Navigo – a Primer
 

An updated summary for those using public transportation in the Ile-de-France:

CARDS – reusable and available to everyone:

• Navigo Découverte, 5€ (D) – user specific (name and photo required)
  
• Navigo Easy, 2€ (E) – transferable to any one traveler at a time.
  
• Smartphone (S) – some Samsung models only, using the Bonjour RATP app.
  

FARES:

• Tickets t+ – (E, S) 1.90€ or 14.90€/7.45€ in groups of 10 for adults/children 4 to 9 respectively.
  
• Airport bus ticket – (E, S) Roissybus 13.70€ (paper ticket), or 12€ (e ticket); Orlybus 9.50€ (paper ticket), or 8.50€ (e ticket).
  
• Jour pass – (D, E, S) - daily pass, zone specific. Can include travel to airports. Current zone 1-2 fare: 7.50€, zone 1-5 fare: 17.80€
  
• Jeune week-end pass – (D, E, S) day pass for those under 26. Zone 1-5 fare, 8.95€.
  
• Semaine – (D) weekly, Monday to Sunday pass, zone specific. May be purchased for current week through Thursday. Current zone 1-5 fare: 22.80€
  
• Mois – (D) available for calendar month. May be purchased for current month through the 19th. Fares purchased on or after the 20th become valid the following month. Current zone 1-5 fare: 75.20€.
  
• Antipollution pass – Ile-de-France day pass costing 3.80€, available only on defined pollution days.
  

Navigo fares are not valid for OrlyVal travel.

Ticket d´accès à bord – SMS ticket (2€) used to board the bus. As bus approaches, to 93100, text B plus the bus number, no space. For example: B58 for a ticket for Bus 58. Requires an account with FREE, Orange, SFR, or Bouygues Telecom.

RER tickets – remain paper only. Except to/from airports, fares are now capped at 4€ per 10 (40€ per booklet) or 5€ individual tickets.


https://www.ratp.fr/

https://www.transilien.com/en/page-tarifs-et-titres

Very useful summary - thanks! Are there any age-related adjustments other than the carnet or weekend pass? I'm thinking especially of the one day passes.

no. There are some for point-to-point tickets, half off for ages 4 through 9, I think, but not many people use those. I used to use them to go to CDG before they liberalized the Navigo to cover all zones. So if you just bought a single ticket to go from arr 2 to arr 5, for example, you could get one.

Otherwise, residents can get an annual pass for those ages that costs almost nothing (I think 24 euro per year) for unlimited travel, so local kids really don't need it.

There are only two day passes, priced according to age, available to tourists:

1. Pass jeune weekend - for those under 26
2. Paris Visite - for those 4 to 11.

There are a number of other special cards/passes available only to those resident in France; i.e., those injured in war, the blind, those under 10, and members of large families.

Thanks for the update. I learned something new from my trip to Paris last week. We arrived at CDG late Saturday evening, so didn't bother to get my Navigo Découverte recharged until Sunday. Sunday morning, I walked over to the Montparnasse train station and had it reloaded for the week (starting Monday) for 22.80€, and found I could add to the Navigo pass the daily 2 zone mobilis to the card for 7.50€ rather than buy a separate day ticket. Didn't know there could be layers to the Navigo, so the lady at the ticket booth was very helpful!

She also put together a new Navigo Découverte pass for my husband and loaded it the same way. I gave her the little photo I had printed for him, and he signed it, and we were all set!

Sometimes, the ticket person will be kind and put the pass together for you. Other times, they'll make you do it.

There are some additional features to the Navigo cards which I did not mention. It is indeed possible to add more than one fare at a time to a card.

For example, if you have a Navigo Easy card carrying 12 tickets t+, if you load a day pass to the card, the turnstile readers will recognize the day pass and use it to allow entry and not deduct from the 12 tickets t+.

For those still wondering about the paper tickets t+, or about any of the paper tickets; until the RATP has plans for an electronic billet origine destination (RER tickets), the ticket t+ will continue to be accepted at turnstiles, which could be for some time.

Forgive my ignorance, this is our first time to Europe!

We will be staying in France for 9 days. We plan on using the metro if we get tired of walking here and there. We need transport to/from the airport, Versailles, Normandy (already purchased this train ticket Paris St Lazare to Bayeux via SNCF), What's the simplest way to organize/buy that? I dont want to over purchase tickets we need. Also with Versaille is that something that I should preschedule or is day-of ok?

Thank you!

""Also with Versaille is that something that I should preschedule or is day-of ok?""

I assume your are asking about scheduling a Versailles entrance ticket.

In 2018, we spent 3 weeks in Paris - last 2 weeks of Sept & 1st week of Oct. We wanted to visit the gardens of Versailles on a Saturday when the fountains are all turned on, but we did not want to endure the crowds on Saturday to visit the inside of the chateau. We booked a "gardens only" ticket for Saturday, and a "Grand King's Apartments" guided tour (or something like that) for the 1st departure on a following week day. The garden tour has an entrance that is separate from the house tour, and the Grand King's Apartment tour has an entrance separate from the others. We booked both of these tours from home.

When we arrived early Saturday morning for the garden tour, the line to enter the chateau was at least 2 hours long. Don't know if there is one line for those who reserved, and another those who didn't. The line just "wormed" around. No wait to enter the gardens.

We arrived for the Grand King's Apartment tour before they even opened the gates to the chateau. We took some fantastic photos. No wait at all for the tour. The tour was remarkable. After we finished the tour, we were already inside the chateau so we could visit the stuff that the "general" visitors were allowed to see. However, it was shoulder-to-shoulder people inside - in October.

Stu Dudley