A trip for 2 to France - how much should I budget?

I don't know the specifics either of where we'd like to go, but the entire trip would not be spent inside Paris.


At this point everything is still a hypothetical.

Also, keep an eye on the Euro. It'll cost more/less depending on the strength of the dollar vs. the Euro whenever you go. I had the misfortune of going when the Euro was at it's strongest.

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That's not a short trip and Paris isn't cheap. Without knowing the specifics of where else you'll be going and how many days will be spent in Paris, I'd say you're looking at at least $10k (including flights).

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$10,000?

$3000 in flights (could be less)
$175 x 12 nights in lodging- $2100 (adjust up/down)
$100 per diem x 13 = $1300

You're at $6400 using my guesses and maybe layer another grand or two on top of whatever you have calculated to account for tours, transportation, souvenirs, etc, underestimation of the above.

Agree with the 8000-10,000 crowd.

It can be done much cheaper, but comes with sacrifices. Staying in less highly-sought after places, snacking/groceries to cut down food costs, spending more time doing free things such as simply walking around, etc.

If your wife is go with the flow and is willing to make sacrifices you could bring it down to the $5-6K range.

We really aren't high maintenance as long as my wife feels safe. I can tell you right now, food is where we would want to be spending our money. My wife is a huge fan of cheeses/wine and I'm a big foodie so the trip would mostly be centered around that. I'll start doing research on exactly what/where I want to go. Any suggestions or links would be greatly appreciated.

$2,000 roundtrip for 2.

If you want to travel around to another country, Ryanair is cheap as hell in Europe.

Paris is huge, there are cheap rentals and some really cheap hotels, plus Bnb just like any major cities with tons of options - depends on your comfort level and where you really want to stay in the city....buy your food at boulangeries, cheese and ham/salami shops...eat in the parks and picnic a lot.

$200 a day for two in Paris is doable...add air-fare - I don't see why you can't easily do two weeks for under $5,000 depending on how much stuff you buy to take home.

ETA: yeah, what the other poster was saying above me.

In the 90's we flew $500 roundtrip per person and had $1,000 for a week.

Great tip, thanks!

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I know several people who travel to Europe for weeks at a time. Surely they aren't all dropping tens of thousands of dollars, right?

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Correct. I believe the estimates posters have given are high. First, don't go in the summer high season when flights and lodging are expensive. Go in early may or in september. I am looking at airbnb and see several nice looking apts in central paris with good reviews for under $1000 for 1 week. We always rent apts when we travel as we get to stay in a neighborhood away from hordes of tourists and you can cook a few meals and save money. We usually eat breakfast and sometimes lunch at the apt. Then we can splurge on a nice meal every few days if we want. I will add my wife is the opposite of high maintenance....so your situation may be different.

We usually budget $150/ day lodging + $100 per day food and incidentals such as museums and bus/tram tickets and we often don't spend that much per day. We don't eat fancy but maybe once a week and we stay out of the tourists areas for food where prices will be high. Its way more fun to find a local place off the beaten path anyway. For flights, budget $1500 but you can often find cheaper. so $6500 is what I would budget for 13 days. Also, I am cheap, I rationalize I would be spending money at home to eat and drink and cool my house...I turn off the ac while we are gone. I reckon about $300-400 per week is what we spend for all that at home. And so if I want to go over budget for a nice meal, I have that savings in mind. Or you can fold that into your budget and so $6500 becomes $5900 or so. Go buy Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door and whatever book he has on Paris. He gives all sorts of tips to save money as well as how to pack, what to expect at foreign airports and train stations.