Are the 11th and 12th Paris districts safe?
Feb 25th, 2003 | 08:07 AM
#1
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Are the 11th and 12th Paris districts safe?
I will be travelling to Paris in August.<BR>The hotels I'm considering are in the 11th<BR>and 12th districts. Are these districts safe? I'm asking because I will be spending many day trips that will have me returning late at night.
Feb 25th, 2003 | 08:26 AM
#2
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I've never felt uncomfortable in the 11th or 12th, but then I haven't been to every little neighborhood. There may be areas that are worse than others.<BR><BR>One of the things that might be important if you were coming back late at night would be proximity to a metro station. <BR><BR>If you post the names of the hotels you are considering, someone here may be able to give more specific advice.
Feb 25th, 2003 | 09:14 AM
#3
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It probably depends how far you are from a metro stop. I don't feel comfortable in any city walking around late at night in the dark and choose hotels very close to metro stops if I think I'm going to do that. <BR><BR>That being said, I would feel less comfortable walking around late at night in parts of the 11th/12th than some other areas. I sure wouldn't do it.
Feb 25th, 2003 | 04:19 PM
#5
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I'm guessing that Hotel de la Porte Doree is near the Porte Doree metro stop, which is way, way out there--practically at the periphique.<BR><BR>There are some comments about the Lux Hotel Picpus on www.paris.org. I don't know how old or reliable they are. It looks like the Hotel is just steps away from the Picpus station, but quite a bit farther from Nation, which is a more main station with more connections.<BR><BR>Tripadvisor.com has a link to a review of the Hotel de Nemours that says it is located "on a rather grotty street" "opposite a Moroccan restaurant and several tacky shops". The Parmentier metro station is within 100 yards.<BR><BR>Why don't you find out the street addresses and then go to www.pagesjaune.fr and plug them in? You'll be able to see not only the building, but a bit of the surrounding neighborhood as well. Seeing what it looks like may help you decide whether you'd be comfortable walking there at night.<BR><BR>
Feb 25th, 2003 | 05:13 PM
#6
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I've stayed in the 11th and 12th in the immediate vicinity of Place de la Nation many times. That particular area is very active, well-connected via metro/RER and it tends to be reasonably priced for hotels and dining because it is not really a tourist area. There are a lot of brasseries, shops, etc. in that area. I'm not fond of the area around Pere Lachaise.
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Feb 25th, 2003 | 05:46 PM
#8
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We rented an apartment for two weeks in the 11th (Parmentier Metro Stop) and felt very safe. The neighborhood was well travelled at all hours and quiet enough to not be bothered by the same traffic. We stayed about three blocks in from Rue Republique. This particular part of the 11th is a "hip pocket" as recently described in the NY Times..for what it's worth it has lots of young "hip" folks, lots of west africans, vietnamese, a fundamental mosque and a conservative temple.
May 5th, 2003 | 09:26 PM
#9
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Hi Sec,
Returned from Paris in March and wanted to share my experiences regarding the 12th district as well as the hotel lux Picpus.
I found the 12th to be a little out of the way for the places that we wanted to visit. It is a nice enough neighborhood with plenty of local amenities available, but I preferred the Bastille with its great transportation ,excitement, and many cafes.There seemed to be a dearth of good cafes near our hotel on Boulevard du Picpus which was located about 3 blocks from Place du Nation.
The hotel Lux Picpus was quite nice however. Significantly nicer than the Castex Hotel (when it was a 2 star at least)located in the Bastille. We stayed at the Castex last year and enjoyed it well enough. The lux Picpus offered a tasty breakfast that was included in the price of about $50 a night. I might have enjoyed the location more had the Picpus metro station not been closed for repair. In fact I'm certain that I would have liked the 12th better had our block-away metro station been open.
So one does seem to get better accomadations in the 12th ,but the trade off , of course, is that it is slightly less convenient than the 4th, 6th, 11th districts etc. Hope this helps. Tim
Returned from Paris in March and wanted to share my experiences regarding the 12th district as well as the hotel lux Picpus.
I found the 12th to be a little out of the way for the places that we wanted to visit. It is a nice enough neighborhood with plenty of local amenities available, but I preferred the Bastille with its great transportation ,excitement, and many cafes.There seemed to be a dearth of good cafes near our hotel on Boulevard du Picpus which was located about 3 blocks from Place du Nation.
The hotel Lux Picpus was quite nice however. Significantly nicer than the Castex Hotel (when it was a 2 star at least)located in the Bastille. We stayed at the Castex last year and enjoyed it well enough. The lux Picpus offered a tasty breakfast that was included in the price of about $50 a night. I might have enjoyed the location more had the Picpus metro station not been closed for repair. In fact I'm certain that I would have liked the 12th better had our block-away metro station been open.
So one does seem to get better accomadations in the 12th ,but the trade off , of course, is that it is slightly less convenient than the 4th, 6th, 11th districts etc. Hope this helps. Tim
