Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

PARIS

Suitcases, pets and DIY equipment – what can you take on the Paris Metro?

It might earn you a few glares and muttered insults from your fellow passengers, but is it actually forbidden to take items like huge suitcases or pieces of furniture onto the Paris public transport system?

Published: 12 April 2024 12:37 CEST
Suitcases, pets and DIY equipment - what can you take on the Paris Metro?
What can you take onto the Paris Metro? Photo by PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP

Paris is a city where the majority of residents don’t own a car, so it’s far from unusual to see people take items like pieces of furniture, plants, Christmas trees or DIY equipment onto the Metro, tram or bus.

Likewise as a popular tourist destination it’s far from unusual to see people with big rucksacks or outsize suitcases.

But what do the rules actually say about taking outsize items onto public transport with you? 

First, Paris public transport operator RATP stipulates that you must be able to manage and carry the item yourself, and that you must keep it with you at all times.

Paris is a city that has repeatedly been struck by terrorism, so transport operators have to take abandoned luggage reports seriously – a single lost or abandoned bag can lead to the closure of a whole Metro line while it is investigated. On behalf of all Paris commuters – please do not be this person. 

Luggage

Any type of suitcase, bag or rucksack is allowed onto the Metro, RER and the Montmartre funicular, but each piece must be less than 75cm long/wide. There is no weight limit and no limit to how many pieces of luggage each traveller is allowed – although you do need to be able to manage all your bags yourself – including taking them up/down stairs.

On the bus and tram there is no specific size limit, “as long as you do not hinder other passengers on the bus”.

If the carriage or bus is crowded, it is considered good manners to carry a rucksack by hand or wear it on your front, so you are not smacking your fellow passengers in the face every time you turn around. Allowing your wheeled suitcase to run over a fellow passenger’s foot is unlikely to make you any friends.

Strollers/buggies or prams

Strollers or buggies are allowed – RATP stipulates ‘preferably folded’ but this is not obligatory and plenty of people leave them assembled, especially if the child is asleep. On the bus or tram, unfolded buggies are allowed at the driver’s discretion. 

Be aware that most Metro stations require you to go up or down stairs to access the platform, only a tiny percentage of stations have an elevator. Contrary to their somewhat grumpy reputation, most Parisians are actually happy to help you to carry a stroller up or down stairs if you are struggling. 

Furniture/ DIY equipment/ plants/ other random stuff

It’s not hugely unusual to see someone get onto the Metro toting something a little bizarre – from a 6ft tall plant in a pot to a dining chair or an armful of wood for a DIY project. The simple explanation being that most Parisians don’t own a car and taking the Metro is often the simplest way to get bulky items home.

As above, RATP stipulates that you must be able to manage the item yourself, but there is also a size limit.

Items can be “no more than 2 m long, but measuring no more than 20 cm in other dimensions, provided you hold them vertically”.

The size limit applies to the Metro, RER and Montmartre funicular, while on the bus or tram there is no specific size limit, as long as it does not inconvenience fellow passengers. 

Musical instruments and skis

Skis are allowed – because although they are long they are less than 20cm in other dimensions – provided you carry them vertically. Paris itself doesn’t have much of a ski scene (being mostly flat and not very cols) but during the winter it’s not that unusual to see fellow passengers toting skis and an overnight bag as they head off to the mountains for a weekend.

Musical instruments are generally allowed provided they meet the size criteria – but cannot be played on board. Metro operators give licences to a certain number of buskers per year (via a competitive audition process) but they are not permitted to play on either the platform or the train itself. That doesn’t stop unlicensed buskers playing on the trains, but they are breaking the rules and will be fined if caught.

Bikes/scooters 

Bikes are not allowed on the Metro, bus, tram or Montmartre funicular.

You can take a bike on RER lines A, B, C, D and E, but only during the following hours:

  • All day long Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays,
  • Before 6.30 am, between 9am and 4:30pm and after 7pm on all other days.

Roller skates, skateboards, scooters are banned on the entire public transport network, although it’s not that unusual to see people trying to take an electric scooter (trotinette) onto the Metro. In some particularly egregious cases they eve ride the scooter down the platform, earning undying hatred from their fellow passengers.

Pets 

On the bus and tram dogs are only allowed if they are small (weigh less than 6kg) and are carried in a basket or carrier. Cats are also allowed if they are in a carrier.

On the Metro and RER bigger dogs are also allowed, provided that they are on a lead and muzzled.

Guide dogs and other assistance dogs are allowed on all public transport, but if stopped by an RATP agent you may need to show a disability card or other proof that you have a disability and the dog is an assistance animal.

Other rules

The Paris public transport network has a few other unexpected rules, including a ban on praying.

