Paris Arrondissements
 

Hi,<BR>I will be in Paris for the first time and have a few questions about arrondissements. What exactly are they? Are they similar to a zip code area in the U.S.? How large is each one? How large is the area of Paris that includes all the arrondisements? <BR><BR>I am considering staying in the 14th or the 17th. Is this a good idea? <BR><BR>Usually my thought on hotels is that I don't want to spend a lot of money on a hotel. I would rather stay in a less expensive hotel and use the money I save on nice dinners and souvineers. But I don't want to compromise my safety by staying in an unsafe area. So are the 14th and 17th safe areas? <BR><BR>I read in another thread that northern and north eastern Paris is dangerous. By northern and north eastern do they mean the 17th, or does it refer to areas more north and north east then that?<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Kathy<BR>

Hi,<BR>Do not stay in the 17th or 14th district..Stay in a 2-3 star in the 6-7th district..Wonderful area with no weirdness at all!! District 1-10 are wonderful.. Paris is lovely and you will enjoy it!!!! Hotels less than 100Euro for a very nice hotel..

Ann, I don't think the 10th district is as wonderful as you mention. It's a seedy area near the train station, Gare du Nord.

I wouldn't say &quot;don't stay&quot; in the 14th arrondissement. It depends where you will be as it's quite a large area. Around Montparnasse is a great area to stay, with lots of shops, caf&eacute;s, and restaurants within easy reach, and good public transport. The area round Denfert-Rochereau is charming too. The nearer you get to the edge of the city, obviously, the more inconvenient it will be for you. On the whole though, I'd say the 14th is pretty safe. It's generally thought of as one of the nicer areas to live in Paris.<BR>As for the 17th, I would say it's not the best area as far as tourism goes. Parts of it are quite run-down, although parts of it are very bourgeois. I don't think it would be particularly convenient as you'd be fairly dependent on public transport.<BR> <BR>As it sounds as though you're unfamiliar with the layout of the city, before you decide on an area I think you should spend some time studying a good map of the city. Look at where the main monuments are that interest you, check out a few hotel addresses, and decide where you would like to stay in relation to this. Invest in a good guide book to help you understand how the city works.<BR>Good luck!

Hello Kathy!<BR><BR>The 14th is perfectly ok, but you need to choose the right corners of it.<BR><BR>Very busy around the Montparnasse Tower area, a little less in small streets just off Blvd. Montparnasse like Rue Delambre, just to mention one street. <BR>Incidentally, Blvd. Montparnasse marks the border between the 6th and the 14th. <BR><BR>From the northern part of the 14th, it's just a short walk to the Luxembourg Gardens and you'll be in a less touristy area, but full of life, charming bistrots, not to forget about the very good metro and bus connections.<BR><BR>Consider hotels in the Vavin, Blvd. Raspail area, rather than around the Montparnasse Tower/train station area though.

Kathy, I sent you some info. (HI URSULA!!!) If you go to: www.paris.org and drill into &quot;hotels&quot;, you will be able to see how many of them are situated with respect to arrondissements. (The one I mentioned is in the 11th).

Hi everyone,<BR><BR>I want to thank you all for your replies. You have all been very helpful. <BR><BR>Well it looks like I should stay in the 14th near the Montparnasse tower. <BR><BR>The hotels in the 14th we are considering are:<BR><BR>Waldorf Montparnasse <BR>17 Rue du Depart<BR><BR>Villa Montparnasse <BR>2 Rue Boulard<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>De L'orchidee<BR>65 Rue de l'quest<BR><BR>Could anyone comment on their location and the quality of these hotels. I know they are not 5 star hotels, but I don't want to stay in a dump either.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Kathy<BR>

Hi Kathy,<BR> Is there a particular reason why you prefer the 14th to the 6th, 6th or 7th?<BR><BR> What is your hotel budget?

