Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I used to go to Paris in the pre-iPhone era with no map, no cell phone and no french language ability. It's pretty easy to just wander around and take the metro and see where it takes you.
No, what he said is true. It is worst if you have to commute every day in it. That being said, it is efficent and quick. But the bus is better (and not only in Paris IMO).
Lol, I commuted every day in it for half a year. And that was going from the 19th to the 14th. I never had any issues.
Haha, once again, it seems that you get easily rattled.
Oh yes. I am easily rattled by bigoted sobs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zitsky
I'm looking into that but I'm getting conflicting information. I am trying to find out if I can unlock the phone before I go. I have Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 in year one of a two year contract. When I went to the Verizon store they wouldn't even talk to me. They gave me the number of their international department which is probably going to try to convince me to pay $25 for 100MB of data to use my phone in France.
That sounds weird. When I arrive in a foreign country I just go buy a prepaid SIM card and put it in, keep the old one in the bag till back home.
Last edited by Greysholic; 08-05-2015 at 03:15 PM..
The metro, most definitely. The metro system is pretty good and it's the quickest way to get to any place, really.
The RER isn't the safest option but it depends on which zone you'd like to commute to.
I wouldn't advise you to use a car because traffic is insane.
We've talked about how good the metro is. How easy is it to orient yourself once you walk out of the metro up to the street? Is that the purpose of the neighborhood map? I have a mental picture of myself walking out to the street and turning in circles trying to figure out exactly where I am. I suppose I am over thinking this but every city is different.
Get the tripadvisor offline city guide app, and download it for Paris. Includes maps with GPS positioning, doesn't require a data connection. As a backup, get a free GPS app and you're set.
Metro is almost certainly the way to go. IMO Paris and Barcelona have two of the best in Europe - extensive, dense, cheap, and easy to understand. Yes they're dirty, but they're reliable and cheap (unlike the Tube, which fails miserably on both counts).
A car can make sense in certain situations. We rented a car on our last day in Paris, a Sunday. On Sundays, street parking is free and traffic isn't nearly as bad as on weekdays. We were able to check out of our hotel in the morning, pack our luggage with us, see a couple of sights in the city we had missed earlier, day trip out to Versailles, and drive to CDG and park right at our terminal (vs walking what seemed like a mile between the RER station and the terminal). All of this likely wouldn't have been possible with public transport, and it would've been more expensive with a group of 2+ people.
Well I'm back. I mostly used Ulmon City Maps 2 Go on my Android phone. That and the Visit Paris by Metro app by RATP that was fantastic! Those two worked really well but I still used some other map applications because no one application was perfect. I did get lost once because I forgot a turn but fortunately walked right into another metro station. The RATP app did a great job of telling me how to get back to my hotel from the "new" metro station.
For shorter routes within central Paris... if you're a tourist... why not take the bus during the day and see the city from above ground? No one seems to think about this. The visitor's transit pass is good for the bus too, though. And the bus routes aren't difficult to figure out on the transit maps.
Location: Charlotte,NC, US, North America, Earth, Alpha Quadrant,Milky Way Galaxy
3,770 posts, read 7,543,620 times
Reputation: 2118
Quote:
Originally Posted by gwarnecke
Get the tripadvisor offline city guide app, and download it for Paris. Includes maps with GPS positioning, doesn't require a data connection. As a backup, get a free GPS app and you're set.
Metro is almost certainly the way to go. IMO Paris and Barcelona have two of the best in Europe - extensive, dense, cheap, and easy to understand. Yes they're dirty, but they're reliable and cheap (unlike the Tube, which fails miserably on both counts).
A car can make sense in certain situations. We rented a car on our last day in Paris, a Sunday. On Sundays, street parking is free and traffic isn't nearly as bad as on weekdays. We were able to check out of our hotel in the morning, pack our luggage with us, see a couple of sights in the city we had missed earlier, day trip out to Versailles, and drive to CDG and park right at our terminal (vs walking what seemed like a mile between the RER station and the terminal). All of this likely wouldn't have been possible with public transport, and it would've been more expensive with a group of 2+ people.
That's a good suggestion. I just got back from Paris and wish I knew about that.
I think the best thing I did though was spring for a 20 Euro sim card for my phone (my phone is Verizon and unlocked). I got 1 GB of data and unlimited texts/calls while in France. Having access to data/gps/web while out and about to find taxis stands, translate stuff, etc. was very very useful.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
