🇫🇷Paris
Compact, walkable, and exactly as beautiful as advertised. The clichés are true; so are the pickpockets. Say bonjour first and the whole city softens.
Mid-range figures, per person
Per person, no flights — those are just below. The mid-range figure is researched; budget and comfort scale it, so treat the two as rough. The trip calculator and hotels below break the day down properly.
Fares are into Paris. Nice, Lyon and Marseille sometimes price direct from the US for $50–150 more; the rest is a TGV ride. Ranges are typical fares booked 1–3 months out, checked mid-2026 — school-holiday peaks run higher, and patient shoppers beat the bottom end.
Prices checked · how we work these out
Is Paris expensive to visit?
Yes, by the standards of the cities this site covers: a mid-range day in Paris costs $130–200 per person, and its $165 midpoint is 83% above the $90 median across all 127 cities here. Within France it runs 30% above the $127 average of our 10 France guides. That makes it pricier than 115 of the 127 cities, with a cheap meal at $7–12 and a mid-range hotel at $160–280 a night.
How much does a trip to Paris cost?
| Trip length | Budget | Mid-range | Comfort |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $240–360 | $390–600 | $690–1,080 |
| 5 days | $400–600 | $650–1,000 | $1,150–1,800 |
| 7 days | $560–840 | $910–1,400 | $1,610–2,520 |
| 14 days | $1,120–1,680 | $1,820–2,800 | $3,220–5,040 |
Per person and before flights, 3 days in Paris costs $390–600 mid-range, five days $650–1,000, a week $910–1,400 and two weeks $1,820–2,800; a week costs about $560–840 on a budget and $1,610–2,520 travelling in comfort.
Per person in US dollars, flights not included. Each total is a daily range from the band above multiplied out: mid-range is the guide's researched figure and already includes a mid-range room; budget and comfort scale it by 0.6 and 1.8, so treat those two as rough. The trip calculator lets you set your own days and group size.
Entry & visa
France is Schengen: US, UK, Canadian, Australian and most other Western passports get 90 days visa-free. The EU's ETIAS travel authorization is being phased in — check the official site before you fly.
Visa rules turn on your nationality and change often — always confirm the current requirement for your own passport with an official government source before you book.
Quick facts
Money & what things cost
Cards are accepted virtually everywhere, including contactless tap-to-ride on the métro. Keep a few euros in coins for bakeries, market stalls, and bathrooms. ATMs are everywhere; skip the tourist-district exchange bureaus.
What locals earn
| Earnings | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Average monthly salary (Paris region, net) | ≈ €2,800 ($3,050) | well above the French average |
| Minimum wage (SMIC, net) | ≈ €1,430/month ($1,550) | what much of the service sector earns |
Food & drink
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Baguette sandwich from a boulangerie | €6–8 | $6.50–8.70 |
| Café lunch formule (main + starter or dessert) | €16–22 | $17–24 |
| Mid-range dinner, per person | €35–55 | $38–60 |
| Michelin-starred tasting menu | €150+ | $165+ |
| Espresso (counter / terrace) | €2–4 | $2.20–4.30 |
| Glass of wine | €6–9 | $6.50–10 |
Transport
| Item | Local price | ≈ USD |
|---|---|---|
| Métro/RER ride (flat fare, Navigo Easy or tap card) | €2.50 | $2.70 |
| Bus or tram ride | €2 | $2.20 |
| Taxi across town | €12–25 | $13–27 |
| CDG airport → city, RER B train | €13 | $14 |
| CDG → city, flat-rate taxi | €56–65 | $61–71 |
| Orly → city, métro line 14 | €13 | $14 |
Where to sleep & what it costs
| Tier | Per night | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hostel dorm | €35–55 ($38–60) | Book well ahead in summer |
| Budget hotel (2★) | €90–140 ($98–150) | Rooms are small — this is normal |
| Mid-range (3–4★) | €150–280 ($165–305) | Location beats stars; stay central |
| Luxury / palace | €500+ ($545+) | The palace hotels are sights in themselves |
Been recently? Check our prices
One tap per figure. Check-ins reset whenever this guide is re-priced, so they only ever vouch for the numbers you see here.
Trip cost calculator
$165 per person per day · 4 nights of lodging (Mid-range (3–4★))
A rough estimate, not a quote. The daily budget already includes a room, so one traveler pays exactly days × that budget; lodging is the room’s part of it, priced from the hotels below but never more than 45% of the trip. Extra travelers share the room and add only their own spending. Flights use the midpoint of the Getting there ranges above.
Getting around
- From the airport
- From CDG: RER B train, ~35 min to central Paris, €13 — or the flat-rate taxi (€56 Right Bank / €65 Left Bank, no surprises allowed by law). From Orly: métro line 14 straight into town. Ignore anyone offering a 'taxi' inside the terminal — use the official rank.
- Métro
- Dense and fast — you're never more than ~500 m from a station. Buy a Navigo Easy card or just tap a contactless bank card. Line 1 is driverless, scenic, and pickpocket central: pack your phone away at the doors.