Ira,<BR>It's not a matter of what my hotel budget is. The travel agent that I am going to use has a great package including airfare from the US and a week at one of these hotels for $529. These are the only hotels available through this package. So before I acutally book this I want to make sure that these hotels and the 14th are okay. I understand that part of the 14th borders the 6th, so are any of the hotels that I mentioned about near this border?<BR>Thanks,<BR>Kathy <BR>

The H&ocirc;tel Warldorf Montparnasse is very close to the 6th arrondissement. It's on a main street opposite the Montparnasse tower. Just behind the rue du D&eacute;part there are loads of great traditional Breton creperies (it's traditionally the &quot;Breton&quot; area of Paris), plus the art market and Montparnasse Cemetary on Boulevard Edgar Quinet. Easy metro access and it's right near the drop off point for the Air France coach from Charles de Gaulle airport. Plus you'd be right near the shops on the Rue de Rennes, and all the cinemas and restaurants on the Boulevard du Montparnasse.<BR>BTW, I just found this link which sums up each arrondissement pretty well: http://www.frumious.demon.co.uk/paris3.html

Kathy, My first trip to Paris back in 1990 was a similar package from American Airlines, and we stayed at the H&ocirc;tel Elys&eacute;es Foch in the 16th. It was a little out of the way in a mostly residential neighborhood north of the Arc de Triomphe, but it was very nice and not far from a Metro. It was a great cheap introduction to the city and an excellent deal. My guess is that most of these kinds of packages from reputable operators offer decent hotels in safe areas, although not in the most popular tourist arrondisements (which are probably 4-7). Have fun, Joe<BR>

I've always stayed in the 14th for about the past ten years, it's comfortable, safe and nice in many parts. I would much prefer it to some suggestions above, such as 10th arr, and I would prefer it to most of the 9th and 3rd, also. A lot of people don't know anything about it and tell people not to stay there, I don't know why.<BR><BR>As for the 17th, parts of it are fine and convenient -- the bad parts are the edges and northern area (or NW corner), Batignolles area. There are a lot of cheap hotels in the 17th, and it can be okay down close to the Arc, but not nice or just boring and farther out in other parts. You don't mention the hotels you are considering there, so I'd go with the 14th. <BR><BR>However, I would never stay right next to the Montparnasse train station, that's the problem with some hotel offers. That's not a nice area and I'm thinking mainly not very attractive, noisy, etc. I don't think the Waldorf is supposed to be a very nice hotel (I think I read some negatives on here, I could be wrong), but that street next to the station/Tower is just not that nice in many ways. <BR><BR>I would pick the Villa Montparnasse from that list, that's a nice, charming area near rue Daguerre, safe and very convenient, a great open air market street nearby and cafes and shopping. Also, that's a 4-star nice hotel from what I've seen online. The Orchidee would be my second choice for location, it's sort of in-between the train station and the Pernety/Plaisance neighborhood (which I like) but I don't find that street it's on so great, so I would prefer the Villa Montparnasse. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there myself.<BR><BR>If you had to stay in the Waldorf, it would be okay. In fact, there are probably more restaurants around there than the VIlla Montparnasse, so there is that plus.

Hi everyone,<BR>Thanks for all your help.<BR><BR>Hanl, Thanks for the info on the Waldorf. The website link you sent was great. Anyone that wants to see maps of the arrondissements or the metro should check out this website.<BR><BR>Christina, First I want to say thanks for all your input on the 14th and the hotels. The reason I didn't mention the hotels that I was considering in the 17th is because everyone seemed so dead set against staying in the 17th. But the hotels in the 17th that I was considering are:<BR><BR>Batiignolles Villers<BR>11 Rue Batignolles<BR><BR>and<BR><BR>Pavillon Villers Etoile Hotel<BR>6 Rue Letouteux<BR><BR>I will have to do a search on here for the Waldorf Montparnasse and see if there were any negative threads about this hotel. I will also check to see if the Villa Montparnasse has a website and what their hotel looks like. <BR><BR>I want to stay in a hotel that is in the northern part of the 14th so I will be close to the 6th. I also want it to be close to a metro stop and restaurants. The maps in the guidebooks I have are no help because the streets these hotels are on are ont even on the maps in these books. Can anyone offer any help here. The Waldorf is at 17 Rue Depart, the Villa is at 2 Rue Boulard, and the De L'orchidee is at 65 Rue de l'quest. Which of these addressis is closest to the 6th and to a metro stop?<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Kathy<BR><BR><BR><BR>

