Paris France Travel Advice & Safety
Paris Travel Warnings: As in any major city around the world, it is important to remain aware of your surroundings while visiting Paris. Although Paris welcomes millions of visitors each year, travelers should take sensible precautions and know how to avoid common tourist mistakes.As your Paris travel planner and local expert, I will share practical Paris safety tips, common scams to watch out for, mistakes to avoid, and insider advice to help you navigate the city with greater confidence. This includes guidance on busy tourist areas, public transportation, protecting your belongings, and staying informed about demonstrations, protests, or public disturbances that could affect your plans.
Your support does not end when your itinerary is delivered. During your stay, you can contact Paris by Emy for practical assistance if you encounter an unexpected situation, including theft or robbery, a suspected scam, transport disruptions, or demonstrations and civil unrest. I can help you understand your options, identify the appropriate local authorities or services to contact, and adapt your Paris itinerary or arrangements when possible.
Whether you need advice about travel tips, reporting a theft, navigating an unexpected disruption, finding an appropriate service, or adjusting your plans for safety reasons, you benefit from having a trusted Paris-based local expert available by email or WhatsApp. Please note that this personalized assistance is not an emergency response service. In an emergency in France, call 112 or the relevant emergency number. For urgent police assistance, call 17.
Paris Travel Warnings and Tips
Your Paris Travel Safety & Support
It is generally considered safe to travel to France. PARIS BY EMY provides ongoing personalized support throughout your stay in Paris. If you encounter unexpected difficulties, need assistance navigating a challenging situation, or require guidance in an emergency, you can reach out for practical advice and help identifying the appropriate local services. You can also contact PARIS BY EMY with questions about your itinerary, requests for recommendations, or other needs that may arise during your trip, so you can enjoy Paris with greater confidence and peace of mind.
Paris Travel Warnings List
- Do not leave your luggage unattended in transport
- Remember to photocopy your identity papers and leave the originals at your hotel
- Do not handle bundles of money in public
- Do not wear expensive jewelry in an ostentatious way
- Take a minimum of cash with you
- Do not store your wallet, phone in an outside pocket or back pocket
- Prefer a bag worn over the shoulder
- Do not put your wallet, phone on a coffee or restaurant table
- Tips are not mandatory but you can always leave a tip
- Be careful with some cabarets, especially in Pigalle, where you will be imposed unwanted females’ presence and to consume drinks at very high prices
- Prefer institutions that do not reach customers in the street and display their prices outside and inside the room.
- All prices must be displayed inclusive of VAT
- Buy your tickets (show, transport, …) from professional resellers
Pickpocketing and phone thefts are frequent crimes. They can occur in crowded areas such as:
- Airports
- Subways and train cars
- Tourist attractions
- Train stations
Paris Travel Warnings and Scammers
The Police Force is highly-effective in making Paris a safe place. Be careful, there are a lot of scammers and con-artists trying to take advantage of tourists, around major landmarks in Paris. They are trying to sell you a portrait or items.
Be aware of fake petitions by groups of teenagers or trying to distract you; and people offering help with your luggage. As a top touristic destination, there is a high pickpocket risk in Paris. A few simple precautions will minimize your chances of being pickpocketed.
You can touring, walking around in safety, day and night. You can wander in almost every district with a very low risk of mugging. Paris, a secure city to be around, day & night, is welcoming over 30 million tourists every year.
Paris Travel Warnings during Protests
Strikes, protests, demonstrations in France are parts of our cultural heritage. If you travel to Paris during social protests, violence and riots, here are some :
Recommendations and Hints during Riots
- Avoid demonstrations and areas of unrest
- Stay away from areas with large crowds or significant police activity
- Check local media for breaking events
- Be prepared to adjust your plans
- Expect delays and cancellations on railways and public transport
- Subway line 1 and 4 will work without problem because they are automatic lines
- Taxi, Uber, and private driver are available in Paris for transportation
- National museums, and landmarks might be closed or cancel their opening
- Only private museums, restaurants and private businesses would stay open
- Avoid protest’s locations during big strike’s days and avoid night walking within Paris
- Note that local authorities have the power to impose curfews at short notice
- Life goes on for millions of Parisians and French citizens during demonstrating
Engaging in protests and taking collective action have been part of France’s political culture for centuries. And this is a genuine cultural experience… PARIS BY EMY will adjust your plans in Paris and will give you ongoing support.
