agquad

My children aged 10 and 13 will be in Paris from Tuesday through Sunday. My husband and I will get the Carte Orange pass, but should we get the kids a carte orange pass or should we just use the half-price carnet tickets? Or the Paris Visite children's pass? The info I've gathered from this forum and others is far from definitive. We will stay in zones 1 and 2 except for to and from De Gaulle airport. Thanks so much!

Robespierre

A Zone 1-2 Carte Orange for 6 days costs €2.57 per day. There is nothing cheaper if you use the Métro, bus, or train system for more than one round trip a day.

A supplement for Zones 3-5 will get you to and from the airport.

If you plan to go to Disneyland and/or Versailles, get a CO for Zones 1-5, which will also get you to CDG.

Christina

The carte orange is meant for adults and commuters, so there is no option for special fares for children. Parisian children have other types of fares in Paris that make more sense for them.

Because of that, it is actually cheaper to buy a children's price Paris Visite than a Carte Orange for them. Another advantage is no photo is needed, and you can start it any day you want. A 5-day children's Paris Visite for zones 1-3 is cheaper than a Carte Orange for zones 1-2. I think it is 13.70 euro for them, but check current rates. I think that is best for them as it's a pretty good deal for five days, and probably even better than the half-priced carnets.

Robespierre

A 5-day childrens' PV costs €2.74 per day and you still have that sixth day to account for.

Go with the CO.

Christina

The PV is cheaper, but it depends how many days you really need it. I was sort of thinking you'd be leaving Sun morning and not really using either one that day -- if you go to the airport some other way, like a shuttle. Then you do need only five days. YOu couldn't use the 2 zone one for the airport, anyway.

However, I forgot to notice that your 13 year old is not eligible for the children's Paris Visite, anyway, the cutoff is through age 11.

Robespierre

Let's look at the total cost of getting from CDG, around Paris, and back by each method:

Carte Orange @15.40 + 2 supplements @ 3.00 = 21.40

Paris Visite @ 13.70 + 1 supplement @ 3.00 + 1 RER CDG ticket @ 5.55 = 22.25 (plus however much it costs to get from the hotel to the RER)

Travelnut

I think this is the first time I've realized that one can buy a 'supplement' for a C.O. to cover a single trip to/from CDG. I was thinking if I wanted zones 1-2 only, I'd have to buy the full fare RER for 7.8€

At the billets window at CDG T-2, do I ask for the "Carte Orange for zones 1-2 and a supplement for RER to Paris"?

Travelnut

Does this paragraph address the 'supplement'..?
What does the last sentence say? thanks..

&quot;..Si vous poss&eacute;dez une Carte Orange, une Carte Int&eacute;grale ou une Carte imagine R (utilis&eacute;e hors samedis, dimanches, jours f&eacute;ri&eacute;s et vacances scolaires) et que vous effectuez un parcours en m&eacute;tro ou RER qui n'est pas totalement inclus dans les zones indiqu&eacute;es sur votre coupon d'abonnement, vous devez acheter un billet valable pour le parcours complet. <u>Vous ne pouvez pas demander un quelconque remboursement de votre coupon</u>...&quot;

monique123

I was trying to do the math and see if it would be worth it to buy the Carte Orange for the kids. If the reduced price children's carnet of 10 tickets is 5 euros, I could buy 30 tickets with 15 euros, which is the price of the Carte Orange. Would I use 30 tickets in the span of 6 days?

Robespierre

Travelnut,

I take that to mean that you have to buy an end-to-end ticket, and they don't rebate anything if your pass covers part of the route. But when we travelled to Versailles, we bought a ride from Issy to Rive Gauche for &euro;2, when the full ticket from Invalides was &euro;3.45 (IIRC).

Monique,

The answer to that depends on how much you will rely on public transport. Sometimes we will use 10 tickets in a day (when we're jumping on and off buses), and other times we'll use two (or none!) when the sights are in the neighborhood of the hotel. I think 5 a day is a good average if you're not hell-bent on walking everywhere.

agquad

Thanks to everyone for all their advice and help.

I think that we can take RER to our hotel to and from the airport without needing Metro to get the RER station.

Because of that, it seems that it would make the most sense to get a Carte Orange for all four -- even if the children's Paris Visite was a few euro cheaper, we'd all have the same thing which may be less of a hassle.

I'm confused about the supplement on the RER. Can I buy a zone 1-2 carte orange and then get something extra for the RER to and from teh airport? Or should I just get the 1-2 zone carte orange and buy the RER ticket alone. Or should I get a carte orange that covers the airport?

Thanks again!

Robespierre

Get a Zones 1-5 Carte Orange for each of the adults before you get on the RER at CDG. This will get you to Paris and back, and all around town with no hassle or uncertainty.

The 10 year old could travel for &euro;10 less as follows:

Tue - single child RER+M&eacute;tro ticket from CDG to hotel - &euro;5.55, plus single child tickets for the rest of the day

Wed Thu Fri - 3-day, 3-zone child Paris Visite - &euro;9.15

Sat Sun - 5-zone Ticket Jeunes - &euro;6.40

Robespierre

Sorry, I did that wrong. The 10-yo needs this for the weekend:

Sat - 3-zone <i>Ticket jeunes</i> &euro;3.20

Sun - single M&eacute;tro+RER child ticket to CDG &euro;5.55

Total: &euro;23.45 plus the odd single for Tue.

agquad

Thanks for the comprehensive plan for both the adults and kids!