I was able to travel to Paris on a budget of $1,000! Yes I know it sounds like I’m making it up. Traveling from Atlanta, GA to Paris, France for 10 days. No need to couch surf, stay at hostels, or eat questionable street food. I ate all the local food I could, and I was able to enjoy my time in the city of light with amazing food and beautiful scenery. It’s not magic or rocket science. I believe anyone can do it. Here is how I did it.
Getting There
The first and most important step is Airfare. Traveling 4,370 miles from Atlanta, GA to Paris, France, usually costs about $1,200. But there’s no way I’m enjoying Paris for under $1000 with a $1200 flight right.
Here is where a website I’ve been using for a few years came to the rescue. Scott’s Cheap Flights (SCF). SCF is like a newsletter subscription that sends me an email whenever a flight deal is available. These deals are usually at least 30% cheaper than the normal ticket prices. The caveat to this is that you usually don’t know where or when the deal will be for. So you have to be relatively flexible with your plans.
I got my flight from Atlanta to Paris for about $220 thanks to SCF. I paid extra for insurance which was about $26 out of the $220. The flight included a 1-hour layover in South Carolina both ways, my carry on, a checked bag, and a personal item. Yes, I know. “No way I got the ticket that cheap”. But, I did.
Housing
So for my housing, I wanted something that felt local. Naturally, I checked AirBnB. I had 3 months to look. I thought the rates would be high, so I started looking the same weekend I bought my ticket. My flight was for early September near the end of the tourist season. Using AirBnB I was able to find an entire home with 4 beds for a 10 day stay in Maison-AlFort for $968. I feel fancy just saying it (with my “french accent”).
I was able to get 3 other people to join me on the trip, making my final cost for the AirBnB $242. That comes out to $24.20 a night. Talk about a great price.
Maison-AlFort was a nice neighborhood. The AirBnB was well lit and had a nice backyard space. It had 4 beds and one bath, a decent size kitchen, dining area, and it even came with a cat. The owner had an outdoor cat that would come throughout the day to eat. The place was maybe a 10 min walk from the train station and had shops and markets two blocks away.
