Île-de-France
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Regions / Cities / Other destinations / Get around / By bike / By car / By trainDestinations in Île-de-France
The Île de France [1] is the compact region immediately surrounding the capital of France, Paris. As such, the region includes the now far-flung suburbs of the Paris metropolis, together with several large surrounding towns that form part of the larger conurbanation. All is not urban sprawl, however: the region is also known for its natural beauties, in the form of parks, forests and river lands.
Regions
- Essonne
- Hauts-de-Seine
- Paris
- Seine-Saint-Denis
- Seine-et-Marne
- Val-de-Marne
- Val-d'Oise
- Yvelines
Cities
- Paris - the capital of France and focus of the region
- Versailles - to the west of Paris, site of the famous chateau of Louis XIV
- Fontainebleau - to the south of Paris
- Saint-Denis
- Marne-la-Vallée
Other destinations
- Disneyland Paris - the European version of the famous American theme park
Tours and Getting around Île-de-France
By bike
There are many cycle lanes on routes into Paris, but be careful as you also share the road with motorbikes and cars which can be inconsiderate.
By car
There are several free Autoroutes and 4 lane roads for getting round Île-de-France, however on weekdays there is a lot of congestion between the hours 8 - 9:30 AM and 17:30 - 19:30 PM, and it is really not advisable to travel then. This congestion becomes a lot less worse the further away from Paris you are.
The speed limit is 110 km/h.
- Le boulevard périphérique: a road ring which marks the limit of "Paris will intra muros". This is essentially a motorway as there are no roundabouts or intersections, however it is famous for its obstructions. Be careful though, as the cars entering onto the road from the right have priority.
- A13 : (direction Rouen) Western Autoroute
- A6 : (direction Lyon) Southern Autoroute
- A5 : (direction Lyon) South eastern Autoroute
- A86 : Very useful road that nearly completely circles Paris. The final missing segment is currently under construction near to Versailles and when completed will connect the circle.
- A14 : Toll road, fairly expensive.
- N104 : La Francilienne. A half circular road around the eastern side of Paris. As it is further out than the A86, there is considerably less congestion.
- N118 : Connect western Paris to A10 and N104.
By train
A network of regional trains (RER) takes you in and out of Paris. The RER has 256 stops in and around Paris, and runs on over 587 km (365 miles) of track. There are 5 lines, (A, B, C, D and E) that cross Paris, connecting suburbs on opposite sides. The stations are marked with blue signs with a white RER.
It is usually cheaper to purchase a daily ticket than a return ticket for most journeys, but check when purchasing!
Trains run from 4.45 AM to 1.30 AM, and smoking is not allowed whilst in stations or on the trains.
Destinations in Île-de-France:
This page was last edited by Ryan Holliday. Based on work by Tim Sandell, Ann, jan, Tom Holland, Colin Jensen, Yann Forget and Michele Ann Jenkins, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, Jelse, Pjamescowie and Nils and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license
