How to use the Paris underground
Paris is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the world. Even having 20 lives would not be enough to visit it all! So image if you were to only stroll around the city: an impossible mission!
Luckily enough, a quicker way to visit the city was invented and this would help you to easily reach most places of interest within the city: the Paris Metro or underground.
Upon arriving in Paris, the first issue you will probably have to address is understanding how the underground works. Most of us prefer to walk or take the bus, however, the underground is the quickest way to reach most Paris’ landmarks even when they are not within easy reach from each other, and allow you to beat the traffic.
Paris consists of 16 lines and 303 stations, therefore this means it is more practical to explore the city from one place to another.
Moving on, let’s find out how to use the underground
The first answer we will give you is how to identify an underground entrance.
Finding the entrance is quite easy, as the average distance between each station is around 1800 ft. Hence when you are in the city centre, you are most likely to be 5 minutes away from the next stop.
All entrances are easily identifiable: they are marked with the word Metropolitan (mostly the oldest and the artistic ones); Metro (signs with a red background placed on the top of a streetlight) or simply a yellow M (mostly by the most modern stations).
Where can I buy an underground ticket?
Normally, at each station you can find both ticket shops and ticket machines.
However, we would advise you to buy any tickets beforehand, as the ticket queues can be quite long, especially at touristic places such as Montmartre or the Eiffel Tour.
All machines are multilingual to facilitate tourists buying their own tickets and you can pay either in cash or by card.
What type of ticket should I buy?
Another important information to know is how to buy a ticket. There are many options, however, if you are a tourist buying the carnet with 10 tickets might be the best option for you.
You can use this type of ticket not only on the underground, but also on buses and trams. They not only allow you to save your time when avoiding long queues, but also to save a couple of quids, as overall buying one carnet will cost you less than buying 10 single tickets separately (one carnet costs 14,10 €).
Another great option would be buying a Mobilis Pass, a ticket that grants you illimitate access to any means of transport for a period of one, two, three or five days. However, this is less cheaper than the carnet that we previously mentioned.
Choosing what type of ticket would work best for you depends on how much you are planning to use the metro.
Nonetheless, please bear in mind that these tickets are not valid if you are planning to visit Versailles or Disnalyland, as they are located outside the city of Paris. You will have to buy a separate ticket that will cost you around 7 EUR, available in every station.
It is also important to remember that Paris Metro does not operate a 24-hour service. Therefore, you will have to pay attention to the train timetable before going out in the evening. In fact, during the week, the last train leaves around 0030 hours, while on Fridays and Saturdays between 0100 and 0200 hours, depending on the line.
You also need to be aware of pickpocketing, but if you follow the right precautions, such as closing all luggages, keeping an eye on your personal belongings and not leaving your backpack on your back during your train journey, you can easily ensure not ending up being pick pocketed.
Removing your back from your shoulders is not only done for security reasons, but most Parisians will appreciate this gesture of goodwill, as you will leave more space to other people on the coach. Therefore the best option is to keep your backpack between your legs or simply in front of you.
These are all the essential information you need to know about the Paris Metro: a comfortable and efficient means of transport that allows you to reach most points of interests in the city.
