The best ways to get around Paris

As a long-timer expat in Paris, there’s one think I know for sure: your Paris life is made or broken with your mastery of the transport system. It may be a small city at only 104km² but if you don’t get on top of the transport here, it’s sure to get on top of you!

Whether you’re visiting or working, you are inevitably going to spend a good portion of your time in transit. Knowing the best ways to get around Paris is a game-changer. At this point, as someone who works in all corners of the city and also having pushed a double-buggy around for a couple of years, I’ve tried and tested many different methods in many different contexts. Read on for some useful tips and tricks for the best ways to get around Paris.

Use the Google maps app

Working out your journey in advance with the Google maps application has never let me down. The estimated arrival times always turn out to be eerily accurate! The fact that you can choose between several different transport types is hugely beneficial. Often, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you could just walk to your destination rather than use the metro for example. And walking, I have to say, is absolutely the best way to get around Paris. More on that later.

Alternatives to Google maps are :

• Citymapper which will give you more detailed options and ETAs
• RATP which is the transport system app. This can be useful for having an up to date matro map at hand and for information on the current the wait times, especially if you’re standing at a bus stop in the rain!

Metro

Using the metro in Paris is of course the most common choice. If you find a line that gets you from A to B without a change, it’s the right choice. Personally, I very rarely take the metro if there is more than one correspondence. If you see there are 2 changes, perhaps there’s a better way. 2 changes or more is going to be long and tiring. It might be better to go for a 1-change trip and accept to walk a little further to your final destination.

Tickets

The paper tickets are being phased out in 2022 so you have to buy a card and charge it with travel credits.

Occasional use: If you’re using the transport system on and off, you might want to consider Navigo Liberté +. It’s a pay as you go system that debits your account automatically every month. If you don’t want to set that up, you can go for Navigo easy which is popular with tourists.

Regular use: If you’re using the transport system pretty much every day, it’s best to opt for the regular monthly Navigo. It’s 75,20€ per month which is pricey but if you have a job here, your employer should be paying a portion of this fee. If you work full time, they should pay 50% of that amount to you monthly and if you’re part time, it is a proportional amount. That what we do at our school Le Bus Anglais, all of the teachers as compensated for their transport expenses.

Watch your bags!

I always feel safe when travelling around Paris but there is a pick pocketing problem on the metro that’s worth being street-wise about. When you’ve been here a while, you can spot the dangers quite easily. Their behaviour is just different and it sets off alarm bells. Groups of young female teenagers, bustling around at busy times in busy stations is one to watch out for. They’ll push against their target in the metro car and before you know it, they’ll have relieved you of your valuables.

Also, be very careful at that moment when the noise sounds to indicate that the carriage door will be closing. Some pick pocketers wait for that noise to grab a purse and leap out just as the doors are closing, leaving you empty handed on the train that’s already leaving the station. A sliding-door moment you’d rather not experience.

Rest assured, these events are still relatively rare and you’ll be fine if you keep a hold of your stuff and keep your wits about you.

Other tips

To avoid getting too squished in the metro, choose the right spot at which to wait on the platform – where there’s an exit. The well-practiced metro-goers will get off the train where their exit is at the destination station. Most people will get out here, leaving you a nice empty metro car to get into!

There are some general rules that newbies are not always aware of. Granted, Paris is the typical place where not all rules are adhered to! But the following one definitely are.

It’s important to let everyone off before you try to get on.

The flip-down seats are only to be used if there’s enough space, as soon as it gets a bit crowded, you should stand up to save space.

Finally, you should always keep an eye out for someone who might need a seat more than you and offer them your place.

Bikes and scooters

The traditional bike hire system in Paris is Vélib. You can pay per trip (3€), for 24 hours (5€) or subscribe to occasional use or regular use. Details here. Up to a couple of years ago, Vélib was the only widely available bike-hire option. Then the electric scooters and bikes arrived en masse! So much so that the city decided to “clean up” the streets by keeping only a handful of companies.

I’m not a big fan of the electric scooters (bit of a scaredy cat) but when I do use them, I use Lime. I feel safer on the bikes and I do use the red Lime bikes as pictured (which used to belong to Uber before the “clean up”) very often indeed. (I don’t use the green and white Lime bikes which are a pain because they won’t let you end the rental unless you’re in an agreed bike-parking space, which can lead to problems). Through the Lime app, I find a bike nearby, scan the QR code and off we go.

Security-wise, I have an Overade Plixi Fit foldable helmet which was expensive but worth it. Also, there are some areas of Paris in which I would not opt for a bike. For example, I wouldn’t go through a very busy section like the Place de la Bastille (although there are good bike lanes there now after some reconfiguration), or down a big boulevard with no separate bike lane. I usually stick to the areas I know well if I’m using a bike.

Cars

We used to have a family car until the running costs versus the amount of times we used it just got ridiculous. There it was, sitting patiently in an expensive car park, gathering dust. As soon as the electric rental cars came along, we switched to using those instead. The company I use the most is Zity (unfortunate name for the English-speaking market but there you go!) It costs around 50 centimes per minute and can be a good option to have in your transport arsenal!

Competitors to Zity are Sharenow and Getaround

Taxis

Good old Uber is a very quick and reliable way to get around Paris, especially when the metro line you need is not running. Many a time at Le Bus Anglais have we answered a call for assistance from one of our teachers stranded at a metro station searching for a way to get to class or to get back home. In 2 clicks, we have a car ordered on our business account and they’re on their way!

Competitors include Freenow and the good old hail-me-down taxi of course. If you see a taxi with a green light on top, give them a wave and they’ll pull over. They 99.9% all take card payments now.

Buses

Always worth checking are the bus routes. I would avoid getting the bus through the busy hyper centre, it’s likely to take more time than the metro or walking. But towards the outer arrondissements (13th, 14th etc), they can be very handy.

For those of us who have lived with strollers (in my case, a massive double buggy because I had 2 babies!), the bus is pretty much your only option if you want to go any distance that’s not walkable.

Walking

My personal favourite! I love to walk if I can. If it’s withing 30 minutes walking distance and I have the time, I’m going on foot for sure. If it’s a nice day and I know the route will be picturesque, I’ll walk up to an hour. Those walks are the best because you’re generally seeing new things and just living your best parisan tourist-teacher life! I’m also a massive podcast geek so it’s the perfect time to get my episodes in.

I hope these tips will save you some time and help you in finding the best way to get around Paris. I think we can say that if you’re ticking these boxes for your Parisian journeys:

efficient, enjoyable, stress-free…

…then you have earned your stripes and become a master parisian commuter! And you can truly feel that you are on top of the transport system rather than it being on top of you. Bravo!

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Need to rest your weary feet after a long walk? Check out this blogpost on 10 Parisian cafés with a view