Paris rewards people who know which doors are free. Municipal museums charge nothing for permanent collections, the hill parks give you the skyline without a lift ticket, and the market streets feed you for under €10 a day.
Europe's most visited cemetery opened in 1804 and spreads across 44 hectares of cobbled, tree-shaded hills. Entry is free daily from 08:00 (09:00 Sundays). Chopin, Wilde, Piaf and Jim Morrison are all inside.
Napoleon III turned a gypsum quarry and rubbish dump into this 25-hectare park in 1867, keeping a 30-metre cliff, a suspension bridge and the Temple de la Sibylle on its summit. Free, open until 22:00 in summer.
Built for the 1900 World's Fair, this city-run museum keeps its entire permanent collection free: Rembrandt, Courbet, Monet, plus gilded ironwork and a mosaic-floored interior. Open 10:00-18:00, closed Mondays.
Two of the surviving covered arcades — Panoramas from 1800, Vivienne from 1823 — with glass roofs, mosaic floors and original gas-lamp fittings. Wandering them costs nothing and they stay open into the evening.
The cheapest daily market in central Paris runs Tuesday to Sunday, 07:30-13:30: an open-air produce row on the street plus the covered 1843 Beauvau hall for cheese, charcuterie and fish at half Left Bank prices.
A Marais institution since 1979. The falafel special — aubergine, cabbage, harissa, tahini — runs about €10 from the takeaway window, noticeably less than the same plate served at a table inside. Cash speeds the queue.
One of the oldest market streets in Paris, sloping down from Place de la Contrescarpe. Bakeries sell €1.30 baguettes de tradition, fromageries cut €4 wedges, and the crêpe stands charge €4. Many shops shut 13:00-16:00.
Basque canteen in a low-rise village quarter that still feels like 1950s Paris. Enormous salads and piperade plates land at €12-15 and a glass of Irouléguy is around €4. No reservations, paper tablecloths, loud room.
Terraced across the hill that once supplied the city's drinking water, this park climbs to 108 metres and delivers the best free skyline view in eastern Paris. Opens 08:00 on weekdays; a cascade runs down the central steps.
Nine locks and two rotating bridges link Bastille to Jaurès along a waterway dug from 1802. Locals sit on the stone quays with bread and cheese; watching barges work through the lock chambers costs nothing at all.
Ride the escalators past the 1912 stained-glass dome to the 7th-floor terrace, where a free open-air panorama takes in Opéra Garnier's green roof and the whole Right Bank. Store hours, roughly 10:00-20:30. No ticket, no queue.
Planted in 1933 to stop developers, the Clos is the last working vineyard inside Paris and is fully visible from Rue des Saules. Walk down through Rue de l'Abreuvoir to the terraced lawns below for the sunset view.