Paris metro at night...safe?

You need to ask what’s more convenient? I don’t think it’s about safety. Paris is safe and I say that with experience but it’s what I feel and I don’t know what is safe to you. I see no problem but is it more convenient?

I'm not much of a night activity person but even I have been on the Paris Metro later in the evening and it is very safe. I agree it might or might not be as convenient...depends on where your cruise ends and where your apartment is located!

The metro is full of people until it closes. I have often gone from the Bastille opera to an apartment in Batignolles or from Villette philharmonie to a place in the 13th ie. long trips across town at night. We have friends who live near the Barbes metro stop and we often leave their place late and night and take the metro across town. We have never felt nervous about it. Paris is a very safe city; the metro is full and hopping at all hours.

The only real risk you face is pickpockets. Be sure your valuables are not in pockets or carelessly held purses or backpacks. If you make yourself pickpocket proof then you are good to go at any hour. (pickpockets mostly work by stealth and you will not even notice them at work. You are probably more at risk in the Louvre at noon than the metro at 11:30 -- pickpockets like to go home after work too.

Sometimes it's nice to see the city at night from the perspective of a street level vehicle. Also, you should consider how far the walk to the metro is from where your cruise ends. I typically choose the option that I think will get me to my destination faster. I've used the metro late at night many times and have never had any problems. Trust your instincts and do what feels right when the moment comes.

I know it was a few years ago but when I was in Paris I took the metro home to my apartment (in the Marais neighborhood) quite late at night. And I was a senior female traveling solo. It was a 3 block walk from either metro stop to my apartment and I walked it alone two or three times after 10:00pm and once about midnight. On the walk from one of the metro stops I had to pass a couple of bars on the way to my apt and still never felt unsafe. I always felt safe in Paris and never once in the whole month I was there riding the metro all over the city did I ever encounter a pickpocket attempt. Now, I know the pickpockets are a little more prolific in more recent years but I'd never fear for my physical safety. And it there's more than one of you to look out for each other, you shouldn't have any problem.

janet said it very well, and i agree. I’ve spent years in Paris and never feel unsafe in the métro or anywhere on the streets. Even late at night and as a female by myself.

This feedback was very helpful....thanks!

Nancy -- you have no idea if pickpockets were at work because the good ones are invisible. You don't notice them, you later notice your phone is gone as another traveler recently posted who had his phone in his jacket pocket and then later discovered he had lost it on the metro. If you don't have valuables in pockets then you don't lose them; you can't count on being 'alert' or 'aware' -- you have to be pickpocket proof

Late night certainly isn't high-risk for pickpockets. That would not be a key concern - the risk seems higher when the trains are fuller.
Safety of the metro is very good but the specific answer depends on the location of your apartment! There is a handful of areas in the 18th and 19th arrondissements (districts) that do require somewhat heightened caution, but this is not linked the metro but to the neighborhoods above the ground. You are unlikely to have booked a place there, though, I guess

A general comment: Feeling safe is not the same as actually being safe. It can lead you to letting your guard down. One pickpocket episode does not mean everyone is at risk. But the standard precautions may help. In the evening, try to stay in lighted streets where others are gathered. Some subway stations provide a gathering space on the platform that is under surveillance (theoretically). Keep valuables concealed. Walk as if you know where you are going. Avoid eye contact. Enjoy.

pickpockets are not a safety issue.

The only times I am nervous in Paris is when at the end of the metro ride I may have a several blocks walk on fairly deserted streets in outlying area. Most of the places we walk are still busy at midnight -- but the place we often stay can put us on some fairly deserted streets. We have never had any problems, but that is when my attention is heightened.

I never worry on the metro as it is fully of people. And I like walking down streets with cafes and bars humming at midnight. It is the lonely residential streets that can feel eerie.

Nancy -- you have no idea if pickpockets were at work because the good ones are invisible.

I agree with you, but if you read my post you will see that I didn't say anything about seeing any pickpockets at work. I said that I had not had any pickpocket attempts while riding the metros at night. I was never a victim of a pickpocket myself and I did make myself pickpocket proof (which is probably why) - I had no pockets for them to try to get into and my small cross body bag was zipped up and clip locked and always held in front of me with my hand on it at all times. I also never noticed any jostling or pushing of anybody near me on the trains. Now, granted that I was not constantly looking about to see what others were experiencing so I certainly can't say for sure that no one was pickpocketed on a train I was on, but that's not what I said.

I also agree with whoever said that the emptier the train is, the less likely that pickpockets will have the cover they need to do their sleight of hand. They work mostly in crowded situations.