Paris trip - safe to walk alone?
 

Hi, I am going to Paris for the first time and am a female traveling alone. I am not timid, easily frightened, or naive, but I would appreciate suggestions or tips from experienced Paris-visitors about what (if anything) to watch out for. Thanks!

Allow clarification...I mean mostly about safety after dark. Thanks.

As a Parisian I am always puzzled by these dozens of "single female in Paris" questions on travel boards. I am sure nobody asks about "single women in London" or "single women in Berlin".

I am also a bit tired of the puritanical cliches about preying French men and innocent Anglo-saxons. Paris is not Tehran, Kabul or Jeddah.

In Paris use the common sense you would use in any major city in your home country. You'll see hundreds of women walking alone, or alone in cafes and restaurants.

Do not dress as for spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Do not smile to strangers.

Nobody has any reason to ask you anything in the street. Do not answer unsollicited questions, regardless of the gender of the person asking (if someone asks you for directions, it'll mean you are "blending in").

The "dangers" you'll face in Paris are not so much linked to your gender as to your being on the "tourist trail" : that means pickpockets and various scams.

Hello Trudaine,

Do you think it's safe to walk around alone at night near the Hopital Lariboisiere or the Gare du Nord?

I walked all over Paris, even at night, during a week and a half stay last May. I am familiar with Paris, and there are definitely some places I would not venture alone. As in any city, though, a block or two and you can be "uncomfortable" in a neighborhood, so you can just turn around and walk back.

I think it's a good idea to have all your possessions, those you carry while out and about, well organized. I prefer a handbag or small tote with inside zipper pockets and slip pockets for my phone, PDA, camera, so I can easily remove and replace items as needed. Also nice is an outside pocket for your maps/tour guide, so they are not visible. Exceptional is a bag with double zipper pulls, so both can be positioned at the bottom of the bag when you're on metro lines or at touristy destinations known to be full of pickpockets.

I study maps and subway/bus routes before leaving every day, and study them throughout the day at a cafe table, rather than in the metro station or on the street.

To Aileron :

I commute every day through Gare du Nord, after dark in winter. I see hundreds of women doing the same.

Hi

I think you will be fine. I don't think that Paris is any different from any other big city around the world. My wife and I went there in April and we walked around at night and we didn't see or hear about any trouble. I have posted a trip report with some pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm . Maybe you can find some useful info there. Get in touch if you have any questions.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Please, dear Trudaine, there is nothing in my e-mail about "dangers" or "innocent Anglo-saxons". So, did you mean, since everyone will be a stranger to me there, I cannot smile at anyone? No, of course you did not...see, I knew what you meant. Now try and see what I mean.

I have traveled a lot on my own, and I like to stay out late at night and walk about - no nightclubbing, just soaking in the flavor of a city. I ask the question of any city, and I am also asked it when single-traveling female Europeans visit the US.

Perhaps you have cause to take offense so easily, but not from me. I admire someone who so readily defends her beautiful city!

Thanks to those who took my inquiry in the way it was intended. That information is very valuable.

Hi irish,

The suggestion about not similing at strange men is a good one.

Many European men take that as an invitation for a sexual encounter.

((I))

djkbooks - I know what you mean about a "block or two". I'm here today to laugh about them, but I've had some harrowing instances because of my penchant for following interesting avenues. Thanks for the suggestions on the bag.

gard - your trip report was fantastic! I will be in Ireland and England in a few days, but I'm going to cut my England trip short and go to Paris for 4 days! It seems everyone who goes there falls in love with it. I'm sure I will too and will be lugging someone back next year for a longer trip. Thanks.

Dear Irish,

No offence was intended. I simply saw this type of question quite a few times on this forum. There seems to be some kind of overconcern about travelling to Paris and therefore sometimes I feel obliged to rectify a few things. The other version of your concern is usually being alone in the "city of love" (another cheesy cliche I loathe!).

There's no particular danger in walking about Paris at night.

It is true that if you smile or otherwise engage a French man whom you do not know, and you are a woman, it will be interpreted as sexual interest. In France, as in many Latin countries, the two sexes interact as strangers only as a presumed prelude to some sort of sexual approach.

Thank you, Trudaine. Perhaps I should have stated my query differently. If I were worried or afraid, I wouldn't be coming to your city. Instead, I can hardly wait to get there.

ira and anthony, thanks for the explanation about smiling at European men. I have a great comeback to that, but being new to the forum I'll restrain myself. :)

djkbrooks and others, which areas would you turn away from? I haven't been to Paris w/o a male companion and I know from experience in other cities that a solo woman gets a completely different reaction from people. A woman walking alone at night should know areas to avoid.

There are areas in my own town that I would not walk in alone at night and I would gladly give the information to a tourist.

The areas that you might hesitate about are areas that you would never be in, anyway, since they are small and isolated and devoid of any tourist attractions. For example, the area a few blocks east of Sacré-Cœur is a center of drug dealing at night, but it has absolutely nothing to recommend it and it's not on any path to any other part of town, so you would not stumble into it accidentally (and it's not a place where people get killed, just a very seedy area to be around). The touristy area around the basilica itself and around Montmartre is fine; and the tackiness of Pigalle may not be aesthetically pleasing in the evening (depending on one's tastes), but it's not dangerous.

Oddly enough, in Pigalle, single men are more likely to be bothered than single women, in some cases, because the sex shops along the avenue assume that single men are looking for sex, and will try to woo them into the various "live shows" along the way. It can be quite irritating.

The truly hazardous areas are in the suburbs (and they tend to be very localized), but tourists do not visit the suburbs because there is nothing there to see.

YES!

Trudaine, say what you wish, I notice you didn't mention anything about the Rue Ambroise Paré, about which I asked.

I think it's pretty scary late at night. My French friends say it's nuts to walk there.

If your French friends are afraid to walk there, how do they know that it's nuts to do so?

While I did not travel alone, I did feel that some of the Metro stops were quite deserted at night. Also, the Metro does not go all night, so make sure you plan for your trip back to your hotel, or you will be caught in an unfamiliar neighborhood when it stops. I assumed it traveled to the end of the line, but, Nope, it doesn't! Learned the hard way!

I never felt unsafe, but I also try to pay attention to my surroundings, whether I am at home or traveling.