To have found certain parts of Paris edgy

Whitechapel doesn't feel unsafe, it's positively posh these days. I think travelling to other major cities makes you realise how well managed things are in London, despite what some people would have us believe.

@ProudAmberTurtle the Tower of London and Canary Wharf are in Tower Hamlets so huge amounts of tourists and business travellers visit Tower Hamlets every day.

YANBU to have thought whatever you thought about a city, OP, but any thread where a poster says they found a large European city unpleasant/sketchy/unsafe is inevitably met by either accusations of the poster being a Reform bot, or 'Kindly, OP, are you quite well? Have you travelled outside the Home Counties before?', so I assume this one will go the same way.

It's full of immigrants and therefore unsafe?? Wow racist much. Reported

I wouldn't search for 'immigrant areas' in London but then how often do people seriously visit areas like Tower Hamlets and Brent? I don't think I've ever been to either location

I've lived in London for 25 years and find Paris sketchier - that's partly because I just know London better, but also because Paris has lots of men hanging around the streets in a way London doesn't. Also the London tube feels very safe and clean, even when it's crowded, whereas the Paris metro is grubby and feels unsafe, even in central Paris.

Rome used to feel sketchy to me but I went there for the first time in years last autumn and it had been really cleaned up and felt much safer. Similarly, Berlin feels fine as does Vienna. So I don't agree with this whole "it's a major European city, of course it feels unsafe" line.

I think this is the case around stations in most major cities. London has been cleaned up a lot, it was exactly like that in the 90s.

I'm sorry, what the fuck have I just read? You search for "immigrant areas" so you know where to avoid on holiday?

Belleville is a multicultural area of Paris, it is know for great food and increasingly hipster places but it is not traditional tourist Paris. So a bit like, say, Whitechapel or Peckham.

You can search for these things online. It's easy to find out.

Paris is like other metropolis - a particularly large city. Europe has only a few cities that are this big so comparison with other cities (general) isn't a fair comparison.

I don't think it's remotely unusual in being plagued with criminals and con artists looking for a mark. One of the issues with being on holiday abroad is you are identifiable as a visitor - from your language, from the way you walk around and from the clothes you wear. If you are from London and go to Paris you will have a different experience because of this even if you are used to living in the city.

It never fails to amaze me how naive and unaware so many people are about this.

If you go to any metropolis, if you are sensible and you do your homework before you go. You don't pick dodgy parts of town to stay. You plan your routes and where you decide to go. You know that you don't eat out on the street in the central tourist area - you pick one a few streets away so you don't get absolutely rinsed for poorer quality food. You understand that areas around stations are dodgy as fuck. You understand how you hold your personal possessions in these areas. You stay away from the crowds at the busiest areas when you can (perfectly possible most of the time even in tourist hotspots). You make sure you are fully aware of who is around you when taking photos / putting your wallet away etc.

And you go and enjoy it anyway.

We were in Paris on Monday. We noticed the spotters - men hanging around looking for targets - they are easy to identify. DH actually saw someone dipping in someone's pocket. We didn't feel unsafe. It just is upsetting to see. We were looking around at all the other tourists slightly baffled by their naivety whilst trying to make ourselves look like we aren't easy targets. Because they will go for the easy marks because there's so many to choose from.

Tbh my biggest beef with Paris is there's no where to stop and sit for five minutes which isn't an extortionate cafe. What spaces there are are either full and insufficient for demand or roped off to protect the grass from wear. Great for business I guess but not so great for cheap skates like me who like to do city sightseeing for as little money as possible. (And the way to see a city is to walk it).

I've not been anywhere in central Paris I've thought is markedly different or worse than any other metropolis. Big American cities have always felt much darker and worse to me. The drugs and homelessness are far more apparent than Paris.

There are lovely places to stay well outside Paris too. An hour's train ride is just 2euros and you can be out in semi rural France. It's not the same as London where the same would cost you about £30.

Paris is Paris. I find it a less nice place than London, but much of a muchness really.

I don't get why people think it should be any different tbh.

Paris is definitely not my favourite city, but it is no more unsafe than other large European cities.

Mate you stayed in Belleville - it's fine but not tourist brochure Paris. As others have said Paris is a large international city, not an open air museum, there will be dodgy areas and people on the make. Those guys outside Gare du Nord are a pain but just ignore them

Not sure what you'll make of Marseille if you think Paris is sketchy!

Al the deliberately obtuse folk out in force again today I see.
We live in Manchester which certainly has its fair share of questionable areas in and around the city centre - as pp say most cities do - but the only city where my DH even said he felt unsafe was Paris.
I wholeheartedly agree about Birmingham too. I go there a lot for work and the walk to the office from the station is equal parts depressing and disturbing.

Sounds like you have observed people suffering from Paris Syndrome OP- it’s a properly documented physical and emotional reaction to arriving somewhere that doesn’t equate to your longstanding preconceptions.

This would make sense if you saw lots of sad people round gare du Nord - they’ll have arrived at the airport and then discovered the metro system!

Having been to London and Paris last year, yeah I’d say Paris is worse for being sketchy.

What? Really?!? You know what, my hairdresser's cousin went to Blackpool last year and went away from the sea front and there's some rough areas apparently! Not even any rollercoasters or candy floss trucks!!

I won't be back.

We never used to have to search online for parts of cities to see if they're immigrant areas, and therefore places to avoid due to crime.

And search results on this particular enquiry aren't that reliable either.

French hating Paris is hardly surprising. Many people in the UK regularly tell you London is filthy and unsafe and you shouldn't set foot into it. Yet, I've lived in London for over 20 years and have never felt unsafe. Not even during riots which were happening two streets down from my workplace. The entire community pulled together to make sure we were looked after (we were three women working till 9pm).

Really odd AIBU. It's a major city, of course there will be edgy bits!

Paris has always been dodgy, they just have great PR. My mother was Parisienne and she disliked it. She told me that as a young woman, her group always carried metal tailed combs in their handbags for self defense. I can remember going there as a teen (I'm nearly 60) and it was iffy then, especially the stations. Subsequent visits have not changed that opinion.

I've had to drive and work in Saint-Germain district, I loved it, very cultured and boho and didn't feel unsafe. The only part of Paris been in, other than driving through from the UK.

Unfortunately it's true for the seedy 19th arr in Paris. As much as you don't want to believe it it's not safe for women there. Sorry to spoil your multicultural, happy vision.

Oh well, if it's full of immigrants then obviously they're there to do you harm... Jeez!!

Reported.

Birmingham is def like that.