Paris on a Budget: What Three Days Really Costs
Last updated: October 2026
Intro
Paris is expensive in a few predictable places, and that is where most budgets leak. Checked in October 2026, three days and two nights cost about €139 to €179 per person lean, €445 to €585 normal and €883 to €1,143 comfortable, using the higher non-EEA sight prices. Older guides miss three things. Since 14 January 2026 the Louvre charges visitors from outside the European Economic Area €32, not €22. The Eiffel Tower summit by lift is €36.70. And a tourist tax of up to €15.93 per person per night is added to the room rate.
For the centre on foot, Ciceru has a free self-guided walk in the Ciceru app from Notre-Dame to the Louvre, 3 km and about 2 hours, with a story and a quiz question at each of its 9 stops and a free 500 MB global eSIM.
⚡ Quick answer
- 🎒 Lean (hostel dorm, bakery and market meals, free sights): €139 to €179 per person
- 🙂 Normal (budget hotel, a formule lunch, a bistro dinner, two paid sights): €445 to €585
- 💎 Comfortable (4-star hotel, restaurant dinners, four paid sights including the Eiffel Tower summit): €883 to €1,143
- ⚠️ What changed: the Louvre's non-EEA price is €32 since 14 January 2026, the Arc de Triomphe lift is out of service, and Eiffel Tower stairs tickets need a reservation from 29 September 2026
- 🏛️ Tourist tax: from €1.95 a night in a hostel to €15.93 in a palace, per person, on top of the room price
Totals cover two nights, three days of food, transport and sights, and the tax, but not flights or airport transfers.
💶 A day in Paris, three ways
Cafés, restaurants and hotels set their own prices, so food and room figures are working estimates from 2026 sources. Sight, transport and tax figures come from the operators and the city. Sight costs below use the non-EEA rates (Louvre €32, Sainte-Chapelle €22). EEA residents pay €22 and €16, which trims €16 off the normal and comfortable totals.
Lean: a counter coffee and a croissant (€3.50), a bakery sandwich (€6), a market or supermarket dinner or a cheap bistro (€10), two single metro tickets (€5.10). About €25 a day, with Notre-Dame, parks, the Carnavalet museum and the Seine quays all costing nothing.
Normal: a counter coffee and pastry (€4.50), a formule lunch (€17), a bistro dinner with a glass of wine (€24), one drink on a terrace (€4.50), four single tickets (€10.20), plus the Louvre and Sainte-Chapelle spread over three days (€54, €18 a day). About €78 a day.
Comfortable: a café breakfast (€9), a bistro lunch (€30), a restaurant dinner with wine (€55), a Navigo Jour day pass (€12.30), plus the Louvre, Sainte-Chapelle, the Musée d'Orsay and the Eiffel Tower summit by lift spread over three days (€106.70, about €35.57 a day). About €142 a day.
🛏️ Where to sleep and what it costs
No official source publishes market room rates. These are indicative ranges from 2026 hostel listings and budget guides, so confirm your dates before booking:
- 🎒 Hostel dorm bed: roughly €30 to €50 a night in 2026
- 🙂 Budget 2 to 3-star room, double or single: about €100 to €170 a night
- 💎 4-star room: about €220 to €350 a night
As local advice rather than a price list: the 10th, 11th and 18th arrondissements (Canal Saint-Martin, Oberkampf, lower Montmartre) hold many budget beds, a short metro ride from the centre. The 1st to 6th are where the top of each range applies.
🏛️ The Paris tourist tax
The tax is charged per person, per night, and is often not in the price you see when booking. Rates in force since 1 January 2026, all surcharges included, from the city council's 2026 tax deliberation:
- 💶 Palace: €15.93
- 💶 5-star: €11.70
- 💶 4-star: €8.45
- 💶 3-star: €5.53
- 💶 2-star: €3.25
- 💶 1-star: €2.60
- 💶 Hostels and B&Bs: €1.95
- 💶 Unclassified rentals (most apartments): 5% of the nightly price per person, capped at €15.93
Under-18s are exempt. The all-in figure is the city's base rate plus three surcharges (10% departmental, 15% regional, 200% for Île-de-France Mobilités), and the city says the 2027 grid will be identical unless the law changes. Two adults in a 3-star hotel for three nights pay €33.18 in tax alone.
🥐 Food: local price vs tourist price
Food is where Paris is easiest to cut:
- 🥖 Bakery: a classic baguette averages €1.09 and a "tradition" baguette €1.26 in independent bakeries, according to a 2026 UFC-Que Choisir survey (national average, central Paris may run higher). A bakery sandwich is roughly €4 to €6, an estimate.
- 🍽️ Formule lunch: the weekday set menu, starter and main or main and dessert, often runs around €14 to €18 in neighbourhood bistros, an estimate from 2026 guides rather than a fixed price. It is usually the best-value hot meal in the city. Drinks are usually extra.
- ☕ Coffee: an espresso at the counter is often around €2 to €4, an estimate, and sitting down costs more. Cafés must display prices for both the counter and the dining area outside, tax and service included, so read the board before you sit.