What You Read in the Media
Free and independent media provide the public with information that allows them to make informed decisions; they demand accountability from leaders; and they present varied points of view, all without any government influence. In countries where press freedom is limited or non-existent, the government usually owns the media or decides which media outlets can operate. It frequently censors information. And dissenting voices are muzzled.
Moreover, certain media, for image, audience or commercial reasons, use “processes” dramatizing certain events or pieces of information. Via the choice of a title, vocabulary, typography, photo or drawn illustration, or through rhetorical effects, they bring out certain sordid and/or spectacular elements to attract the attention of viewers and readers.
Useful numbers in Case of Emergency
- Police emergency 17
- European Emergency number from a mobile phone 112
- Fire brigade 18
- Emergency Ambulance Service (SAMU) 15
- Lost or stolen credit card 0 892 705 705 – open 24/7 (0,34€/min)
- Your Embassy in Paris – France
For urgent consultations in English
Many practitioners at the American Hospital, the Institut Franco-Britannique and the Hôpital Foch are perfectly bilingual. It is also possible to contact SOS Médecins France on +33 (0) 1 47 07 77 77. Operators will direct you, when possible, to an English-speaking doctor.
The American Hospital of Paris (Hôpital Américain de Paris) is a private, non-profit multidisciplinary medical institution located just outside Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine
- Address: 84 Boulevard de la Saussaye, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
- Phone Number: +33 1 46 41 25 25 (Open 24/7)
- Languages Spoken: Bilingual English and French staff, plus multilingual teams (including Japanese, Arabic, and Chinese)
Their 24/7 Medical Surgical Unit provides emergency care for acute medical and surgical problems to patients aged 16 and above, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you are mugged/In case of theft
- Go to a district police station (commissariat de police) to make a complaint
Phone number 3430
https://www.prefecturedepolice.interieur.gouv.fr/vos-services-en-ligne/police-rendez-vous
16 police stations in Paris 24/7
If you do not speak French, the officers will use the SAVE software available in 30 languages
If you are physically attacked, the officer will give you a document in order to be examined at: - Medical Legal Emergency (24/7) 5 rue de la Cité – 75004 Paris
Métro Cité – ligne 4, or Saint-Michel Notre-Dame – RER B
Telephone 01 42 34 82 85/01 42 34 82 85 29/01 42 34 87 00
Paris Aide aux Victimes (Doctor, counseling, lawyer, psychological support …)
- Antenne Sud from 9am to 5pm only with appointment
From Monday to Friday – Telephone: 01 87 04 21 36
12-14 rue Charles Fourier 75013 Paris, Métro Tolbiac – ligne 7 - Antenne Nord from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm only with appointment
From Monday to Friday – Telephone: 01 53 06 83 50
22 rue Jacques Kellner 75017 Paris, Métro Porte de Saint Ouen – ligne 13
Central Police Office for Each Arrondissement/district Open 24/7
The mission of the “Préfecture de Police” is to maintain law and order, to enforce traffic regulations, supervise Paris taxis, and to ensure the security of the general public and their property.
Each “commissariat” or police station is responsible for the security of their arrondissement. Victims of a break-in or an attack, police headquarters are at your disposal 24hrs a day, 7 days a week to provide assistance. Local police units open from Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm are responsible for community policing.
France Travel Advisory – Traveling to Paris
The PARIS BY EMY Trip Planner is your local expert, providing personalized recommendations, genuine human interaction, and ongoing support to help you navigate every aspect of your stay in Paris, including unexpected difficulties.
