Paris has a reputation for expense that isn't entirely fair. It's true that a dinner at a recognized restaurant in the 6th will run you 80 euros a head before wine, and that the cocktail bars in the 3rd are charging Tokyo prices now. But the city is also full of dates that cost almost nothing and feel like the version of Paris people fly here to find. You just have to know what's free and what's worth paying for.
A picnic at Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, around 18 euros
Buttes-Chaumont in the 19th is the best park in Paris for a date and almost nobody puts it on a list. The hills are steep, there's a fake temple on a fake island in a fake lake, and the lawns are open to picnickers, which is more than you can say for the Luxembourg.
Stop at G. Detou on Rue Tiquetonne for cheese and saucisson on the way, or more practically at the Franprix on Rue de Belleville. A baguette from Du Pain et des Idées is two euros, a wedge of Comté is around six, a saucisson is five, a bottle of Côtes du Rhône is seven. Eighteen euros, two hours on a hill with a view of Sacré-Cœur, and nobody bothering you.
A repertory cinema double feature, around 22 euros
Le Champo on Rue des Écoles charges nine euros a ticket, less with the loyalty card. They program double features most weekends, often a director retrospective, and the cinema itself dates from 1938. Two tickets, two films, four euros for an espresso between them at Le Reflet across the street. Twenty-two euros for an entire afternoon out of the rain.
The Petit Palais and a coffee, free plus 4 euros
The permanent collection at the Petit Palais on Avenue Winston Churchill is free, and most people don't go because they're at the Louvre. The building is one of the best interiors in Paris, the courtyard café has a garden, and the collection includes Courbet, Cézanne, and a room of medieval icons that's almost always empty.
Afterward, walk across the Pont Alexandre III, which is the prettiest bridge in the city and costs nothing to cross, and have a coffee at any of the cafés on Rue Saint-Dominique. Total spend, under ten euros for two.
A bottle on the quais of the Seine, around 12 euros
The stretch of the Seine between Pont Marie and Pont de Sully has stone steps that go down to the water on the Right Bank side. Buy a bottle from Nicolas on Rue Saint-Antoine, around eight euros for something drinkable, plus four for two plastic cups and a bag of olives from the Carrefour City. Sit on the steps and watch the bateaux-mouches lap each other for two hours.
This is the cheapest good date in Paris and it works in any season except deep winter. Bring a sweater after October. The river is colder than you think.
First Sundays at the museums, free
Most of the major museums are free on the first Sunday of the month from October through March. The Musée d'Orsay, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée Picasso, the Musée de l'Orangerie. The lines are longer than usual but still manageable if you go right at opening or after 2pm.
The Musée Picasso in the 3rd is the best of these for a date because the building, the Hôtel Salé, is itself worth the visit, and the rooms are small enough that you'll actually talk about what you're seeing. Pair it with lunch at the Marché des Enfants Rouges five minutes away and you've spent thirty euros for the whole day.
A glass at Le Verre Volé, around 16 euros
Le Verre Volé on Rue de Lancry near the Canal Saint-Martin is a wine shop with a small bar in the back. You can drink any bottle from the shelves with a seven-euro corkage fee, which means a fifteen-euro bottle of natural Beaujolais becomes twenty-two euros for two people, plus a plate of charcuterie for around twelve.
This is the best wine value in central Paris. The selection is real, the staff know what they're selling, and the room is the right kind of crowded. Go at 6pm before it fills up.
A long walk with a chocolate at the end, around 7 euros
The walk from the Jardin du Luxembourg through the 5th to the Jardin des Plantes, ending with a hot chocolate at the Mosquée de Paris on Rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, is one of the best free dates in the city. The Mosquée's tea room is open to anyone and a mint tea is around three euros, a chocolate around four. The courtyard has fig trees and the air smells like jasmine even in November.
Walk slowly. Stop at the bookstalls on Rue Mouffetard. Watch the boules players in the Arènes de Lutèce, which is a Roman amphitheater hidden behind an apartment building on Rue Monge and one of the strangest small surprises in the 5th. Total budget, seven euros and a pair of comfortable shoes.