Free tastings and samples anyone can walk into, and the cheap local classics that keep a day of sightseeing going.
FreeEau de Paris runs around fifteen public fountains that pour chilled fizzy tap water at the push of a button. The first opened in 2010 in the Jardin de Reuilly, right on the Coulée Verte.
Every day. A few are out of service at any time, so check the city's list by arrondissement before detouring.
Source: Ville de Paris
FreeDark green cast-iron fountains held up by four caryatids, a gift from Richard Wallace in 1872. The water is the same drinking water as the tap, so one refillable bottle saves you a few euros a day.
Any time. They are part of a network of about 1,200 public drinking fountains in streets and parks.
Source: Ville de Paris
FreeShops, cafés and restaurants showing the blue "Ici, je choisis l'eau de Paris" sticker fill your bottle with tap water at no charge and with no purchase. In any restaurant, a carafe d'eau with a meal is free too; just ask for it.
During the opening hours of each business
Source: Eau de Paris
From €1A working-class dining hall founded in 1896, with brass luggage racks and waiters who write the bill on the paper tablecloth. Starters begin at €1, mains at €7 and desserts at €2, so three courses stay under €20.
Every day. The line outside Grands Boulevards moves fast outside peak lunch and dinner hours.
Source: Bouillon Chartier
About €1.40Each year the city crowns one baguette de tradition out of the whole of Paris. The 2026 winner is baker Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan, whose dough ferments for fourteen hours. Add butter or cheese from a supermarket and that is lunch on a bench.
Bakery opening hours; go in the morning. The runner-up, B&S Nation at 24 Place de la Nation, is easier to reach.
Source: Ville de Paris
The free viewpoints all look at the tower, and none of them puts you inside the ironwork. Climbing the stairs is the cheapest ticket and the best way to see how the thing is built, with the city dropping away between the girders. Go near dusk and stay for the lights on the hour.
Everything above is free. This is the only paid pick on the page, chosen because no free option replaces it.
See tickets and prices
