Parisian Buses

Not really, but there are so many landmarks, it's pretty easy to figure out where you are.

When you get on the bus tell the driver to tell YOU when he arrives at your stop. Then sit up front and pay attention. I sometimes ask other riders to tell me when we arrive at my stop. Many of them are eager to help a lost American.

Never missed a stop yet.

Many, if not most, of the buses have an electronic sign panel, affixed to the ceiling of the bus, which not only tells what the next stop is, but how many minutes until you reach it. Also, be sure to get a good bus route map on which the stops are clearly marked.

Buses can vary here. Yes in some of the larger and busier buses there are signs that display the next stop and time to the larger stops. But just as many do not. There are however route maps available on each of the buses and the bus stops. Count your number of stops, know the name of the stop prior to your stop.

Better yet - if you can speak French - ask the driver to let you know what stop you need and ask for him to tell you.

Bus line maps are available at www.ratp.fr if you have time to look ahead. There are also bus route maps posted in every Metro station.

The electronic panels are on every bus, and they even tell you how many minutes until the next stop. At each bus stop are signs, like on the metro, that show the route and the stops it makes. It was a lot more fun taking the bus last month (we used them for the 6 days we were in Paris) than the metro.

Even if you miss your stop, they are pretty frequent so you can always get off at the next one.

And, as previously posted, there are so many landmarks in Paris it's fairly hard to miss it.

I LOVE riding the bus in Paris. You can see so much more, and its feels much more local than the tourist-filled Metro.

Be sure to check out Bus 69! It's GREAT for getting to the major destinations in the heart of the city. :-) (Rick has a section about it in his book.)

Hi, D. The 69 is actually the one I plan to take!