Are 500 Euros enough for food and fun? - Paris Message Board (2024)

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Yes.

Although some can blow that much on one meal!! Others can somehow make the same amount last a week.

As long as you don't get caught up in 'designer' shopping - you should be able to have quite a bit of fun on 500 euros.

If your hotel is already paid for and the 500 euros is just as you say for food and fun, absolutely. This has been covered many times on the forum, with even less money noted. If you are interested, you can search the budget issue and read the many earlier posts.

Don't worry, as said, if you don't plan to shop too much, you'll be just fine.

Well my 14 yrold son and I did Paris last time for TEN days and used just over 1000 euros, so I think you might be able to make it on 500 euros for only three days, LOL!!

This assumes you are not high maintenance people who must eat in starred restaurants everynight.

You can get a perfectly decent meal for less then 60 euros for two, and we ate well for under 40 euros also. This is at cafes and bistros. A splurge for us was about 80 euros ,, but you could spend hundreds more if you went to one of the fancy places!

We did cheap out on lunches, just cafes, or street vendors, maybe 10 to 20 euros total. Breakfast was included at our hotel.

250 euro pr. person for 3 nights = 4 days ?

Depends what you mean by "fun": museum tickets etc. are about 6-8 euro, plus some extra if you buy a museum guide/plan. Then there are metro tickets, taxi rides, postcards, stamps and so on.

I would say 75 euro pr. person pr. day, so in your case I would budget 600-650 euro. No harm done in bringing some euros back with you, they will come in handy for your next trip to Europe !

One thing I forgot to count is that at 14 yrs old , my son was free at many museums. He also did not have wine with dinner, usually water, occaisonally pop.

I was also not a big drinker , travelling with just my son precluded me from having more then a glass of wine on occaison, as it was up to me to get us back to the hotel each night, and I tended to get us lost alot, when sober, never mind when not!

So , our costs were minimal. My son ate roast chicken and frites alot,( his choice) and we both really enjoyed just eating from street vendors.

In two years I will be taking my daughter, and our plans will be different as she will enjoy restaurant dining more, shopping more and I just have a feeling , girls will cost more! LOL

My mother, sister and I spent a glorious week in Paris in October and we budgeted with €75 per day for food for the three of us. We stayed in an apartment so prepared our own breakfasts, but we had light lunches, coffees, cakes and simple dinners at lovely cafes and rarely went over budget.

We had lots of fun checking out cafes, reading the menus and deciding where we would eat..

Food can be one of the least expensive items - or the most. It really depends on your expectations.

Sandra

Joan1!!! Save up heaps while you can - I took my 21 year old daughter with me on my first trip....oh dear! The shoes, the shoes! And the suits, and the bags and everything else, like jumpers, jewellry, etc etc. We spent very little on food, but made up for it BIGTIME elsewhere!

Actually - better still - make sure your daughter saves up heaps while she can! :)

Sandra

Thanks everyone for helping me out with this question. I know I will have a minimum of 500 Euros so if I end up saving more - then we will do a bit of shopping!!

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