How the Paris Metro Works | Getting around Paris

if you're taking the Paris Metro the first thing you need to do is ask yourself will it be quicker to walk see let's do a little experiment I got a subway stop right behind me here it's sunny shell and uh let's walk to City down the clock and we got Notre Dame right here [Music] get the sun Chapel behind us and we get the subway behind us 2 minute 20. probably not worth it [Music] the Paris Metro is the second busiest Metro in Europe with over 300 stations and 226 kilometers of track it's also the densest subway system in the world the average distance between stops is a mere 730 meters that's two times shorter than the London Tube the Metro is the fastest way to get around Paris if you are traveling further than a kilometer and it's an icon of the city I'm lyric with brightrip and I want to show you how to master the Paris Metro so let's start with a little bit of History [Music] idea for City subway emerged in the mid-1800s to enter the need of a growing population from 1860 to 1900 the inner Paris population had gone from about 1.8 million people to 2.8 million and with the Industrial Revolution in full swing creating a way for people and goods to move about the city was crucial on top of this Paris wanted to prove it could keep up with other major booming cities like New York and London but building this was no small task they had to tear apart major streets to build tunnel through the center of the city and then fill it up and put everything back together in some cases like to cross the center River they would pre-build full sections of the tunnel in a nearby location that they would then transfer to the building site to bury underground in 1900 when the city was hosting both the World's Fair and the Olympic Games Paris and developed its Metro to the world with one line in operation 120 years later the system has grown into a sprawling dense collection of tunnels and tracks with most stops within two minutes walking distance of one another although the system is mostly an underground system there are a few above ground lines in Paris so still till the end of the video and I'll share with you which line to write to get the best view of the city let's Master this beasts in three steps how to read the map how to find your way around and how to pay for your ride first is the map building a subway system is one thing and mapping it is another all around the world Metro Maps can often be abstract and not to reflect the actual landscape for example look at this map of New York next to a map of its Subway but the Paris Metro map strikes actually a pretty good balance so being familiar with it can generally be useful for navigating above ground too just know that it still isn't a perfect representation of the city and although this is a subway map it will actually be showing you three types of public transport the Metro which uses numbers the error which uses letters and the Tramway which also uses numbers but with a t in front of them the Metro is the main subway system you will be using the error and Suburban trains are sort of bigger faster Metro that goes out further out of the city and the Tramway is an above ground rail that circles the city mostly I'll get back to the errand timeway letter for now let's focus on the mid hole there are a total of 16 Metro lines in Paris numbered from 1 to 14 plus 3 base and 7 bits lines that were initially part of line three and seven but were separated later you will most likely be using almost all the different lines if you move around the city a lot but some that might be more key in the layout are the line 2 1 and 6 crossing the city east to west and the 13 1207 that line the city north to south if you travel in Paris you will also pass by chatley montparnas Republic or Salazar at some point to change trains if you plan a trip with the Metro you'll find that you will almost always have to switch lines at some point the whole system is designed to get you anywhere and I really mean you won't be walking more than five minutes anywhere with a maximum of two train changes so it really is a network with multiple lines linked by Major hubs so that the whole city is covered again this might seem complicated but once you get it it's crazy powerful it might be clearer with an example so let's take a look at those two stops on the map plus there ritual and nacion they are connected with three lines line two in the north line one along the Sun and line six in the cells if you just want to go from one to the other the quickest way will be line one but these lines are also the building blocks to move efficiently from one corner of the city to the other if from that same spot you wanted to go to Salazar then you would take line two then three if you want to go to Republic then you would take line one then eight and if you are going to a tennis match at tronongaus then you take line 6 then 10. with the Paris Subway you are almost always changing trains when going from A to B [Music] you'll notice this white bubbles this means that it is a connection spot between two lines some are just between two lines and some are a bit Messier this is because they might also connect with other transport this is where the earlier comes in the thicker lines right here this will help you reach the greater area of Paris from the city itself if you took a train from or to one of the major airports then you've most likely taken the error B if you want to visit Disneyland you'll have to hop on the error a inside Paris you can use the error with a regular Subway ticket and the general approach is exactly the same as for the Metro it sometimes makes sense to hop on the error because they go faster but if you stick to using only the Metro within Paris you will be fine just know that because the error can sometimes go further out of Paris and that means it can be a slightly more expensive than your normal tickets use the ticket again to get into the error zones inside the transport pubs if you're staying within Paris itself your normal ticket will work to get in and out of those zones and you won't have to pay anything more but if you go further out you will need to buy a ticket in advance to figure out if you're all staying within the normal price limits for the error look out for this symbol on the map if you cross it it is more expensive then these guys with the square station markers are tramways if one of the stops is highlighted