Hi, I am deciding between 2 hotels but I was thinking if I stay by the eiffel tower there is a metro close by and the hotel is cheaper. Is the metro easy to use and is it safe a night? If not then I will stay at the more expensive hotel closer to the sights. I have been to Paris before but have not used the metro. Thanks a million.

The metro is extremely easy to use.

Here is a link to the metro map.

http://tinyurl.com/aq99s

There are two kinds of Paris trains. There is the Metro which serves Paris and the RER which serves the outlying Paris areas. You will see both the Metro and the RER on this map.

The Metro is very safe.

Agree the metro is easy to use. However I once stayed near the Eiffel Tower (at the Hilton) & would not stay there again - there's nothing else in the area. I prefer to stay in a livelier area where I can walk to a lot of places, where there are lots of bars & restaurants and other people out & about at night.

Agree that Metro is easy to use. If you search here, there is also info on using the bu system.


The Metro system is large. There are many lines and stations. There is a saying from somewhere that in centrls paris you are never more than 500m from a station. So your hotel will be walking distance to the Metro.

Because the Metro has som many lines, you can't always get on at your station and get off at..say...Arc de Triomphe. You mya have to change lines once or twice. Some stations where multiple Metro lines and RER lines meet are large, and you may need to walk a distance to trasnfer lines.

So being nesr the Eiffel and wanting to use the Metro...if you are near lin 10, it doenst go to the right bank but will get you near to Notre Dame (and the RER to the airport)...if you are near line 8 you could take it to the right bank and get off at Concorde (Champs Elysee, Louvre)....if you are near line 6 you could take it to the Arc de Triomphe...if you are near teh RER C line you could take it to Versailles in one direction or Notre Dame in the other.

So getting around won't be an issue. What will be more a factor in determining your location will be your budget for hotels (and you can get cheaper ones in the more central locations..not that the 7th is at all in the suburbs) and wether you want to walk to some of the main sites and/or be nearer areas that have a bit wider selection of restaurants and night life (like the 4/5/6th areas).

And..I've never felt unsafe in the Metro.

Thank you all for your help! You guys are awesome. It sound like the Metro in London and Washington DC as far a changing lines to get to where I want to go. I might just stay somewhere more expensive because we can be close to restaurants. Thanks again!!!! I love this forum!

There are actually quite a lot of good and popular restaurants in the 7th.

Fontaine de Mars
Le Petit Trocquet
Bistro de Breteuil
L'Affriole
Le Florimond
Clos des Gourmets
L'Ami Jean
D'Chez Eux

Hi S,

What are the hotels?

You can get directions between any addresses in Paris at www.ratp.fr.