The Paris Olympics: Everything You Need to Know About The Metro

The Paris Olympics...They’re coming in hot, whether you like it or not!

Welcome to Paris in my Pocket’s first official blog post! We’re glad you’re here and can’t wait to share everything we know about the Paris Olympic metro closures with you. This is for those of you that prefer to skim articles for information rather than watch our YouTube videos. Whatever way you like to find your information we’ve got you covered.

This blog post is a companion piece to Will The Olympics Ruin Your Trip to Paris? You probably have lots of questions about the Olympics, and we’re here to help.

Maybe you've never head of Paris in My Pocket before, and you've found your way here because you're travelling to Paris during the Olympics and want to know how you can get around town. If you're interested in learning more about our extensive guide to Paris - with local & hidden recommendations on where to eat, drink, and be merry, click here!

The biggest question we’ve been asked by far has been how will the metro be affected? Both locals and visitors alike are wondering - what will my commute look like? How will I get from one end of town to the other? And, will I have to walk everywhere?

If you’re also wondering how long the city will be impacted by construction, what parts will be blocked off, how restaurants will react, and more, be sure to check out the video and hang around on Instagram for additional information as and when we’re able to secure it.

Part 1 - Metro Closures pre-Opening Ceremonies

Only a few stations on select lines will be impacted by the Olympic and Paralympic games. Lines 2, 3, and 14 will remain undisrupted until July 26, and many other lines listed below will only have 1-2 closed stations. For details on closures during the opening ceremony on July 26th, skip to the next section. Read on if you’re looking for details on closures between now and July 25th.

Source: RATP

Line 1

Concorde : Closed from June 17th to September 21st

Tuileries : Closed from June 17th to September 21st

Champs-Élysées - Clemenceau : Closed from July to September 21st*; open between the 12th and 22nd of August.

Line 4

Cité - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Line 5

Quai de la Rapé - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Line 6

Trocadéro - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Passy - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Line 7

Pont-Neuf - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Châtelet - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Pont-Marie - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Line 8

Concorde : Closed from June 17th to September 21st

Line 9

Alma - Marceau - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Ièna - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Trocadéro - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Exelmans - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Michel-Ange — Auteuil - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Michel-Ange — Molitor - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Line 10

Boulogne — Jean Jaurès - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Boulogne — Pont de Saint-Cloud - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Michel-Ange — Auteuil - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Michel-Ange — Molitor - Closed from July 24th 4pm and July 25th

Line 11

Châelet - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony. This means the trains’ final stop will be Hôtel de Ville.

Line 12

Concorde : Closed from June 17th to September 21st

Line 13

Champs-Élysées - Clemenceau : Closed from July to September 21st*; open between the 12th and 22nd of August.

RER C

Champ de Mars - Tour Eiffel - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Pont-Alma - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

Musée d’Orsay - Closed from July 18th through the opening ceremony

The only other outright closures are for the tram and RER south and outside of the city, and that’s nothing that will disrupt 99% of visitors’ trips. But if you happen to be staying outside of the city, be sure to download CityMapper, which will be kept up to date with all closures and will inform you of any delays.

Part 2: The Opening Ceremony

The majority of closures will occur leading up to the opening ceremony on July 26th. Some stations will close a day or two before. If you’re not here for the opening ceremony and want information on disruptions from July 27th onward, skip to Part 3. If you don't care about the metro at all and just want to plan a trip to Paris to eat and drink your way around town, click here.

For those staying for the ceremony, here are the expected metro closure times in preparation for the event. Please note that all stations listed above will remain closed through the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to run from 19h30 to 23h00 with about 300,000 people in attendance. Contrary to what was originally announced, the riverside will not be open to a freeflow of spectators. Instead, about 200,000 invitees will watch for free and, if you weren’t invited, your only other bet is to quickly befriend someone with an apartment view of the river… or make some rooftop reservations!

It’s probably best to avoid the riversides in general on the 26th. It’ll be a great day to hit up Montmartre or to explore the Eastern suburbs of Paris. We have hundreds of recommendations of things to do and eat in Paris, and those areas are some of our favorites. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab our guide to Paris, which includes an interactive map that can geo-locate you and something delicious to eat - great for when somewhere you want to go is inevitably closed because it’s Paris, and August, and the Olympics. With this map, you’ll be able to see what’s around and try your luck.

