Paris Métro
Metro · Paris · RATP / Île-de-France Mobilités
19 lines · 320 stations · 100 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
- M1Château de Vincennes ↔ La Défense - Grande Arche25
- M10Gare d'Austerlitz ↔ Boulogne Pont de Saint-Cloud20
- M10Porte d'Auteuil ↔ Gare d'Austerlitz19
- M11Rosny Bois Perrier ↔ Châtelet19
- M12Mairie d'Aubervilliers ↔ Mairie d'Issy31
- M13Châtillon - Montrouge ↔ Asnières - Gennevilliers - Les Courtilles24
- M13Châtillon - Montrouge ↔ Saint-Denis - Université26
- M14Saint-Denis - Pleyel ↔ Aéroport d'Orly21
- M2Porte Dauphine ↔ Nation25
- M3Gallieni ↔ Pont de Levallois - Bécon25
- M3BPorte des Lilas ↔ Gambetta4
- M4Porte de Clignancourt ↔ Bagneux - Lucie Aubrac29
- M5Place d'Italie ↔ Bobigny - Pablo Picasso22
- M6Nation ↔ Charles de Gaulle - Étoile28
- M7La Courneuve - 8 Mai 1945 ↔ Mairie d'Ivry34
- M7Villejuif - Louis Aragon ↔ La Courneuve - 8 Mai 194533
- M7BLouis Blanc ↔ Pré-Saint-Gervais7
- M8Balard ↔ Créteil - Pointe du Lac38
- M9Mairie de Montreuil ↔ Pont de Sèvres37
Quick facts
- Operator
- RATP runs the Métro day to day. Île-de-France Mobilités sets the fares and tickets, so the branding you see splits between the two.
- Tickets
- Paper ticket sales ended in November 2025. There is no tap-your-bank-card at the Métro gates the way there is in London, so get a Navigo Easy card (a reusable contactless card, about €2) and load journeys onto it, or buy tickets in the phone app.
- Direct bank-card contactless is arriving on buses and rolling out slowly, not across the full Métro yet. Any leftover paper tickets stop working across the network by mid-2026.
- Navigo Easy
- Airports
- Orly is on Line 14 now, a straight Métro ride since the 2024 extension. Charles de Gaulle uses the RER B regional train instead.
- Airport link
- Fare checks
- Inspectors do check, and the fine for riding without a validated ticket is steep. Validate your card or ticket at the gate and keep it until you leave.
- Fare inspection
- Built form
- Opened in 1900 with a narrow profile, short trains, and stations every few blocks. Some lines run on rubber tires, and Lines 1, 4, and 14 are driverless with platform screen doors.
- Rubber-tyred metroAutomated metro
- Luggage
- Most lines are cramped and stair-heavy. Older stations rarely have elevators, and the trains are small. Line 14 and newer stations are the easy exception with bags.
- Step-free access
- Beyond Paris
- Versailles, Disneyland, and other day trips run on the RER and Transilien, not the Métro. Buy the right regional ticket rather than assuming a Métro fare covers it.
- Regional rail
Mike’s notes
The Paris Métro is one of the best systems anywhere for actually getting around a city. It is dense, it is frequent, and there is almost always a station within a few blocks of where you are. For sightseeing and normal city days, it is hard to beat. The catch is that it shows its age in the ways that matter when you are not empty-handed.
The eras stacked up
The Métro opened in 1900 for the World's Fair and never stopped adding to itself, so a single ride crosses several generations of railway. The oldest lines have the original narrow tunnels, short platforms, and stations spaced closer together than almost any other metro. Some lines run on rubber tires, a Paris quirk from the 1950s that makes them quieter and lets them climb steeper grades. The newest layer is Line 14, driverless since 1998, with platform screen doors and a roomier feel, and the network is slowly converting older lines to the same automation. Guimard's green Art Nouveau entrances are the visible reminder of the first era, and dozens are still in place.
Tickets, and the switch off paper
This is the part that changed recently, so get it right before you go. Paper ticket sales ended in November 2025. Paris did not switch to London-style open-loop contactless, so you usually cannot tap a bank card at the Métro gate. Buy a Navigo Easy card, a reusable contactless card that costs about €2, and load journeys or a pass onto it. The phone apps, Bonjour RATP and Île-de-France Mobilités, let you buy and carry tickets digitally as well. Direct bank-card contactless is appearing on buses and rolling out gradually, but do not count on tapping your Visa through a Métro turnstile yet.
Luggage and the older stations
If you are moving with a suitcase, the Métro fights back a little. Most stations are stairs only, elevators are the exception rather than the rule, and the older trains are small. It is fine for a backpack or a day bag. For arrival and departure days with a big case, I would look at Line 14 where it fits your route, since it is step-free and roomy, or just take a taxi or the RER for the airport leg.
Airports
Orly is the easy one now. Line 14 was extended to it in 2024, so it is a direct Métro ride from the center. Charles de Gaulle is a different story: it is on the RER B, a regional train, not the Métro, and you buy a separate ticket for it. Do not go looking for a Métro line to CDG, because there is not one.
Short history
1900
The Métro opens for the World's Fair
The first line runs Porte Maillot to Porte de Vincennes, engineered by Fulgence Bienvenüe. Hector Guimard's Art Nouveau entrances, all curved iron and glass, become the signature look, and dozens still stand.
1956
Rubber tires arrive
Line 11 gets the first rubber-tyred trains, quieter and better on steep gradients. Lines 1, 4, 6, and 14 follow, which is why some Paris trains ride so differently from the steel-wheel ones.
1998
Line 14 opens fully automated
The first driverless Paris line, built with platform screen doors and a modern, roomier profile. It becomes the template for automating the rest of the network.
2024
Line 14 reaches Orly
The automated line extends south to Orly airport in time for the Paris Olympics, finally putting an airport on the Métro proper rather than only on regional rail.