Paris in 4 Days on a Budget: Cheap Day Trips
Four days adds the cheap alternative to Versailles
Four days keeps the same first three days, settle into Paris, then Versailles, then Chartres, and adds a fourth day trip to Fontainebleau, the cheaper, quieter alternative to Versailles. It nests inside the 5-day , 6-day and 7-day versions, or drops back to the 3-day plan if you need to cut a day.
Book these before you go
- Versailles Palace timed entry slot, mandatory even with free admission, at chateauversailles.fr (Day 2).
- A Versailles day tour on GetYourGuide if you’d rather not manage the RER C yourself, though it costs more than the DIY fare plus palace ticket.
- Compare budget stays in the Latin Quarter or Marais on Booking.com ; both sit close to the RER and train lines this itinerary uses.
The 4-day route at a glance
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Paris | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Settle into Paris, free orientation | In the city | EUR0-15 |
| Day 2 | Versailles | 35-40 min (RER C) | EUR4.40 fare + EUR21 palace |
| Day 3 | Chartres | About 1 hr (TER) | EUR10-24 train, free cathedral |
| Day 4 | Fontainebleau | 40 min (Transilien R) + short bus | EUR5 train, EUR17 chateau |
Day 1: Settle in without spending much
Morning: Load a Navigo Easy card, EUR2, at your first Metro station. It covers the flat EUR2.55 Metro-Train-RER fare and EUR2.05 Bus-Tram fare inside the city, but Versailles and Chartres both run on separate point-to-point fares, not this flat ticket, so budget those separately on their own days. Compare budget stays in the Latin Quarter or Marais on Booking.com ; both put you close to the RER C and the Montparnasse and Saint-Lazare stations you’ll use later.
Afternoon: Walk into Notre-Dame’s nave for free, no ticket needed since its 2024 reopening, then follow the Seine toward Le Marais.
Evening: A EUR18-28 formule (fixed two-course menu) is the standard budget dinner move; the couvert, a per-person cover charge, doesn’t exist in French dining, so the menu price is the price you pay.
Day 2: Versailles, the near-in gateway
Morning: RER C reaches Versailles Chateau Rive Gauche in 35-40 minutes from Left Bank stations, a separate Origin-Destination fare around EUR4.40 one-way, not the flat city ticket. Check current schedules at iledefrance-mobilites.fr . From the station it’s a 5-10 minute walk to the gates. Every visitor needs a timed Palace slot, mandatory even for free admission (under-18s, EU residents 18-25), so book that first at chateauversailles.fr .
Afternoon: Palace-only entry is EUR21; the Passport, adding the Trianon estate and gardens on Musical Fountains days, is EUR25 low season or EUR35 high season. The gardens themselves are free daily, 7am to dusk, even on the Palace’s Monday closure, so a garden-only visit costs nothing beyond the train fare.
Evening: Back to Paris for dinner. Closed Mondays, so swap this day with Day 3 if yours falls on one.
Day 3: Chartres, the cheapest real day trip
Morning: The TER regional train runs direct from Gare Montparnasse to Chartres, about an hour, roughly 18 trains a day. One-way fares start around EUR10-12, though a same-day round trip can run EUR32-48 if booked late; book ahead on sncf-connect.com for the cheaper fare tiers. The cathedral is a 10-minute walk from the station.
Afternoon: Cathedral entry is completely free, no ticket, no timed slot, the one genuinely free major sight in this entire family of day trips. The stained glass alone is worth the trip; a tower climb or crypt tour is a separate small paid add-on if you want it.
Evening: Chartres itself is a small town, so an easy lunch in the old town plus the cathedral fills a relaxed day rather than a rushed one. Head back to Paris by early evening.
Day 4: Fontainebleau, the cheap Versailles alternative
Morning: Transilien R runs from Gare de Lyon to Fontainebleau-Avon in about 40 minutes, one-way fare around EUR5, then a short local bus (about 15 minutes) or a longer walk covers the final stretch to the chateau gates. Check the timetable at sncf-connect.com .
Afternoon: Chateau entry is EUR17, no mandatory timed slot the way Versailles requires, walk-up tickets are the norm here, and full details are at chateaudefontainebleau.fr . The gardens are free every day. It’s quieter and less grand than Versailles, fewer state rooms, but also a fraction of the crowd.
Evening: Back to Paris; no late finish needed, Fontainebleau is a relaxed half-day-transit, half-day-chateau trip.
Is Fontainebleau worth it if you’ve already done Versailles?
Yes, if the goal is a quieter grand estate rather than a second Versailles. Fontainebleau’s EUR17 ticket is about EUR4 cheaper than the Versailles palace ticket, needs no mandatory timed slot, and the crowds thin out fast past midday. Skip it only if one royal palace already covered your appetite for gilded state rooms this trip.
Do you need to book Fontainebleau tickets in advance?
No, not the way Versailles demands it. Walk-up tickets are standard, and the chateau rarely sells out even in summer. The only exception is the free first Sunday of the month outside July and August, when it’s busier than a normal weekday but still doesn’t require a reservation to get in.
Keep every timed ticket for this trip as an offline screenshot, not just an email link; mobile signal at Versailles, Chartres and the smaller gateway stations is patchy enough to make a live QR code a real gamble.