How to have a high-end holiday in Paris for less

Why pay top dollar for a luxury vacation when it’s possible to have it for less?

A high-end trip without a premium price tag is possible anywhere in the world, but your approach needs to be tailored to your destination.

In the next in our series of how get get luxury for less, we get some tips from the locals in Paris.

Timing matters

Avoid visiting during fashion weeks (women’s, men’s and haute couture), The French Open (from the end of May into early June) and the International Contemporary Art Fair, in October.

Prices can be lower in winter and in August, when Parisians tend to leave the city, but this is event-dependent, too, so it’s best to research what’s happening in town.

The site for the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau lists the city’s major events.

Stay at an under-the-radar high-end hotel

For luxury at a less stratospheric price point than the city’s palace-designated hotels, stay at a lower-key but still luxurious property.

Examples include the San Regis, hidden on a quiet street in the 8th arrondissement’s so-called Golden Triangle, or the Jacques Garcia-designed Hôtel Bourg Tibourg, in the Marais. Research these lesser-known gems online – the site Paris Boutique Hotels lists several, as does Time Out Paris.

Palace hotel access without the price tag

With standard doubles often starting at $1,000 (R15,200) or more per night, Paris’ palace hotels are price-prohibitive for most people.

But Elsa Bacry, a lifelong Parisian and the director of European partnerships for the luxury travel network Virtuoso, said locals get a taste of them by frequenting their casual bistros and brasseries such as 114 Faubourg, at Le Bristol.

“They’re not a deal, but you’re not spending a fortune either,” she said.

Parisians also like to have drinks at the hotels’ bars such as the rooftop L’Oiseau Blanc at The Peninsula Paris or Bar Josephine at the Lutetia.

Hannah Meltzer, a Paris-based journalist, said that spa treatments, such as a caviar facial at the lavish day spa at the Four Seasons Paris, are another option.

Take advantage of free sights and group tours

Paris has plenty of museums with free entry, including the fine arts museum Petit Palais and Musee de la vie Romantique, or museum of romantic life.

Admission to many others, including The Pompidou, is free on the first Sunday of the month while the Louvre offers free admission on the first Saturday evening of every month.

Some monuments also offer inexpensive small group tours, such as the 90-minute, 10-euro (R165) tour at Versailles of Louis XIV and XV’s private apartments.

Shop sales and the outlets

To buy designer goods at a discount, Bacry suggested checking out My Little Paris, a site that lists private sales.

Also, designer stores have sales in July and January, and La Vallée Village, a designer shopping mall about a 45-minute train ride from central Paris, is full of deals.

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