Rent an apartment for a month in or near Paris?

Posted by Mumbling & Stumbling on 02/17/19 03:20 PM

I have been retired for a while. My wife just retired last November. We both love Paris, but other than Paris, we have only been to Bayeux in France. We were talking and thought a month in France renting an apartment might be a good idea. We were thinking either April, May or October next year. Paris would be nice, but probably very expensive. We are not against a suburb of Paris, or a nearby town. We will not have a car so good public transportation is a must. We are not against renting a car for a few days. We want to feel some immersion in the french people and their culture, albeit briefly.

Any thoughts or ideas?

Posted by JustTravel

California

02/17/19 04:53 PM

492 posts

We have stayed in this apartment very close to Place des Vosges for up to three months (2007, 2009, 2010, 2015 & 2016) for a total of over eight months but is is very popular and book quickly. It is registered as well.

https://www.vrbo.com/79965

Posted by janettravels44

Chicago

02/17/19 05:03 PM

8090 posts

Expect to pay about 3 weeks rent for a month -- it is less than that in the countryside but about 3 weeks for a month in Paris and nearby suburbs. I would look in Paris -- you can try a bit out of the center since you are there for a month, but no point staying in the burbs when you could be in the city. We have rented for up to 2 months many times in Paris; we now are off the grid with that, so don't have a current recommendation unfortunately.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

02/17/19 05:24 PM

27202 posts

I imagine your ground-transportation costs over the course of the month will be quite a bit lower if you stay in Paris, so I'd research lodging options there first.

I am biased because I have a hard time imagining spending a month in most modest-sized cities unless I had a special activity planned (like language classes). I know I would quickly run out of local sights, and then out of cheap-to-reach sights. Once you start talking about spur-of-the-moment trips to places far enough away that you need to buy TGV tickets, it can get very costly. I suggest taking a look at same-day fares on the SNCF website to get an idea of possible transportation costs for day-trips.

Obviously, if you see yourselves spending a lot of days just puttering around your apartment and walking to a local market, that's a different matter.

It sounds as if you may both be old enough to qualify for the SNCF Senior+ railcard. It might pay off for you. Not necessarily, though, because I spent 3 months moving around France in 2017 and didn't save a huge amount because I ended up using a lot of buses and cheap local trains.