Paris on a budget: a 7-day plan with real 2026 costs

Paris on a budget comes to about €500-750 per person for a week, flights aside, if you sleep in a hostel, ride the metro on a weekly pass and pay for three big sights: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower stairs and Versailles. Plenty of the city costs nothing at all, from Notre-Dame to the Luxembourg Gardens to the City of Paris museums. Here is the week we'd plan, with what each day costs.

How much does a week in Paris cost on a budget?

These totals are per person, using non-EEA ticket prices and our own food estimate:

Rather sleep in a hotel? BudgetYourTrip puts the median budget hotel in Paris at $118 a night, so two people sharing a room for six nights pay about $354 each instead of the hostel figure. Paris also adds a small tourist tax per adult per night, which depends on the hotel's star rating, so check the final price on your booking. For a line-by-line look at trip costs, including mid-range prices, see how much a trip to Paris costs.

The 7-day Paris itinerary, day by day

The Louvre closes on Tuesdays and Versailles on Mondays, so both sit in the middle of the week. Costs below cover sights and transport only.

Day 1: the Marais and Île de la Cité

From either airport, take the train into the city on a €14 airport ticket; the weekly pass doesn't cover it. Then buy a Navigo Easy card (€2) and load the weekly Navigo pass (€32.40), which gives unlimited metro, bus, tram and RER travel across every zone from Monday to Sunday. Spend the afternoon walking the Marais. The Musée Carnavalet, the museum of Paris history, is free, like the permanent collections of all the City of Paris museums. Finish on Île de la Cité, where Notre-Dame is free to enter.

Day 2: the Eiffel Tower on foot

Climbing the stairs to the second floor costs €14.80, against €23.50 for the lift to the same floor and €36.70 for the lift to the top. That's the official adult price until January 10, 2027. Cross the Seine to the Trocadéro for the classic view, then walk to the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, another free City of Paris collection.

Day 3: the Louvre, late

The Louvre costs €32 for visitors from outside the European Economic Area and €22 for EEA residents; under-18s get in free. It stays open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, when afternoons are calmer. If your trip includes the first Friday of the month, go after 6 p.m. that evening instead and pay nothing, except in July and August. Book a time slot either way. Before going in, walk the Tuileries and the Palais-Royal gardens, both free.

Day 4: Versailles

The Passport ticket is €35 in 2026 and covers the palace, the Trianon estate and the gardens, including fountain show days. Visitors under 18, and EU residents under 26, enter free but still need to book a ticket. The RER train out to Versailles is covered by your all-zones weekly pass, so the day costs just the ticket.

Day 5: Montmartre and Canal Saint-Martin

Today costs nothing. Climb to the Sacré-Cœur basilica for the view over Paris, wander the Montmartre streets behind it, then take the metro to Canal Saint-Martin and walk the iron footbridges. If you've been saving for a paid extra, today is the day to fit it in.

Day 6: Champs-Élysées and the Petit Palais

The Petit Palais, the City of Paris fine-arts museum, has a free permanent collection in one of the city's most beautiful buildings. Walk up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe; the view of it from the street costs nothing, while climbing it is included in the Paris Museum Pass.

Day 7: the Latin Quarter, then home

Spend the morning in the Luxembourg Gardens and the Latin Quarter, then use another €14 airport ticket for the ride out.

How do you get around Paris cheaply for a week?

The weekly Navigo pass is the best deal for a full week: €32.40 for all zones, unlimited rides. It always runs from Monday to Sunday, so it suits a Monday arrival. If you land midweek, single tickets at €2.55 each may work out cheaper; three rides a day come to €7.65. Load either onto a Navigo Easy card for €2. Neither the weekly pass nor a single ticket gets you to the airports, which have their own €14 ticket. Inside the center, walking often beats the metro: most of the Day 1 and Day 7 sights are within a short walk of each other.

How much should you budget for food in Paris?

We budget €30-40 a day for food: a bakery breakfast, a picnic or cheap lunch, and one sit-down meal. Bakery staples keep that figure realistic. A traditional baguette averaged about €1.25 across France in spring 2026, according to Le Baguette Index, and closer to €1.38 in some central Paris districts. A recent survey of Paris cafés found an espresso at the counter averaged about €2.31. Drink it standing at the bar; a table usually costs more.

Where should you stay in Paris on a budget?

Dorm beds run from about €25 a night in low season to €35-55 in busy months, according to Paris Tourism. The Marais, the Latin Quarter and Montmartre keep you close to the free sights in this plan and within walking distance of a metro line. Book a bed with free cancellation, then check the price again before your trip. Our guide to budget hotels and hostels has more on what to look for.

Is the Paris Museum Pass worth it on a budget?

For this plan, no. The pass costs €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 and €125 for 6, and its official site says it saves money on average from the fourth visit. It covers the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, the Arc de Triomphe, the Orangerie, the Conciergerie and the Panthéon, among others. With only the Louvre and Versailles as paid museums, single tickets cost less. If you add Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle and the Arc de Triomphe climb, buy the 2-day pass and squeeze them into consecutive days.

Frequently asked questions

Keep planning

• How much a trip to Paris costs, item by item.
• Travel budget calculator to price your own dates and style.
• When to book Christmas flights in 2026, if Paris is your holiday trip.
• More city plans: Rome, London and Barcelona on a budget.

Prices checked on October 24, 2026. TravelCheap may earn a commission if you book through our KAYAK search, at no extra cost to you.