I don't know those hotels in the 17th, but the name Batignolles means it's probably farther out. I'd stick with the 14th hotels. <BR><BR>Okay, the Waldorf is definitely the closest to the 6th arr. It's right across the street to the east of the Montparnasse Tower. Rue du Depart is the street that runs along there and the street that divides the 14th and 15th arr., actually. It's between 1-2 blocks from the corner on bd Montparnasse. YOu are only about one block to the Montparnasse stop, as well as the Edgar Quinet (which is smaller, take it when possible). There are tons of restaurants around there on bd Montparnasse, bd Quinet, and the side streets.<BR><BR>The Villa Montparnasse is just at the SE corner of the Montparnasse cemetery and 2 blocks from the Denfert-Rochereau metro/RER stop. It belongs to a hotel group named Les Hotels de Paris and you can find a lot on it on their web site at www.leshotelsdeparis.com. It's a 4-star hotel, I believe that company bought an older hotel and renovated it.<BR><BR>The Orchidee is about 2 blocks from the Pernety metro stop; rue de l'ouest runs SW off Maine avenue which runs into the Montparnasse Tower.<BR><BR>In short, if you want proximity to the 6th and restaurants/cafes, you should choose the Waldorf. I could be wrong on the comments, it was about some budget hotel in that general area, but it could have been another. As I said, I don't usually like streets running right along the train station, it's a busy area, but in daytime and early evening, not dangerous. There is a shopping center just across the street and a good general discount store right nearby, Inno. If you just want convenient location, it should be okay.<BR>It is better for metro connections than the VIlla Montparnasse, I'll admit, as you have the choice of several lines within a few blocks, although there are several lines running through the Denfert Rochereau station to go any direction you want and that is a fairly small and navigable RER station, one of my favorites. If you needed to get to/from CDG airport yourself (or Orly), that location would be very good as you could walk from that station to the hotel and the line runs directly to the airport. <BR><BR>The Orchidee is the most inconvenient location from my point of view.<BR> <BR>YOu can find customer reviews and some info on Parisian hotels at www.paris.org/Hotels -- I don't think any of those 3 are mentioned, but you can check. If you want maps, you can put the address into www.ismap.fr

Hi Christina,<BR><BR>Thanks for your comments on these hotels. There is something you said that concerns me and that is &quot;I don't usually like streets running right along the train station, it's a busy area, but in daytime and early evening, not dangerous.&quot; So when does it get dangerous? Maybe I shouldn't stay there at all. As I mentioned earlier I had to stay there with this package deal I was getting. But if this cheap deal is going to put me and my family in danger then I'd rather spend the extra money and stay somewhere mor safe. Is the area around this train station in the 14th really that bad at night?<BR><BR>Christina or anyone else that cares to comment please do so.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR>Kahty<BR>

Personally I don't find this area particularly &quot;dangerous&quot;. Even at night. It is an area where there are many bars, restaurants and cinemas, and it can be bustling even at 11pm. Of course, it pays to take the usual precautions when you are a tourist in any major city after dark, but I really, honestly do not think that the rue du D&eacute;part is a problem area. <BR><BR>There are a couple bars that attract lots of students, but it is not seedy. Please don't think you'll be in &quot;danger&quot;. The 14th is not bad at night. Believe me - I used to live in a part of Paris that was a lot less fun after dark. <BR><BR>The rules that would apply if you were staying in *any* other part of Paris apply here: don't go waving wads of cash or expensive cameras around, watch your bag/back pocket when you're the metro, get a cab to the hotel (either pre-booked or from a taxi stand - don't flag one down in the street) if you feel uneasy about getting on public transport late at night. At night, make sure you know the route you want to take and plan it beforehand, so you don't find yourself standing on dark street corners peering at a huge fold-out map. <BR><BR>I hope I've put your mind at rest!

Kathy, think about it! Busy streets are far less dangerous than deserted ones. Please, don't worry. The area around the Montparnasse Tower is not dangerous at all. <BR>But, as always, areas around train stations are never the most upscale ones.<BR>Don't worry, you will be fine!

Hi all,<BR>Thank you Hanl and OO. Finally I could relax about the location of my hotel and the 14th arr. It is now time to concentrate on all the other more fun aspects of my 1st trip to France.<BR><BR>Hanl and OO you are absolutely right about not having to worry as much on a busy lively street, and to take the obvious precautions that you would take in any part of Paris or in any large city.<BR><BR>I've been to many US cities that have high crime rates and are considered dangerous by a lot of peoples standards. I've never been robbed or pick pocketed in NYC, Washington DC, Orlando, Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas, or LA so I'm sure I'll be fine in Paris if I do as I have in other cities and as you suggest. Use common sense and be aware of my surroundings.<BR><BR>Thanks to all for all your patience and advice.<BR><BR>Kathy<BR><BR>