An estimated 16 million visitors are expected to visit Paris this summer, when the city hosts the Olympics and Paralympic games. However, tourists in one of the world’s most-visited cities are already finding inflated prices and scams that aim to take advantage of the increased footfall. These are the scams and price-hikes to look out for this summer.

Inflated Metro fares

Earlier this year the Parisian transport authority RATP announced increased public transport fares during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. From 20 July until 8 September, the cost of a single journey Metro ticket will rise from €2.15 (£1.82) to €4 (£3.39), while a ticket for a city bus will double from €2.50 (£2.12) to €5 (£4.23).

The Île-de-France government authority said the increase will help cover the cost of providing the additional transport services across the city required to meet the increased demand.

A Paris Pass will be available, specifically aimed at those visiting for the Olympics and Paralympics. This pass is similar to a weekly season ticket and can be used for up to seven days. Prices are €16 (£13.78) per day or €70 (£60) per week. The pass can be purchased at any Paris Metro/Paris RER/Transilien train station ticket window or ticket office, and from automated ticket machines.

Increased admission for tourist sites

Standard tickets for the world’s most visited museum, the Louvre, have risen in price by almost 30 per cent to €22 (£19) this year. The increase from €17 (£14.39) was the first price rise in seven years.

The increase is not specifically targeted at Olympic visitors but is said to be integral to supporting free admission for some categories of visitors, such as art history teachers and under-18s from the EU. The higher prices are also designed to help offset an 88 per cent increase in energy costs, according to the museum, and longer opening hours. The Louvre welcomed 8.9m visitors in 2023, a third of whom were French nationals. Six out of every 10 French visitors were admitted into the museum for free, according to its own statistics.

In June, adult tickets for the Eiffel Tower were increased by 20 per cent to €35 (29.62), a hike of €6 (£5.08). The price increase is being blamed on a lack of visitors from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic, according to French news reports, with the tower reportedly losing €113m (£96m) in revenue across those two years. Increased maintenance costs have also been cited as a reason for the increase.

Restaurant ‘tips’

In Paris, it is customary to leave an optional tip of around 5-10 per cent (maximum) for particularly excellent service. This is on top of the legally mandated 15 per cent service charge levied by restaurants, where menus are also usually priced to help cover staff salaries.

However, there have been reports of some restaurants in the city encouraging diners to tip significantly higher amounts according to practices which may be common in their home country, but that are not the norm in France.

For instance, American visitors are particularly likely to be targeted due to the significant tipping culture in the US, where dining payment schemes such as “paying it forward” for future customers on lower incomes are more popular. Some restaurants have presented high pre-set tip percentages on card machines used for collecting payment after a meal.

Visitors to Paris should also be wary of the increase in fake or misleading restaurant reviews.

Accommodation price rises

Paris’s tourist taxes were increased this year. The most significant increase applies to stays in designated “palace” hotels. For these 12 exceptionally high-end residences, the nightly tax has increased to €14.95 (£12.65) – an increase of almost 200 per cent from the €5 (£4.23) rate in 2023.

For five-star hotels, the nightly rate has increased by 186 per cent to €10.73 (£9.08) (compared to the 2023 rate of €3.75) and for four-star hotels the rate is now €8.13 (£6.88), 182 per cent up from the 2023 rate of €2.88 . For one-star hotels, holiday villages, guest rooms, or hostels the new rate is a modest €2.60 (£2.20), but still more than double the 2023 rate of €1 (85p).

In addition to the increased tourist tax, the base rates for accommodation have also increased. A report by the Paris tourism office showed that hotel prices will be 314 per cent higher this summer compared with summer 2023. However, there are some indications that prices are starting to fall in a drive to fill empty rooms.

According to the Paris Tourism office, a night in a hotel in Paris averaged €169 (£143.05) in July 2023, which is expected to soar to up to €699 (£591.78) this July.

Potential oversupply of accommodation may result in prices dropping as the Games approach. According to reports in Le Monde in late May, around 145,000 homes across the city have been listed for rental for this summer, compared to 65,000 for summer 2023, possibly outstripping demand from foreign visitors. However, data from Lighthouse shows that overall hotel rates in Paris during the Olympics are still 95 per cent higher than at the same time in 2023.

Accommodation scams

The sharp increase in visitor numbers to Paris this summer has led to a rise in fake online hotel reviews, and fraudulent accommodation listings.

Negative reviews are being deleted, and misleading reviews and listings include extra stars being added to average ratings, opaque pricing information, deceptive photos and inaccurate descriptions, such as mass-produced and processed meals being labelled as “a homemade breakfast.”

The DGCCRF (the consumer affairs arm of the Ministry of Economy) has also identified advertising of false offers such as “fictional airport transfer services.”

The unit has been investigating thousands of reviews to help ensure the accuracy of information presented to visitors.

Visitors should also watch out for counterfeit accommodation listings designed to collect payment and other personal details. Travellers are advised to use well-known, reputable booking platforms and to check the URL of any booking sites to ensure that it is not an imitation of a genuine booking service.

Fake merchandise

Parisian authorities are cracking down on the sale of fake Olympic Games merchandise and clothing being sold across the city, with the DGCCRF working to ensure that goods for sale are “not dangerous or counterfeit”. As well as physical sales, fraudsters are using fake online and social media ads and platforms to sell counterfeit Olympic merchandise.

Taxi scams

Taxi scams are not new to Paris, but unscrupulous drivers will be looking to take advantage of the higher visitors numbers ahead of the Games.

Common scams include travellers being marshalled to official taxi queues outside Gare du Nord or the arrivals terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport, with the driver then claiming a fare for travel into the city centre that is significantly higher than the legitimate fare.

Elsewhere in the city, some taxi drivers try to take advantage of tourists by taking unnecessarily long routes. Visitors are advised to use trusted ride-sharing apps and to check their overall route beforehand.

Fixed fares only apply between Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport and the right bank €56 (£47) and left bank €65 (£55); or between Paris-Orly airport and right bank €44 (£37) and left bank €36 (£30). Other journeys should be metered and tourists should make sure to confirm the driver has started the meter.

To identify official licensed taxis, check for a meter, a light on the roof that says ‘Taxi Parisien’, a parking meter on the rear parcel shelf (which indicates the end of service time) and a plate with the number of the taxi on the right front fender. Note however that there have been reports of scams taking place within licensed taxis.

Wi-Fi scams

Given the potential high costs of data roaming, many travellers rely on free public Wi-Fi- networks.

However, fraudsters and hackers may use or set up free public Wi-Fi networks to steal personal information from web users.

Visitors should avoid using unsecured networks, especially when using online banking services or logging into personal accounts.

Instead, visitors are advised to install a VPN to use for such purposes ahead of travelling, and to only use trusted networks provided by their accommodation, or the official Olympic venues.