Great bus route

[lnverte]

This might seem a bit of a strange recommendation, especially since apparently you all train intensively before coming to Paris, but, if by chance your feet need a rest but you still want to do some sight seeing, then I recommend the RATP bus number 24 between St Lazare and Maubert Mutualité (it goes on further, past Bercy and out to the suburbs but that bit is less interesting).

From St Lazare, it will take you to Madeleine, Concorde, along the quayside to Pont Neuf, then on to Ile de la Cité, past Notre Dame, and through the Latin Quarter to Maubert. On the way back, the itinerary is much the same but on different roads due to the one-way syste. The full route map is available on the RATP website www.ratp.fr

Of course, the other advantage is that when you are at St Lazare, you are just a couple of minutes walk away from Printemps and Galeries Lafayette...

[gracejoan]

The bus is really the best way to travel..a lot less up and downwalking. You also see the sights along the way..you may want to get off before your original place!

You just have to be careful on weekends etc. as they might not be running! The map from any metro station has the routes. You can also print different ones out that you might want to use.

I'm using the bus more and more...if you make a mistake..so what..you might even find something very interesting.....

Joan

[jsmla]

Thanks for the tip. I've added it to our growing list of things to try when we go. We're leaving on Saturday!

Jennifer

[Jody]

I'm using the bus more and more...if you make a mistake..so what..you might even find something very interesting

I find we do too. And as you say , if something interesting turns up it's so easy to hop off.

[holger]

;D

Moi Aussi.

I much prefer the buses for mobility AND for seeimg things that I may want to go back to. Metro is OK for simply going between two points.

[grndma]

:)This is great insider knowledge for me as one of my "challenges " for my next trip is to learn to use the buses.
Although I'm doing extensive training my feet still get sore and it's a nice way to see Paris.
Thanks very much
Denise
Love from Bolton
PS Love the photo of you and the future Mr LN

[luckyluc]

Must often we ride line no. 69 in the direction of Champ de Mars from our stop Voltaire to go the Comédie Française. It is a very scenic line that I recommend.

Also Line no. 38 goes North to South and into city centre so you will see the quartier Latin, La Seine and Notre-Dame

The no. 68 have nice view of le Musée d'Orsay, goes into Saint-Germain des Près, Louvre et le Palais Garnier.

Line no. 96 can be slow but since it is going through le Marais,
who care, you just sit and enjoy, get out at Bastille and go to le Café des Grandes Marches for a relaxing drink.

[gracejoan]

Last October when a friend joined me in Paris, we got on the bus headed in the opposite direction from where we meant to go!! Ended up at the big hospital center. The driver just pointed to the bus for us to get on and off we went back to where we wanted to go....

The hospital center is huge!!

Joan

[Jody]

This interactive map of bus stops is really easy to use and shows the routes and lines from each bust stop.

www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/cartebus.php

[Shoesy]

Do buses in Paris run as often as the metro?

[GitteK]

No, shoesy, they don't - often there is 10 minutes between busses, also in the daytime hours. And they don't run after 22:00 (another reason why I walked home to Montmartre from Les Folies Bergère last summer). So although busses are very nice, because you save your tired legs from the metro stairs, they are not nearly as "efficient" as the metro.

Also, shoesy: imagine busses running with 2-3 minutes intervals, and what kind of effect that would have on the morning rush hour ! ;D

[Shoesy]

I guess 10 minutes isn't too long a wait unless you're in a hurry to get to a certain destination, but if that were the case, then you probably would have chosen the metro as your means of transportation in the first place.

[GitteK]

I recommend line 28, which I took from Avenue du Maine to our OPF gettogether lunch last month, by Gare St. Lazare.

I was very pleased and surprised to see how many "grand" monuments it includes:
* Ecole Militaire
* Dôme des Invalides
* E.T.
* Crossing Pont des Invalides (view down to Notre D. and Louvre)
* Crossing Champs Elysées (incl. Arc de T.)
* Peep into gardens of Champs E. and Rue Gabriel
* Eglise St. Augustin

Great route if you are going to/from Tour Montparnasse to enjoy the breathtaking view from the roof (which is highly recommendable, and there are no waiting lines to ride the express elevator up).

[geordy]

Here in NYC most of us fall into the bus or the subway group...I've always been subway because growing up in the suburbs we had buses but not subways..and I've always, up until now, worked quite a distance from home(in City terms) I'm familiar with buses that go up and down town and crosstown..the more elaborate routes..not so much.

So, in Paris it is the Metro or feet! Think I've been on a bus twice!
Distance quickly..Metro..otherwise if you are going to do the eating..you must do the walking!!!

[Anne]

Geordy, I have NEVER been on a regular bus in Paris, always used the metro even as a child .

So here comes THE stupid question of the day (or maybe week ) : does one use the same tickets for the bus as for the metro or does one buy special tickets on entering the bus ? Thank you for your comprehension ...

[Laidback]

May 16, 2008 1:48:15 GMT -5 Anne said:

Geordy, I have NEVER been on a regular bus in Paris, always used the metro even as a child .

So here comes THE stupid question of the day (or maybe week ) : does one use the same tickets for the bus as for the metro or does one buy special tickets on entering the bus ? Thank you for your comprehension ...

Anne you use the same ticket for the bus or metro; for the bus it is best to buy the tickets in carnet form from a tabac or metro station because the individual ticket you buy from the bus driver is marked "sans correspondance" whereas a regular ticket can be reused for up to 90 minutes of transfers.

The buses are slower, but so much more charming than the soul-less metro and with out the sometimes interminable stairs and endless walks at metro stations like Chatelet, Montparnasse, Concorde, etc.

[GitteK]

And you can use your cherished "ding-ding" (Navigo Découverte) on the busses too - - - and get that cool tickling superior feeling, if only for a second, of being a resident regular.....

[annettecinca]

We've only used the bus 3 or 4 times ourselves, but I'm thinking I need to get more accustomed to it for our Oct. trip, since it will be easier for the one of our number with a sore knee. I must spend some time on the RATP site Demarias posted to better familiarize myself with the routes.

[mez]

I must admit the only time I used a bus last year was from Gare du Nord to get to my apartment.

Why? I never found a good bus map. The bus maps I've found on ratp do not give me enough detail and you can't carry the interactive map in your handbag, so what's left? Am I just looking in the wrong place on the site?

[Jody]

There is a place on the site where you can put in your starting address and where you want to go and it will give you all your routes. I usually do that before we leave home and print them out or make a note in my journal.

Here a direct link to the itinerary site

www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/index.php