READ ALSO: All the things you can be fined for on the Paris Metro

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

What’s the deal with passport stamping in France?

There are clear guidelines in place about who should have their passport stamped when they enter or leave France - but the letter of the law doesn't always seem to be applied on the ground. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 17 May 2024 14:24 CEST
What's the deal with passport stamping in France?

When you pass through a French border control post, officers will check your passport and – in some cases – stamp the date of your entry or exit of the country onto one of the blank pages in the booklet.

Although the system should be clear and simple, it becomes complicated when conflicting information is given on the ground.

Here’s what the rules say, and whether it’s really a problem if your passport is incorrectly stamped.

Who should be stamped?

The purpose of the date stamps for entry and exit is to calculate how long you have been in France, and therefore whether you have overstayed your allowed time – whether that is the time allowed by a short-stay Schengen visa or the visa-free 90-day allowance that certain non-EU nationals benefit from. 

Those people who are exempt from 90-day restrictions should therefore not have their passports stamped.

EU passport – people who have an EU passport should not have it stamped, because they have the right to unlimited stays due to EU freedom of movement.

Dual nationals – people who have passports of both EU and non-EU countries should not be stamped when they are travelling on their EU passport. However, because the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’, those travelling on their non-EU passports will be stamped, unless they have other proof of residency.

READ ALSO What are the rules for dual-nationals travelling in France?

French residents – the passports of non-EU citizens who have a residency permit in France (carte de séjour) should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their permit is valid.

Visa holders – people who have a long-stay visa or a short-stay visitor visa should not be stamped, because they have the right to stay in France for as long as their visa is valid. 

Tourists/visitors – people making short visits to France who do not have a visa should be stamped, with the stamps keeping track of their 90-day allowance. Visitors from nationalities who do not benefit from the 90-day rule (eg Indians) are also stamped.

Travel practicalities

When crossing a French border, you should present your passport along with other documents – visa or carte de séjour – if relevant. Don’t wait for border guards to ask whether you are a resident.

It should be noted that the carte de séjour is not a travel document and cannot be used to cross borders, not even internal Schengen zone borders. The only valid travel documents for entering France are a passport or national ID card. Any other forms of ID – driving licence, residency card etc – cannot be used for travel purposes.

Border problems

While the rules on stamping are simple in theory, many readers of The Local have reported having their passports incorrectly stamped at the border, and this seems to be a particular problem for non-EU nationals who are resident in France.

Travellers are also often given incorrect information by border guards – for example being told that only holders of the post-Brexit Article 50 TUE carte de séjour are exempt from stamping, that all non-EU nationals must have their passports stamped or that only being married to a French national exempts you from stamping.

None of these are correct.

It’s also sometimes the case that people whose passports should be stamped – tourists, visitors and second-home owners who don’t have a visa – do not receive the stamp. For frequent visitors this can be a problem because it looks as though they have had a long stay in France, due to their exit not being recorded.

The system of stamping itself is also a bit haphazard with stamps scattered throughout the passport book in random order, so border guards sometimes make mistakes and miss an entry or exit stamp and therefore think that people have overstayed when they haven’t.

So how much of a problem actually is it if your passport is wrongly stamped?

It’s one thing to know the rules yourself, it’s quite another to have an argument with a border guard, in French, when a long queue is building behind you. Numerous Local readers have reported feeling that they had no choice but to accept a stamp when an implacable guard insisted upon it.

But is this really a problem?

One thing is clear – if you are a resident of France then you have the right to re-enter, and your proof of residency (visa or carte de séjour) takes precedence over any passport stamps. So it’s not a question of being barred from the country – it can, however, be inconvenient as it might lead to delays at the border while your passport record is queried.

Meanwhile people who did not receive correct exit stamps can be incorrectly told that they have over-stayed and even be liable for a fine. 

Will the new EES passport control system improve this?

Theoretically, the EU’s new Entry & Exit System – which does away with the manual stamping of passports – should get rid of these problems.

However, as we have seen, theory and what actually happens on the ground are two different things.

The EES system, due to come into effect later this year, brings in two main changes – it makes passport checks more secure by adding diometric data such as fingerprints and facial scans and it does away with manual stamping of passports and replaces it with scans which automatically calculate how long people have been in France.

You can read full details of how it works HERE. 

So that should eliminate the problems of unclear stamps, stamps being read wrongly or passports not getting the stamps they need.

Residents in France – carte de séjour and visa holders – are not required to complete EES checks and should have a separate system at ports, airports and railway terminals.

However, at present it’s pretty common for border guards to give incorrect information to non-EU residents who are resident in the EU – let’s hope that they are properly briefed before EES is deployed.

Have you had problems with passports being incorrectly stamped? Please share your experiences in the comments section below

SHOW COMMENTS