Paris is certainly safer than any major US city in part due to the scarcity of firearms. It’s not Tokyo or Singapore in terms of safety but as long as you take precautions as in any major metropolitan areas you should be fine. There is however petty thefts to guard against. We walk a lot in Paris and probably average 18-28 K steps a day but do take taxis or the Metro depending on our destinations. The Metro is easy to use and is often the fastest way between 2 points in the city.

With COP 26 coming up, have you thought for one moment of your carbon footprint in taxis and Ubers compared to the metro? Or do you consider what you do to be insignificant and/or exempt from environmental considerations?

Rude but safe
 

One further security suggestion for Paris streets, hopefully offered (but not employed) politely. Petty scam artists avoid being the centre of attention. One time at mid-day on a busy street, a 10-year-old tried to interfere with my ATM transaction. I yelled at him as rudely as I could and he scampered off. Raising a fuss will turn others' heads, just as diverting attention is the age-old tool of the sticky-fingered.

I like the Metro and use it frequently when I visit, but I also walk an average of 10 to 12 miles a day when visiting. That’s my walking zone.

I love the Paris Metro as transportation, especially since my comparator is the NY City subway. Clean, fast, etc. But it leaves me with an impression of the city as a bunch of unconnected point destinations. On our last two trips we used the bus system most of the time. It could get us to some places in one step where the Metro required two and a walk. On the bus we could see where we were, connecting areas to each other. We also occasionally used a cab when there was too much stuff to carry. But I still love the Paris Metro.

Same for me. I love the bus because I can sightsee as I ride. Sometimes I'll just hop on one and see where I end up. Like many cities, walking works, buses works and undergournds work. Choose which you like.

I'm another huge fan of Paris busses. I've ridden the metro a lot, though, especially when going to school there in 1977-78. In fact, that distinct metro smell of exhaust and cramped humanity can slam me back 50 years at a jolt. But for me, today, it's walking & busses.

s

Kerouac can I say just one thing: you're not a woman. Matters of personal safety are vastly different for women, compared to men. In Paris too.

And that's why things like the metro are safer. Are you claiming that women are illogical and prefer to put themselves in danger?

Many thanks for all of the advice. We will be prudent in our travels but intend to enjoy Paris thoroughly!

Metro is a lot easier to figure out and a lot of Paris businesses define their locations in relation to the nearest Metro station.

Bus lines are more tricky to figure out, because bus stops aren't as easily defined or the end points of each line doesn't make it obvious which way you're going.

However, you can use apps like Google Maps or Citymapper to plot out your trajectory and they will tell you which bus lines to take and when the next bus at the nearest stop is due.

Just grab a carnet.

I like to walk only because I figure on my own two feet there is only so far "lost" I can get. On any kind of transportation it's easier to manage to be not where you wanted to be. This is nothing about danger of the Paris Metro, which for all things Paris I will listen to kerouac, over a tourist spouting off.

lparro - I'm returning to Paris in December for 10 days which will be my 6th visit and this time am staying in the Marais (near the Archives museum). I've stayed in various other areas and agree with everyone's statement that Paris is safe for a solo woman. (Common sense should be used, as in any city, regarding late nights, dark alleys, etc. - I'm sure you get the drift!). While the Metro is super easy to get around, safe & fast, I also like to take buses if I'm not in a hurry so that I can sightsee from the bus. And of course, I love walking but Paris is a BIG city and I use public transportation for longer distances.

Kerouac - I have to thank you for a post of yours last year about the Christmas Illuminations since that stuck with me and was the deciding factor in scheduling my trip for December vs January. I always enjoy your posts for your views of Paris and helpful info.

Oh, the Christmas lights are beautiful!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6dab34e9dd.jpg
The Galeries Lafayette tree
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3d2377858f.jpg
The Galeries Lafayette windows
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3b0bbee077.jpg
A wonderful way to see the night lights of Paris - in a vintage Citroen with a bottle of champagne. A bit pricey, but it was a perfect way to spend Christmas night!

lparro, I've not felt unsafe walking the streets of central Paris solo. But the night lights tour in a vintage Citroen was a fabulous way to see the city at night. My mom introduced me to the beauty and ease of night light tours in cities, but this one was special!

Several posts have been deleted for ongoing arguments, and a few were edited for personal attacks. A reminder that hijacking and monopolizing threads with personal challenges and tit for tat arguments is not appropriate on the travel boards. If it persists the thread will be closed.

Carnets are going away soon I read. Maybe kerouac will expand.

Phasing out paper Metro tickets:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.the...by-2022/%3famp

Respectfully disagree. The ratp.fr website/app has good maps of the bus lines. Just find a line that is close/ish to your start and end points! If you need to walk a bit from either start or end point, I think that's not a huge problem -- many times you are walking a lot for a metro correspondence. Once you find the bus line that fits your plan, you can get a map of that line, and drill down to find an enlarged map of where the bus stop is. It truly is easy, and to me, a much more pleasant way to travel.

One of my favorite pre-trip obsessions is finding the lines that I'll be using from a new accommodation, and locating the bus stops that are nearby (I usually make a Google map of the bus stops I'll be using). And, yes, some lines (69) are particularly good for overviews of the city.

s

However, line 69 is a perfect example of how complicated some bus lines can be for tourists since different directions are often in completely different streets.

Bus 69 map | RATP

Bus 69 and 86 has burned me too many times and usually I am carrying heavy bags.