Is Paris unsafe?

[SpringWithWinterWeather]

Not been to Paris for years. Is it really not safe anymore. Friends suggest avoid and try other cities such as Praque or Budapest.

Are they unreasonable?

They're right though. Crime happens everywhere, always, has always will. Asking if an entire city is "safe" makes no sense at all. I've lived in London all my life and never been a victim of street crime here. Neither have my adult children. Lived in Madrid for 3 years, and got my purse nicked by a pickpocket. My Spanish friends were unsurprised, I was really shocked. Does that mean Madrid isn't "safe"? Of course not.

I’ve been to Paris twice in the last year, and had nights by myself both times. The second time I was staying near Gare du Nord and it’s not the nicest area, but at no time did I feel unsafe. I was warned repeatedly about pickpockets on the metro so made sure my bag was secured but had no issues.

Like in all big cities there are people trying to ‘persuade’ you to buy their light up Eiffel Towers or whatever, and we did have words with one group by the Sacre Coeur because they tried to tie a bracelet onto my wrist and got arsey when OH said no. But nothing worse than you’d get anywhere else, and it was a tiny occurrence in two otherwise wonderful trips.

I’m 53 and don’t find this at all.

You do need to be sensible - but the only real risk in any part of Paris (or London) that you’d be visiting as a tourist is pickpocketing. Take sensible precautions keep bags and pockets zipped, don’t have your phone out if you can help
@Zhu
And from personal experience I would add be very, very vigilant if you travel on the metro!

I have been maybe half a dozen times with length of visit ranging from a few hours to a whole week. On two occasions we had wallets stolen. The first time just DH the second time both of us on the same journey. Both times on the metro.

We thought we were being careful but, in each case, when we looked back on the journey we realised when it must have happened and that in fact it was a clever set piece involving several people.

Having said that the last two times I was in Paris I travelled on RER to get between Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon and had no problems

Seems perfectly safe to me!

People get a bit unnecessarily worried about capital cities sometimes.

I went there a couple of years back with my kids and found it to be perfectly safe - I mean if you do something dim witted like walk around with a bag easily accessible or walk down dark alleys late at night you might be in difficulty but that’s the same anywhere.

Just take normal precautions.

I live in London and also find it perfectly fine safety wise. I find it bizarre when you get posts on here re whether it’s safe to come here.

I think the far right have done a really successful job with their propaganda re our cities.

Eh? Went to Paris with my 12 y o daughter recently and it felt safer and cleaner than I’ve ever known it! They really made an effort to clean and green it all up for the Olympics, and it was much improved.

Paris is safe but the Parisians can be bloody rude even if you do speak good French.

I've been to Paris several times and it gets worse and worse each time I visit.

A lot of homeless immigrants on the streets. They are men in big groups and this can feel quite intimidating. I am well travelled and I feel safer in places like Honduras than Paris.

I go several times a year; l used to live there and still have friends in Paris.

lt is similar to many cities, in short you don’t have to be paranoid just careful.

Having said DS went on solo trip to Paris recently and loved it. Rode metro like local. You can kind of tell who you have to avoid why you just ignore them

I'm 62 and lived in London from the late 1980s until quite recently. Still go there regularly. I don't recognise this "it's all going to shit" narrative. It's subtle (well not that subtle) right-wing xenophobic drip drip drip.

I was unexpectedly in Paris recently for the first time in years. It was absolutely fine.

Go there annually, was there last week, walked all around on my own including at night . Reasonably street smart as I live in London but never felt unsafe, never had a bad experience.I absolutely agree with dudesmummy. Some people seem to have a vested interest in saying Western European capitals are going to hell in a handcart. Is it MAGA? Is it UAE influencers who are renumerated by their Emirati paymasters? I don’t know.

@Lemonfrost " people scared to answer the door after dusk. Perspective has gone out of the window."

So I'm one of those people that don't answer the door if I don't know the caller or am not expecting anyone. As a woman alone I would never just open the door to a complete stranger. The only totally random people that knock on my door over the years have been either trying to sell something or push religion. There's nothing I want to buy and I don't want to be converted, and I particularly don't want to spend 15 minutes on a cold doorstep convincing someone of that. Apart from that there were two occasions when random men knocked on my door and really scared me. One was a group of young guys totally unknown to me who arrived in a car and said they wanted to borrow a Phillips screwdriver. I didn't have one but they were urging me to go and check. The other time was an absolutely enormous bloke who said my guttering needed fixing (it didn't) and who wouldn't take no for an answer.

