Metro Steps?

I have been seeing some posts recently and I have seen a few times that people say the steps in the metro are killer or awful. Can somenone give me a general idea of what makes them so horrible? Is it 5 flights up from the platform or something?

Thanks.

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That is not a true picture of the metro stations. Most metro stations (or at least the ones with more than one line going through) has escalators at least some of the way up - and the really big staions often has elevators.

But yes, there are steps to climb - but not more than a normally healthy person can manage. I am overweight myself and in spite of that I have no serious problems with the metro stairs (other than some rightly deserved huffing-and-puffing.....)

There is one metro station which is THE killer, though: ABBESSES.

The tricky thing is that Abbesses is located inside the Montmartre hill, but down at the bottom - so there is a 5 floor-climb up if you are not aware of this and choose the stairs instead of the elevator. You only do it once........

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; has escalators%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;%26lt; should be.: HAVE escalators.

Sorry for the bad grammar.

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A %26quot;normal%26quot; metro station has an average of 2 (two) flights of stairs (15 to 20 steps each) and there is generally a mechantix stair upwards for the second part.

The metr/train combo stations may have 3 flights (but often have lifts (a bit hidden) and always mechanic stairs.... and there is the Abbesses - mentionned above - exception.

So hell is more a mahtter of each one%26#39;s definition : over one million people manage those %26#39;hellish%26#39; stairs daily (but i admit that with lots of heavy luggage/parcels, at rush hour, when you are not sure about wich direction to followow and how much time you%26#39;ll need, it can be a bit sporty).

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And my appologie for the typos : mechantix = mechanic, matther = matter...

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I live in Toronto and I found there weren%26#39;t as many escalators in the Paris subway system as there are here. I didn%26#39;t find it really bad on foot but if you%26#39;re in a wheelchair or have a stroller you are going to have a very frustrating time. Most of the hardship I had was when transferring from 1 line to another - the walks can be incredibly long and the stairs many, up and down. Don%26#39;t rule out the surface buses. I stayed in Paris for 3 months last year and I took more buses than subways, plus you get to see more of the city. When you get to Paris , go to the closest subway station (marked by a big M) and get a free map of the subway, bus and RER system.

Best regards

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I was wondering how awful it is going to be to transfer from the Eurostar at Gare du Nord to the line that goes to Montparnasse. We will have luggage %26amp; thought maybe taking a cab would be better. Any suggestions?

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