Transportation App for Paris & London

Note to Self: Despite of, and after wandering in and out of, London and Paris for more than fifty years and having spent close to a cumulative year in each city - - get an App. Further note to Self: Investigate getting a map since self doesn't have one of those either. Last Note to Self: Keep the beer app in mind.

Ed, we have beaten this topic to a pulp, and you've got a Note to Self, but one more little thought... It's not about what you already know - I'm sure you have the Tube map practically memorized! It's about the extra real-time, technology-driven information that the app can give you. For example, the app I use (and I'm not touting it - I'm not convinced it's the best, I just like it and am used to it) has a feature called 'Smart Routing' that factors in station closures and recommends a route around the closure. Combine that with real-time push disruption notifications and efficiency increases greatly. My app has a 'Lines' tab that shows quality of current service on a line. For example, right now the Piccadilly and Metropolitan Lines are 'Partly Suspended' while other lines have 'Good Service'. You can save your favorite routes, and the 'Departures' feature gives real-time departure times for the stations on each line - just like on the platform overhead monitors. Same for buses, as mentioned above. Wouldn't you rather spend 5-10 minutes in the pub than standing at a bus stop because you didn't know the exact time the bus would approach a stop? Wouldn't you rather saunter to a Tube station and arrive on the platform 1-2 minutes before the train pulls in, rather than having to run down the stairs only to watch the train pulling out? Ain't technology grand? ;)

I don't think you will find one app for either city that covers ALL transport. For London I use 'Tube Map' by mxData and 'Bus London' by mxData. For Paris I use 'Paris Metro' by mxData. I love these free apps, and they have never let me down. I discovered an app for Paris trains (not Metro) just yesterday called 'Gares en Direct'. It's in French and is the official SNCF app. I'm just checking it out so not sure about it yet, but on first glance, if you know enough French, it looks good.

This reply is only about London. For the Underground I manage perfectly well with the Tube map on the back of my pocket size A-Z, although now that I think about it I've had the same copy for 13 years and it's time I updated it to reflect the changes to London Overground and the East London line. However, if I was a visitor and I wanted everything (Tube, bus, train, streetmap and walking directions, live status updates) in one app, I would look at the really amazing Citymapper, which works best if you have a data connection, but apparently the iPhone version will remember routes that you have planned so you can use them off line as well. You can tap your start and finish points on a map and it will plan the whole route by Tube, bus, train or on foot and it's free on the App store. I've just downloaded the Android version, and I can see I'm not going to get much work done in the next hour while I have a play... EDIT: I just had to come back and mention that when you plan a route on Citymapper it will show you how many calories you will burn if you walk, expressed in cups of tea, slices of buttered toast or bacon sandwiches. Surely a feature that no tourist can manage without?

There's a really excellent Android app called London Bus Tracker which allows you to get real time information on when buses are likely to arrive at stops. It needs a data connection, though.

Forgot to say, the mxData apps work without requiring a data connection. Plug in starting station and ending station and it tells you the best route, including number of stations passed through and anticipated trip duration. It includes an ultra high-quality system map that you can zoom in on. If you register in advance, you can use the London app to top off your Oyster card, plus there are several other features, including several real-time features if you do have a live data connection. Simply the best series of transport apps I've ever owned.

You might be over-teching your good self. For decades us regular folk have been using the large tube/metro diagrams of which there are umpteen scattered around the stations. How to do it is very clear. Within a couple of trips you'll catch on that trains tend to run every X minutes and that it's either Y or Z minutes between stops (depending of the distance). Paris bus maps are available in the metro stations; not sure about London. Subway diagrams are in the 'Welcome to ________ ' throw-aways found all over the place if you really want something to carry around. It'd seem to be a pain in the tail to be squinting at some device with your head down with a bunch of people knocking you around as they go about their business.

Ed, if you are just using the Tube then I agree completely. The map on the back of the A-Z (itself an indispensable tool) is fine, or at the very most a PDF copy of the Underground map on my phone, but actually you don't need to carry anything yourself. Where these apps come into their own is on the buses. Say I'm sat in the lounge bar at The Speaker in Great Peter Street, enjoying a pint of Thwaites. I know that round the corner in Strutton Ground there is a bus stop where I can get a number 507 to Waterloo. Now, do I have time for a swift half before I leave? Check the app on the phone, see there are 507s due at that stop in 6, 14 and 25 minutes from now, so yes, another half please landlord, and a bag of pork scratchings! Incidentally, those timings are based on GPS locations trackers on every bus, which report back to a central computer. They are very accurate in my experience.

