Are you planning to visit Paris and looking for tips and practical information before your trip? Check out our travel guide with tips on where to stay, where to eat, how much things cost and how to save money on entrance fees.
Transport in Paris
We have written a separate guide on how to get around Paris and how to get from the airport to the city centre.
Where to stay in Paris
Paris is one of Europe’s most visited Europe’. Hand in hand with this goes the offer of accommodation, which is wide and varied here.
Average prices for accommodation in Paris:
- Cheap hotels or hostels: 40-100 € per night
- Mid-range hotels: 100-250 € per night
- Luxury hotels: 250 € or more, some top hotels cost more than 1,000 € per night (for example, luxury hotels in the centre along the Seine or overlooking the Eiffel Tower).
Recommended accommodation in Paris with great value for money:
- Ibis Paris Tour Eiffel – popular hotel near the centre and the metro at a good price
- Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel – 4* central hotel with views of the Eiffel Tower
- citizenM hotel – modern accommodation with a view, great value for money
- HotelF1 Paris Porte de Châtillon – cheap but pleasant accommodation outside the centre
Hotels in Paris 😴
What to taste in Paris?
- Croissant: crispy and buttery pastry, ideal for breakfast or as a quick snack with coffee.
- Baguette: A traditional French bread that you can find in every bakery.
- Escargots de Bourgogne: Snails cooked in garlic butter and herbs.
- Coq au Vin: Rooster stewed in wine, often served with potatoes or pasta.
- Boeuf Bourguignon: Beef braised in wine with onions, carrots and herbs.
- Quiche Lorraine: A savoury pie filled with eggs, cream, bacon and cheese.
- Soupe à l’oignon: Traditional French onion soup with cheese and croutons.
- Ratatouille: A traditional French vegetable dish made of tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and peppers.
- Crêpes: French crepes that can be sweet or savoury.
- Macarons: small almond biscuits filled with cream, available in various flavours.
Restaurants in Paris
The French cuisine is great, but there are also plenty of international restaurants serving excellent cuisine (for example, the Italian cuisine at Pizzeria Popolare).
For delicious French cuisine, head to the Montmartre district near the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, the Latin Quarter on Rue Mouffetard, or the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district between the Luxembourg Gardens and the Seine.
Choose carefully restaurants near major tourist attractions, where the price often does not match the quality. Take it as a warning signal if they call you from a distance.
Markets in Paris
The markets in Paris are a great way to sample the local cuisine.
If you walk from the Eiffel Tower towards the Invalides, you can’t miss Rue Cler. You can stop here not only for lunch, but also for an evening drink. In the Latin Quarter near the Pantheon, Rue Mouffetard is worth mentioning, where there are many restaurants and a market with stalls every day from early morning.
In Le Marais, the historic Marché des Enfants Rouges market is not to be missed.
More tips on where to eat in Paris
Try the street food. Pancakes are a French speciality and it doesn’t matter whether you have them sweet or savoury. Or try the panninis (French sandwiches).
Buy fresh baguettes, cheese and wine and picnic in one of Paris’ parks, such as the Jardin des Tuileries or the Parc du Champ de Mars.
Try the pre-fixe or two to three course menu during lunch, which costs around 12-25 €. You’ll get the same food as dinner, but at half the price.
What are the prices for a meal in a restaurant in Paris
A meal in a cheap restaurant costs 12-30 € per person. A three-course menu costs between 30-60 €. Water (0.33 litres) costs an average of 2,77 € and a cappuccino 4,23 €.
Supermarkets and shops in Paris
Shops in the centre of Paris
The shops in central Paris are fine if you need to do a little shopping. Whether it’s vegetables, fruit, frozen products or even a drugstore – you’ll find it all here. In the centre you will most often see Monoprix, Franprix, Marché U.
These are chain stores, so they are scattered all over Paris. Most of these shops open at 8:00 and close at a maximum of 21:00-22:00. The smaller ones are only open on Sundays until 13:00.
Will you have a kitchen in your accommodation and don’t feel like cooking? Alternatively, Picard frozen food shops offer everything from starters, mains, fish and desserts. Their food is renowned and they have several branches in the centre.
Supermarkets in Paris
On the outskirts of Paris, there are larger supermarkets such as Leclers, Carrefour, Intermarché, Lidl and Aldi.
Prices in Paris
Prices of basic foodstuffs in Paris are as follows:
- Milk 1 l – 1,40 €
- White bread 500 g – 1,85 €
- Eggs 12 pcs – 4,65 €
- Cheese 1 kg – 20,85 €
- Chicken breast 1 kg – 14,49 €
- Bananas 1 kg – 2,21 €
- Potatoes 1 kg – 2,22 €
- Water 1,5 l – 0,95 €
When to visit Paris?
Paris is beautiful all year round and has its own charm in every season.
Spring: In the spring, the temperatures in Paris are pleasant and the Tuileries or Luxembourg Gardens start to bloom.
Summer: Summer in Paris is sunny and warm with average daily temperatures around 24°C. Temperatures are more bearable than in Rome, for example, but Paris is full of tourists at this time of year.
Autumn: Autumn has pleasant temperatures that are ideal for exploring Paris. With winter approaching, autumn in Paris is getting rainy.
