Stations and secrets of Paris metro line 8
Paris metro line 8 starts at Balard in the southwest of the city. The line counts 38 stops and crosses through the capital to end at Créteil to the southeast of Paris. Leaving from Balard, the line 8 heads north along the left bank of the Seine and continues along the Grands Boulevards to the east of Paris.
It’s the ideal line to head to the suburbs quickly without having to transfer to a TER at one of the city’s train stations. However, since Créteil is in the network’s zone 3, you will need to pay special attention to ticket prices.
List of line 8 stations
As one of the longest lines of the Paris metro network, line 8 has many stations along its route. Here is the complete list of stations:
- Balard
- Lourmel
- Boucicaut
- Felix Faure
- Commerce
- La Motte – Picquet – Grenelle : transfer to lines 6 and 10
- Ecole Militaire
- La Tour Maubourg
- Invalides : transfer to line 13 and the RER C
- Concorde : transfer to lines 1 and 12
- Madeleine : transfer to lines 12 and 14
- Opéra : transfer to lines 3 and 7 and the RER A
- Richelieu – Drouot : transfer to line 9
- Grands Boulevards
- Bonne-Nouvelle
- Strasbourg – Saint-Denis : transfer to lines 4 and 9
- République : transfer to lines 3, 5, 9 and 11
- Filles du Calvaire
- Saint-Sébastien – Froissart
- Chemin Vert
- Bastille : transfer to lines 1 and 5
- Ledru-Rollin
- Faidherbe – Chaligny
- Reuilly – Diderot : transfer to line 1
- Montgallet
- Daumesnil : transfer to line 6
- Michel Bizot
- Porte Dorée
- Porte de Charenton
- Liberté
- Charenton – Ecoles
- Ecole vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort
- Maisons-Alfort – Stade
- Maisons-Alfort – Les Juillotes
- Créteil – L’Échat
- Créteil – Université
- Créteil – Préfecture
- Pointe du Lac
Monuments and tourist spots along metro line 8
By stopping at Balard station, you can easily reach the Parc André Citroën, located a few steps from the metro.
Two stations, La Motte – Picquet – Grenelle and Ecole Militaire, will take you to the Eiffel Tower just a short walk away. The two stops are each on one side of the Champ de Mars, giving you an impressive look at the “Iron Lady”.
A bit further north, La Tour-Maubourg and Invalides are the stops for the Esplanade des Invalides and the Musée de l'Armée. Invalides will take you closer to the Musée d'Orsay located on the Quai Anatole France, a few minutes’ walk from the metro exit.
Concorde station, at the corner of the Jardin des Tuileries, will take you to the sublime Place de la Concorde and the Luxor obelisk. Then, just cross the Jardin des Tuileries to go to the Louvre (get the best price on Louvre entrance tickets with Paris City Vision).
If you want to get to the Opéra Garnier, it couldn't be easier! Opéra station is just across the street from this building and is a mecca of Paris culture. From this station, you can then easily walk to the Boulevard Haussmann and the department stores.
Boulevard Haussmann has four stops of the line 8: Richelieu Drouot, Grands Boulevards, Bonne Nouvelle and Strasbourg – Saint-Denis. These will easily take you to the shop of your choice without having to walk the whole length of the immense boulevard.
Dipping back to the south of the capital, Bastille station takes you to the famous square, a symbol of the French revolution. By getting off at this station, you can easily walk to the place des Vosges and its grid layout.
Serving Paris’s southeast, the stations Porte Dorée and Porte de Charenton take you to the immense Bois de Vincennes. It’s a real escape for young and old. Finally, the end of line 8: Pointe du Lac located one and a half kilometers from the Créteil lake. This leisure park will take you far from the agitation of the capital.
The remarkable stations of the line 8
Bonne Nouvelle station, whose name references the church Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle, is one of the network’s decorated stations. For the metro’s centenary, the station’s decoration was inspired by cinema and Hollywood. The station name’s typeface is a call to the famous “Hollywood Sign” on the hill of Los Angeles. Along the platform, you can find a variety of information about cinema highlighted in small frames..
Getting off at Richelieu Drouot station, you will pass in front of the monument to the dead in memory of metro employees who have died in service to France. Designed by Carlo Sarrabezoles in 1931, this sculpture is made of granite and adorned with a black marble statue of a woman. On the monument are the names of the employees who died during the First World War. After the Second World War, the word Liberation was added to the bottom right of the monument to honor the contribution of employees to the resistance.
Finally, the station Motte-Picquet – Grenelle is decorated with the family crest of Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de La Motte, a French naval officer in the 17th century. This station also has a fresco of the battle of Cunette, a former Paris city wall that served as a gate to pay taxes.
