Paris, cheap things to do

[jambandit]

There seem to be a fair few threads about Paris so thought some people may be able to gimme some ideas.

[mae]

You can go to the louvre for free on friday evenings if you are under 26

Loads of people sit on Pont des Arts in the evenings & have picnics & chat, its a nice way to meet people.

[Random One]

Dunno if you have already been-but the metro gets u everywhere really cheaply and u can go see Notre Dame and look inside for free (well it was at night) and you can go see sacre coeur and wander around the area-its free to go inside the church and look around but u have to pay to go up into the dome and the crypt(about £7/10euros in total)

[mauvais]

Your best bet is to walk along the river from around Notre Dame all the way to beyond the Eiffel Tower at Bir Hakeim - that'll take about two hours alone and covers almost the sights.


Interesting places to visit are the Sacre Coeur and the surrounding Montmartre (a little village-like area full of arty stuff, and where Amelie was filmed) in the north.


The Pompidou is good for about 7€, and Conservatoire Arts et Metiers sounds quite interesting - machines and science stuff - but I haven't been myself. I was also recommended the Rodin museum and Parc Andre Citroen in the south, but I haven't been.


Tour Montparnasse is the only skyscraper in Paris and for €7 it offers IMO the best view of the city, but can get very windy if you choose the wrong day.


I'm not sure if it applies in September but all major museums, including the Arc de Triomphe, are free on the first Sunday of the month.


You can eat and drink wine a lot more cheaply at lunchtime - about half price - than you can at night. Do this outside the central area to save more without losing quality - the 3rd arrondisement is nice, near the Pompidou. However beer is universally expensive wherever you go, at 6€ a pint.


My favourite bars are in the Marais near Hotel de Ville; if you can find them, then Lizard Lounge and Stollys are great and there's a healthy mix of English & French culture there - nearby, The Quiet Man is good when it has live music in the basement.


Buy 'carnets' to use the Metro - these are a collection of ten tickets and cost about a third less than buying lots of individual tickets. Alternatively you could get a 'carte orange hebdomadaire' for 15€ which lets you travel around as much as you like, but the major downside is they start on Mondays, and you also can't buy them for that week at the end of the week. Note that Metro lines close just before 1am.


A better suggestion is to walk around - Paris is only small, and you can walk across the whole city in about three hours (I know, having done this drunk too many a time). If you plan where you're going you can take in plenty of interesting stuff between any two points.


Get your food from supermarkets, not small corner-shop style stores, as it costs roughly double. Bread and stuff is much nicer from a proper boulangerie and costs about the same though.


There's plenty of other less well known sites to see; Place Vendome, Jardin des Tuileries, Place du Concorde, Galleries Lafayette for shopping, Pont Alexandre III and Les Invalides spring to mind. Just buy a map and go to anywhere that looks interesting, as it probably is!

If you're staying longer, I can give you more advice, but whatever you do, enjoy Paris :cool:

[Kid_Eternity]

Thanks for that post you just feeled me with many warm memories about last weeks holiday!

[walktome]

http://membres.lycos.fr/photosartpasnet4/burroughs.jpg

[Cadmus]

My favourite bars are in the Marais near Hotel de Ville; if you can find them, then Lizard Lounge and Stollys are great and there's a healthy mix of English & French culture there - nearby, The Quiet Man is good when it has live music in the basement.Lizard Lounge is pretty decent but I dont see a point in mixing with the English in Paris or experiencing 'English culture' in Paris.

[mauvais]

I don't really think it is that Anglophone, or not downstairs anyhow; besides, I lived there for a year so that's my excuse!

[guinnessdrinker]

Tour Montparnasse is the only skyscraper in Paris and for €7 it offers IMO the best view of the city, but can get very windy if you choose the wrong day.

tour montparnasse has just been shut so they can get rid of the asbestos.