I'm an American Living in Paris and This Is My No. 1 Travel Tip for Anyone Visiting

"For the first half of my decade living in France, I rented a tiny studio apartment off Nice's central square, Place Masséna, in the French Riviera. Uber was a pipe dream at the time, but luckily, the seaside town can be easily navigated on foot or by bike-and I once even made the 20-minute ride home from the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE) on a Vélobleu city bike, my duffel bag delicately balancing on top of the front basket."

"When I made the move up to Paris in late 2018, ride-hailing services were already the norm, but in a city where strikes are common (and sometimes unpredictable), I quickly learned that you'll have better luck below ground than above. Instead, I share the same advice to anyone visiting, even my most stylish friends who are in town for fashion week: skip taxis."

Residence in Nice near Place Masséna enabled easy navigation on foot or by bike, including a 20-minute Vélobleu ride from Nice Côte d'Azur Airport with luggage in the front basket. After moving to Paris in late 2018, ride-hailing became common but strikes make surface travel unreliable, so the metro is faster than taxis; Citymapper can help. Parisians favor practical fashion like sneakers for metro stairs and gallery hopping. A metro trip from Belleville to Gare Montparnasse takes about 45 minutes versus over an hour by car. Ongoing construction before the 2024 Olympics caused morning traffic jams; airport transit has been streamlined.

Read at Travel + Leisure