Paris - Get around

From Wikitravel

On foot

Walking in Paris is one of the great pleasures of visiting the City of Light. It's possible to cross the entire city in only a few hours, if you can somehow keep yourself from stopping at numerous cafés and shops. In fact within a few years walking combined with biking and the Métro will be the only way to get around the very center of Paris: The Mayor's office has announced plans to declare the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th arrondissements almost totally car-free by 2012.

The smartest travellers take advantage of the walkability of this city, and stay above ground as much as possible. A metro ride of less than 3 stops is probably best avoided since walking will take about the same amount of time and you'll be able to see more of the city. Just don't forget to keep your eyes open for the merde.

To get a great orientation of the city on foot while seeing many of Paris' major sights, you can do a West to East walk from the Arc de Triumph to the Ile de la Cite (Notre Dame). This walk takes about 2 hours without any stops. Start at the top of the Champs Elysees (at the Arc de Triumph) and begin walking down the Champs Elyees towards Place Concorde. On the way towards the obelisk at Place Concorde, you'll see all of the major stores and restaurants of Paris' most famous avenue. Once you've passed the main shopping area, you'll see the Petit Palais and the Grand Palais to your right. At Place Concorde, you'll have many of Paris' major sites in every direction. In front of you is the Tuileries, behind you is the Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triumph, to your right is the Tour Eiffel and Musee D'Orsay, and finally, to your left is the Madeleine. Continue straight ahead and enter the Tuileries Gardens and take in the fountains, flowers and lovers in the park. As you continue straight ahead, and out of the garden, you'll see the pyramid entrance to the Louvre directly in front of you. With the pyramid directly in front of you, and the Tuileries directly behind you, turn to your right and walk towards the Seine. Now you can walk along the Seine (eastwardly) until you reach Pont Neuf. Cross Pont Neuf and walk through the Latin Quarter and also by the Notre Dame cathedral on Ile de la Cité.

Métro

Paris has an excellent subway train system, known as the Métro. There are 14 lines (lignes) on which trains travel all day at intervals of a few minutes between 5am and 1.30am, stopping at all stations on the line. In addition there are 5 express lines called RER A, B, C, D, E. They can be used within Paris with a regular subway ticket. RER trains run at intervals of about 6 - 7 minutes, and stop at every station within Paris. For stations that are outside the 20 arrondissements of Paris, check the information board on the platform.

A single ticket costs 1.40€; for shorter visits a carnet of ten tickets can be bought for 10.70€ at any station, that will bring the price per ticket down to 1.07€. There are also 1 to 5 day passes, called Paris Visite, available, starting at 8.35€ for one day of unlimited travel within Paris and inner suburbs.

If you're staying a bit longer it might be interesting to get a Carte Orange Hebdomadaire (1 week pass, 15.7€ for Paris and inner suburbs) or Mensuelle (1 month pass). For the Carte Orange you need one small photograph -- you can use a photomat in a larger métro station or photocopy and trim your passport photo. Note that an Hebdomadaire (eb-DOH-ma-DAYR: in French you don't pronounce the H) starts on Mondays and a Mensuelle on the first of the month. There is some confusion about whether tourists are permitted to buy the Carte Orange rather than the more expensive Paris Visite passes. The Carte Orange info has been removed from the English-language metro (RATP) website but is still on the French version as of April 2005. If one agent turns you down for the Carte Orange try going to a different window.

RATP (http://www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/index.php) is responsible for public transport including metro, buses, and some of the high speed inter-urban trains (RER). The rest of the RER is operated by SNCF. However, both companies take the same tickets, so the difference is of little interest for most people except in case of strikes (because RATP may strike while SNCF does not, or the converse). Current fares can be found at their website.

The lines are named according to the names of their terminal stations (those at the end of the line). If you ask the locals about directions they will answer something like : take line number n toward "end station 1", change at "station", take the line nn toward "end station 2" etc. The metro system has started implementing a color code, and on some lines N E S W directions. They are apparently ignored by the locals.

Each station displays a detailed map of the surrounding area with a street list and the location of buildings (monuments, schools, places of worship etc.). Maps are located on the platform if the station has several exits or near the exit if there is only one.

