Bit Confused?? Which District To stay in?

Hi Everyone,

Have been looking at apartments, hotels etc for our stay next March in Paris. What i%26#39;m confused about though is what district would be best to stay in. Reading through the post%26#39;s i am assuming most will agree the 4th, 5th %26amp; 6th are the better district for first-timers but what are the other districts like i.e 19th, 18th 11th etc are there one%26#39;s to avoid and I come from a place that it takes 1hr from one side to the other, if you do stay in the outer areas (i.e not the single digit) how long does it take to get to the more touristy areas and do you have a transport system that is easy to use if you do go to the more outer areas. Reason i%26#39;m asking is the apartments in the areas such as 18th, 19th etc seem to be bigger and least expensive than the 4th, 5th,6th- the pictures look really good too (but you never know ;-)

Thanks

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There is no reason to stay away from any arrondissement in particular (local experts: correct me ??) - read allt he safety-threads on this forum. And yes, you pay heavily for the central location in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th and get smaller appartments.

But Paris %26quot;intra-muros%26quot; is not really that big - it is about 14x16 kilometers. The geometrical centre of this area being somewhere in the 2nd arrondissement. I have walked from Montmartre (18th) to the Seine, and at a leisurely window-shopping pace I think it took me about 2 hours (and I%26#39;am in no particular good form).

Paris has the best métro-system, you can imagine, easy to use, cheap and well-functioning.

So I would not have second thoughts about an appartment in the 19th (especially round the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and Place de Rhin et Danube which is village-like) - or in the 18th (especially round rue Lépic and rue des Abbesses - my favorite neighbourhood).

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Gitte is absolutely right. Plus, living in the 18th or 19th will give you more of a feel of what it means to live in Paris like a Parisian, not a tourist. Submit us the addresses though: some places in these arrondissements can be charming, others less so.

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One is the Maison d%26#39; Hôtes (chambres d%26#39; Hôtes + Studios + Appartements), the others that are in the 18th %26amp; 19th are through the website www.lodgis.com/en/ and don%26#39;t seem to have the name of the apartments- one i thought seemed o.k was No. 1183833 - studio Apartment on that site. Other apartments are in the 20th, 10th etc on that site that seem very inexpensive and i would rather see the real paris. do you think as long as its in this general area i.e up to the 20th it would be suitable anyway? My husband and I are just happy for it to be clean and have a bathroom/toilet and were happy.

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I lived in the 19th during 10 years and I would suggest to avoid it. I know that Bob won%26#39;t agree with me, but the area around Porte de la Villette is really unsafe. I was really happy to live and raise my children among such a mixed community, but our appartment have been robbed so many times that we really HAD to move.Now I live close to the 12th and it is great !!

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I always stay in the 19th - check out http://www.hotel-lelaumiere.com/index-gb.htm

Its only 20 metres from the metro (no exageration) and is near the Parc des Buttes for your morning constitutional. Its a nice area with some good local shops, a nice bar or three, and the hotel is clean quite modern, and friendly. Its also within a 15 minute walk to the Portes de Pantin and the Cite de la Musique and Cite des Sciences.

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Thanks, Anne would you suggest any of the districts up to the 12th or up to the 20th would you say that only the 19th is the one you would avoid. I have seen other posters with differing views of the 19th and will certaintly look at the hotel suggested. We will be doing a lot of walking though and would prefer an area that we can safely walk at night. Any suggestions and thankyou all for your quick responses :-)

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The 19th (Around %26quot;porte de la villette%26quot;,whereas buttes chaumont, as Wizard said, is nice) is the only one I would avoid. I like them all from 10 to 20th. My personal favourites are 11 and 12 (Bastille/Ledru-Rollin), but that is my personal taste !

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thankyou for your answer anne. I trust that being a local you are able to give me a good opinion of the area. At least it gives me more options. And i appreciate the advice i get from these forums. Its fantastic.