France, on the cheap

[broneck]

Dolly and I are looking at 2 weeks in france next may (after the school year). As students, we will be broke, but not really looking to backpack and stay in 7 different hostels. Essentially, looking for recomendations regarding a few cheap but nice hotels...areas around / outside of paris worth checking out, and how to do them on a budget. Help is appreciated.

[MikeN]

You have almost a year. If you throw a few bucks in a jar every day, you'll have plenty of money next May.

[showbiz00ditc]

if you just go with no plans everything works itself out.

And remember hotels would rather have people in beds = more money in their pockets ... if you show up at a hotel at like 10 at night they may cut you a real good room deal cause at least its a bit more money than they otherwise woulda had

[dolly]

paris has plenty of inexpensive hotels, esp if you stay 15 minutes outside the city...i've also read that since there are tons of little inns, and you can usually get a deal if you're persistent and mention prices you've read in guide books and whatnot.

it's just hard to pick one if there are 30 to choose from...

[jean-claude]

France is really not the best place to go when you are broke, why there?

That's not true man ! I guess you think about Paris but there are some other large cities... Paris is special ok, but it's just a small part of the country.

You should spend a couple of days only in Paris, during sales for example, then head to Bordeaux, Toulouse (hometown, best night life), Montpellier, Marseille or Lyon.

Plenty of parisian fashion shops have been established by rednecks from south-west or south-east france.

[sungrak]

check out the vacation rentals on craigslist paris.

its like a fully furnished minisublet, and you can probably get one for like 500-600 a week, and probably cheaper if you negotiate a deal for 2 weeks.

example