France without a doubt is one of my favorite places in the world to travel. Besides it’s incredible cuisine and history, it is home of some of the most beautiful sites on earth. But all these wonderful things come at a cost; France is a quite expensive country. One can easily drop a fortune in a day doing the most trivial things such as going to the beach. The average rate to get a chair on one of the private beaches at the Cotes D’Azur is 80 . CRAZY, you might think. Yes, so do I. But I have gone to France many times on a budget and had an amazing time. Here are some tips for cheap France travel.
Camping
France is famous for its incredible campsites; you can find one with a great infrastructure in pretty much any area of the country. Camping is actually very common in Europe and not only the budget minded go camping, the rich goes as well since it is quite an unique experience. If you are willing to stay in a tent the normal rate is around 20 a day. Some camping offers mobile home rentals and the price for that can very but it’s usually quite affordable.
Pack you own lunch / dinner
Another very common practice in Europe and especially in France is to picnic. The supermarkets in France are a heaven for food lovers. Get a fresh baguette, choose a selection of different cheeses, maybe some fois gras, a nice wine and a desert from the “evil’ French bakeries and you are set. All you need to do next is to find a nice spot e voila! Dinner is served in style without breaking the bank.
Visit the tourist office everywhere you go
You will be surprise how many free things or almost free most places in France has. For example in Paris every first Sunday of the month all museums are free. Make a habit of as soon as arriving at your destination to visit the tourist office, they will inform you about any special events as well as the complimentary activities at you destination.
From my experience if you do at least one of the 3 things I mentioned above you save a significant amount of money, if you do all 3 you will save so much that you will be able to spend in things that actually worth it, like dinning in one of the world renowned French restaurants or maybe renting a boat in the Cotes d’Azur. It’s all up to you!