Kevin

We are going to Paris this June. Is it a good idea to purchase a 5-day museum pass in advance via the internet or buy once in Paris? How easy is it once in Paris - long lines, etc.? What about metro passes in advance? One day excursions away from Paris? Any good internet sites via the internet would be appreciated.

Barb

Kevin--the metro passes can be bought at most of the metro stations, and there is absolutely no advantage to purchasing in advance. The 1, 3, or 5 day museum passes can also be bought at most larger metro stations, or at any museum that honors it. Just don't go to the Louvre or the d'Orsay to buy it, since one of its best features is that you don't have to wait in line to get in if you have the pass.<BR> The Rodin is a good place(there are many others) to get the pass, and it is a great museum--very do-able in an hour or two, although a student of sculpture might want to spend more time. The rose gardens are wonderful, and the cafeteria is a pleasant place to eat after your visit. The food is pretty good for museum fare, and the setting looking out on the rose garden is fabulous. Have a great time! Barb

Betty

Can you buy the museum pass at the Nord train station?

kay

Re: purchase of museum pass at Gare du Nord -- most likely. They are available almost everywhere. Definitely in CDG, major Metro stations and train stations, plus some hotels also sell them.

elaine

Hi<BR>There is no reason to buy the museum pass anywhere but in Paris. Most metro stations sell it, as so some hotel front desks, as does every participating museum. Pick a small museum, no line, you don't even have to actually spend any time there.<BR>www.intermusees.com <BR><BR>Once there you can buy the Carte Orange<BR>Hebdomadaire, weekly metro/bus pass, worth it if you will be there Monday-Sunday or most of it, and will be taking at least 14 metro rides. You only need it usually for zones 1 and 2, can buy separate tickets for other areas like Versailles if you go there.<BR>I usually just buy carnets, discounted bunches of 10 tickets, because I find I take enough rides to make a pass worth it, but that's me.<BR><BR>I have a long file on Paris with lots of websites; if you'd like to see it, email me

amy

Kevin: Most of us veterans emphasize over and over again that buying metro and museum passes before you go is a waste of your time and money. For less time than it takes to pull out your credit card and buy them on the various internet sites that handle them, you can walk up to your first metro station window (guichet) and order them. The longest line I've ever withstood at a metro window is one person deep. Your savings by waiting until you get to that window is 20% or more.<BR><BR>Sometimes the tourist wants to buy ahead because of a very understandable fear of mangling the French language. Just write down what you need on an index card and pass it under the metro ticket window.<BR><BR>Then use the 20% you've just saved on some nice wine, some good cheese, or a wonderful pastry.<BR><BR>There have been lots of postings on this sites with various internet addresses offering everything from metro maps to price analysis of the various metro passes, etc. Just use the search engine on this forum (try "museum pass", "metro passes" just for starters) and you'll be rewarded with a wealth of information.<BR><BR>Again, the only thing that can make sense purchasing ahead of time is a Eurail pass. Most of us vets, though, are starting to doubt the value of that pre-purchase, too.

Christina

yeah, buying museum and metro passes ahead is a really bad idea in lots of ways (I've heard some companies don't even give you the pass, but a voucher so you spend even more time than if you'd bought them in Paris, as well as paying more). YOu can't even buy any transportation pass but the Paris Visite pass outside Paris, anyway, although you can the museum pass.<BR><BR>As for one-day excursions, I haven't taken those from companies in Paris, but I think you could book those ahead if you were sure what you wanted to do and that might save some time once there. I believe prices on those are the same. Here are a few major companies that have various excursions you can peruse: www.cityrama.com and www.parisvision.com I don't think you'll have trouble getting places in Paris, though, so you could leave your options open. Parisvision has a very convenient office just across the street from the Opera Garnier.<BR><BR>Most 1-day excursions outside Paris you can do yourself, though, and good guidebooks can advise you on those. Frommer's guidebooks are usually good with day trips (not familiar with Fodors, sorry); Eyewitness guides are usually terrible on that info, I don't like them myself. I strongly recommend Earl Steinbicker's Day Trips in France for those (although you might not need it if you only want to do 1-2 of the simplest variety, like Versailles). However, if you plan more time in France or another trip, it will be worth the investment as it gives detailed maps and instructions and descriptions of things to see on day trips from major cities.

sabina

definatly buy the museum pass. it is availible in large metro stations ( we tried a small station first and they did not have any ). the pass is really great especially if you are planning to go to many museums. <BR>As far as the Rodin - its a great museum and agree with Barb. Try to visit it if you are in the area.

