By Harry Nara · Last updated
Yes, but check the date on whatever else you have read about getting around, because the Paris ticketing system was rebuilt and most advice still in circulation is wrong. The carnet of little paper tickets is gone, the zones are gone, and one flat fare now takes you anywhere in the region by metro except to the airports, which are priced separately and catch people out on the first morning. Beyond that Paris is exactly as good as promised and slightly less difficult than its reputation.
Paris has a reputation for being difficult that it has mostly outgrown. Staff speak English in the places visitors go, the metro is dense and quick, and the old story about Parisian rudeness turns out to be a story about greeting people: say bonjour on entering anywhere and the city becomes noticeably warmer.
The genuine friction is administrative. Tickets changed, museum entry increasingly runs on timed slots, and the airports are a separate fare system from everything else. Get those three right before you arrive and the rest of a first visit is a matter of walking slowly and eating well.
How long do you need in Paris?
Four days is the honest figure, five if the Louvre and Versailles are both on the list, because each of those swallows most of a day and they should not be adjacent. Paris rewards a slower trip than people plan, largely because the city is small enough to walk and the walking is the point.
Before you go
The paper carnet of ten tickets no longer exists, and the zone system that governed how far each ticket took you has been replaced by a flat fare. One metro, train or RER ticket now costs 2.55 euros and is valid across the whole Ile-de-France region, and a bus or tram ticket costs 2.05 euros. There is no longer any calculation to do about how far you are going. What you do need is something to carry the tickets on, because they are loaded onto a reusable Navigo Easy card or onto your phone rather than sold as paper. Buy the card at any staffed metro station on arrival and load it as you go.
The flat regional fare explicitly excludes Charles de Gaulle and Orly. Getting to or from either on public transport uses a separate Paris Region to Airports ticket at 14 euros a trip. People buy a normal ticket, ride out towards the airport on the RER and discover the problem at a barrier they cannot pass, usually with a flight to catch. Budget the fourteen euros each way and buy the right ticket.
The major museums run on timed entry now and the Louvre in particular should be reserved before you fly rather than on the day. The more useful planning point is spacing: the Louvre is enormous and Versailles is a day trip out of the city, and doing them on consecutive days produces two exhausting days and very little memory of either. Put something small and outdoors between them.
Bonjour on entering, au revoir on leaving, s’il vous plait and merci. This is not politeness theatre. In French convention you greet the room before you transact with it, and skipping it reads as rudeness rather than as being foreign. Almost everything visitors describe as Parisian coldness starts here.
Once you are there
Inspectors work inside the system as well as at the gates, and a used ticket is still your proof of payment until you leave. Fines are issued on the spot and are not negotiable, and the fact that you did pay is irrelevant if you cannot show it. This applies on the RER in particular, where you also need the ticket to open the barrier on the way out.
Paris fits inside its ring road and most of what visitors want sits in a compact wedge of it. The metro is so convenient that first-timers use it for journeys of ten minutes on foot, and then wonder why the city felt like a series of underground hops between attractions. A good rule is to check the walking time before accepting the metro route; under twenty five minutes, walk it, because the walk is where Paris actually happens.
Kitchens in traditional restaurants serve lunch roughly from noon to half past two and then close until about seven in the evening. Arriving hungry at four means a cafe, a bakery or a tourist-facing place that serves all day and cooks nothing well. Plan the big meal inside the window, or accept that the afternoon belongs to bread and coffee.
What it costs
Paris is expensive in the places where you sit down and reasonable almost everywhere else. The same coffee costs two or three times as much at a table on a famous square as it does standing at the counter of a neighbourhood cafe, and that is not a scam, it is the published two-tier pricing the city has always used. Bakeries, markets and the standing counter are how Parisians actually eat during the day, and they are very cheap.
Service is legally included in a French bill, so tipping is genuinely optional in a way it is not in most places. Leaving small change on a coffee, or rounding up a restaurant bill by a few euros for a good meal, is normal and appreciated. A percentage calculation is not expected and nobody will look at the plate after you leave.
Going with children
Paris takes more planning with children than London does and rewards it better than people expect, because the city is small enough that a day can be built around one park. The Jardin du Luxembourg and the Jardin des Tuileries are not ornamental lawns to look at but working playgrounds with sailing boats, carousels and space to run, and they sit next to the museums you wanted to see anyway. The constraints are the metro, where long corridors and stairs at older stations make a pushchair genuinely hard work, and the restaurant timetable, which does not bend for a hungry six year old at four in the afternoon. Bakeries solve the second problem completely. For the first, buses are slower, at street level and much easier, and the city is flat enough to walk further than you would think.
