Budget Paris - Paris on the cheap

•      Buy a book of metro/bus tickets for use in central Paris - unless you prefer to walk or  use the Velib bike hire system.
•      Buy a Paris Visite transport pass + a Paris Museum pass for two days will cost 47.20 €uros (Jan. 2011), much less than the  cost of the Paris Pass. The Paris Pass does however include some other attractions, such as use of a sightseeing bus, and is a good buy if it is important to save time and get a lot in to a short stay in Paris.
•      Hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus pass  for les Cars Rouges, open-top guided tour buses linking nine major sites; a two-day pass costs just 24 €. at thes tart of 2011, and can be bought on the bus.  An alternative is Cityrama, where a  2-day hop-on hop-off pass costs 32 €, and covers four different routes.
•      The "Batobus" and travel on the Seine. The Batobus are river buses that go up and down the Seine from the Eiffel tower to the quai de Montebello (near Notre Dame).  There are 8 stops in all. A day passat the start of 2011 costs 13 €, and a 5-day pass costs 20 € per adult.

General Budget Paris tips:

• Book your hotel in advance so you have time to get a good rate. It is possible to find a two-star hotel or a one-star hotel double room for under 70 €uros a night, and hostel accommodation even cheaper.
• Use ordinary public transport - and buy yourself  or yourselves a "carnet" of  tickets.
• Visit the great free attractions of Paris - Notre Dame cathedral, Montmartre,  the banks of the Seine, wander along the Champs Elysées and more. There are also free museums and more, and some major museums are free on the first Sunday of each month. See the Paris tourist attractions page..
• Eat your main meal at midday - when many restaurants offer a full meal for less than 12 €uros; Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants are particularly good value. Take something simpler in the evening.
• Pay by credit card or in cash that you get from an ATM (check your own bank's charges for foreign transactions)
• Check out the list of free concerts in parks and churches, specially in summer.
• View Paris from on high by touring round the "metro aérien", the elevated metro (particularly lines 2 and 6) which circles round inner Paris, above the boulevards, at second story level. A normal ticket is all that is needed. 
• Drink at the bar. Many Parisian cafés charge less for cutomers who stand at the bar than for those who get served at a table.
• Use the Velib bike hire system - but take care. Use it correctly, and it will just cost 1 € a day.

• Don't take a coffee or a beer at a pavement café on the Champs Elysées, or any other tourist trap. 
• Don't take breakfast in your hotel, unless they are charging less than 6 €uros. go to the nearest café; most cafés offer a light breakfast.
• Don't eat in glitzy boulevard restaurants in the evening;
• Don't use taxis for short trips
• Don't try to exchange foreign cash or travellers cheques - not even in banks. But if you have to, avoid changing small sums, as the commission is often a flat rate.
• Don't go to the top of the Eiffel tower: the views are already pretty spectacular from the second level (see Eiffel tower ticket prices)
• Don't try to find a hotel when you arrive. Book one in advance.
• Don't use the Velib bike hire system unless you realise how it works.