by a thin black Square on a map it means it connects with the Metro or error the Lions you most likely will use are the ones that basically Circle the entire city okay so that's the map now let's cover how to actually get around riding the trains [Music] the Metro finds any entrance Mark with a bright yellow M always the famous art nouveau signs above ground you'll find a sign with the name of the station what trains run in it and a map you can enter using any entrance as long as you already have a ticket as some entrants won't have access to a vending machine to buy tickets once you're in you'll be able to follow signs that show a line number and a direction corresponding to the final destination of the train you want to board each line has a tunnel going in both Direction you can double check that you're in the right place in multiple ways first there are those signs before heading down onto the platform that tell you which line you are on and which direction you are going here you can find the name of all the upcoming stations for this direction as well as connecting lines printing next to each station on the list then on the platform itself you'll find a sign showing on what line you are what direction you're going and when the two next trains are coming if you're using the two lines that have a branch line 7 and 13 this sign will also let you know on what side of that Branch or the next train going if you are on the station and you realize that you've messed up and you've like on the wrong destination side most of the time you can just like go to the end of the platform or you can just walk up get back down on the other side to take the train in the right destination so it's quite easy then on some of the train themselves you will also have maps with dots lit up to indicate which stop are up next or you'll have announcements elaborate so you really have to actively not pay attention to get it wrong and not realize it when you get to the final subway stop of your journey look out for those maps on the platform those are like the walk around area of the map at the center you'll have the subway station where you go in and then around it that blue circle represents about five minutes of walking at a leisurely pace and one thing that I love on this one specifically in gallery only you have one two three three four subway station basically within seven minutes of snow walking of each other see okay so now we know our way around a little better finally let's go over the tickets and how to pay for your ride very recently the general Norm was to pay for the ride with single-use disposable paper tickets basically in the era of smartphones parisians and visitors were using 1900s technology fortunately Paris is slowly retiring this ticket and replacing it with a metro card welcome to the 21st Century Paris it's nice to see you here you can buy this card for a small fee and then recharge it as needed if you have a new ish phone you can download an app to get a virtual card or to load tickets onto your normal metro card otherwise there are vending machines that you can use to buy tickets or passes if you are just passing through individual tickets are just shy of a couple of Euros so it's still pretty affordable you can buy them individually or in packages and look them onto your MetroCard if you are staying on holiday and planning on moving around the city a lot with the Metro which I do recommend then just go ahead and take an unlimited pass valid for one to five days see the Paris train system is actually divided between the center of Paris and then sort of like the Suburban wider areas and it's divided in zones a total of five zones which you can see with those white and gray areas here Paris itself is Zone one and the immediate suburbs are the two and three those are the base level for any ticket but if you plan to visit Disneyland Paris Versailles the Fontainebleau forest or using the error to get to one of the airports those are all in zone five so depending on your program you can choose between unlimited tasks for Zone one two and three or an ozone everything unlimited pass foreign [Music] so that covers how you can pay for your ride one last piece of information you should be aware of is that the Persian subway system is not a 24-hour system trains usually stop running around 5 30 a.m and stop at 1 15 am on weekdays an hour later on Fridays Saturdays and bank holidays heave also if trainers run every two to five minutes during the day they get a little sparser as the night goes on so take all of that into account if you go and enjoy the city's nightlife I know this might seems like a lot of information but after just a few times using the system you'll realize that you can travel all over the city in a pretty efficient way and on this I have to recommend the RTP app it's the official app and it's a must if you're visiting the city as it will always give you the best way to go from point A to point B where to take which line when the next trains are all and even what exit to take out of the subway station when you get to your destination I think you'll hear as promised you have to write line six it's one of those mostly above ground line with beautiful views of the city and the most iconic place to ride it is between pasi and birha Cane you're gonna be on this bridge above me you'll have this beautiful view with the Eiffel Tower on the side you have beautiful husband buildings all around it's really nice it's really beautiful you should ride it one way and then walk back down the other way I hope this gives you a little bit more clarity on how to use the Persian Metro and if you're looking for inspiration on Paris we've made a whole course with Nats in your Drew on the history of the city through its most famous monuments you should go and check it out remember to like share subscribe do all the things and I'll see you next time ciao [Music]

Channel: Bright Trip

Views: 144,587

Keywords: paris metro, paris metro system, paris, paris guide, paris map, paris explained, paris france, paris subway, paris subway system, paris subway guide, paris metro guide, paris france travel guide, how to get around paris, paris transportation, paris public transportation, paris 2023, traveling to paris, how to vacation in paris, what to do in paris, how to navigate paris, getting around paris

Id: NUMx6taaOws

Length: 15min 22sec (922 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 09 2022