Some visitors can feel a bit of trepidation when trying to use the metro in Paris, so here are some tips to use the Paris metro that will help you feel more at ease.
As you can see from the pictures below, there are many different exits from some metro stops in Paris. There will always be blue signs with a list of numbers and names. Each number corresponds to a specific exit that will take you to a different location above.
Depending on the metro stop, one exit can take you far away from another exit, so it’s good to know the street you need before choosing which way you head.
Look at #2 on the pic above. See how there is brown box with Centre G. Pompideau? At many metro stops where there is a major attraction, the attraction will be in brown underneath the street name (in this case, The Pompideau Center) which lets you know that #2 is the exit you want to visit. Does that make sense?
Please make sure you keep your ticket until you exit the station. You may be asked for your ticket by the cops, and if you don’t have it you will be fined.
All metro stops in Paris have signage on the street so you can see which stop you are looking at. The picture below is of metro Pere Lachaise. You can also see the numbers 2,3 the the left and right of the wording. That lets you know that metro lines 2 and 3 can be accessed at this station.
So if you are trying to find line 1 you know that you can’t get it directly from this station (but you can hop on any metro and very easily be to whichever metro you need).
Want more insider Paris travel tips? Get my Paris Guidebook here!
Thank you for your blog. I’m going to Paris for the first time this week and a friend of mine who went in January recommended I visit your page. Your information has been insightful and practical. Up to this point I’ve only seen blogs on how to avoid pickpockets (which I’m grateful for as well, but it started to put a damper on my upcoming trip).
So happy I could hep!
I love Paris so much and finally want to go back there. I think the metro there is one of the most efficient ones and the signs are so much better than in many other cities I’ve been.
You need to use the RER to get quickly across one end of Paris to another (either north-south or east-west) as there can too many stops on the Métro. I see RER as express and Métro as local for those travels. The RER integrates well with the key Métro stations. That’s how the Parisians do it.
It totally depends on where you live. Most of my Parisian friends didn’t like taking RER. Thanks for commenting!