I agree with your wonderings. I do absolutely wonder about the British Dubai-based posters who pop up on here regularly gushing about how absolutely wonderful and refreshing it is to ‘walk around feeling safe’ — I mean, you can do that pretty much everywhere in the UK (or indeed Paris). Those people had probably moved from the mean streets of Hastings.

When I lived in Dubai, years ago, the only foreigners banging on about safety were white South Africans used to carjackings and hiring security.

Oh, and also just to point out @SpringWithWinterWeather, the poster who posted a thread asking 'Is London Safe?' also had a username starting with Spring. Hence why suspicions.

Dsis lives in Paris for a few years , pick pocketing is the main crime to be aware of she had been pick pocketed, dh was there with friends a few times in recent years and twice the same friend had his wallet / phone stolen said friend is very friendly and will talk to anyone and I think that makes him an easy target. I went years ago and thought it was fairly safe but that was the 90s and a different world 😆

Interesting episode of “When it hits the fan” on radio 4 this week, about UAE based influencers’ response to the current crisis. You are not allowed to criticise the government and it seems everyone pivoted from saying they were scared in the 1st days of the Iranian attacks, to quickly announcing they felt very safe and the governments were doing a grand job.

This is absolute nonsense. I'm in my late fifties.

It's perfectly safe, although of course you have to take the usual precautions as you would in any crowded city. Over the past 25 years I have lived there for several years and I now go every 3/4 weeks to visit DS (21) who is studying there. We own an apartment there. I was there last week and will be there again in 3 weeks. I always enjoy it and have never had a problem. I never have any fears for DS's safety when he goes out. I walk around on my own, take the metro, go to bars to meet friends even at night with no fears.

DS lost his wallet (not stolen, it fell out of his pocket) in front of the RER station in a area that doesn't have a great reputation. Some kind passerby handed it into the police station the same day with nothing missing, not even the 50 euro cash he had. So there are very honest people there, just like any other city.

Parisians aren't rude, they are very formal (as most French people are)and it can come across as being standoffish. They are actually very well mannered and sometimes foreigners can come across to them as very rude as they don't use the formal polite way of speaking in shops etc.

However even the perception you aren't safe could spoil your break, so you may want to think about another city that you feel more comfortable about. I hope you enjoy wherever you go.

Paris is a bit city. I'd put it on par with London for safety. I always compare everything with London though because I happily travel/walk around London on my own so that's my benchmark.
I've had friends tell me 'but London isn't safe' - well crossing the road isn't actually safe but most of us use our common sense and do it anyway.
Most European cities are 'safe'. Plenty of petty crime but the risk of violent crime is low. The terrorism level is fairly similar across Europe at the moment. You can get unlucky anywhere.
However, if the idea of going somewhere worries you then perhaps avoid it. Why go if you're going to be unhappy moving around there.

In late fifties and was a student in London in the 80s. I don’t notice a big difference. Only bad things that have happened to me have been of a sexual harassment nature. In the early 90s.

I go alone about three times a year (don’t live far away). I’ve lived in London and Brussels, admittedly years ago, and feel far safer in Paris

I also find the general standard of behaviour higher than London, I get offered a seat on the metro, help with my case on the stairs etc

I think older people, perhaps 50+, including myself have watched the decline of European cities over the last 30 years. There are certainly more no go areas and petty crime in most cities. I try not to think like this as I still travel widely as part of my job but it's getting increasingly difficult. Was shocked by Paris when I visited in November.

Goodness me, this is not my experience at all and I just turned 71.

Travel all over, solo too and including all parts of Africa. Of course I am aware of where is safe and where it isn't so don't venture down that path.

Was last in Paris a few years ago and had no problem at all. Walked around all day from 07.30 to 9 pm and never a bother anywhere.

I just had a fab and very safe trip to Jamaica, also solo. People are so kind and friendly and helpful.

I love travelling.

I go 3-4 times a year, and lived there for 9 years previously. It’s perfectly safe.

I went with my daughter last year and it was delightful! As a tourist you’re not going to be going into unsafe areas.

People’s panic about cities is getting extreme - meanwhile those of us that live in them just get on with our happy safe lives.