Saving money in France or elsewhere

pretend you're at home. go to the grocery store. pick up some coffee (if you have a coffee maker in your room, duuhh), an inexpensive bottle or two of 'table wine', couple bagettes, some diet coke or ??, some cold cuts, chips, chocolat etc.

works great for us, two years in a row now, france and germany. you dont HAVE to eat out for every meal, and you can save quite a bit.

we'll be doing it again in 10 days. I'm sure food prices are up in europe too, but its still cheaper than eating out.

good luck.

Becky: It's ok to get philsophical here, no apology needed! :)

And cheese. Don't forget the cheese. Gotta have the cheese with a loaf of bread, some wine ...
I soooo can't wait!

Becky where did you get a 33 euro hotel room ,, where , where , where??? Really where?? That is a so amazing price, did you read reveiws on the place, is it a hostel??

Picnics are the way to go.

You might be surprised, but outside of Paris, France is surprisingly inexpensive. Not dirt cheap, but compared to Ireland, the UK, Germany, Switzerland and all of Scandinavia, rather affordable.

ok, so we got the cheapest room available at the Maison Jund, in Colmar (RS recommend).
And in Beaune, we got a tacky little chain hotel, Stars Beaune, which, if you read the reviews, is not a really great place to stay, but (a bed and room and shower and toilet) ... it'll be ok. We've stayed in worse, way worse. (there was this room above a bar in a little town near Lake Nakuru in Kenya ... bloody walls from bed bugs ... it was incredibly cultural, but a bit 'rustic' ... and then there was the place in England, the Wheatsheaf Inn, horrible, horrible place--long story)...I better stop. so much to say. no room.

I think what you do is pay more and know that it's still worth it. You've already shelled out I-can-only-guess-how-much for airfare, don't pinch pennies (and your trip) now.

Besides, as people who have apparently done their homework and kept costs down, the dollar's slide affects you less than someone spending 300 euros per day on food and lodging.

Have a great trip!

Becky, I totally agree with your philosophy! We can't put off our dream trips waiting for the dollar to go up against the Euro -- we have to find ways to make it work. As one who has been to France many times, I'm confident the experiences and memories you get will be truly priceless.

I ALWAYS pack a few ziplock bags. At breakfast, I'll pack something to go for lunch, or, I eat a larger lunch and snack throughout the day. Many times you can find their version of "happy" hour for dinner.

I do like to eat at a sit down restaurant, so I'll do that at lunch, and for dinner do the take out.

Unless we have a reason to visit specific museums, we save admission charges by going to churches to admire their artwork for free or with a small donation.

Use the self-guided walking tours available at most tourist offices or the ones in Rick's guides instead of paying to take tours.

Cut corners where you don't mind, then you can splurge on the things that matter to you. By doing this, we travel wisely without any regrets for what we wish we had done.

my daughter and i will be in paris for 4 -5 nights the later part of may - do you have suggestions for a place to stay that's reasonable? everything seems to be 80 - 110 euros a night. i realize it's late to be making reservations, but i've been trying a lot of sights. thank you!

I'm staying at the Hotel du Commerce in the Latin Quarter (5th) at 49 Euros a night for a double room. It is in a remodelled old building--nice rooms, shared breakfast room, shared toilet and shower. Rooms are large and have sinks. The hotel is an easy walk to Notre Dame or the Pantheon. I could see a lot of Paris from here without using public transportation, if I choose....

Ane,

try hotels.com. A few years ago I stayed in Paris for 40 EUR for a double.

Anne,

sorry I misspelled your name in my other post.

I also stayed at kyriad.com , not in Paris but some where on the road from Paris down to Golden Coast.
It was very low priced but very clean, about 30 EUR, but it didn't have a receptionist. It had a sort of ATM where you pay and get the key.
I know those type of hotels are in Paris as well.

becky; try the camembert(sp?) cheese. its remarkable. smells like dirty gym clothes, but tastes divine. I have not been able to get it here in the states. its labelled the same, but just not as good.

Since you enjoy culture, I would recommend getting a copy of the local weekly paper/magazine that lists cultural offerings (in Paris it's called Pariscope). Look through the listings (even if you don't read French it's not too hard to figure out) and find something free or with a low entry fee and go. My husband and I love to do this when we travel. In France, we saw a student orchestra concert for free and an excellent free cabaret syle performance that we had to go down an alley to find! In both cases we met and had discussions with locals (we were the only tourists) and left with a great sense of local culture. As a bonus, if it's opening night, there's usually a reception with free wine and you can meet the artists. And you will end up in neighborhoods you never would have known about. One time we saw a Gilbert and Sullivan opera in a high school cafeteria.

What a lovely (and smart) idea. Thanks, all, for the comments ... most encouraging.