We have free lodging near Versailles for ONE week in July. What's the best way for us to travel back and forth to Paris? Cost is NOT an issue, we just want to be able to get back and forth as quick as possible.

do you guys suggest purchasing any passes? if so, which ones? are there passes that we can also use throughout the city? thanks!

RER to and from Versailles; Metro in Paris.

http://parisbytrain.com/metro-vs-rer/

Pass info for Metro - [depends on days of the week that you will be in Paris to determine if the Navigo Decouverte will work for you as it starts at 12:01 am Monday[actually at 0:00] and ends 11:59 pm Sunday night.

http://parisbytrain.com/category/passes/

Thank you, but in this section right here it says that the weekly pass is only good for inside of Paris and Airport, so does that mean that I would have to spend 3x as much and get a monthly pass? http://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-...go-decouverte/

Read the details of that page and you'll see that it covers Versailles.

Versailles is not IN Paris - it's outside - so not on the Metro system at all. You have to take the regular train to and fro Versailles every day - then the Metro within Paris.

No, the weekly cost of 34,40€ will get you to and from Versailles (zone 5) and the metro and bus ( which can be nicer than metro as you get to see Paris instead of being in tunnel). There is a 5 € cost to get the card and you need a picture.

Read a bit more, Versailles is in Zone 4 - I found a site that explained it http://parisbytrain.com/tag/paris-rer/

Week Passes

Paris RER week passes are known as Passe Navigo Découverte (a physical card) that must be purchased along with a week long “subscription”, known as Carte Orange Navigo Semaine, which provides unlimited travel within certain zones (1-2 up to 1-5 zones of validity). The physical Passe Navigo card itself costs 5€. Navigo Semaine subscriptions are priced as follows: For example, a Passe Navigo Découverte loaded with 1-5 zones of travel would cost 39.40€ in total: 5€ for the plastic Navigo Découverte card and 34.40€ for the 1-5 zone subscription, which covers popular destinations like CDG Airport and Paris Disneyland, both in Zone 5. (Prices current as of January 2014.)

This week pass system works strictly from Monday start of service, till Sunday end of service, not an arbitrary seven day period. If you arrive in Paris on Thursday, you have until midnight to purchase a Carte Orange week subscription. Starting on Friday, passes for the following week (valid starting Monday morning) will be on sale.

Thanks DebitNM, you mentioned needing a picture, does that means that I have to bring one with me for them to use or do they take it?

Best to bring a photo with you as the metro people don't take photos. That will save you running around looking for a place to get a photo.

BTW - the page reference you gave, above, had all the information.

As to size of picture [the next logical Q]:
"exact Navigo Decouverte photo size is 3cm tall by 2.5cm wide"

I made a xerox copy of my passport picture[which is too big], carried a small pair of scissors with me, and trimmed it to fit. Works fine as you need just a head shot that fits the space allocated on the card.

Just cut your picture out of any snapshot you have.

In the parisbytrain link you posted earlier there is good information about photos in the "How to Buy a Navigo Découverte" section.

The parisbytrain website is excellent at explaining how public transportation works in and around Paris, probably the best, but it is not always up to date so it's best to check one of the 3 "official" websites, www.vianavigo.com, www;ratp.fr or www.transilien.com for your essential travel connections and to make sure you've got up to date info. Which one you use depends on what kind of user interface you prefer and I'll use each for different purposes because I know the peculiarities and flaws of each.

Passes for Paris and its environs within zone 5:

http://vianavigo.com/en/tickets-and-fares/

To learn how to get around Paris by métro/bus/RER use www.ratp.fr. Here is a link to a route planner:

http://www.ratp.fr/itineraires/en/ra...herche-avancee

Keep in mind that the planner is time and date sensitive so you might get different transport options depending on the time you enter. I always check several earlier and later departures to see all options since it may give you awkward transfers.

Here is an interactive map of the system:

http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/carteidf.php?lang=uk

The interactive map will clearly show which stops are in which particular zone as each zone is shaded on the map.