Paris on €117 Round Trip — Without Cutting Corners
I take the train to Paris when I’m organized and the flight when I’m not. The Thalys from Amsterdam Centraal to Paris Gare du Nord takes 3 hours and 20 minutes and costs around €70-100 each way if you book in advance. The Ryanair flight from Schiphol to Beauvais costs €117 return but adds 2 hours of bus time each way from the airport. My honest take: book Thalys if you’re planning ahead, book the flight if you’re being spontaneous. Both get you to Paris. The flight gives you more money left over for croissants.
Getting Into the City Without Getting Ripped Off
If you fly into Charles de Gaulle, the RER B train to Gare du Nord costs €11.45 and takes 35 minutes. I always take the train. A taxi from CDG to central Paris costs €55-65 fixed fare and takes 45 minutes if traffic is kind — which it rarely is. If you fly into Beauvais like I did on my cheapest trip, the Terravision shuttle to Porte Maillot costs €17 each way and takes 75 minutes. It’s not glamorous, but it gets the job done for €117 total ticket price.
Once you’re in the city, buy a carnet of 10 metro tickets for €19.10 instead of paying €2.15 per single ride. I bought one on my first morning and it lasted the entire weekend. The metro is easy, frequent, and every line has a different smell — some smell like roasted chestnuts, others like… well, the Paris metro.
Where I Always Eat (and What I Skip)
Bouillon Pigalle is my non-negotiable Paris stop. €15 for a three-course French meal — real French onion soup, confit duck, crème brûlée — served in a bustling Art Nouveau dining room with waiters who don’t rush you. I’ve taken three different groups of friends there and every single one of them texted me later saying it was the best meal of their trip. They don’t take reservations for small tables, so go at 11:45 for lunch or 6:30 for dinner. The queue forms fast.
For breakfast, I walk to a local boulangerie and order one pain au chocolat (€1.30) and one café crème (€2.50). Total: €3.80 for a breakfast that beats any hotel buffet. I skip the cafés near the Louvre that charge €8 for the same thing. Walk one street away from any major attraction and prices drop by 50%.
Museums — Which Ones Are Actually Worth Your Time
The Louvre is overwhelming. I’ve been three times and I still haven’t seen it all. If you only have one day in Paris — skip it. Seriously. The Musée d’Orsay is more manageable, less crowded, and the Impressionist collection is world-class. Entry costs €16 and you can see the highlights in two hours. The building itself — a converted Beaux-Arts railway station — is as beautiful as the art inside. I spent €18 on the Louvre on my first trip and felt rushed and anxious about seeing everything. At the Orsay, I actually enjoyed myself.
The best free thing in Paris is walking along the Seine from Île de la Cité to the Eiffel Tower at sunset. It takes about 45 minutes, you pass Notre-Dame (still under renovation but beautiful from outside), the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, and the Eiffel Tower gradually appears around every corner. I do this every single trip. Pack a €5 bottle of wine from Monoprix and some cheese and you have the most romantic evening you’ll ever spend for under €10.
My Final Paris Advice
Stay in the Marais or near République (not near the Eiffel Tower — that neighborhood is tourist central). I found a great apartment on Trip.com for €72 a night in the 11th arrondissement with a view of the rooftops. The neighborhood has incredible bakeries, wine bars, and it’s a 20-minute walk to everything. Book your Paris flight on Trip.com for the best Ryanair and EasyJet rates from Amsterdam, and use their hotel search to find apartments that give you a real Parisian experience instead of a sterile hotel room.
And one last thing: the crepe stand near the Pompidou Centre does a Nutella-banana crepe for €4 and it’s worth the entire cost of the trip.
Author Bio: I’m a Dutch travel writer who’s spent more weekends in Paris than I can count. I’ve made every mistake a traveler can make so you don’t have to.
Search Paris flights on Trip.com — Ryanair from AMS consistently has the lowest fares.
Find Paris hotel deals on Trip.com — I found my Marais apartment through their listings.