Travel posts are something you're going to be seeing a lot more in the coming months - I hope you're okay with that! I cannot wait to share all the things coming up over the Summer during the next few weeks. For those of you who don't know (this is for the newbies as I'm forever going on about it) I am going to Mexico at the beginning of July with my boyfriend for a relaxing 2 week holiday so you will be seeing plenty of travel-related content both on here and my Youtube channel shortly. However, I thought I would kick off my love for travelling with a little guide to the city of Paris. Aidan and I travelled here in October last year for my 18th birthday and stayed for a long weekend (see posts at bottom!). It was such a wonderful trip and I learnt a lot after cramming in a week's worth of activities into one weekend. Thus, I thought I would share with you my top 10 tips from travelling to money-saving if you're looking for a city break to gorgeous Paris.
Commençons!
Commençons!
1. My number one travel trip to save money would be to book through Expedia (this is not sponsored btw!). Honestly, we spent hours trying to find the perfect place to book through and found that Expedia had the best deals for hotel, accomodation and travel. Overall, we managed to save over £600 by booking through Expedia - our hotel cost us £500 for 3 nights and 4 days. It was called the 'Atlantic Hotel' - a gorgeous 3* that I think deserves at least another extra star! They were so kind - they ensured our room was pristine every day and accommodated for all of our needs. I would definitely recommend them if you're looking for a more luxurious hotel. It was also super convenient as it was opposite a quiet metro station, allowing for easy travel to the centre of Paris!
2. Another way to save some pennies before you actually go away is by booking the Eurostar. If you live in the UK and are able to get to St Pancras station in London then 100% opt for the Eurostar to travel to France. It is so much cheaper than booking flights and the journey isn't that much longer. The seats are relatively spacious and getting through security is much quicker than waiting around in an airport. Our journey ran smoothly and we arrived at Gare Du Nord a couple hours after boarding the Eurostar.
3. For those of you living in the UK, you will know that we, as a collective, have decided to leave the EU. I'm not a very political person but from what I gathered, I'm not in agreement with what we've decided to do as a whole...Anyway, this has resulted in the exchange rate being extremely bad as the Great British Sterling pound has lost a lot of its value. This made it very difficult to change our money beforehand - we looked for days to find the best deal so I recommend looking around to find the best rate of exchange. Make sure you allow time to do this - I wouldn't risk waiting until you reach the airport because the rates are usually shite and sometimes cannot always fulfill your needs.
4. This next one is definitely a regret of mine as I suffered a lot, especially during the second day. On our second full day in Paris, my boyfriend and I designated this day as our 'tourist' day. Therefore, this involved a lot of walking and travelling to ensure we got to visit all the main attractions we wanted to experience. For some stupid reason, we never utilised the Metro - I guess we just thought it would be ridiculously expensive like London transport. However, on day 3 when we were on the way to Disney, we found that tickets were super cheap and I fell into a massive state of regret. I had blisters the size of golf balls on the back of my feet - it was NOT pretty! If you are in Paris - USE THE METRO. It will save you a lot of time, your feet and you won't need to break the bank.
5. As we didn't want to splash too much money on a hotel, we decided to go for one without an all-inclusive breakfast or meals. This was our own decision as we wanted to venture into some Parisian food and have a bit of a change. If we wanted breakfast in our hotel, it was the equivalent of £16 per person! Crazy money! However, we luckily had a cute bakery on the corner of the road, literally two doors away from the hotel, so we made great use out of this every morning. The bakery was called Midore and the people who worked there were lovely; they also spoke English too which was helpful when we made fools out of ourselves trying to pronounce the menu! The main point of this is that places like Midore and also this place called Paul are great breakfast options and are no way near as expensive as other places dotted around Paris!
6. In terms of snacks, I definitely recommend stocking up for the day so you don't have to keep splurging as you venture around the Parisian streets. The food is generally overpriced, as in any major city, so you find yourself getting mugged off most of the time. I am a very snack-y eater aswell so I struggle through the day without mini sugary snacks to keep me going. As long as you aren't on a serious health kick, the places I recommend going to are Mcdonald's or even Paul for small sweet snacks. There are also mini supermarkets but they aren't too frequent so if you see one...buy something there and then if you feel you will get hungry throughout the day!
7. Similarly, if you are considering going to Disneyland Paris during your stay, please be prepared for the shocking prices of food. We couldn't comprehend how much we spent on food when we got there and had no other choice but to buy it as we were not fully prepared. Definitely stock up on some food before heading to Disney, whether it be from a Fran Prix supermarket or some snacks from home. FOOD IS SUPER EXPENSIVE!
8. When we went to Disney, we were only going for one day. At Disneyland Paris, they have two parks you can visit. We wanted to get the most out of our day so we arrived early. However, we didn't plan our day beforehand and that is something I really regret. Although we got to go on most of the rides we planned, I wish we printed a map off prior to our mini vacation and decided our 'plan of attack' for the day, if you know what I mean. There were various queues throughout the day and I wish we knew of the new rides and which we should line up for first etc. If you want to make the most out of your day, print a map off of the Disneyland website and decided what/where you want to go in advance.
9. Being the cringey couple we are, we of course wanted to do the classic 'lock on a bridge'. It has been on my bucket list ever since I got a boyfriend and am thrilled that I got the opportunity to do it with someone I adore and have spent almost four of my years with. My top money saving tip for this one is DO NOT buy the lock before hand. Lock and keys are very expensive in shops and back in England; however, there are many little 'knick-knack' 'shops' on the side street where locals sell various trinkets for usually cheaper prices. We ended up buying our lock for £2 which came with 3 keys! Unless you're getting your padlock engraved, I recommend waiting until you are in Paris to buy a lock together. Also, bring a pen! We spent more money on a pen from a local stationery shop that the lock itself...
10. Bringing back to the point of the metro, if you are going to wear new shoes...DON'T! I made the biggest mistake of my life wearing new shoes on our second day in Paris and my feet were raw for the rest of our break. I had two huge blisters on the backs of my ankles, making me want to scream every time they touched anything. If you've brought new shoes, please try and break them in before walking around all day in them. Footwear being comfortable is a necessity in Paris as you will probably spend a lot of time walking. Noone deserves the blisters I had...honestly!
Paris Posts :
Travel Diary 1
Travel Diary 2
Travel Diary 3
Travel Diary 4
Paris Outfits
Paris Vlog
Paris Haul
What has been your favourite place to visit? Do you have any money saving tips for city breaks?
Au Revoir!
Lots of love
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