The Paris metropolitan transit system, also known by its initials RATP (for Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) operates the underground trains and nearly 300 stations of the renowned Métro (short for Métropolitain), as well as hundreds of city buses, trams, funiculars, and smaller services.

RATP App

RATP offers highly useful smartphone apps, Bonjour RATP, for free, for Apple iOS and Google Android devices. These apps can plan your route, tell you where to stand on the platform for optimal transfers between trains, and even which exit to use when leaving your destination station (this is very useful! You'll see!) If there's a delay on your route, it will offer alternatives. More...

Riding RATP

You will definitely use the Métro trains. Here's how to do it without confusion. More...

You should also consider the RATP city buses, as they can be more convenient than the Métro from some locations and on some routes.

Here's all you need to know about buying and using tickets and transit passes.

Several special RATP bus routes, such as the Montmartrobus to the top of the Montmartre hill, are made for visitors even more than for locals.

Other RATP services include funiculars, cablecars on rails that ascend and descend steep slopes, such as the Funiculaire du Montmartre which slides up and down the slope of Montmartre from near Pigalle to near the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur and Place du Tertre (map).

Île-de-France Mobilités

RATP is coordinated with the larger Paris-region transportation authority called Île-de-France Mobilités which offers its own smartphone app named Île-de-France Mobilités (formerly Vianavigo). For trips to and from surburban destinations, you may find this app more useful and current. More...

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 Métro trains pull into one of
Paris's 300+ Métro stations.