How Much Money to Bring to France: a Week for Two in Paris and Provence

A week in France for two costs roughly 1150-1600 euro on a tight budget, 2000-3000 at a middle pace and from 5200 in comfort, flights excluded. Those numbers mean little until you split the trip in half, because Paris and any French region are two separate budgets: the same standard of accommodation in Provence costs half what the capital charges. Which is why how much money to bring to France is decided by the ratio of days rather than by how demanding you are.

The classic split is four nights in Paris and three somewhere in the regions. We covered Provence with its lavender and Luberon villages separately in Provence: a lavender guide; the Loire with its chateaux or Normandy work just as well. Now to the money.

A week for two: three scenarios

The calculation covers seven nights, four in Paris and three in Provence, with a train between them. Figures are approximate, check current rates before booking.

The first row settles everything. Accommodation in France swallows roughly half the trip budget, and no amount of thrift elsewhere makes up for the wrong hotel in central Paris.

Paris: the accommodation that eats half your budget

A double room in a decent three star hotel inside the first few arrondissements costs 160-260 euro a night in season, and that buys no luxury at all, just an ordinary twelve square metre room with a shower cubicle. The price drops the moment you stop insisting on the address.

• The 11th, 12th and 20th arrondissements: lively districts with bars and markets, 100-150 € a night, fifteen minutes from the centre by metro.
• The 19th and Buttes-Chaumont: cheaper again at 90-130 €, a park instead of a river view.
• The 13th and Butte-aux-Cailles: quiet, with Asian quarters serving excellent cheap food.
• Inner suburbs beyond the ring road: Montreuil, Pantin, Vanves, from 80 €, though check walking distance to a metro station rather than an RER stop.

Short term rentals in Paris are tightly regulated and legal flats may only be let for a limited number of nights per year. The practical conclusion is simple: book only through platforms showing a confirmed registration number, or you risk a cancellation three days before arrival at the busiest time of year. Provence works the opposite way: a house with a garden runs 90-140 euro a night, often with a pool, and that is exactly why the regional half of the trip comes out noticeably cheaper.

A three euro breakfast and the plat du jour

Hotel breakfast at 18-25 euro per person is the most pointless expense in France. Round the corner sits a boulangerie where a croissant costs 1,20-1,60, a pain au chocolat 1,50-1,90 and a baguette tradition about 1,30. Two people eat for 5-7 euro standing at the counter with coffee, and that is not poverty but an ordinary French morning.

Lunch rests on the plat du jour, the dish of the day served on weekdays in brasseries and small restaurants from noon until two. It costs 14-19 euro, and there is often a formule, meaning starter plus main or main plus dessert, for 18-24. The same kitchen charges double for the same food a la carte in the evening.

• Coffee at the counter: 1,50-2,50 €. The identical cup on the terrace, 3,50-5 €, because you are renting the table.
• A glass of wine in a bar: 5-8 €. A whole bottle of that quality in a supermarket, 6-9 €.
• Bistro dinner for two with wine: 70-110 €.
• Market picnic: cheese, ham, baguette, tomatoes: 15-20 € for two.

Two things worth knowing about the bill. First, a carafe of tap water comes free by established practice, and the phrase to use is carafe d'eau rather than asking for water in a bottle. Second, supermarket wine in France costs what a mediocre drink costs at home, and a respectable Cotes du Rhone for seven euro is entirely realistic. A market picnic in Provence is not merely cheaper than a restaurant, it is frequently better.

Museums: when the full price is optional

Paris is a city where entry tickets become the third largest line in the budget. The Louvre costs around 22 euro, the Orsay around 16, Versailles with the gardens around 21, Sainte-Chapelle around 13, the stairs to the second level of the Eiffel Tower around 14, and the lift to the summit around 35.

Now the ways around the full price. Many national museums are free on the first Sunday of the month, the Louvre adds a free evening at times, and anyone under eighteen enters free. EU residents under twenty six get free entry to state museums, which covers Ukrainians holding residence permits in the EU. A two day Museum Pass costs about 70 euro and only pays off if you cover three or four major sites a day; at a relaxed pace it loses money.

Tickets for the Louvre and Versailles are bought on the official sites with a fixed time slot, and current prices are listed on the Louvre website. In season the morning slots go a week ahead, and the queue without a booking costs an hour of your life.

Navigo Easy, the TGV and a car in the region

In Paris, stop buying single tickets from the machine each time. A Navigo Easy card costs 2 euro for the plastic, you load journeys onto it, and a batch of ten works out around a third cheaper than singles. The weekly Navigo Semaine costs about 32 euro for all zones including airport runs and Versailles, but it runs strictly Monday to Sunday, so it suits nobody arriving on a Thursday.

The rule is singular: TGV tickets open three or four months ahead, and the cheapest Prem's fares go first. Buy them on the official SNCF Connect site, since resellers add commission and nothing else. On the Paris to Provence run the gap between early and late booking easily reaches a hundred euro per person, the single biggest saving available on the whole trip.

Provence without a car is close to pointless: the Luberon villages, the lavender fields of Valensole and the Verdon gorge are not connected to each other by public transport. Three days of hire with fuel and tolls comes to 200-280 euro per couple. Parking in old town centres is paid and tight, so look for the park and ride lots at the entrance to each town.

Tourist tax, tipping and other small print

The taxe de sejour is paid on site or bundled into the booking. In Paris it runs roughly 3-6 euro per person per night in a mid range hotel and more in expensive ones, in Provencal towns 1-3. Over a week for two that adds 30-60 euro on top of your reservation, and it regularly comes as an unpleasant surprise at the desk.

Tipping in France is not obligatory. Service is included in the price by law, which is what the phrase service compris insists on. Leaving a euro or two in coins after a good dinner is a courtesy; fifteen percent on top is an American habit that nobody here expects. Taxi fares get rounded up, and that is the end of it.

A few small things that genuinely affect spending. Station toilets charge around 80 cents. Tap water is drinkable nationwide, so bottled water is wasted money. Shops mostly close on Sundays outside tourist zones in Paris, which means Sunday groceries are bought on Saturday. And one more: many museums and chateaux discount tickets bought online rather than at the desk.

What to budget

A realistic figure for a couple spending a week in France is 2400-2800 euro without flights: three star hotels in both halves of the trip, a TGV booked well ahead, three days of car hire in Provence, a plat du jour every day, three or four Paris museums and Versailles. The 1200-1500 euro version delivers the same country with nothing essential lost, because the best of it, meaning the markets, the Seine embankments, the lavender fields and small town squares in the evening, costs nothing at all. A hundred euro in cash per couple is plenty; cards work everywhere, bakeries and metro machines included. Prices are indicative for 2026, check current rates before booking, as Paris accommodation and rail fares are revised every year.