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?

Thanks for your reply and others who give useful advice. 👌

I'm being unreasonable and should just go to either or both. 🙂

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.

@5foot5 that sounds a grim experience - how did they rob you?

As an "older person" who travels extensively for business to major European cities, including multiple trips a year to Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Stockholm, Copenhagen, I don't recognise what you are talking about at all and have seen no decline in European cities - on the contrary, I have seen major infrastructure improvements, cleaner streets, huge improvements in air quality, better provision for pedestrians and cyclists, and a realisation that the needs of residents should take priority over those of tourists.

@SpringWithWinterWeather

Why not just scroll on by, if of no interest to you, instead of taking your valuable time to make several posts?

I can't speak for this poster OP but it worries some of us that some people have become so terrified of things which aren't that frightening. It's a concern for us as a society that we've become so scared and risk-averse.

Visiting Paris or London is really a pretty safe to do: people have been visiting both for millennia and in the vast vast vast majority of cases they have a good time and come home unscathed. When I was a child no one would suggest that these cities were "dangerous": it just wasn't on anyone's radar, beyond just taking normal precautions.

Something has changed in the past 5-10 years: people are jittery and anxious about stuff which they used to be able to take in their stride. I think a combination of post COVID anxiety, declining living standards and toxic politics is at the heart of it but I can't know for sure. But there's a worrying level of anxiety and a lack of basic critical thinking in suggesting that a visit to an affluent, well run and large European city is intrinsically dangerous.

Also many of us live in these scary big cities and have normal, happy, fulfilled lives. I've lived in London for over 30 years and raised a child here and experienced virtually no crime at all. So some of us find it irritating and mildly offensive when people seem to suggest that our home towns are terrifying crime-ridden cesspools.

@JuliettaCaeser everyone should be able to look at a tourist map late at night !
I've done that many times over three decades in London and had no issues.
I think the metro particularly bad in comparing. To London on my handful of visits on the metro I've been attempted pick pocket twice and younger has a disgusting man rubbing up against me

I had a pretty bad time there too. My mother is in her 80s and is a massive Francophile. She lived in Paris for a bit in the 1960s and is always pestering me to take her back. She can't go on her own as she needs support. I feel guilty, because I don't know how long my mother has got, but the last time I went I hated it and couldn't wait to leave. It's a beautiful city, of course, but it's not the Paris my mother lived in in 1967. It doesn't even feel French anymore. I was hassled several times by groups of young men selling rubbish out of trays, and was called a "fuking bith" by one of them for telling him to go away.

If I ever go back, it will be in the depths of winter. I couldn't face it in the heat.

@Chemenger Versailles palace or town

The first time we were going up an escalator out of the station which suddenly became crowded so we were separated. One person in front of DH stumbled at the top of the escalator so there was a moment when people were bumping in to each other and then it all cleared. It was a few minutes later that he realised his wallet was gone.

The second time we had DD (5) with us. The station was very crowded so my attention was mainly on keeping a firm hold of DDs hand so we did not get separated. As the train door opened and we went to get on there was a sudden surge of people and I had people at both sides who appeared to be cutting in front of me at the last minute so I thought we were not going to make it on to the train. Looking back I don't think either of the people beside me did actually get on the train. That time we didn't realise we had been robbed until we were sat in a restaurant and had ordered food. I noticed first that my wallet had gone and DH said "OK don't panic we can stop your cards." Then he realised his wallet had gone too!

Palace. We had a guided tour and the guide mentioned it in her introduction.

@Chemenger thanks I'm going soon,will not let down our guard !!

@5foot5 thanks for that detail can you say where the wallets were .in a bag or on person etc

Havent found that at all. I find them very respectful and helpful.

Both times I think DH had his wallet in his jacket pocket.

The second time when I lost my wallet too I had it in a zip up bum bag around my waist. Normally I kept my hand on it in busy places but, obviously, keeping contact with my 5 year old took priority when in a crowd. I guess that is why we were targeted, clearly tourists and travelling with a small child.

Honduras is safer than Paris was not a take I was expecting today!

This, louder for the people at the back.

Prague is probably more dangerous because it's filled with drunk British louts on stag weekends.

The first time I went to Prague I had some guy try to get me and my friend to go down a random alley with him to buy drugs.

I’ve been there a couple of times since and never had a bad experience. I think a lot of the dangers are just bad luck which can happen anywhere. If you took everyone’s bad experience of a place on here as a sign a city is dangerous, you wouldn’t go anywhere!

No problem 🙂

I'm from Paris and I find it safer now than 20 years ago.

Edit: realised I didn't answer the question: Yes it's generally safe. I lived there for 35 years and never really had an issue beyond a snatched phone and some guys being a bit pushy. I used to go out every night after work and it was totally fine.

@Dinoswearunderpants that's what I felt intimating groups of men just hanging and staring
We tried to use a little park by the Eiffel tower but they were hanging around urinating and staring at my daughter

Paris, Rome , Berlin and many cities unfortunately suffer from having lots of "doctors and engineers".

However some Hungary (as you can see by Budapest) is a lot nicer.

OP, just stay in the nicer bits. I have visited with my daughter in September every year in St Germain and around and never had an issue. Walked back from the Eiffel Tower on Bastille day late at night after the fireworks without any hassle. Paris can be absolutely love you if you give it a chance!

Was just there last weekend. Didn't feel intimidated or like I was going to get pickpocketed. I was with my mum and she had a bum bag which I don't think is a good idea.

I got a Travelon small bag that goes over my shoulder and the zips clip so hard to pick.

Just be aware. It was gorgeous BTW, perfect weather. Paris in the springtime...

This!

Parisians are not a herd and in all cities you will find some different to others. If you go with an attitude saying they are rude, you can expect that back. Treat with courtesy and politeness and you will receive the same usually.

Apparently, Mogadishu is trendy at the moment 😉 so I've been informed.

Oh well, back to work, a holiday to save for!