The World According to Sydney

Disclaimer: It is never my intention to brag or showoff in any way. This trip cost series aims to show the realistic cost of traveling and how affordable (or expensive) it can be. These posts only reflect what I spent on the trip. If you book the same trip, you may end up spending more or less than I did. The cost of any one trip is influenced by many factors, as I aim to show, including but not limited to – accommodation type, travel style, time of year, discounts available, and many other factors.

Welcome to part 2 of my trip cost breakdown series. These posts are strictly breaking down what I spent on a specific trip and what that money was spent on. If you are interested in any specifics, like if I would recommend a certain hotel, restaurant, airline, or experience, please let me know in the comments and I can write a post specifically on those things – or let you know if I’ve already written one 😉 I’ll start by giving you the trip specifics and cost overview, and then we’ll get more specific in the breakdown.

Trip Specifics:

All prices have been converted into Canadian Dollars.

This trip was 12 days long. I spent 3 full days in London, 4 full days in Paris, and 5 days traveling. I was traveling with friends, so the accommodation costs reflect my portion of the hotel rooms.

Cost Overview:

• Travel – $1371.87
• Accommodation – $994.31
• Activities – $815.95
• Food – $419.86
• Mobile Phone – $14.24
• Souvenirs – $530.15
• Local Transportation – $141.92
• Miscellaneous – 59.17

Total Trip Cost – $4347.47

Cost Breakdown:

Travel – $1371.87

• Flights – $1135.56
• Eurostar Train – $160.87
• Checked Luggage – $75.44

We flew with Air Canada for this trip, which worked well for me as I have their credit card, so I got a lot of Aeroplan points from this trip. We originally booked with WestJet, but 5 months before our trip, they cancelled the flight route which forced us to re-book with another airline, and luckily Air Canada had a route that was around the same price. We booked it as either 2 one-way tickets or a multi-city ticket (I can’t remember which option we picked for this trip), since we opted not to fly between London and Paris. We took the Eurostar Train from London to Paris, which was a very cool experience to have. The checked luggage was because I bought too many things in Paris, so I had to check a bag on my flight home.

Accommodation – $994.31

• London Hotel – $543.72
• Paris Hotel – $368.74
• Vancouver Hotel – $81.85

In London, we stayed at the Point A Liverpool Street hotel. Unknown to us until we got to London, we happened to pick the week leading up to the coronation of King Charles III, which I believe had something to do with hotel availability and prices during our stay. We got a 2 twin bed room, and my portion ended up being about $135.93 per night. In Paris, the hotel we ended up staying in was the DoubleTree Paris Bougival. We got a 2 queen bed room, and my portion ended up being about $73.75 per night thanks to my friends and family discount. On the way home, I spent 1 night at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown hotel due to an overnight layover, and was able to stay in a 1 king bed suite with a sofa bed, which I also was able to get a friends and family discount on.

Activities – $815.95

• Phantom of the Opera Ticket (Balcony Seat) – $60.36
• The Play That Goes Wrong Ticket (Balcony Seat) – $90.15
• London Bus Tour – $69.79
• Paris Bus Tour – $62.04
• British Museum Tour – $33.60
• Louvre Museum Admission – $25.72
• Louvre Museum Tour – $54.57
• Disneyland Paris Ticket (1 day park hopper) – $152.12
• Disneyland Paris Premier Pass (10 single rides) – $200.76
• London Eye Ticket – $66.84

Food – $419.86

• London – $236.21 (about $78.74 per day)
• Paris – $163.43 (about $40.86 per day)
• Airports/In flight – $20.22 (about $4.04 per travel day)

Mobile Phone – $14.24

• Digital SIM Card – $14.24

I got an international digital SIM card for my phone which gave me access to data while in London and Paris. I got mine through Airalo, and if you use my referral code SYDNEY6777 you’ll get $4.50 off your first purchase with them.

Souvenirs – $530.15

• Disneyland Paris – $530.15

I bought 2 pairs of ears (one for me, one as a gift), a pastel Disneyland Paris spirit jersey, a Ratatouille Loungefly mini backpack, a duffle bag, a shot glass, 2 pins, and some gifts for my family (plushies, mugs, etc).

Local Transportation – $141.92

• London – $71.34
• Paris – $70.58

In London, I spent $41.77 on a train ticket from Heathrow airport to the city. The remaining $29.57 was my daily train and bus fares to get around London. In Paris, I spent $6.94 on a single local train ticket to get to our hotel. On our second day in Paris, I purchased a 7-day transit pass which cost $63.64.

Miscellaneous – $59.17

• Bandaids – $5.51
• Paris Metro Fine – $53.66

I had to buy bandaids from Boots while in London, as I was getting blisters from all the walking we were doing. In Paris, I got fined by the metro police since my 7-day pass did not have my photo and name on it.

Final Thoughts

As I was going through and writing this post, I realized there are some transactions missing, especially for some last minute activities we did, so my apologies this is not a complete list. However, hopefully this will give you a rough idea of the cost of a trip to London and Paris. I plan to do a detailed post on our itinerary, as well as review the things we did, so keep an eye out for that!

If you want to stay updated, you can join my mailing list and follow me on social media @theworldaccordingtosydney. Leave a comment below or message me on social media to let me know what kind of posts you’d like to see in the future!

– Sydney