For price and convenience, the Paris Métro operated by RATP can't be beat. It has 300+ stations throughout the city, so there is bound to be a Métro station near where you want to go.

RATP buses are useful for some trips, but they depart stops less frequently than Métro trains, and are subject to thronged Paris traffic.

Here's a map of the Paris Métro.

Get the App!

Here's the highly useful RATP smartphone app,Bonjour RATP, free for Apple iOS and Google Android. More...

Here's what the Meetro it costs, and how to save money buying tickets.

Métro stations are marked by a variety of signs, including "M," "Métro," and ones reading Metropolitain. The trains run from 5:30 am to past midnight (24:00), finishing up their final runs after 01:00 am.

Riding the Métro

On most journeys, you will have to change lines at least once. Even if you have to change twice, trains arrive and depart so frequently (about every 3 to 8 minutes), and operate so fast, that this is not a hindrance, although the walk between ltrain platforms can be long—even five or ten minutes—in some large stations such as Châtelet, the largest subway station in Europe, with 19 Sorties (exits).

10 Steps to a Perfect Métro Trip

Boarding the Métro train is the easy part. Planning your walking is the secret to not getting confused or lost on the Paris Métro. Here's exactly how to do it. More...

Handicapped &
Reduced Mobility

Many Métro stations were constructed well before sensitivity to the needs of those with mobility challenges. Not all Métro stations have escalators/ moving stairways, or elevators/ lifts. In some, you must descend or ascend staircases, sometimes fairly long ones, perhaps carrying all of your travel luggage.

Also, passing through the fortress-like exit gates at some stations can be a minor challenge to those with full mobility, and a major challenge—or impossible—for those with reduced mobility.

Route Maps &
Plans du Quartier

Every Métro station has route maps of the system. On the train platforms and in the station lobby near the exits is a Plan du Quartier, a map of the streets and buildings surrounding each Métro station. The maps are pictorial and detailed, so you can see exactly where you will be standing when you emerge from a particular Métro exit stairway. Consult the Plan du Quartier before you exit the station. You may want to use a different exit stairway so as to be on the other side of a busy street. More...

Safety

The Paris Métro is quite safe most of the time. Precautions are in order in very crowded train cars, in the northern parts of the city, in deserted stations late at night, and in those long corridors between stations late at night.

As a tourist, you are a special mark.

You may feel safer riding in the front-most (head) car of the train, where the engineer is.

Pickpockets

A special warning is in order against pickpockets (pickpockets in French) who operate in every public transport system in the world.

Especially in crowded buses and train cars, keep all your valuables in a neck or waist pouch under your clothes, or another secure place, not in a pocket or open purse.

A master pickpocket, aided by one or more accomplices making some distraction (pushing, shouting, etc.) can extract valuables from a trouser pocket or purse without your feeling a thing.

On public transport, especially the Métro, take a seat whenever possible, avoid standing near the doors, and remain vigilant on escalators and elevators (lifts).

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