Trick:If you have any tickets or carte orange for zone 1-2 ("inside" Paris area: the lower rate) and want go to La Defense from Chatelet, you have to take the metro (line 1). you can take the RER A (and save 10-15 minutes) but you have to pay an additionnal fare. cause even if you arrive exactly at the same station, the RER exit is supposed to be outside of Paris!!! never understood why... Well, I know... carefull there's a lot of ticket examinors where you gi out from the RER A...

Bicycle

Renting a bike is a very good alternative over driving or using public transport. A few years ago Paris wasn't the easiest place to get around by bike. That however has changed dramatically in recent years, starting perhaps with a lengthy bus and traffic jam. The city government has taken a number of steps in strong support of improving the safety and efficiency of the urban cyclist as well, in establishing some separated bike lanes, but even more important a policy of allowing cyclists to share the ample bus lanes on most major boulevards. The Paris bike network now counts over 150km of either unique or shared lanes for the cyclist.

You can find an excellent map of the bike network called Plan des itinéraires cyclables at the information center in the Hôtel de Ville.

Bikes can be rented in from numerous private vendors, but the best deal is available from Roue Libre, a joint project of the Mayor's office and the RATP. In addition to operating a number of bike rental busses, they have some permanent locations, including:

• Roue Libre Les Halles, [8] (http://www.rouelibre.fr/points-location.php). 1 passage Mondétour (face au 120 rue Rambuteau), Métro: Les Halles. : +33 8 10 44 15 34. Opening hours from 9 am until 7 pm. Bikes can be rented for one weekend (€25), Monday to Friday (€20), a working day (€9), or one day in the weekend (€14).
• Roue Libre Bastille, [9] (http://www.rouelibre.fr/points-location.php). 37, boulevard Bourdon, Métro: Bastille. +33 1 44 54 19 29. Opening hours from 9 am until 7 pm. Bikes can be rented for one weekend (€25), Monday to Friday (€20), a working day (€9), or one day in the weekend (€14).

Bus

Since the Métro is primarily structured around a "hub and spoke" model, there are some journeys for which it can be quite inefficient, and in these cases it is worth seeing if a direct bus route exists. The Parisian bus system is quite tourist-friendly. It uses the same single-ride tickets and Carte Orange as the Métro, and electronic displays inside each bus tell riders its current position and what stops remain, eliminating a lot of confusion.

These same payment devices are also valid in the Noctambus, the night bus, where tickets normally cost 2.70€. Noctambus routes all begin hourly at Chatelet and run to outlying areas of greater Paris. It pays to know one's Noctambus route ahead of time in case one misses the last Métro home. Women travellers should probably avoid taking the Noctambus on their own.

Taxi

Taxis are relatively cheap, especially at night, when there are no traffic jams to be expected. In the daytime, it is sometimes a bad idea to take a taxi on certain routes, as walking or taking the metro could be faster if there are traffic jams. When a taxi stops, he will pull down his window and expect you to tell him where you want to go. Sometimes, a taxi can be difficult to stop, and you have to expect to try several times before one stops. If the driver does not feel like going where you want at that time, he will might tell you directly in a sometimes rude manner not expected of a taxi driver. Also, you might not always expect the taxi to drive you to the doorstep, if they want to let you out a block away if the route is difficult, they will do so. Be careful and watch that the driver gives you the correct change, as you might risk that they drive away with your money otherwise. Usually the taxi driver will not let you sit in the front seat, and will expect you to enter in the back. Parisian taxi-drivers are individualists, and come in all types, some nice, some rude, some wanting to chat, some not. You will clearly feel the difference. Although smoking in taxis is generally not allowed, if you ask it might be that the taxi driver himself wants a cigarette, and will let you smoke in his car if you accept that he, too, smokes a cigarette. If you liked the service, you can give up to 15% tip, but it is not strictly necessary, especially considering that the service is not always up to par. For all the problems that are with Parisian taxi drivers, it is worth the effort to try and be nice to them anyhow, even though you have to expect the unexpected - as a few of them can be really nice if you try to talk to them. Even more so, if you know a little bit of French.