Going alone
Paris has a reputation as a couples city that does it a disservice, because it is one of the easiest places in Europe to spend a week alone. Sitting at a cafe table by yourself for an hour is the local pastime rather than something to explain, museums are better alone, and the city is compact enough that an evening walk is a destination in itself. Two things are worth knowing. Restaurant dinner service is a social event and a solo diner at eight thirty on a Saturday may be offered a cramped table or an early sitting, which is easily solved by eating at lunch instead, when the same kitchens are cheaper. And the ordinary pickpocket advice concentrates on specific places rather than the city generally: Line 1, the approaches to the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre and the Gare du Nord.
Mistakes worth avoiding
They no longer exist. Buy a Navigo Easy card at a staffed station and load single tickets onto it, or use your phone.
The flat regional fare specifically excludes Charles de Gaulle and Orly, which need a separate fourteen euro ticket. The barrier is where people find out, and it is a bad place to find out.
Inspections happen inside the network and the fine is immediate. On the RER you also need the ticket to get out.
It is not an optional pleasantry, it is the opening of the transaction. Skip it and the service you get afterwards will be the service you then complain about.
The view is priced into the cup, quite openly. Standing at the counter of the same establishment often costs less than half, and walking two streets costs less again.
Both are enormous and both are most of a day on your feet. Put something small between them or you will remember neither.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Paris worth visiting for a first-time traveller?
Yes, and it is more forgiving than its reputation. English is widely spoken where visitors go, the city is compact enough to walk, and the old story about rudeness is mostly a misunderstanding about greetings: say bonjour on entering anywhere and the city warms up considerably. The real friction is administrative rather than social, and it is concentrated in tickets and timed museum entry.
How many days do you need in Paris?
Four, or five if you want both the Louvre and Versailles, which each take most of a day and should not be done back to back. Paris rewards a slower trip than most people plan, because the city is small enough to cross on foot and the walking is a large part of what you came for.
How do Paris metro tickets work now?
The old paper carnet and the zone system are both gone. A single metro, train or RER ticket is a flat 2.55 euros anywhere in the Ile-de-France region, and a bus or tram ticket is 2.05 euros. Tickets are loaded onto a reusable Navigo Easy card or onto your phone rather than sold as paper, so buy the card at a staffed station when you arrive.
Does a normal metro ticket cover the airport?
No, and this is the most common expensive mistake in Paris. The flat regional fare explicitly excludes Charles de Gaulle and Orly. Travel to either airport needs a separate Paris Region to Airports ticket costing 14 euros per trip. People discover this at a barrier they cannot pass, often on the way to a flight.
Do you tip in Paris?
Service is included in the bill by law, so tipping is optional rather than expected. Rounding up, or leaving a few euros after a good meal, is normal and welcome. Nobody calculates a percentage, and no one will react badly if you leave nothing.
Is Paris good for families with young children?
Better than expected, largely because the great parks are working playgrounds rather than ornamental lawns. The Jardin du Luxembourg and the Tuileries have carousels, sailing boats and space to run, and they sit beside the museums you wanted anyway. Plan around two things: older metro stations with long corridors and stairs, which are hard with a pushchair, and the fixed restaurant hours, which do not accommodate a hungry child mid-afternoon. Bakeries solve the second entirely.
Is Paris safe and enjoyable to visit alone?
Very. Sitting alone at a cafe is the local pastime rather than something that needs explaining, and the city is compact enough that an evening walk is its own destination. Dinner service is more social, so a solo diner on a busy Saturday evening may get a cramped table; eating the main meal at lunch solves it and costs less. Pickpocketing is concentrated rather than general: Line 1, the Eiffel Tower approaches, Montmartre and the Gare du Nord.
Why is coffee so much more expensive at some Paris cafes?
Because French cafes have long charged differently for standing at the counter and sitting at a table, with terrace seats on a famous square at the top end. It is published rather than hidden. Standing at the counter of the same place is often less than half the terrace price, and a cafe two streets from the landmark costs less again.
Checked against Ile-de-France Mobilites, tickets and fares, Musee du Louvre, official tickets, Chateau de Versailles, official site.
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