Visas and legal formalities

Visas are delivered by the French diplomatic authorities in the country of origin of the applicant.

They have the right to refuse to deliver this visa. Foreigners who have entered regularly one of the countries party to the Shengen agreement can also enter the other countries. There are two types of visa; the short term visa which is valid for a duration of 3 months, and the long term visa for those who wish to stay longer.

European Union nationals

Natinals of the European union benefit from the principle of the liberty of circulation as well as the liberty to work in the fifteen member countries. These rights are guaranteed by the Treaty of Rome of 1957, the Single European Act of 1986, as well as the Community Charter of 1989. The decree of 11 March1994 allows nationals of the European Union to enter France by simply presenting their passport or identy card. Only for reasons of public order can someone be refused admitance.

European union nationals have the right to stay in France but have to apply for a "carte de séjour" if the wish to remain more than 3 months. This can be done at the town hall or the police station. The carte de séjour is valid for a duration of 5 years. At the end of this period it will be either renewed for 10 years or 1 year if the person has been unemployed for the last 12 months.

Nationals of countries outside the European Union:

Nationals of countries with which France has not signed a convention must supply certain documents so as to gain admittance to France:

Documents concerning the object and conditions of ones stay (tourism, business, private visit)
Documents showing means of existence and guarantees of repatriation
Conditions of stay

"Temporary carte de séjour"

The temporary carte de séjour has to be applied for within two months of arrival in France. The applicant must supply a medical certificate and proof of means of subsistence. The carte de séjour is valid for one year. It can be renewed every year at the discretion of the authorities.

"Carte de résident"

The carte de résident is valid for a duration of 10 years. It gives one the right to work as well as to live in France. The benifit of this card is lost if the owner resides during more than 3 consecutive years abroad.

 

Office de Tourisme de Paris
Bureau d'Accueil principal
25 r des Pyramides 75001 Paris
Tel. :08 92 68 3000 " special tarification "
M° : Grand palais musees du louvre

OR
Opéra Grands Magasins
11 r Scribe 75009 Paris
Tel. :08 92 68 3000 " special tarification "
M° : Opera
Opening hours: 9am - 8pm daily and in winter from 9am-8pm Mononday to Saturday; 11am - 6pm Sunday

  Top Of Screen

Arriving in Paris

Paris is served by two international airports; Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport. They are situated respectively 25 and 15 Km from the centre of Paris.

Orly airport

Here are the alternative ways of getting to Orly

- Orlyval:
Orlyval connects Orly airport to Antony R.E.R. station (line B) from where you can easily reach the capital

- Orlybus:
Orlybus connects Orly airport to Paris. The three stations are:

  • Orly Sud, Port H, quay n°4

  • Orly Ouest, Port J, level 0

  • Paris, Denfert Rochereau in front of the R.E.R. station


    Duration of the trip: approximately 30 minutes (when there are no bottlenecks), a bus departs every 13 minutes.

- Orlyrail:
Orlyrail connects Orly airport to Port du Rungis R.E.R station (line C)

- Car Air France:
Connects Orly to les Invalides or Montparnasse Hotel Meridien

- Jetbus:
Connects Orly to Villejuif-Louis Aragon Metro station, which is the nearest station to the airport.
Service from 5h48am to 23h36pm , every 12 minutes

Roissy Charles De Gaulle airport

- Roissy Bus:
Roissy-Paris: 6am to 23pm , Paris-Roissy: 5h45am to 23pm
Connection between the airport and Place de l'Opera ( rue Scribe 8th ). Leaves every 15 minutes.

- RoissyRail:
RER B free shuttle from the airport to the RER satation or at Terminal 2 direct access to the RER station

- Car Air France
Connects Roissy to the Place de l'Etoile (avenue Carnot) and to the Palais des Congrès
Paris-Roissy: 5h40-23h, Roissy-Paris: 6h-23h

- Airport Shuttle
Airport-Shuttle.com provides a simple but efficient airport shuttle service operating 7 days a week between Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport, Beauvais airport and Disneyland.
Tel: + 33 1 42 71 40 31

Arriving in Paris by train

SNCF informations:
Tel: 01 45 82 50 50
Reservations: 01 45 65 60 00
Service Minitel: 36 15 SNCF
WEB site of S.N.C.F. 

Bus services are not very well developped in France but still you can travel by car in Europe with Eurolines. Departures and arrival

Eurolines
Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 93170 Bagnolet
M°: Galiéni (ligne n°3)
Tel: 01 49 72 51 51

Transportation in Paris

The bus, Metro and RER network is divided into 5 zones for the whole of the Paris region. Zones 1 and 2 correspond to the city of Paris itself and a little of the suburbs. Make sure you buy a ticket with the right number of zones when you travel outside Paris. If stopped with the wrong ticket, you could play the Dumb-American-Tourist, but they'll probably fine you anyway.
In Paris the same ticket is used for the Metro, buses and RER. Hold on to your ticket for the entire journey as it may be checked at any moment by inspectors. There are ticket offices at every RATP and RER station; tickets can also be bought at the "tabacs", that is, where you buy your smokes.

