Insider's Info about Paris ? Some ques about RER, metro.. n other stuff?

Question

thanks khalid .. that really did help!

Answer 1

The public transportation is definitely your best option (RER, buses and metro are usually all the same price). It is much cheaper than taxis and usually faster. Taxis are a rip off imo, you should avoid taking them unless its late night (since the late buses can get a little scary). Check ratp.fr to get information on how to get from one place to another using the subway/bus... they'll give you an itinary automatically based on the time/date and such, really handy. Don't take a taxi from le Louvre to La Defense because the Line 1 of the subway has a stop at those two places and will take you from one to the other in less than 20 mn.

The 16th is probably not the best spot for shopping, you might wanna check "Les Halles" (station chatelet les halles line 4) for a mall and very cheap stores, or le marais (esp rue des francs bourgeois and around, metro Rambuteau) for a little more expensive stuff. La defense also has a mall, and there are les grands magasins (Bon Marche, gallerie lafayette) which tend to be a little pricy however.

Good and cheap places tend to get rare these days, especially within Paris and you might wanna try a travel guide for them. There are some good and cheap ones in rue Quincampoix (next to the Pompidou center), rue Saint Jacques (quartier latin, next to la Sorbonne) and in the 18th, 19th and 20th district but I can't think of a specific name or street right now. Rue de la gaite also has a good traditional restaurant called le Plomb du Cantal, and the place Edgar Quinet nearby has some nice bar/restaurants with not to expensive lunch menus. Though don't expect anything under 15-20 euros for a three course meal (and I would advise you to avoid anything that falls below that price actually). Parisian people willing to eat for cheap usually go to McDonald's, Chinese restaurants, Kebab joints, or sandwich/pizza places. Hope that helps.

Answer 2

you can also use the Velib bicycles that you can find everywhere in Paris (maximum distance between two stations is 300m I heard). It's a great concept and if you want to visit the city in a cheap way this can be an option.

You can eat very well in most restaurants if you order the fix menu, you will see this everywhere.

For shopping you also might want to try out the outlet shopping in val d'"europe close to Disneyland. You need to take the RER and a bus to get there, but it's easy to find

Answer 3

I went to Paris in May and it was great. I like the Metro, literally takes you everywhere and I went everywhere in 5 days. Its cost around 11 euro for 10 tickets which I think is better than the pass bc alot of the attractions are near each other and so I did alot of walking which was good, was never tired.

Shopping, im sorry cheap is not in their vocabulary, specially around 16E. I bought postcards from all the attractions I visited as a souvenoire and took alot of pictures. If you go to the street of Champ Elysee, they have a lot shops which you might find something in the 20-30 euro range.

Reastaurants, again the street of Champ Elysee, they have lots of restaurants outside so can take a peak at menu and find something somewhat reasonable.  I went to a restaurant called Leon or Leons, there thing is muscles which were amazing with pasta, the price wasnt too bad.

Taxi not cheap, cost you anywhere from 50-80 euros depending on what driver you get.

try www.frommers.com, I went to that website before I left which has lots of tips and advice. Also has a least of recommended restaurants cheap to expensive.

Have fun!

Answer 4

The cheapest means of traveling is by foot and, assuming you're in good health, you should avail yourself of this method most of the time.

Paris is a very compact city whose tourist attractions are, for the most part, in a fairly narrow band on either side of the Seine. If you plan correctly, on most days you will find it easier to simply walk from one sight to the next.

That being said, the public transportation system is excellant. It has more subway stations per square mile than any other such system in the world (245 stations within the 16 square miles that are Paris proper and another 55 in the close suburbs). The bus system adds to this density.

Metro, RER and bus systems are all integrated and part of the RATP. they use the same tickets and a pass good on one is good on all.

You should note however that there is a zone system that affects the price of travel on the RER and the Bus lines. All of Paris proper is contained within zones 1 and 2 but certain common visitor destinations are outside these zones. CDG airport, for example, is in zone 5.

Taxis in Paris charge according to the day of the week and the time of day with fares varying from .86 to 1.35 euros per kilometer. There is a starting charge of  2.20 euros and a minimum fare of 5.60 euros.

A taxi ride from the Louvre to La Defense (a distance of 7.5 km) would cost something on the order of 10 euros or more if there were no traffic (there is a "waiting charge" that also kicks in when you are stopped in traffic).

I suspect you mistake the geography of Paris and the ease of public transport when you ask for shopping spots "in and around the 16e." There is no practical reason why anyone would confine their shopping excursions to a single arrondissment when all the others are only a few minutes Metro/RER ride away.

A good place to shop is Tati which is a fairly low price store favored by young Parisians. http://www.tati.fr/www/

The "Flea market" at Saint Ouen (Metro: Porte de Clingnacourt) consists of thousands of stalls selling everything from antiques to vintage clothing.

As to food, cheap is a relative term (as is "good" for that matter). The classic area to find inexpensive three course meals is along the rue Mouffetard in the 5th arrondissement. You'll find dozens of places selling three course meals for prices ranging from 8-15 euros at linch and only slightly higher in the evening.

Some personal suggestions of relatively inexpensive places to eat would be:

Auberge Le Pot de Terre at  22, rue du Pot de Fer (5th arr.)http://www.lepotdeterre.com/index2.htm

Crepes a Gogo at 12 rue Soufflot (5th). [trust me...its much better than it sounds] http://www.gogo.fr/crepes/index.htm

Sans Gene 122 rue Oberkamph (11th) http://www.lifeinparis.com/msg/sg-menu.p...