Dear all,

Is it safe to travel at night in Paris?

Which are the places and metros that are not safe at night in Paris?

How late are you talking about? Alone? Where will you be staying?

Oh ya....

Probably around 9pm - 10pm? or even later 11pm?

Around Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and Champ Elysee?

The are no unsafe areas in Paris, although obviously some areas are sleazy (day or night). All of the tourist areas that you mentioned are full of tourists until at least 1 am. Therefore, the only risk is pickpockets, just like any other tourist place.

Hi M,

>Is it safe to travel at night in Paris?...9pm - 10pm? or even later 11pm?

9:00 is when a large fraction of Parisians are going out to dinner.

11:00 is when they are having coffee.

The places that you mention will be active and well populated past midnight.

Don't worry for your safety. Take the usual precautions.

Enjoy your visit.

Does this look unsafe? --> http://framboise78.free.fr/Paris.htm

Be aware that the Metro does not run all night, as the NYC subway does. If you are out of walking distance from your hotel as the stations are closing, you want to know where you can get a cab. (It's rare to be able to flag one down on the street, as we are used to in NYC, DC etc Instead there are taxi stands.)

One night I parted with friends after a great night of dinner, coffee, drinks ... I had a walk of about 6 blocks to my hotel. Although they were Paris veterans, they had forgotten about the Metro closing and could NOT find a cab in the light rain (a Saturday night.) In their already tired and slightly "buzzed" state they had to walk about an hour to their hotel, passing no active taxi stand and not sure where to find one. They didn't feel threatened, just worn out!

I would not worry in the areas you described. I've walked and I've Metro'ed late at night (I once had to walk from Montmartre to Jardin des Plantes in the 6th..12AM-2AM...no worries...long story)

You are in the main tourist track so there will be people around.

Just be aware of your surroundings as you would anywhere. There are bad people, even in beautiful cities.

Transportation has changed forever in Paris. There are 10000 bicycles available 24/7 (20000 by the end of the year). A 1-day pass costs 1€ and you can go anywhere free of charge for the first 30 minutes. There are currently 760 bicycle stations operating everywhere, so you can trade bicyles every 30 minutes and keep going free of charge.

Otherwise, the second half hour is 1€, the 3rd half hour is 2€ and each 30-minute period thereafter is 4€.

And if you aren't a bicycle rider, you can do as my daughter sometimes did, and just wait until the first Metro of the next morning (seriously, you should find out when the Metro stops running each day, because I understand that it varies). I would cheerfully walk at any time of night anywhere in Paris, using the same judgment I use at home regarding unlit streets and potentially dodgy people.

The metro stops running at 1:15 on weekdays and at 2:15 on Friday night.
Stations open at 5:00 and the first trains come through around 5:30.

Merci, kerouac.

Paris is a big city - not a small town. People are having dinner until 10 or 11 at night - and then going on to nightspots - so streets are busy until at least midnight. Unless you're wandering alone down dark alleys in bad neighborhoods you should be fine.

Up to midnight, it's still definitely safe, with lots of people (including tourists) around. I was at the Arc until closing at 10:30 and it was still very busy in the surrounding streets. My ETAP hotel was in a seedier area (around La Vilette) but I still usually got back at around 11pm and encountered no problems.