Unsafe areas to avoid due to riot possibility?

I%26#39;m in the process of trying to decide where to stay in Paris next Spring. Are there areas that are more prone to riots that should be avoided. I would hate to make a reservation in a really bad area.

|||

As long as you stay somewhere in the centre of Paris you are unlikely to be bothered by any riots. The Pigalle (sp?) area might be one to avoid as it can be a bit sleazy, but I don%26#39;t think riots are a problem there either. Some of the outer suburbs are a bit unsavoury but they aren%26#39;t places tourists would visit anyway and are the sorts of places that are found in many big cities all over the world. I don%26#39;t think Paris is anymore prone to riots than New York for example.

|||

Rioting is thankfully not common in Paris: those that took place last October / November (?) were confined to outlying districts where some racial tension overspilled.

For a first time visit I would try to get a hotel in the 1st or 2nd arondissements. You will then be near to the Louvre, the Opera, Grands Boulevards (shopping),to name but a few. Great transportation is plentiful (buses, metro and RER suburban trains). It is however quite pricey as it%26#39;s so central.

|||

Try my **hotel in the 2nd--the Hotel Vivienne. Grands Boulevards Metro.

paris@hotel_vivienne.com

|||

Almost none of the riots you saw on the telly involving cars being burned and such were actually in Paris.

Anywhere will be fine.

|||

I%26#39;ve seen some peaceful demonstrations in front of %26#39;city hall%26#39; but not one single riot in 10 years%26#39; visits. The recent Bleu/Spain soccer pep rally under the Eiffel (May%26#39;06) was the most %26#39;disturbance%26#39; I%26#39;ve seen within Paris.

The most important thing to know when making hotel reservations is this -

if the mailcode is anything OTHER THAN 750xx, you are not in Paris. (ex. 75005 = Latin Qtr, 75014 = Montparnasse...)

Some websites / hotels %26#39;claim%26#39; to be a Paris hotel but they are actually in an outlying district in a suburb somewhere.

|||

%26quot;The most important thing to know when making hotel reservations is this -

if the mailcode is anything OTHER THAN 750xx, you are not in Paris. (ex. 75005 = Latin Qtr, 75014 = Montparnasse...)%26quot;

Sorry but there is an exception in the 16th where you have either 75016 or 75116 (because there is 16th Nort and 16th South).

And BTW what riots?

|||

Are there riots again?

|||

No! There aren%26#39;t any riots.

|||

I am disappointed that the media has such an effect on tourism even 6 months after the last major %26quot;unrest%26quot; in Paris and almost a year after the riots in the suburbs ! I had the strange luck of being in Paris in both November during the riots AND in late March for the protests/strikes. Other than a more police presence, I did not notice anything different than my previous stays and I was in the 5th near the Sorbonne during the protests.

IMO adreamvacation, you are a victim of the U.S media and it%26#39;s %26quot;%26quot;scare%26quot; tactics. Go to Paris and stay anywhere you want- you will not have a problem in any of the central Parisian districts.

|||

%26quot;..Sorry but there is an exception in the 16th where you have either 75016 or 75116 (because there is 16th Nort and 16th South)...%26quot;

True, but that%26#39;s so far west, it%26#39;s almost %26#39;out%26#39; of Paris... but a nice area just the same. I don%26#39;t think we should send a first-timer there, though.