Winter: Christmas is like a fairy tale in Paris. Everything is beautifully decorated and illuminated. Even Disneyland is getting into the Christmas spirit. Winters tend to be milder, with occasional snowfalls, but the snow soon melts.
How to enjoy Paris
Use public toilets for free. These are small stainless steel houses that you will find mainly in the city centre. Just type “toilet” into the maps and the nearest ones will come up. But be aware that there are queues, especially in high season.
Fountains with free drinking water. There are plenty of dark green drinking fountains around Paris where you can refill your bottle for free. They’re called Wallace Fountains, but you’ll find other fountains as well. You can see what they look like, including an interactive map, online or simply type “Wallace Fountains” into Google maps.
Visit Paris out of season – From late spring and autumn, temperatures are pleasant and there are noticeably fewer tourists. If you’d like to save money on your trip to Paris, head to Paris in the winter when flights and accommodation are at their cheapest.
Claim free entry – Most attractions are free for children and young people under 26. Some museums offer free admission on selected days, but queues can form.
Get a Paris Pass – Are you over 26 and want to enjoy Paris to the full? Here, too, there is a way to save money on admission to the sights. The Paris Pass includes access to more than 60 monuments and museums or a cruise on the Seine.
Or choose the Paris Explorer Pass, where you choose the number of attractions you plan to visit at a discounted price (Disneyland, Louvre, Eiffel Tower, gourmet lunch and more).
Paris practical information
Currency: euro (EUR)
Payment: For small purchases and payments, it is smaller to have cash with you, but otherwise you will pay by card in most places. Take a look at what fees your bank charges and what exchange rates are in order not to overdo it. We can recommend the World card from mBank for us. There are also plenty of ATMs in the city where you can withdraw cash if needed.
Electrical socket: In France, type E sockets are used. French sockets that are compatible with most sockets in Europe. They have 2 cavities and a ground pin on top.
Safety: Paris is generally a safe city. Keep your belongings safe from pickpockets in frequented areas (monuments, subways, etc.). Also beware of scams if someone tries to extort money from you on the street under some pretext (for example, to fill in a questionnaire). It happened to us several times – on the Champs-Élysées, near the Eiffel Tower or in Montmartre.
Ticket booking: Paris is famous for its queues, which are almost all year round in some places. Places with the longest queues include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Versailles and the Orsay Museum. Detailed information on admission and booking can be found in a separate article on the best places to visit in Paris.
Hotels in Paris 😴
How do they speak in Paris?
The official language is French. In tourist areas (monuments, hotels, restaurants) you can usually speak English with the staff or there are brochures in other languages. You can also choose guided tours, which are usually in English, German or Spanish.
Generally speaking, older people or those on the outskirts of Paris may find it difficult to communicate in a language other than French. Moreover, locals may not be friendly if you start speaking to them in another language.
For advice, it’s better to approach younger French people, but in general we never had anyone in Paris who was unpleasant and didn’t want to communicate with us. On the contrary, when we tried to use a few French phrases, they appreciated it.
Basic French phrases:
- Hello – Bonjour
- Thank you – Merci
- Please – S’il vous plaît
- Goodbye – Au revoir
- Yes – Oui
- No – Non
- I’m looking for… – Je cherche…
- I’d like a subway ticket. – Je voudrais un ticket de métro.
- I booked a room in the name of… – J’ai réservé une chambre au nom de…
- Where’s…? – Où est… ?
- Can I pay by card? – Puis-je payer par carte?
- I’d like a table. – Je voudrais une table.
- How much does it cost? – Combien ça coûte?
Map of Paris
HOW TO USE THIS MAP: Above you will find a detailed map of Paris. Click at the top left of the map to see separate layers with highlighted locations. You can hide and show the different layers or click on the icons on the map to see the names of the places I mention in the Paris guide. If you want to save the map, star it. For a larger version, click on the icon in the upper right corner.
The best booking resources for visiting Paris
Via Booking.com we search for all accommodation. It is the largest accommodation portal in the world and you will find everything from modern hotels, cosy guesthouses to seaside villas.
Get Your Guide is a huge booking system for buying tickets, guided tours and all sorts of activities. In one place you can read other travellers’ experiences and book tickets to the Vatican Museums, a cruise on the Danube or a desert safari in Dubai.
This was our guide with useful tips for visiting Paris. Do you have a question? We’ll be happy to answer it in the comments below. Have a safe journey!
More information about Paris
PARIS: See tips on what to see in Paris (including entrance fees, opening times and maps). Plan your itinerary for 3 days in Paris. Do you have more time? Here is a 5-day itinerary of where to go in Paris.
Louvre Museum is one of the best things to visit in Paris, even for those who don’t otherwise seek out art. In the following article you will find out everything you need to know before visiting Versailles.
Are you planning to visit Disneyland? Read our detailed guide to Disneyland.
Find out all about transport in Paris (airport, public transport, metro, bicycle) and more tips on prices, food and accommodation in the Paris guide. Read our tips on how to visit Paris on budget. The Paris Pass is a popular way to save money in Paris – find out more about the Paris Pass.
PROVENCE: Here is a detailed guide to Provence, one of the most beautiful regions in France.