Carte "Paris-Visite": This ticket allows you travel first class (though you won't notice the difference) as much as you want during 2, 3, or 5 days. It also offers you reductions of between 20 and 35% on many of the tourist sites in Paris. It is quite expensive and only worth considering if you want to shove a helluva lot of culture into a short space of time.

Top Of Screen

   

Paris Visite
A special half-price tarif is available for children aged to 4 to 11 inclusive.

If you’ve decided upon:

ZONES 1 TO 3
You can travel through Paris and its immediate suburbs as La Défense, Saint Denis Basilique, or Le Bourget,

ZONES 1 TO 5
You can roam through Paris and the Ile-de-France region, with access to famous attractions such as Versailles, or the château of the Impressionists at Auvers-sur-Oise, etc.


ZONES 1 TO 8
You are free to enjoy all of Paris and the region of Ile-de-France ; in addition to all the already mentioned sites, the Medieval city of Provins, Fontainebleau, Rambouillet...are also to be discovered.

Paris Visite  specials

Upon presentation of your card, you will receive :

•A welcome gift, free entry tickets and other specials available with the card (see within this guide or wherever you see the Paris Visite Logo).

•First class travel in RER and SNCF Ile-de-France trains.

Transport
information
(timetables, fares, traffic congestion)

RATP
Information
08 36 68 77 14 (2,23 F/min)

08 36 68 41 14 (2,23 F/min)
(Multilingual)

Minitel :
3615 RATP
(1,29 F/min)


SNCF
Information
01 53 90 20 20
Minitel :
3615 ou 3616 SNCFIDF
(1,01 F/min)

  
Musées-Monuments Cards

• An open ticket for 1, 3 or 5 consecutive days.
• Access to over 70 museums and monuments in the Paris Ile-de-France region (for sale in museums and principal métro stations).


These tickets are for the individual's use only.
To be valid the ticket must bear the following information :
• Your name and surname on the reverse side.
• Your card number on the coupon.
• The dates of validity on the coupon.

Using the card :
• In railway stations : pass ticket through the turnstile. It should not be punched.
• In the metro stations, insert your card in the ticket control gates.
• On buses, show your ticket to the driver or conductor.

Carte orange hebdomadaire: This ticket allows you an unlimited number of trips (second class, but again you won't notice the difference) for a whole week from Monday to Sunday. The Parisains choice and probably the best value for money.
 

Car rental

AVIS Tel.: (33) 1 46 10 60 60
Budget Tel.: 0800 10 00 01 Toll free number
Hertz Tel: 33 1 47 88 51 51
Europcar International (33) 1 30 43 82 82
Citer - Eurodollar (33) 1 44 38 61 61
Eurorent 0800 33 22 10 Toll free number

Change & bank

All banks are offering a change service and are generaly open from 9 am to 6 pm from monday to saturday. At Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports change offices are open till 11.30 pm.

We adwise you to change little money when you arrive because of the rates change and wait for the change offices closed to the stock exchange. There you will find the best rates in the city.
They are located mainly in the Rue Vivienne - Métro station : Bourse

VISA card is accepted in every cash machine
In case of loosing your card phone: 01 42 77 11 90

American Express :
11 rue Scribe, 75009 Paris
Tel: 01 47 77 70 00 
In case of loosing your card
phone: 01 47 77 72 00

Post and telecommunications

Post offices are open from 8 am to 7 pm from monday to friday and from 8 am to 12 am on saturday
Stamps can be found in every post office but also in Tobaccos.

Post office of the Louvre
52 rue du Louvre 
75001 Paris is open 24h/24h eevery day
Tel : 01 40 28 20 00 

Phone cards can be bought in every post office bust also in tobaccos.

50 units
120 units

Informations: dial 12
International information: dial 00 then 33 12 and the country code  

Emergency Phone Numbers

- S.A.M.U. : 15

- Police : 17

- Pompiers : 18

- S.O.S Medecins (doctor): 01 43 37 77 77

- S.O.S Dentaire : 01 43 37 51 00

- S.O.S Help : 01 47 23 80 80 (emergency phone number in english)

 - Lost property: 

            36, rue des Morillons, 75015 Paris

 

 - Medical center:

          - Hôtel Dieu, 1 parvis Notre-Dame, 75001 Paris

            Tel: 01 42 34 82 34

          - Necker, 149 rue de Sèvres, 75015 Paris

            Tel: 01 44 49 40 00

 - Pharmacy:

            Pharmacie Dhery, 84 avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008 Paris 

            Tel: 01 45 62 02 41 (open 24h/24 every day)

Top Of Screen

Paris hotels RSS newsfeed with RSS HOTELS

Hotel Selection | Availabilty | Apartment Service | Travel Agent | Airport Shuttle | Sightseeing | Information | Contact us | Useful Links

London | New-York | Portugal | Italy | South-Africa | Dubai | Lebanon | Worldwide | London airport transfers


Free reservation service provided by Free reservation service provided by Pro Tours
Paris Office
Tel:
+ 33 (0) 1 77 15 95 08 - Tel: + 33 (0) 8 70 66 25 70 - Fax: + 33 (0) 1 45 02 14 91
Dubai Office
Tel: + 971 4 286 8759 - Fax: + 971 4 286 8754

Lebanon Office
Tel: + 961 4 400000 - Fax: + 961 4 400001