The City of Love isn’t renowned for being a reasonable date since it’s slick and elegant. However, the most budget-conscious visitor can find a plethora of exciting and free things in Paris, from free-entry museums and galleries to bustling markets and canalside strolls.
1. The Eiffel Tower's light display may be seen from the Champ de Mars Park.
The cost of a lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower might be prohibitive, but the views from the ground can be just as spectacular. As a former army parade area, the Parc du Champ de Mars includes groomed lawns and flowerbeds meticulously tended after. At sunset, the light display at La Tour Eiffel will be twinkling, so bring a picnic basket with you and a bottle of wine.
2. Take a stroll around Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen and look around.
Window-shopping, or “lécher les vitrines,” known to the locals, is a fun opportunity to get a sneak look at unique collectibles and works of art that you probably won’t purchase. Imagination may run wild at the St-Ouen flea market and antiques fair. Be amazed by the variety of exotic items for sale in this extravagantly quirky bazaar. Try not to raise your eyebrows when you see the price tags. Hop off the metro at Porte de Clignancourt (line 4) and proceed under the bridge until the souvenir shops give way to side alleyways loaded with beautiful goods.
3. Check out the permanent collection at Paris's Musée d'Art Moderne.
A visit to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, one of the city’s numerous free attractions (though a gift of €5 is suggested), will provide a bizarre perspective on French society. There’s something to cheer you up here, whether Braque’s brash cubism or Matisse’s dancers. Alma-Marceau is the last stop on line 9.
4. The Cimitière du Père Lachaise is a beautiful place to walk in the evening.
Proust and Balzac and Oscar Wilde and Edith Piaf are just a few of the literary luminaries you’ll meet in the eeriest Paris location. A barrier at this old cemetery protects fans who pilgrimage to Jim Morrison’s tomb. Père Lachaise’s tree-lined roads and chirping birds make it one of Paris’s most evocative walks. Get off the metro at Père Lachaise (line 2) or Gambetta (line 3) in the 20th arrondissement (line 3).
5. Taking a stroll in Parc Monceau
If you don’t like wandering through a cemetery looking for famous people, go to Parc Monceau, where you may see the likes of Chopin and Guy de Maupassant’s sculptures. If you like history, you’ll enjoy a trip around the park, where a massacre occurred in 1871, and Claude Monet painted many of his most famous works. Visit the Musée Cernuschi, a municipal Asian Art Museum housed in an exquisite mansion close to the park’s eastern entrance on Via Vélasquez, for a bonus look at the remarkable collection of seldom-seen Chinese Statuary. Line 2 will take you to the 8th arrondissement’s Monceau metro station.
5.The Basilica du Sacré-Coeur is open to the public for free.
This opulent white marble chapel crowns the 18th arrondissement’s bustling Montmartre neighborhood. One of the world’s most giant bells may be heard pealing from one of the cathedral’s gilded mosaics and towering stained-glass windows. A fee is required to climb to the top of the dome or enter the crypt, although the basilica itself is free to see. The monument is bathed in floodlights in the evening, making for a romantic promenade with your sweetheart.
