deadzoners

Hi all

I have one question to ask regarding the bus system in Paris

I read on travel book that with one ticket I can use for one journey regardless of changes.

How does it work?

If I take bus A riding for 2 hours then take bus b within 30 mins waiting time, is it considered one journey?

Thank you

Gretchen

Yes.

parisian

Not exactly. The same ticket can be used on several busses within a limit a 90 minutes before the first and the last bus

deadzoners

Before the first and last bus means that 90 mins from the time I hop on the first bus and I hop on the last bus right?

parisian

Yes. When you enter the bus, you put your ticket in the validation machine. The 90 minutes start from then. So, if you enter the last bus within 90 minutes it will be OK and you can stay "as long as you want/can" in this bus. The machine will "beep green" each time you validate the ticket in the 90 min time frame. After 90 min, the ticket will be rejected (you would recognize it from the sound the machine makes).

Other points you need to know: It cannot work as a hop-on hop-off. The ticket is to be used only in a() transfer(s). You cannot leave the bus at a stop, have a look around and take the next one in the same direction (or in the other one)

RonZ

Here is a self guided circular city tour of Paris using 4 bus lines, starting at Opera. Note that like the Metro, every stop has a name, and names at either end of a line to signify direction.

Walk down the Ave. de l’Opera and left on rue du Quatre Septembre [second street] and board the 29 bus [direction Gare du Nord]. You will pass the Bourse, Place des Victoires, Centre Pompidou...into the Marais...passing Musees Cognacq Jay, Picasso & Carnavalet; and the Place des Vosges.

Get off at Bastille [the stop after Bastille-Beaumarchais], walk a few steps to the next stop, and take the 69 [direction Champ de Mars]. This is the best of all the bus routes.

A better idea is to get off before Bastille at the Place des Vosges [stop after Payenne] and walk through, maybe stopping for a coffee at Ma Burgoyne. Proceed through the center south exit and down the street to the corner and left a few steps to the 69 bus stop on rue Saint Antoine.

Soon you’ll be on the rue de Rivoli, passing the Hotel de Ville and close to the Palais Royale before going left through the Louvre complex [between the pyramid and the Arc du Carrousel] and crossing on the Pont Royale. Now it’s past the Musee d’Orsay, through the Place des Invalides, past Rue Cler and into the Champ de Mars.

Get off at the end of the line and walk to the Eiffel Tower, then straight across the boulevard and board the 82 bus [direction Neuilly-Hopital Americain], getting off at Porte Maillot. Then walk around the corner to the right and board the 73 bus [direction Musee d’Orsay].

You will be going around the Arc d’Triomphe [thankful that you’re not driving a car] and then down the Champs Elysses. Get off at the Rond Point Champs Elysses and board then 42 [same stop].

Now it’s down down past the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais and through the Place de la Concorde. Then up Rue Royale to the Madeleine and back to Opera.

lateinlifetraveler

"a self guided circular city tour of Paris using 4 bus lines"
Would you use 4 tickets for this route? One for each line?

Also where can I get a bus map?

Ackislander

Go to the RATP website. it will give you maps of all bus, metro, RER, and tram lines. Best of all is the interactive journey planner which will give you the bet routes between any two places in Paris. It is in both French and Engish and has an amazing app for iPhones and iPads.

RonZ

Tourist shops and book shops carry the little blue booklet "Le Bus," containing maps of the routes overlaid on maps of the city; also showing transfer points for buses and Metro.

Christina

YOU can get a big map covering the entire city with bus routes shown from a clerk in a metro tation. The problem is it isn't detailed enough that you can tell exact streets or where the bus stop is, for the most part (they used to have a better one but stopped giving it away some years ago). It's good to give you an idea which routes go where and then you'd have to go to the website (or buy a bus map book in Paris) to get the detailed maps for a specific bus line you wanted. It's actually similar to the map you can get online and print, but of course, it will be much larger if you get the real map from the metro clerk, it's a lot bigger than an 8x11.5 inch paper. It's basically this map http://www.ratp.fr/informer/pdf/orie...ris_geo&fm=gif

or this one http://www.ratp.fr/informer/pdf/orie...s_paris&fm=gif

kerouac

You of course are not allowed to go back in the same direction you came from on the same ticket.

lateinlifetraveler

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I have a lonely planet on kindle but when you enlarge the map, the print is distorted so you can't read the names of streets. I got a Rick Steves in paperback and there are a couple of maps in there.

cynthia_booker

I like the Paris Mapguide, purchased on line from Amazon. Like any map, it takes a few minutes to get acquainted, but it has the bus numbers in little red numbers on each street and can be followed along from page to page. I like to follow it along as I ride the bus so I always know exactly where I am. Also, as I carry it around (like a tourist) it is amazing how many young people and seniors take the opportunity to ask me for directions.