Are there any areas in Paris that should be avoided?
 

Are there any arrondisments that I should plan to avoid? I have been planning my honeymoon there for a while now and I have heard a few people recently say that I should avoid a few areas of Paris because they are not nice at all and may "be a little scary". I am not one to be very nervous of bad surroundings but is this true? I do not speak French well so I am slightly concerned I would not be able to perceive a possible danger quickly and so I pose the question to the forum. Please do not give me hell about this, I am just concerned for my wife's safety (and mine to a slightly less degree!)

Nowhere in central Paris is especially dangerous - just use your normal common sense and don't go down dark alleyways

Arrondissements are quite large areas, and none need be totally out of bounds. Street crime can happen anywhere, and the usual commonsense rules apply.

I have been there and I do know that central Paris is safe. I used to live in Philly and in New Orleans so I do know about crime in cities. Having said that though, I did know of places or areas that I should be very mindful of avoiding, especially at night. I guess that is what I am worried about because I know that my wife and I will be walking around and will probably have had a few drinks. Just want to avoid trouble.

I would say that, beyond applying standard common sense at night, there are no arrondissements that you should avoid. You may not want to be around Place Pigalle, for example, because of its sex shops, and there were some comments here about the neighbourhood going to Cathedral St. Denis, but for what a typical visit to Paris would involve, no worries.

I've wandered Paris at night every trip, with no worries. Where will you be going ?

There are areas in France and Paris in particular that are officially designated as dangerous places largely due to Muslim unrest. They are called "Zones Urbaines Sensibes." Remember the riots of 2005? Local Police avoid these areas. Most of them around Paris are in outlying areas like the 18th but there are some areas in the 10th and 11th that are demarked.
I do not believe tha there is much danger to the average tourist, but some knowledge that these "no go" areas exist would be prudent.

RJD,
that is the type of thing that I was concerned about. I had heard of the riots in '05 and watched something on youtube about it as well.

Michael,
I dont really know what we are doing in Paris other than just going. We dont have a really big plan other than having picked out some restaurants that we want to eat at. We have both been to Paris twice and have seen most of the major sites although she has not seen the Sacre Couer (spelling?) and I will take her there. I have heard there is a wine festival in Montmarte during the week that we are there (Oct 1st-8th) but I am not sure of the exact date of it and if I find out when it is, I may take her to the wine festival then Sacre Couer or vice versa. Also, I believe the one night a year when Paris keep the museums open late will occur during our stay as well. We will do that as well. Lastly, I want to go to the catacombs but I know that wont be romantic however we'll go because i really want to. Other than that, I am not sure. You have some suggestions of some interesting things to do?

The Fete des vendages is the 12-14 of October this year.

http://www.parisinfo.com/sortir-a-pa...-de-montmartre

Nuit Blanche is Saturday October 6th

<i>I dont really know what we are doing in Paris other than just going. We dont have a really big plan other than having picked out some restaurants that we want to eat at.</i>

Beautiful. This hits my nail on the head. I don't need another view of the Mona Lisa or Napoleon's Tomb either. Just being in the City is good enough.

There isn't any entire arrondisement that is scary. They are really quite large. I have had only one area in all of Paris I can remember, deep into one part of Belleville where I was alone once and felt uncomfortable due to the way some local guys were watching me. Once I was getting out of a club very late at night with some other girls after the metro stopped, and there were some rowdy guys near the bus stop (oh yeah, once a drunk in the streets at night in another area) that were a little discomfiting. This really wouldn't very likely to happen to you given your agenda. That had nothing to do with the area, though, but the time of night and that few people were around, and that the middle of the night is when some young drunk guys are getting out of the bars.

Use common sense and don't wander around in the middle of the night in dark areas where there is no street traffic, I'd say. If certain people warned you about areas that were scary, didn't you ask them where they were, or didn't they tell you? If they thought they knew enough to tell you that, they should have been more specific. Perceived danger doesn't have much to do with speaking French that much, I don't think. It's based more on body language and activities and other things. The times I was uncomfortable, I wasn't speaking or talking to anyone, even though I do speak French (actually, I could hear what some of the guys at the bus stop were saying, they were just young drunk punks, basically).

I suspect if someone told you an entire arrondisement was &quot;not nice&quot;, they might have meant the 19th or 20th. I guess, they maybe didn't even know what they were talking about and meant the suburbs, probably, which aren't arrondisements. I suspect you don't realize how large an arrondisement is and think it's just a few blocks.

Why don't you go watch that movie Paris Je t'Aime and take notes on the guy in the subway.

I like the idea of a trip with restaurants being the only to-do. My kind of trip.

I've been 9-10 times, and I'm picking away at the places still on my list. Last time it was the Jaquemart Andre museum, the Chapel Expiatoire (where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's bodies were thrown after being guillotined), Grand Magasins for the xmas lights, Musee Carnavalet for historical Paris items, some Marais walking tours, Pont des Arts,etc...

I also went with a list of restaurants and checked off a couple, but there are so many more to experience.

Nice part of my day was going to the little cafe at the end of my street for my morning cafe, croissant, OJ, and newspaper, with the locals. I was staying in the 16th, so it was off of the touristed path.

Perhaps; any area that you can't afford.

Here's a list of the &quot;Zones Urbaines Sensibles&quot; with links to maps (you're looking for department code 75):

http://i.ville.gouv.fr/divbib/doc/chercherZUS.htm

These are not areas you'd be likely to go near anyway, I would guess.