Whoa! I'm sold if it really shows where the buses are actually at and it has a beer application. Think about it. You could convert a Bob Dylan harmonica holder into something that would hold a tablet, watch it, and fit in an extra pint or two. There's two problems however: you'd have to invent a straw of some kind and you'd need a sub-app to covert beer consumption to walking speed to the bus stop.

Seriously, Ed, at least give these apps a try. You're savvy enough to see their value quickly. The thing I especially like about the 'Tube Map' app is - if you have a live data connection, it shows real-time alerts that could affect your journey. I was about equidistant between a couple Tube stations one time that were on different lines but could both get me to my desired end station in different ways. I checked the app and the alert warned me of a delay that could have caused a big loss of time. I obviously chose to take the alternate route and encountered no delay at all. The in-app alerts are the same as those in the @TfLTravelAlerts Twitter stream.

This is why I love Traveler's Helpline! I can be offline for a day or two and come back to a totally entertaining reparte! I wanted an app for schedules for exactly the reason Kevin stated. I like to know what my options are as far as when I can get a bus etc. I love paper maps and from what I hear looking down at a cell phone is an invitation to thieves. This is my first trip with a smartphone and have been traveling for over 35 years. Thanks for the suggestions. BTW can you delete apps?
Thanks.

Forgive me, but what's the A-Z?
Thanks

Street atlases. They come for the whole country, some areas (maybe not by county, maybe smaller, maybe larger) and some cities. The national one is huge, the London one is smaller, but almost too big to fit in a pants pocket (maybe a jacket pocket, certainly a purse.). They're excellent. And essential. Also cheap. I went off without them the other day and had to get new ones. The sticker on Scotland says £6.96 and Wales was £5.50. I don't have one for London, and the big one is older than dirt so the price would be useless.

Dawn, yes you can delete apps. A-Z - as per Ed, except they come in a variety of sizes and editions, and for visitors to London I recommend either the spiral bound mini atlas: http://www.az.co.uk/?nid=60&iid=9949&pts=1,6&s=london&t=17005&st=1 or the visitor atlas and guide: http://www.az.co.uk/?nid=60&iid=9854&pts=1,6&s=london&t=17005&st=1 Note that the visitor guide and atlas only covers central London, but the scale is 6 inches to the mile. The mini atlas covers a much wider area and so is only 3 inches to the mile.

Thanks. Found them! London is all set. MXData makes Paris Metro. Is it better or as good as Metro Paris by Presselite? And thanks to all for info. We're getting very excited and a bit nervous about phones and sims etc. I think I will post another re: sims.
Dawn

The mxData apps are excellent, but I won't say they're better or worse than the other one you mentioned because I haven't done a feature-by-feature comparison. The 'Mini London A-to-Z' is available as an iPhone app. The reason I use the apps is that it's hard for me to read the tiny print on some paper maps. With the app I can zoom in and read everything quite easily.

Not an app, but if London has the A-Z then Paris has '3 Plans Par Arrondissement', which is actually better than the A-Z in many ways. There are different variations, but I have and enjoy using this one ('Le Petit Parisien', ref. R19): http://www.massin.fr/plans-de-paris/754-le-petit-parisien-9782707204073.html At the back there is an overview map showing all of Paris inside the peripherique, colour coded by arrondissement. That makes it easy to see which arrondissement something is in, then you turn to the relevant section for that arrondissement, where you find a detailed street map and separate Metro and bus maps, plus useful/essential local information for each district. There are also overview maps showing the whole Metro, RER and bus networks. Should be available everywhere for under €7.

Thanks Kevin. You've been extremely helpful.

Rose, I did get the Mxdata map for Paris and it does not cover RER trains out of the central part of Paris. ie Robinson Station. That's where we are staying in Chatenay-Malbray. I guess I can start all trips from Cite Universite. I thought it included all RER trains. Am I using incorrectly?
Thanks

Dawn, I'm not as familiar with the Paris mxData Metro app as I am with the London one, only because I've used it less in the past couple years. It doesn't show the detail for the RER commuter trains outside Zone 2. There's another free app called 'Paris+ Rail Map Lite' that DOES include the RER lines. However, it requires a live data connection. To upgrade to the version that can be used offline it's $3.99. The thing is - once you figure out how to get into the center of the city from where you're staying, that's probably the route you'll use repeatedly, so you won't really need to know all the RER lines, I think. And once in the center of the city, the mxData app would cover all the Metro lines. You can probably also pick up a paper map at the TI or any station that would cover the whole system.

Thanks Rose, you've been extremely helpful. I don't think I'll need another app. There's always paper maps!
Dawn

'I don't think I'll need another app. There's always paper maps!' See 6/6/13 5:01 AM above.