Getting around
Getting Around
Métro: Since Paris is such a compact city (roughly 6 miles across), much of it can be covered on foot, especially the primary sightseeing spots in the city’s centre. There will be times, however, when a Métro or bus ride is unavoidable and even welcome. Signage in Paris Métro stations is abundant and easily followed: every station offers a big plan of the network outside the entrance and several inside. Lines are colour-coded and numbered, and are also named according to the city, or porte, at the end of the line. Free maps are also available at most stations, which provide the basics for navigation.
A carnet of 10 Métro tickets is useful for single journeys taken from time to time. For more frequent travel, the Paris Visite pass gives unlimited travel on public transport for up to 5 days, covering zones 1-3 or 1-6. The pass is valid as of the first day of use and not the day of purchase so you can avoid the queues and buy one before leaving home, or you can pick one up at any Métro or RER station. Children aged 4-11 receive a discount. As a bonus, the Paris Visite pass gives discounts or offers at many Paris attractions.
Taxis
It is difficult to get a cab by hailing one on the street. They do not stop within 100 metres of a train station or if you are within walking distance of a taxi stand. You might be lucky and manage to get into a cab when someone has just finished. However, normally you will have to go to a taxi stand (marked "T"), and these have a call system if there isn’t a cab waiting. If a taxi is free it will have a lit “taxi” sign on the roof of the cab; the orange light under the taxi sign means the cab is already taken. If you call for a cab then the meter starts as the cab leaves the station.
Note: Most cabs do not take credit cards; you will need to reserve one on the phone and specify that you want one with this facility. There are different rates for different times of day: evenings, night-time and public holidays are more expensive.
Added 2007/10/27 @ 22:03:54
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Not terribly useful - what about a link to the Paris transport website (http://www.ratp.fr/) and advice which notes that it might be cheaper to get a Paris Visite pass simply take a train from CDG airport into the city.