Realistic budget for two weeks in France

Kirsty,

You will likely get great answers here, but I also recommend that you post a similar question (noting your intent to stay in Toulouse) to the travel blog www.joinusinfrance.com. The hosts of the site and the podcast live in Toulouse and will likely have some ideas.

-Matt

It's hard to say without a little more information. I know that 4-6000 NZD is approx 2400-3500€, but about how much of that is airfare going to use up. If you think and post in € it will be a little easier to advise you.

Nancy that's right, I looked up some air fares, but they are all given to me in NZ dollars (website automatically changes the currency). A quick search on webjet shows flights for May 2016 from Auckland to Paris are currently around $1000 NZ dollars or around 600 euro one way. It seems to be around 50-100 euro more to fly straight into Toulouse, but maybe that's cheaper than the cost of the train?

Kirsty,

Consider something like this studio in Toulouse. While not in the center, about 1 mile away,

it should be both safe and inexpensive.

http://us.venere.com/hotel/details.html?FPQ=1&WOE=4&q-localised-check-out=05/19/16&WOD=3&q-room-0-children=0&pa=4&tab=description&JHR=6&q-localised-check-in=05/04/16&hotel-id=207489&q-room-0-adults=1&YGF=14&MGT=7&ZSX=0&SYE=3

Another note, airfare is much cheaper booked as a round trip. And, you may need to produce your return ticket.

Try the website for Trusted Housesitters - they have loads of listings of people who need pet / house care of all kinds all over the world, including many in France. Might be just what you're looking for!
Toulouse wouldn't be my first pick - there are far more beautiful places in France to be.

Anita, what towns/cities would you recommend?

Toulouse isn't bad, been there twice, but as regards to preference I would rather be in Amiens or Nancy, if you're thinking of outside of Paris.

Kirsty, I think your budget for 2 weeks is reasonable. After airfare (approx 1200 €), it looks like you have between 1200-2300€ for accommodations/food/local transport/sightseeing. I usually manage to get by on about 100-120€/day and I don't stay in hostels but rather look for small 1 or 2 star hotels, b&b's, pensions, etc. I don't need fancy but I do need an ensuite bath, no more running down the hall to a shared bathroom for me. Breakfast is often included but I usually end up grabbing a pastry and drink when I'm out and about, lunch is usually picnic style, and then a sit-down dinner but in small cafe or bistro - no fancy restaurants.

As far as being a solo female traveler you shouldn't have any problem finding safe places to stay. I also travel alone and have always found fairly cheap places to stay in safe areas of cities/towns. I do check a lot of reviews (TA and booking.com, etc) regarding the locations of places before choosing a place.