Rita

Just a note<BR>We just returned from 4 days in Paris (June, 2002) and while there I looked high & low for the museum pass. We didn't pre-purchase it (due to all the Fodor recommendations that it was so readily available upon arrival in Paris). Boy was I sorry! At CDG I was directed to 3 different information booths, walked from Terminal 2 all the way to the train station, stood in yet another line only to be told I have to buy the pass in Paris, NOT at CDG. Once in Paris, we checked at 3 different train stations and could NOT locate one that sold this pass. I found myself wishing I had purchased the stupid pass ahead of time instead of being directed all over wasting my time trying to find someone who could tell me where exactly I could find this pass. We ended up paying for each museum/attraction separately rather than continue trying to find someplace to buy the all-inclusive, elusive museum pass! Maybe I'm just dumb or something, but what a bummer!

Rita

PS- we didn't ride the metro at all, but took a cab from CDG to the hotel & then walked everywhere after that.

j

Didn't they sell the pass at the museums you visited?

elaine

Sorry, but I don't recall anyone saying you can buy the museum pass at the airport, you can buy transit passes there so I wonder if you confused the information.<BR><BR>As far as I know you can buy the museum pass at the major train stations (Montparnasse, Lyon, etc), at the tourist info office on the Champs Elysees, at large metro stations (although is that where you didn't find it?), and absolutely at any one of the participating museums.<BR><BR>I'm sorry you found it difficult, but I've always found it easy.

Beth

Do not buy the museum or transit passes in the U.S. - they charge for the service; money wasted. Just go to the tourist office on the Champs (museum and transit passes). We walked in on a Friday around 4 p.m. and there was no one else buying. You can get brochures at the same time. What I did buy ahead (and paid a small fee) were the concert tickets I wanted; just handed in the voucher at the concert site. Also made a few reservations via Internet that were paid for upon arrival at the site.

Beth

Forgot - the advantage of the tourist center is an English speaking clerk.

Christina

I've never found it difficult, either, although I just get it in a metro station near my hotel (usu. Raspail) rather than train station. I think I did mention once (on some post) that the stations right near some of the major museums (like Orsay) can be out of them sometimes, so it's best to get it elsewhere. However, the main purpose of getting it at a metro station is to avoid the line at the first museum you go to; if you go to a museum and stand in line to get a ticket, you can then buy it there at that same place, assuming it's a museum on the pass. I suppose maybe some museums run out, I've never heard of that, but I wonder if Rita forgot to ask about buying it at the museum when she went to one? I wouldn't spend my time trying to buy a museum pass at the airport, I just want to get out of there, but I would think you could buy it at the RER ticket booths there, although I never tried, but I sure wouldn't make a special trip to them to buy it if I weren't using the RER from the airport--I think someone on here probably did guess at least that you could buy it at the airport because there's an RER station, but I'm not sure. Well, you never can tell, but I know someone who had a difficult time getting it when prepaid because Raileurope apparently only gives you a voucher and that can only be used in some selected locations, not any metro station, so you never know. I always stay in a hotel near several different stations, and then of course when you are on the metro, you're getting off at so many, that I've never had any trouble getting it some time in the first day I'm there. BTW you can also buy it at FNAC stores, according to their web site, although either a museum (which are all over Paris, it's amazing how many they have) or metro station is easiest to me.

Rita

Hi again<BR>Well, I spent time pursuing purchasing the pass at the airport because we couldn't (unfortunately for us) just "get out of there". Our bags decided to spend an additional day sightseeing Toronto! While my lucky husband and 2 kids spent time filling out forms for Air France to track our missing bags, I thought I'd at least try to salvage some time-saving by finding these museum passes. Anyway, you know the rest - I struck out at CDG. To make things even better, we got to our hotel and the room wasn't ready for us yet. Plus it was overcast and cold. Perfect start to our Paris adventure!! Poor Nicki (10year old daughter) - she found a .50 FFR (french franc, rather than a Euro) and tossed it away - said it brought her nothing but bad luck that day!<BR>PS - we had a lovely time in Paris despite the rough beginning. The hotel was great, we didn't get ripped off by any pickpockets (maybe because we avoided the metro altogether) and didn't find much dog poop either!

Rita

Sorry I forgot to note the following:<BR>I didn't know you could get the pass at the 1st museum. We were lucky, though, because the lines were surprisingly short - we waited about 10 minutes at the Louvre at 10am on a Saturday morning(even saw Mona Lisa up close after about a 20 minute trudge), Orsay & Rodin were about 10 minute-wait each. The longest wait was for climbing the stairs at Notre Dame - simply due to crowd control since we were in line when the tours started at 9:30am.