- Taxis & apps
- G7 is the official taxi app; Uber and Bolt both work well. Cabs can't be hailed within 50 m of a rank — walk to the rank.
- On foot & by bike
- Central Paris is astonishingly compact: Notre-Dame to the Louvre is a 20-minute riverside stroll, and you can cross the whole center in about 90 minutes. Vélib' bike share and wide new bike lanes make cycling genuinely pleasant.
Map
Drag to look around, or open Google Maps ↗ · Apple Maps ↗
Neighborhoods to stay in
- Le Marais (3rd/4th)
- Central, historic, boutiques and falafel — the classic first-timer pick.
- Saint-Germain (6th)
- Café-terrace Paris at its most cinematic. Pricier.
- Latin Quarter (5th)
- Lively, student energy, better value, walkable to everything central.
- Louvre / Opéra (1st/2nd/9th)
- Maximum convenience for the big sights and airport links.
- Montmartre (18th)
- Village-on-a-hill charm and views; a métro ride from the center.
Things to do
Nightlife
Restaurants
Theater & shows
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Tipping & etiquette
- 'Bonjour' (or 'Bonsoir') before anything else — entering a shop, addressing a waiter, asking directions. Skipping it is the fastest way to get frosty service.
- Dinner starts late-ish: most kitchens open 19:30 and many close between lunch and dinner service.
- You may hold a café table as long as you like with one espresso — it's a rented office, not a queue.
- Keep restaurant voices low; the table next to you can hear everything.
- Many small shops close on Sunday; most museums close Monday or Tuesday — check before you trek.
How to spend a trip to Paris
Central Paris is small enough to walk, but the big museums sell timed entries that run out and most close one day a week — book first, then build the day around what you booked.
One day means one museum, not three. Take the Louvre or the Orsay, give it a morning, and spend the rest of the day on the street, which is where Paris actually happens.
- MorningThe Louvre on a booked timed entry, as early as it opens, and leave before your feet give out rather than when you finish.
- MiddayWalk the Seine to the Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame; it's a 20-minute riverside stroll and it's the part people remember.
- AfternoonLe Marais on foot: falafel, boutiques, and courtyards you only find by turning down side streets.
- EveningMontmartre for the view off the hill, then dinner downhill — Bouillon Chartier if you don't mind the line.
Three days is this guide's own 'greatest hits' answer, and it works because the center is compact: a day per bank of the river, plus a day for the monuments.
- Day 1Right Bank: the Louvre in the morning, then the Marais for the whole afternoon and into the evening.
- Day 2Left Bank: the Musée d'Orsay, then Saint-Germain and the Latin Quarter, with a long café stop you are fully entitled to hold onto.
- Day 3The monuments: the Eiffel Tower (book the summit or accept the second floor), the Arc de Triomphe, and Montmartre at dusk.
Five is the length this guide recommends for relaxing into Paris rather than marching through it. Two of the five should leave the center.
- Days 1–3The three-day plan above, which covers both banks and the monuments.
- Day 4Versailles, which is closed Mondays and deserves a full day rather than a squeezed morning.
- Day 5One neighborhood at walking pace, and one thing booked for the evening: the Palais Garnier, the Comédie-Française, or the Moulin Rouge if that's the Paris you came for.
Safety & common scams
Violent crime is rare where visitors go; the real issue is world-class pickpocketing — métro line 1, museum queues, the Eiffel Tower lawn, crowded escalators. Phones snatched at café terraces are the modern classic: don't leave yours on the table.
Scams to know
- Petition clipboards and 'friendship bracelets' (Montmartre, Sacré-Cœur) — distraction for an accomplice's fingers. Keep walking, hands in pockets.
- The gold ring 'found' at your feet along the Seine — it's brass, and it comes with a sob story.
- Three-card monte on the bridges: shills win, you won't.
- Fake taxi touts at airports and stations — only the official rank or an app.
Emergency numbers: 112 (everything) · pharmacies (green cross) handle minor medical issues and are excellent
Phone & internet
EU roaming makes this easy for European SIMs. Everyone else: an eSIM (Airalo, Orange Holiday ~€20 for 2 weeks of generous data) beats airport counters. Free Wi-Fi in parks, museums, and most cafés.
First-timer FAQs
Do I need to book museums ahead?
Yes — the Louvre, Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower summit routinely sell out days to weeks ahead. Book timed entries online the moment your dates are fixed. Many national museums are free the first Sunday of the month (crowded).
Is the food really that good — and must it be expensive?
It's that good at every price. A €7 jambon-beurre from a good bakery and a €16 lunch formule will be among your best meals. The tourist-trap zone within sight of major monuments is the exception — walk two streets away.
How many days do I need?
Three to four for the greatest hits, five to relax into it. Versailles is the classic half-to-full-day trip (closed Mondays).
Are Parisians actually rude?
Mostly a translation error. Parisians treat politeness formalities as mandatory and volume as optional — say bonjour, attempt three words of French, and you'll find most people warm and helpful.
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