- 💧 Water: the consumer authority's rules say cafés and bars must tell you that you can ask for free drinking water. Prices include tax and service, so a tip is optional.
Tourist menus have photos, six languages and someone outside calling you in, usually in sight of a major monument. Walk two streets away. Dishes and neighbourhoods are in what to eat in Paris.
🚇 Transport for three days
A single metro, train or RER ticket is €2.55 and a bus or tram ticket €2.05, from the Île-de-France Mobilités 2026 table. A Navigo Jour day pass is €12.30, so it beats single tickets only from your fifth ride in a day. Navigo Semaine (€32.40) and Navigo Mois (€90.80) are too much for three days, and the airport ticket is €14 each way. Four rides a day for three days is €30.60 in singles, and the centre is walkable enough that many visitors ride less. Full fares and airport options are in getting around Paris.
🎟️ Attractions: what costs money, what does not
All prices below were checked on the operators' own sites in October 2026.
Louvre. €22 for EEA visitors, €32 for non-EEA visitors, rates applicable since 14 January 2026. Free for under-18s, for under-26s from the EEA with photo ID, and for everyone on the first Friday of the month after 18:00 except in July and August. Closed Tuesday. The museum recommends booking a time slot.
Eiffel Tower. Lift to the second floor €23.50, lift to the summit €36.70, stairs to the second floor €14.80, stairs then lift to the summit €28.00. Ages 12 to 24 pay half. Stairs tickets need an advance reservation from 29 September 2026, per the tower's own page.
Sainte-Chapelle and Conciergerie. Sainte-Chapelle is €22 for non-EEA visitors and €16 for EEA residents, the Conciergerie €13, and a combined ticket €30 (€23 for EEA residents). Under-26 EU residents get in free.
Musée d'Orsay. €16 online, €14 at the museum, free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month with a booking. Closed Monday.
Arc de Triomphe. €16 for the terrace from October to March, €22 from April to September (€16 on Wednesdays), free for under-26 EU residents. The lift is under maintenance until further notice, so the terrace is stairs only.
Notre-Dame. The one big sight that is free to enter, with an optional free online slot. The towers are a separate €16 ticket; the free things to do in Paris guide tracks the rules.
Carnavalet. The city history museum's permanent collections are free, Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:15.
Paris Museum Pass. The Pass's site shows €85 for 2 days, €105 for 4 and €125 for 6, with no year stated, so check. It lists the Louvre, Orsay, Conciergerie and Arc de Triomphe but not Sainte-Chapelle. Those four cost about €77 to €83 at the door at non-EEA rates, so a 2-day pass does not pay back on them alone.
💰 Three-day total: for one, for two
Built from the day rates above, plus two nights and two nights' tax:
- 🎒 Lean, solo: 3 days × €25 + 2 nights × €30 to €50 + 2 nights of hostel tax at €1.95 = €139 to €179
- 🙂 Normal, solo: 3 days × €78 + 2 nights × €100 to €170 + 2 nights of 3-star tax at €5.53 = €445 to €585
- 💎 Comfortable, solo: 3 days × €142 + 2 nights × €220 to €350 + 2 nights of 4-star tax at €8.45 = €883 to €1,143
For two sharing a room, only the room splits. A normal pair spends about €690 to €830, roughly €345 to €415 each. A comfortable pair spends about €1,326 to €1,586, roughly €663 to €793 each. A lean pair saves least, since two dorm beds cost about what two singles do: roughly €278 to €358 together.
⚠️ Where the money actually leaks
Louvre ticket resellers. The Louvre warns of ticket fraud and says you may be refused entry on an unofficial ticket. Buy only on louvre.fr.
The Eiffel Tower summit as a default. €36.70 buys the top, but the Trocadéro gardens face the tower at no cost; see the free things guide.
Café as office. A laptop session costs a coffee every hour or two. Free libraries are better; see the coworking guide.
❓ FAQ
Is Paris expensive for tourists?
Mostly in rooms and paid sights. Bakeries, formule lunches and a walkable centre keep food and transport cheap. Totals above: €139 to €179 lean, €445 to €585 normal.
How much is the tourist tax in Paris?
It depends on the star band, per person per night: from €1.95 for a hostel to €15.93 for a palace, with €2.60 for 1-star, €5.53 for 3-star, €8.45 for 4-star, and 5% of the nightly price for unclassified rentals. Under-18s are exempt.
What are the cheap things to do in Paris?
Walking, parks, Notre-Dame, Carnavalet and the first-Friday evening at the Louvre. Full list in free things to do in Paris.
✅ Before you go
Book Louvre and Eiffel Tower tickets only on their own sites, put the tourist tax in the budget separately, and check the café board before you sit. For the bigger picture, start with Paris Explained. And for the centre on foot, the Paris page lists Ciceru's free Notre-Dame to Louvre walk and two walks at €7 each: Paris Through Art & History and Eiffel Tower to Arc de Triomphe, each with a story and a quiz question at every stop.
