From the survey so many of you guys did for me a month and a half ago, one of the things you wanted to see more of here on Land of Marvels going forward was actual budget posts for trips. And while in the past, I’ve shied away from these a little bit, I realize that it’s super helpful to get an idea of how expensive travel is and how much you should budget for a trip. So before I jump into today’s post and future budget posts, let me preface this by saying that I don’t really try to stick to a strict budget when traveling. Of course we have a general budget for the whole trip, but we’re not pinching pennies by any means, so if you need to be on a stricter budget for your trip, then adjust as needed for your own situation. Here is a complete budget for a long weekend in Paris, coming from the USA.
If you’ve been following my Instagram, you’ll have noticed we were in Paris (and London) this past weekend and I celebrated my 31st birthday in my favorite place in the world. We booked this trip sort of a whim earlier this year when I found a great airfare and decided to jump on it. Below is the total budget for this trip, which included a total of 3 full days, 2 in Paris, 1 in London for a day trip, and a half day at the end. Hopefully this will help you plan your own long weekend in Paris and give you an idea of how much you might want to budget for your own adventures!
*Sidenote – my hope is to continue to do a post like this going forward for most of our trips if they are helpful, so stay tuned for lots more budget posts in the months to come!
AIRFARE
- $1,250.14 for 2 people – roundtrip from Seattle to Paris on Delta
- Connecting flights for Portland to Seattle roundtrip were paid on Alaska Air points and cost $0
HOTEL
- $696.72 for Hotel Le Notre Dame for 3 nights
TRANSPORTATION
- $290 for 2 people – roundtrip Paris to London on the Eurostar Train
EXPENSES ON THE GROUND – this section includes everything we spent once on the ground in the destination like food, metro tickets, museums, etc.
- $400 cash for everything while traveling, including our day in London
TOTAL = $2,636.86
WAYS TO SAVE MONEY
- Fly on budget airlines like WOW Air or Norwegian Air
- Stay in cheaper hotels or rent apartments on AirBnB
- Buy food from markets instead of eating out at restaurants
- Walk instead of taking taxis or use public transit like the Metro in Paris
- Be organized for your days while traveling so you don’t use extra money getting from place A to B when they are super far apart – plan out your days so you see things in the same areas and don’t have to go too far
Headed to Paris?
Emily of Em Busy Living says
I love seeing this! It’s realistic and gives you a good idea of what to work toward for this experience.
Casey says
Totally. And even though someone else’s budget might be more or less than ours, it still is great to see!
Vannesa says
I really like this post Casey, but I have to admit for me that amount will be too much for a weekend 🙂 (I decided to work less this year so I’m working part time).I’m going to Paris in March from the 4th to the 15th and so far I have spent $1900. I was lucky to get tickets from DC to Paris at $348 per person with Icelandair. My husband and I will spend 4 1/2 days in Amsterdam, 2 full days in Venice and 2 1/2 days in Paris. I have rented apartments at Airbnb and the total amount for the 3 cities is $850, the transportation between cities came up at $310, we’re flying with Easyjet and Air France. The only thing is that we have to pack light but all the apartments have washer and dryer so we’ll have to do some laundry 🙂 We’ll probably spend $1500-$2000 for food and entertainment when we’re there. This confirms what you always say, no matter what your budget is, you can always travel. Thanks for sharing your budget with us!
Casey says
You’re so right, everyone has a different budget and it’s possible to travel on many different types of budgets. Also keep in mind, this was a long weekend for my birthday so we also splurged on things we might not normally splurge on like upgrading to Delta Comfort and such. But I think it’s worth while to remember that no matter your budget, it’s good to see how different people travel and how much it costs!
Vannesa says
Definitely, there are some occasions when there’s more spending. Last year it was our first time going to Paris so we wanted to be in a central location and rented an apartment on the 7th arrondissement, close to Rue Cler, it was much more expensive and we loved the neighborhood. This time we are going to stay a little farther (and less expensive) we want to explore Montmartre. We’ll see how we like it, that’s the beauty of travelling, discovering new places. Thanks for responding, your posts always inspire me.
terra says
I always love seeing how other people spend their money on trips, or just in general. It’s interesting to see what people think is important, etc. Thanks for sharing!
Casey says
I’m so glad it’s helpful! I’m always unsure about doing budgets, but the feedback seems like people really like seeing it!