And you’re probably wondering when things will get back to normal again! Pretty quickly, as soon as the opening ceremony ends you’ll see stations reopen from 21h30.

Part 3 - What Happens After the Opening Ceremony?

After the opening ceremony, metro closures chill out a lot. The majority of the stations will be up and running the next day without future interruptions. Some stations will see limited interruptions when certain stadiums are in use, and a select few will remain closed until September. Here’s what we know, and as soon as we learn more, we’ll be sure to update this:

Line 1

Champs-Elysées - Clemenceau will be open between the 12th and 22nd of August, and otherwise will remain closed until September 9th.

Tuileries - opens September 2

Concorde - opens September 2

Line 7

Pont Marie will be closed from August 10th to the 11th

Line 8

Concorde - opens September 2

Line 9

Exelmans - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Michel-Ange — Auteuil - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Michel-Ange — Molitor - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Line 10

Boulogne — Jean Jaurès - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Boulogne — Pont de Saint-Cloud - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Michel-Ange — Auteuil - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Michel-Ange — Molitor - Closed from July 27th to August 3rd and August 9th to 10th

Line 12

Concorde - opens September 21st

Line 13

Champs-Elysées - Clemenceau will be open between the 12th and 22nd of August, and otherwise will remain closed until September 9th.

The final metro stop to re-open will be Concorde for line 12, set for the 21st of September, after which all other lines should be running as usual.

The Takeaways

The Paris Metro is predicted to get crowded! There will be an estimated additional one million, yes million, trips made on public transportation per day during the Olympics and Paralympics.

Thankfully when you’re on a line that’s impacted, you’ll see the situation all spelled out inside each line. Paris has been prepping the cars for months now and decking them out with fancy diagrams like this:

Source: RATP

But be warned - some of the dates of closures are not posted on these nifty maps; others are. When in doubt, check an itinerary planning app for the most up to date closures. Our advice? Give yourself extra time to travel across town, and be prepared to be flexible!

About buses…

...the information is limited, but it’s there.

Between March and April the following stops will be closed:

Champ-de-Mars

Place du Trocadéro

Grand Palais

Esplanade des Invalides

This impacts bus numbers 32, 42, 63, 69, 72, and 86.

Between May and June the following stops:

Champ-de-Mars

Place du Trocadéro

Grand Palais

Place de la Concorde

Will be closed, which impacts bus numbers 28, 30, 32, 42, 45, 63, 69, 72, 73, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 93, 94 and night bus numbers 1, 2, 11, and 24.

For the opening ceremony on the 26 of July, no buses will be running within the gray or red perimeters.

Our advice? Rent a bike! You can either get a subscription to Paris’ bike sharing service, Velib', or use the various other subscription bike companies like Uber Jump or Lime. Or, you can hit up Bike About Tours or Fat Tire Tours to see about renting a bike for the duration of your stay. This might be the easiest option!

And of course, when you're looking for a nice cool beer after a day of cycling the city, we've got lots of options for you. We love craft beer around here, so be sure to grab our guide and check out all the recs for these hot summer months!

The information in this blog is gathered from several city and government websites with a few slight discrepancies - not surprising with an event of this size and caliber! Hopefully this blog will help you to get a better overall understanding of how public transportation will be impacted by the Olympics and Parapympics this summer, but we still encourage you to use either CityMapper or RATP to plan ahead and expect crowds and delays. And if you’re looking for more general advice on how to use the metro in Paris, be sure to check out this video detailing our tips and tricks!

_______

* Champs-Elysées is a particular case. Anticiper les Jeux states its closure from July 20th, while RATP claims July 1. Anticiper les jeux also mentions the station opening back up on September 9th and September 21st. It will also be open between the 12th and 22nd of August. Perhaps avoid this station altogether!

Written by: Emily Guernsey

Edited by: Jay Swanson

Researched by: The Paris in My Pocket Team