[Visiting France] Paris Deals: Top 5 Ways to Save Money in Paris
5. Student / Senior / Child Discounts
Most Paris museums and attractions offer substantial discounts for students (with ID), seniors, and children. Some shops and restaurants also offer discounts, so be sure to ask.
4. Free Sundays at Paris Museums
The following Paris museums are free the first Sunday of every month, all year:
- Musée des Arts et Traditions populaires
- Musées de l’Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
- Musées des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet
- Musée Delacroix
- Musée Gustave Moreau
- Musée Hébert
- Musée Henner
- Musée de la Légion d’Honneur et des Ordres de Chevalerie
- Musée du Louvre
- Musée du Moyen Âge (Thermes de Cluny)
- Musée de l’Orangerie
- Musée d’Orsay
- Musée Picasso
- Musée des Plans reliefs
- Musée Rodin
3. Free Paris Museums
The following Paris museums are free every day, all year:
- Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- Maison de Balzac
- Musée Bible et Terre Sainte
- Maison Bourdelle
- Musée Carnavalet - Histoire de Paris
- Musée Cernuschi
- Musée Cognacq-Jay
- Musée du Compagnonnage
- Musée Curie (Institut du radium)
- Musée Jean Moulin
- Musée du Parfum-Fragonard/Théâtre musée des Capucines-Fragonard
- Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux Arts de la Ville de Paris
- Musée de la Préfecture de Police
- Maison de Victor Hugo
- Musée de la Vie Romantique
- Musée Zadkine
2. Paris Metro Pass
Paris Metro passes like the Paris Visite and the Carte Orange can save you time and money during your stay in Paris.
1. Paris Museum Pass
The Paris Museum Pass grants access to over 60 museums and monuments in Paris and surrounding area, and saves you from waiting in long ticket lines. You can purchase the Paris Museum Pass at any metro station.
Fares for Paris Museum Passes:
2 days: €30
4 days: €45
6 days: €60
[Visiting France] France Transportation: Train Guide
France train transportation is efficient and easy to use. Here are some tips for making the most of France's Corail (regular-speed) and TGV (high-speed) trains, as well as Eurostar and Thalys trains:
Use the SNCF website for:
- Checking schedules
- Booking tickets online (you can pick up your ticket in any train station if you have the reservation number and the credit card you used for purchase)
Note: Discount fares sell out quickly, so purchase tickets as far in advance as possible
Paris Train Transportaion:
There are six major train stations in Paris, each of which is served by the extensive metro network:
Gare du Nord
Gare Montparnasse
Gare de l'Est
Gare de Lyon
Gare d'Austerlitz
Gare Saint-Lazare
How to get from a Paris train station to another destination in Paris:
- Find your station on the metro map to see which metro lines connect there
- For detailed directions, use the RATP website to map your route
For information about Paris Metro and RER transportation:
Paris Transportation: Metro Guide
[Visiting France] Paris Transportation: Metro Guide
Paris public transportation is efficient and easy to use. Here are some tips for making the most of the Paris Metro and RER (urban rail):
Paris Metro Overview:
- The Paris Metro has 16 lines, numbered 1-14, with two sub-lines, the 3bis and 7bis
- Start/end stations are used to identify which direction a line is going (e.g. "Line 1 to La Defense")
Paris RER Overview:
- The Paris RER has 5 lines, lettered A-E
- The lines connect to metro stops in the city center, and are useful for trips both within the city and farther away (like the Paris airports and Versailles)
Use the RATP website for:
- Mapping a route to your destination (Don't know the address? Try the Pages Jaunes)
- Full maps of the Paris Metro and RER
- Information on Paris Metro passes
Note: If you speak French, the French version of the RATP website has more detailed and extensive information.
Paris Metro and RER Tickets and Passes:
Within the city center (Zones 1 & 2), Paris Metro and RER tickets are interchangeable and are valid for unlimited transfers. Metro and RER tickets for Paris outskirts and suburbs vary in price by distance.
Single Journey on Paris Metro or RER:
- Purchase ticket at a machine or booth in any Paris metro or RER station
Multiple Journey on Paris Metro or RER:
- Carnet Dix: packet of ten single-tickets; purchase in any metro station
- Paris Visite: card for either a 1, 2, 3 or 5 day period; purchase in any metro station, airport, or participating hotel / tour operator
- Carte Orange: weekly or monthly pass; purchase in any metro station
For information about France train transportation:
France Transportation: Train Guide
[Visiting France] 36 Hours in Paris
The New York Times recently did a feature on Paris entitled "36 Hours: Paris." The article gives sightseeing and other travel tips for visitors.
Full Article - 36 Hours: Paris
36 Hours: Paris
By SETH SHERWOOD
"THE chief danger about Paris,” T. S. Eliot wrote to a friend, “is that it is such a strong stimulant.” That wasn’t merely the overcaffeinated ramblings of a Left Bank cafe habitué. Few cities thrill visitors with such a beguiling multiplicity of personalities. There is the devout Paris of Notre Dame’s Gothic solemnity, and the naughty Paris of Pigalle’s red-light bars. Sophisticated Paris radiates from the vaulted galleries of the Louvre and the gilded Opéra Garnier, while bohemian Paris emerges in the art galleries of the Marais and gritty rock ’n’ roll nightclubs. For every Gallic gastronomic temple, there’s an Asian, African or Middle Eastern restaurant brimming with exotic flavors. And for every Jean Paul Gaultier, there’s a fledgling fashion student opening his first boutique. In the words of Henry Miller, another American drawn to Paris’s manifold pleasures, lofty and low: “To know Paris is to know a great deal.”
Continued on nytimes.com
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