Although you’ll regularly hear about the stellar travel deals to be had in the current economic crunch, some destinations don’t seem to be as much on sale as others. Italy, which traditionally is way more costly to reach from the U.S. than other Western European countries, is heavily on sale right now – but Paris? Paris seems to know people are still going to flock to her cafes and gardens and museums no matter what. So finding an airfare deal to Paris right now isn’t as easy as you might think it should be.

A quick peek at a few big airfare sites, for instance, turned up round-trip fares for the summer in the $700-850 range from major U.S. cities to Paris. Now, that may be a couple hundred less than a typical summer fare to one of the most-visited cities on earth, but it’s nothing close to the rock-bottom fares that other places are tempting travelers with. But does that mean you have to pay those prices for your Paris vacation this summer? Not necessarily.

See, if you don’t mind being a bit clever with your schedule, you can book one of the super-low summer fares into another European air hub and then hop on one of the budget airlines to get to Paris from there. For instance, Delta is offering round-trip deals like these from New York to Europe starting at under $400 – you read that right, summer fares to Europe for less than $400 before taxes & fees. So even if, say, Frankfurt isn’t exactly where you want to spend your vacation, you can always get from there to Paris on one of those great European budget airlines without breaking the bank.

Luckily, once you get to Paris there are ways to save money on your trip – the city is choc-a-block with hostels and budget hotels. Whether you’re looking for hostels in the Latin Quarter, hostels near the Eiffel Tower, or hostels in Montmartre, you’ll be able to find something to suit your needs. And keep in mind that many of the places that call themselves “hostels” these days are actually 1-star hotels with all private bathrooms – they’re just trying to appeal to budget travelers. Which you are, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought.