Paris Travel Guide

France · Western Europe

Travel Costs (per day, excluding flights)

• Budget: $55/day, accommodation from $88/night
• Balanced: $125/day, accommodation from $175/night
• Elevated: $450/day, accommodation from $332/night

Travel Scores

• Food Scene: 96/10 — Paris defines fine dining globally — home to more Michelin-starred restaurants than almost any city, plus exceptional bistros, boulangeries, fromageries, and a thriving immigrant food scene (Vietnamese, North African, Lebanese) across all price points. Benchmark city for the rubric.
• Accessibility: 42/10 — Paris's historic Métro is notoriously inaccessible — only Line 14 and a handful of stations are fully step-free. Cobblestone streets in Montmartre and the Marais, and stairs-only access at most Métro stations, make it genuinely difficult for wheelchair users despite good surface-level ramp coverage in newer areas.
• Nature Outdoor: 55/10 — Paris has beautiful parks (Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, Luxembourg Gardens) but no dramatic nature nearby. Versailles gardens and the Fontainebleau forest are accessible day trips, but nothing rivals Cape Town or Vancouver for proximity to dramatic landscapes.
• Value For Money: 48/10 — Paris is one of Europe's most expensive cities for tourists — a café crème near a major attraction easily costs €5–7, mid-range restaurant meals run €30–50/person, and hotel prices are among the highest in Europe, especially post-2024 Olympics infrastructure investment.
• Culture History: 97/10 — The Louvre alone holds over 35,000 displayed works; add the Musée d'Orsay, Notre-Dame, Versailles, Sainte-Chapelle, and the Eiffel Tower. Paris rivals Rome for sheer density of world-defining historical and cultural sites accessible to tourists.
• Nightlife Social: 80/10 — Paris has a vibrant, varied nightlife — legendary jazz clubs, wine bars, rooftop terraces, and a strong electronic music scene centered on venues like Rex Club and Concrete. Not as raw or 24-hour as Berlin, but consistently excellent across multiple social styles.
• Airport Convenience: 72/10 — CDG is 25 km from central Paris with the reliable RER B rail link (~50 min, ~€11.80), but the RER B is aging, occasionally unreliable, and the journey involves multiple connections. The airport itself is large and modern (especially Terminal 2E) with good lounges and dining, but CDG's terminal layout is notoriously confusing.
• Walkability Transit: 86/10 — Paris is one of the world's most walkable cities — the central arrondissements are compact, flat, and pedestrian-friendly, with major attractions (Louvre to Notre-Dame to Musée d'Orsay) walkable in under 30 minutes. The Métro covers the city densely with 16 lines. Comparable to the rubric's Paris benchmark.