We saw some great deals on flights to France for $491 a person on Google Flights so we had to jump on them since we wanted to see more of Europe. We decided to go 13 days so we can come back and rest a couple of days before heading back to work.
Google Flights will show you the best deals and will give you options on where to book the tickets for that deal. We booked the flights on the American Airlines website. The flight has one stop in Philadelphia on our way to France and one stop in Chicago when we come back with no overnights. We downloaded the American Airlines app to use the mobile ticket. You can change your seats and track the status of your flight on this app.
We decided when we land in Paris, we would stay for one night to rest after a day of flying and then the following day we would head to Brussels, Belgium for two nights. After Belgium, we will head to Amsterdam, Netherlands for another two nights before heading back to Paris for the rest of the trip. Paris has 20 districts so we decided to split most of them into the remaining days so that we can see as much as we can.
Traveling to other countries when you're already in Europe is cheaper. We booked our tickets on the Thalys train. You can plan your journey on the website and see costs at different times to find the best deal. There are 3 levels you can choose from: standard, comfort, or premium. Standard gets you free wifi, electric socket, and 2 items of luggage to store. Comfort gets you free wifi, electric socket, 2 items of luggage to store and a more comfortable seat. Premium gets you all of the above plus catering at your seat, newspaper, access to lounges and on-board taxi services. We booked the standard option for the entire trip. We have a total of 3 journeys booked (Paris to Brussels, Brussels to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris). The total cost of all 3 is only $270 USD for the both of us.
Flights: https://www.google.com/flights?hl=en
Train Tickets: https://www.thalys.com/fr/en/
ACCOMMODATIONS
We booked all our accommodations on Airbnb since it's significantly cheaper than renting hotels. It's also a fun way to experience living in these cities like a local.
These are all the places we will be staying at:
PARIS, FRANCE
For our first night, we will be staying at a one bedroom loft apartment with a balcony and a view of the Sacre Coeur in the 18th district. We originally had a studio apartment but the owners are getting the place painted so they didn't want us to stay there if the smell still lingered so the owner called us and offered another apartment in the same building. The apartment is a lot bigger. The apartment is also a 20 minute walk to Gare du Nord train station which is what we'll take to go to Belgium. This apartment is $148 a night but the owner honored the previous price of the studio for us and we booked it for $100 after tax.
First apartment: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15936545?eal_exp=1548780526&eal_sig=a8324c05cc74ddc9015c9eda02878d3b108aed50097f99e865648fcbdccef004&eal_uid=24530113&euid=ebb23ad2-81fb-adef-de96-82dd17f4d85a&guests=1&adults=1
For the last part of our trip, we will be staying six nights in a two floor loft in the 10th district. Total cost is $666 which is about $111/night.
Second Paris apartment: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/22333861?eal_exp=1536610162&eal_sig=e1bd33f60c7ee207f4d91da86647f7913bfc7a9ae54d89cd1474006287d5af6a&eal_uid=24530113&euid=71d1b60b-7583-e6a2-921d-f450414365e8&guests=1&adults=1
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
We will be staying two nights in Brussels in a studio loft apartment in the center of Brussels. It's an open space with a sleeping area, living room, kitchen and dining. We paid $157 for two nights.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3206427?euid=7a59282b-ed56-c03c-ef5c-0aaf28f7dbfc&guests=1&adults=1
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
We will be staying two nights in Amsterdam North in a house boat on the waterfront. It's in walking distance to the ferry which you can take to the main part of Amsterdam. We paid $377 for two nights.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/11857316?eal_exp=1537328734&eal_sig=9683e2204f76b17d553319cfad0861036655ef975080bc67f01498141859ba29&eal_uid=24530113&euid=a2ee6175-01c9-ba03-fbac-26b0464f1dd3&guests=1&adults=1
WIRELESS CONNECTION
Remember our issue with TEP Wireless when we were in Iceland? TEP Wireless reached out to us after we reviewed them and wanted to us to give them another shot. They offered to give us a Teppy device for our next trip free of charge so we decided to take their offer to try it out in Europe. I will update if it worked in Europe after our trip.
https://www.tepwireless.com/
OTHER PRE-BOOKING OPTIONS
CABARET SHOWS
You cannot go to Paris without booking a show at Moulin Rouge. It's the most popular show in Paris so you have to book in advance. There will be showgirls, dancers and elaborate costumes. The show is also partial nudity so it may not be appropriate for all ages.
We had issues booking the show directly on the Moulin Rouge website due to it being international and flagging as possible fraud. So we decided to go through a third party group (Viator) to book our activities.
Moulin Rouge has 3 options:
7PM - Dinner + Show
9PM - Show only or show and drinks
11PM - Show only or show and drinks
We booked the dinner and show. There are different options for dinner and it is a 3-course meal. The price depends on which dinner option you choose. We went with the Mistinguett menu which includes a half bottle of champagne. The total for the both of us is $444 for the dinner and show.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Moulin-Rouge-Paris-Dinner-and-Show/d479-5022MOUDIN
CASTLES
France has a lot of castles so we wanted to see some castles on our trip. We struggled with trying to see if we can go ourselves and explore or booking a tour. We decided to book a tour just because it would be easier with transportation.
The full day Loire Valley Castle tour includes a visit to two castles: Chambord and Chenonceau. This includes wine tasting at the castle and local pickup in a coach bus. Lunch is excluded but there are places around that area that you can stop for lunch. The Chambord castle actually inspired the castle in Beauty and the Beast so I am most excited to see that one. The total cost for the both of us is $310.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Loire-Valley-Castles-Tour-from-Paris-with-Chambord-Chenonceau-and-Wine-tastings/d479-2050CL
DISNEYLAND - PARIS
I love Disney! We have been to Disneyland in California, Disney World in Florida, and DisneySea in Tokyo, Japan. So it would make sense for us to visit Disneyland Paris!!
We booked a one day ticket to hop between Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studio. The total for two tickets is $171.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Paris/Disneyland-Paris-1-Day-Ticket/d479-5307DISNEYMAGIC
Watch for our blogs and videos in March/April.
Happy planning!