Paris On A Budget (a solo travel guide)

After my trips to Blackpool and London, I decided that I wouldn’t let the holidays go to waste even though I didn’t make plans. So, on a whim, I started planning a trip to Paris for the second week in January.

I figured everyone would have been back to their respective homes, and the holiday spirit would have subsided a bit which, of course, would mean cheaper flight tickets. So I drafted a budget and quickly bought a £54 EasyJet return ticket.

Tip: One of the best ways to get the best travel deals, including cheap travel tickets, is by booking as far in advance as possible. It might seem inconvenient at that moment, but it would save you so many coins in the long run.

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Just before my trip, I heard about the ongoing strike among transport workers in France, which put me off a bit. But I had booked my flight and accommodation and could do nothing about it. I figured there would be delays here and there, but it wouldn’t be so bad.

Getting to Paris

On the day of my flight, I took the day off work, so I had a few hours to burn before heading to the airport. So I finished packing my carry-on using my Packr app, which is amazing, by the way. I didn’t forget anything for my trip.

Then I headed to the gym for some intensive sessions since I wouldn’t be working out for a few days. When it was about two hours to check in, I took a 20 minutes Uber drive to the Manchester Airport. I have an irrational fear of missing flights, so I tend to go really early.

Thankfully, I went early because I couldn’t pass through until I got to security. This was because I had packed way too many skincare products. (I know, I know!)

Even though I had decanted most of my products into 100ml transparent bottles, they were too many to pass through. I was sent back to the Easyjet Bag Drop to check in my carry-on luggage. This costs me about £6 for each flight. See why you need to get to the airport early enough?

After successfully passing through security, it was time to move to the boarding gate. I waited about an hour in the lounge before it was finally time to board.

My flight took out at about 5.25pm UK time and landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport one hour later. Turns out, Paris is one hour ahead of Manchester.

Moving around Paris on a budget

After landing at the airport with my new friend/seatmate Ellie, who thankfully happened to be a British Parisienne, it was time to find my way to my hostel.

Ellie had given me the lowdown on the current situation with the strike and how to navigate the city. So we consulted Google Maps, and she picked my best route. We said our goodbyes, and it was time for me to find my way around Paris.

Before my trip, I had budgeted £64 ~ €75, which was the cost of unlimited transportation through all the major modes of transport in Paris for 3 days. But Ellie told me to save my coins and not bother because the strike would not allow me to maximise the Travel pass.

Now, Paris has a wide variety of transportation, from bicycles to scooters to tricycles, trains and buses. But the major mode of transportation was the Metro underground train ( the fastest, which was mostly affected by the strike.

They literally stopped operating after 5pm), the RER overhead train (which was decently fast and went everywhere) and the slow bus (which you had to resort to when the Metro stopped operating).

I eventually took the RER train (about an hour long) from the airport and a bus to my hostel. I had a bit of difficulty navigating my way around the Gare Du Nord train station. Plus, the strike didn’t help matters at all.

After walking all around the station, I discovered that the Metro wasn’t operating anymore. I had to resort to the bus.

After about two hours till midnight, I arrived at my hostel to check in. To find the best hostels in Paris, use cozycozy.com

I eventually bought a bundle of 10 universal tickets (called Carnet) for €16.90 (€1.90 each), which I used throughout my trip. I used these t- tickets on the Metro, RER and bus. For some reason, I didn’t need to buy anymore (except once at Versailles) until I returned to Manchester.

My planned Paris itinerary

While on my way to Paris, I had planned to use the transportation zones as my itinerary.

Zones 1 – 3 covered the Paris City Centre, which included most, if not all, the major attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre Museum, etc.

Zones 1 – 5 covered the Paris City Centre, airports, and suburbs, including Disneyland and Chateau De Versailles.

As you can see, this was a great itinerary, but like everything in life, sometimes things don’t go as planned. Out of excitement, I ended up mixing up the zones and just winging it.

What to eat in Paris on a budget

When people say Paris is expensive, they mean there is not enough street/fast food, so you must eat at restaurants most, if not all the time.

During my stay in Paris, I saw only one KFC restaurant in Versailles. Then I understood how expensive Paris can be and where European beauty standards came from. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Now, for someone like me with a very limited budget, I wasn’t about to spend all my coins on restaurants even though I knew some might be reasonably priced. I just wasn’t interested in finding out.

That left me with two meal options: my free breakfast of freshly baked croissants, baguettes with coffee and orange juice at my hostel, and cheap sandwiches and pastries from Patisserie Boulangeries. (According to Le Cordon Bleu, they are pastry and bakery shops) Yup! Best believe I ate so many croissants I started to feel them grow on my head.

Check out the Top 10 Best French Pastries you need to try, RANKED!

So, between croissants, baguettes, pain du Chocolat, baguette sandwiches and rotisserie chicken, I did not starve. While I’m not much of a foodie, I did not forget to indulge in French treats like macarons, crepes, and some ice cream here and there.

Even though I was slightly worried about all the flour’s calories, I burned them somehow by walking about 35000 steps in two days. (Yes, my fitness tracker is fairly accurate.)

What to do in Paris on a budget

I started to write about this section which covered all the ten-plus major attractions I visited over two days. But I stopped because I realised it would make this post very long, and I wouldn’t want that.

Check out 10 Things To Do In Paris in Two Days.

Going back to Manchester

While I had a swell time in Paris, my return to Manchester almost ruined the trip.

I stayed in a mixed dorm on my first night in Paris because the hostel had accidentally cancelled my female-only dorm reservation. I was about to be completely mad at them, but somehow they made up for this with their customer service, so I let it slide.

By the next morning, I was moved to my normal female-only dorm. Now it was time to make some friends. Yes, I had Ellie, but I needed just one person to make the trip successful.

When I checked in, the two girls weren’t in the mood to make new friends, so I just left and went about my itinerary for the day. When I returned, the girls had checked out and were replaced with a new batch. My fave was Kawatsura, a Japanese who couldn’t speak English.

At first, it was challenging to communicate. I’ll confess that she was the first to initiate the friendship. Eventually, we settled on Google Translate to communicate with each other. By the time I was checking out, it was a bittersweet moment for both of us.

I figured two hours was enough before taking off to get to CDG airport. Turns out, I was wrong. I should have settled for an Uber.

Long story short, I walked from my hostel to Gare Du Nord train station before fighting a space on the RER train to the airport. It was such a crazy day. Right there and there, I promised to always use a cab when I needed to catch a flight.

Naturally, I missed my flight to Manchester and had to wait in the airport for about 9 hours while Netflix and chilling to catch the next available flight to Liverpool. I eventually took a National Express coach from Liverpool to Manchester and got home at midnight.

Regardless of what happened, I’ll return to Paris to visit and regain my French fluency.