Planning a trip to France? See what 8 days in France Cost!

How much does a trip to France Cost? Three of us spent eight days and seven nights traveling in France.  Here is a breakdown of what it cost to travel in Alsace and Paris, France.

Travel Item	Cost
Airfare	$523/each
Lodging	$119.53/per person (7nights)
Local Transport	$106/per person
Attractions	$41/per person
Food	$72/per person
Total	$862/per person

Airfare

We found airfare on Norwegian Air to Paris for only $229 each, so we couldn’t pass it up.

We flew back for $294, not as cheap as our departure, but overall still pretty cheap to fly across an ocean.

Total airfare:  $523 per person

Lodging

Roissy

We arrived in Paris on a train strike day, so we took a free hotel shuttle bus to the town of Roissy, about 15 minutes from the airport, and stayed at the Holiday Inn for 20,000 IHG points, which we earned from signing up for the Chase IHG credit card, with a 100,000 point bonus. If you need to stay near the airport, here are some things to do in Roissy.

Cost:      $0 (20,000 IHG points)

Strasbourg

We had planned to stay two nights in Strasbourg, but the train strike changed our plans, and we ended up only spending one night.  We found a great apartment, with a kitchen, named Life Renaissance, on Place Kleber. Even only spending the one night, we found a lot to do in Strasbourg.

The apartment cost $167.06.

Cost:      $55.69 for 1/3 cost of the apartment

Colmar

We spent three nights at Apartment Grand Rue, on the second floor, near Place de Ancienne Duoane, one of my favorite areas in Colmar.

The cost of Apartment Grand Rue was $191.53 for three nights. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was clean, had a kitchen, and was a place to sleep in a great area.

Cost:      $63.84 for my third, a thrifty $21.28 per night

We loved our time in Colmar. There are so many things to do in Colmar. Plus, it’s a great base for visiting some of the fairytale villages in Alsace.

Paris

After Colmar, we took a train to spend three nights in Paris.

Courtyard Paris Arcuel:  we had two Marriott free night certificates from a “stay two nights, get one night free” promotion that were going to expire soon.  The hotel was nothing special, but it was free.

Cost:  $0 (two Marriott certificates)

Holiday Inn Paris, Notre Dame:  for our last night in Paris, we decided to “splurge” at the Holiday Inn Paris, Notre Dame, a great location a 10 minute walk from Notre Dame and a 20 minute walk from The Louvre.

We used 40,000 IHG points from our bonus from getting the Chase IHG credit card.

Cost: $0 (40,000 IHG points)

Total lodging costs: $119.53 per person for 7 nights in France

Local transport

Instead of using SCNF, the French National Railway, we found a company called Ouigo, and found cheap train tickets for the two hour journey from Charles de Gaulle airport to Strasbourg for €10, and a ticket back from Strasbourg for €16, saving us almost $100 per person.

After Strasbourg, we took a 30 minute train to Colmar.  Surprisingly these tickets cost almost as much as our Strasbourg tickets, coming in at €22.90 round trip.

We did some day trips on busses to some amazing fairytale towns in Alsace for a total of €9.30 per person€9.30 per person

Once we got to the airport in Paris, we had to take the RER into the city, which cost €10.30.

We bought a carnet (10) of metro tickets for €14.90 and split it.

We had to ride the RER a couple times to our Courtyard hotel, for €11.20 each.

Finally, we took the OrlyBus to the airport.

Cost:      €86.15 per person for local transportation costs (about $106)

Attractions

Admittedly we hardly spent anything on attractions, as one of our favorite things to do is simply wander the streets and immerse ourselves in the local culture.

We did splurge on The Louvre at €16, and also €17 for the hop-on-hop off Batobus along the Seine.

Cost:  €33 (about $41) per person

Food

When we were in apartments, we went grocery shopping and cooked cheap meals like pasta.  I know, not very French, but we were trying to save money.

Cost: approximately $72 per person

Total for our trip to France cost:

$862 per person for 8 days and 7 nights in Alsace and Colmar, France

Spend Less; Travel More