Getting around Paris

Paris has a well organized public transport network which includes the metro, RER trains, buses and even night buses. With the RER trains you can also easily travel to the suburbs of Paris. All the public transport is operated by the RATP and within the city you can use the same ticket for all of the different kinds of transport. You can buy individual tickets, when you are not planning to use the public transport very often or you can buy a booklet of ten tickets for a reduced price. But probably the Paris Visite Metro Pass will be even more useful, assuming you want see as much as possible in a short time during your citybreak. This pass offers you unlimited access to the public transport in Paris for a reduced price.

Metro Paris

The Paris metro system excels in efficiency. If you want to see a lot of Paris within a short time you should take the metro. All big tourist attractions are easy to reach by metro. In Paris the metro system exists of 200 kilometers of track and 370 metro stations. Just ask a free metro map at the tourist office or at any metro station and you will find easily your way through Paris. On weekdays the first metro leaves the station at 05:30 and will continue until 1:15. On Fridays and Saturdays the metro will continue until 02:15.

Bus Paris

Another way to get around in Paris is by bus. The busses start driving at 06:30. The last bus normally goes at 20:30 or 21:30. These buses carry a number which indicates the route. You can find the bus routes in the bus shelters and in inside the buses. But there are also some night buses, they don´t use numbers but letters to indicate the bus route. The night bus is called the Noctambus and makes every hour his round between the main metro station Chatelet in the city centre and the main gates of Paris between 01:00 and 05:34.

RER Paris

Very efficient is also the RER system, a high speed city-suburb network. With these trains you travel in no-time across the entire city and you can also easily visit the suburbs. Do you want to visit Versailles or Disneyland Paris, just get on a RER train. The RER system is connected to the metro network. Inside Paris you can use the same tickets as you use for the metro, but for travelling to one of the suburbs you need to buy another ticket. The RER system exists out of four lines indicated with the letters A, B, C and D.

Train Paris

There are 6 railway stations in Paris, where you can catch a train to all parts of the country and even international trains to go outside the country. The six Parisians railway stations are; Gare Saint Lazare, Gare du Nord, Gare de l’Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare d’Austerlitz and Gare Montparnasse. The international trains arrive at the Gare du Nord or the Gare de l´Est. All railway stations are connected to the public transport network of Paris.

Boats Paris

A very original way of transportation in Paris is the boat, for example with the Batobus. This boat bus-line has 8 stops along the River Seine and stops near important monuments including the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, the Orsay Museum and the Louvre Museum.

Bike Paris

You can also explore Paris by bike on the so called Velib Bicycles. The names come from the word combination Velo (bike) and Liberté (freedom). A few years ago Paris introduced this city-wide bike rental system. It´s a very cheap and fun way to travel through the city. Besides it´s also very good for the environment. You can hire the bikes at almost every metro station.

Getting from the Airport to the city centre Paris

There are different airports serving Paris. The two largest and most important airports are Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport. From both airports it is very easy to travel to the city centre, because they are both very well connected to the public transportation network of Paris. You can choose different ways of transport. The fastest and easiest way probably will be the RER trains. But the bus is also a good option. You can find the buses just outside the arrival terminal. The buses will bring you to a metro station in Paris. The Parisian taxi´s, who are also waiting for you outside the arrival terminal, can be very expensive.