tips? Anything you want to know more about?
Have you been to Paris? Comment below!
