Paris wheelchair accessibility guide

Public transport: the metro line by line, plus the RER, buses, trams, and the Paris stations on the SNCF network. Includes which lines have lifts, which platform gaps need a ramp, and how the RATP staff request system works.

Accessible taxis: the operators (G7 Access, Taxis Bleus), how far ahead to book, what vehicle you get (rear-loading or side-loading van), and what to do when the booking fails on a Saturday night.

Accessible toilets: where the Sanisettes are, which department stores and museums you can rely on, and the apps that map the rest. The short version: Sanisettes are free and reasonably maintained but cluster in tourist areas.

Mobility equipment rental: where to rent a manual chair, a power chair, or a scooter; airport and hotel delivery; deposits; and what each provider actually stocks.

Attractions: the alphabetical list with a status flag and a teaser for each, plus full pages for the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre-Dame. Versailles, the Musée d'Orsay, the Centre Pompidou, and Sainte-Chapelle are listed with sourced summaries.

Disability discounts: free admission for the disabled visitor and one companion at most national museums, reduced rates at the Eiffel Tower, plus a side-by-side summary table of who admits what.

Restaurants: how to find a step-free entrance and an accessible toilet (the second is the hard part), plus neighbourhoods that are easier than others, with a verified list growing over time.

Things to do beyond the museum trail: the Seine, the parks (Tuileries, Luxembourg, Buttes-Chaumont), accessible day trips (Versailles, Giverny), and where the cobbles will defeat you.

Essential info: the emergency numbers, the equipment-emergency contacts, surface ratings by district, the documentation to pack, and the pre-trip checklist.

FAQ: the twenty questions that come up most often, all with sourced answers.

If you have three days, lean on Line 14 and the buses. Line 14 connects Saint-Denis Pleyel, Saint-Lazare, Chatelet, Pyramides (the Louvre), Gare de Lyon, and Olympiades, and is fully step-free with platform screen doors. Pair it with bus lines 24, 27, 38, 42, 63, 69, 72, 80, and 87 (all step-free with retractable ramps) for the rest.

Pick a hotel near Pyramides, Madeleine, Saint-Lazare, or Bastille. These stops put you within a Line 14 ride or a single bus of the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Marais, and the river. Avoid Montmartre as a base unless you are prepared for the cobbles and the gradient; the Funiculaire de Montmartre is accessible, but the streets at the top are not.

Book one accessible taxi journey in advance for the moment that matters most: usually airport transfer or a late-evening return. G7 Access and Taxis Bleus take requests at least 24 hours ahead and will quote you the vehicle type before you commit.

Most national museums are free for disabled visitors and one companion on the day. Bring photo ID plus a recognised disability card or a doctor's letter on letterhead, and present it at the dedicated accessible entrance, not the main queue. The discount page lists each venue's exact policy.

Eiffel Tower: step-free access from the south pillar lift to the second floor, including viewing decks, gift shop and the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant. The summit (third floor) is closed to wheelchair users for evacuation reasons. Reduced-rate ticket plus reduced-rate companion. Book the timed slot online; the dedicated entrance is on the south side.

Louvre: step-free across the gallery floors. Use the Carrousel entrance at 99 rue de Rivoli or the Pyramid lift; the Porte des Lions is closed at the time of writing. Free admission for the disabled visitor and one companion, plus priority access at the door. Free wheelchair loans at the information desk.

Notre-Dame: re-opened in December 2024 after the 2019 fire. Step-free access at the main west portal and the south side. Confirm specific tour or treasury access on the venue page before you visit; some chapels and the towers are not accessible.

Versailles, the Musée d'Orsay, the Centre Pompidou, the Arc de Triomphe, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, and the Musée du Quai Branly are covered on the attractions list with sourced status flags. We expand each into a full page as we verify the details first-hand.

Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Paris-Orly (ORY) are the two main international airports, both run by Groupe ADP. PRM assistance is free at both, booked through your airline at least 48 hours before departure, and covers terminal transfers, boarding, and luggage. Beauvais (BVA), the budget-airline airport 80 km north, is outside our pilot.

Transfer to central Paris from CDG: RER B (step-free at most platforms but mind the gap), Le Bus Direct, accessible taxi (around 60 EUR fixed-rate to the Right Bank), or a pre-booked PMR transfer. From Orly: Line 14 metro extension to Olympiades and Chatelet (step-free, opened 2024), Tram T7, or accessible taxi (around 35 EUR fixed-rate to the Left Bank).

Both airports run "Saphir" PMR meeting points on arrival. Tell your airline you are travelling with a wheelchair when you book and again at check-in; the assistance team meets you at the gate.

The vast majority of the 303 metro stations have no lift. Even stations marked accessible may have a lift on one platform and stairs on the other, or a lift at street level only. The line 1 extension (La Defense to Chateau de Vincennes) and the new line 14 are the exceptions; lines 4 and 12 have a few accessible newer stops.

Practical rule: avoid the metro unless you are using line 14 end to end, or you have called RATP ahead and confirmed both stations have working lifts. The bus and tram network covers the same trips and is step-free across the board.

Surface accessibility on routes connecting metro stops is mostly good in the central arrondissements (1st through 8th), patchier in the 11th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. The essential-info page rates each district.

Hotel accessibility in Paris varies by arrondissement, building age, and star rating. Haussmannian buildings in the 8th and 9th often have small lifts, narrow doorways, and a step or two at the entrance. Modern chains in the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th tend to be the most reliable for step-free access plus a roll-in shower.

Apartment rentals are the riskiest category because the entrance, the lift size, and the bathroom are all variable, and the platform listings rarely include the dimensions you actually need. Ask the host directly for door widths, lift internal width, and a photo of the bathroom layout before you book.

We verify hotel accessibility ourselves rather than trust the booking-platform tickbox. Each verified hotel page lists the entrance step, the lift dimensions, the door widths, the bathroom layout, and at least one photograph of the bathroom. Use the hotel funnel CTA on this page to filter to verified accessible rooms in Paris.

Bring two things to every venue: photo ID, and a recognised disability card or a recent doctor's letter on letterhead. The French Carte Mobilite Inclusion (CMI), the European Disability Card (EDC), and most home-country equivalents are accepted at the major national museums. A French translation helps at smaller venues but is rarely required at the big sights.

The disability-discounts page is the single side-by-side reference for Paris venues: the standard ticket price, the disabled-visitor price, the companion price, and what proof is asked for at the door. The summary covers the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Sainte-Chapelle, with venue-by-venue prose under the table.

On public transport, full-fare paper tickets and the Navigo monthly pass do not carry an automatic disability discount for visitors. The Solidarite Transport scheme is for French residents only. The exception is RATP staff assistance through Acces Plus, which is free for any wheelchair user with prior notice.