Paris

parc

Off to Paris for a week.

Anyone know of anything good to do? Cheapish places wanted, student places etc

Thanks!

woodchuck

I was there a few years ago also trying to do things on the cheap :P Forgive me if my info is a little out of date, just make sure to double check yourself obviously!

When I went the louvre was free for anyone under 26 on Friday evenings.

If you’re in any way interested in art then Museum D’orsay is AMAZING! The louvre is the ‘one to see’ just for the sake of saying you went almost, but I loved museum d’orsay. You have to pay in but it’s cheaper for 18-24 year olds (5.50euro when I went). The best collection of impressionist paintings I’ve ever seen.

The catacombs were very cheap (~4euro) and something different and interesting to do if don’t mind creepy stuff!

Montmartre is a lovely area and you can see the Moulin rouge (looks better at night than during the day). Sacre Coeur (basilica) is around the same area and is really pretty (didn’t get a chance to go inside but it is free in). There are steps up and you get a nice view of the city. And a carousel at the base of the steps that was fun!

Definitely go to notre dame! It’s free in.

There are gardens around too if the weather is nice! I went to Jardin du Luxembourg but I’ve also heard that the tuileries gardens beside the louvre are good too.

The Eiffel tower is the obvious one to do, but you do have to pay to go up it (~12euro).

Wherever you go just make sure to check if there is a student/youth discount… they’re big into discounts for young people! The opera bastille have cheap last minute tickets for students… I didn’t have any luck with this at the weekend, but if you’re there for a week you might get luckily mid week

mzoe

If you don't mind not staying in the very center, you can find many budget hotels. Good, lively areas that could work well include the Bastille-Republique quarter, Canal Saint-Martin, Montmartre, possibly Pigalle, Montparnasse.
The cheapest option is obviously hostels - I can't help with that, your best choice is probably HostelWorld:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
You can search for hotels on tripadvisor.com, venere.com, booking.com but I would also compare prices with the hotels' official website. And here is my own suggestion of a few great budget-midrange places in some good locations:
Hotel Royal Opera, a rare budget place in the very center - http://paris-hotel-royalopera.com
Hotel Annexe, at Republique - http://annexe-paris-hotel.com/
Hotel Damremont, in Montmartre - http://damremont-paris-hotel.com/
Hotel de Blois and Hotel Aberotel, both in Montparnasse
http://hoteldeblois.com/
http://www.aberotelparishotel.com/

lc180

One piece of advice I would give on Paris is book any of the large tourist attractions online prior to arriving. That way you can skip the longest queues.

I just showed up to the Eiffel Tower on a Saturday morning and the queue was about 2 hours long. Complete rookie mistake....

ElleEm

You also usually get a discount for booking things online.
I love the hop on/hop off buses, you get discounted tickets online for that, and it saves you Metro tickets and long walks getting to the tourist attractions.
I personally loved Montmarte.