We'll be in Paris in September---3 adults for 3 1/2 days
[Arrive Friday aft, leave Tuesday].
Our hotel is only 2 blocks from St. Michel, so I think we'll venture to take the RER to/from CDG.

I'd appreciate some help figuring out the best configuration for getting around Paris. We use the bus a lot, metro when it makes sense. Would also like to use Batobus since it's never been running when we were there before.

Please tell me if this makes sense
(per person):
(2) RER tickets (to/from CDG): 25 eu
(1) 3-day Visite Pass (zones 1-3 Sat/Sun/Mon): 18.25 eu
(1) 2-day Batobus [Sat/Sun]:13 eu
(1) 1-day Batobus [Mon]: 11 eu
TOTAL---67.25, incl. airport trips

The single day Batobus may not be necessary, depending on what we do the last day. This doesn't include the 1/2 day when we arrive. But I think we'll just be walking that day.

Am I on the right track here?

Hi J,

You have one day too many for the Batobus.

It is nice for a couple of loops one day, one evening), but really isn't a good way to get around the city.

Instead of your 3-day visite pass, I suggest 2 carnet of 10 tickets (11.5E ea). That gives you each 6-7 rides on the bus or metro.

Ira,

That's exactly what I wanted to know about Batobus. We'll buy the 1-day pass first and can then determine whether we want more.

I suspect we will use more bus tickets than that. I'm going with first-timers, so I plan to show them some of the sites by bus. Multiple routes/returns can add up quickly.

But the carnets <i>do</i> allow for flexibility in case we don't ride as much as anticipated. And it won't be much more. So I'll take the pro's sage advice and just use carnets. Merci!

Correction: for only 2 euros more, we'll buy the 2-day Batobus pass and that should suffice.

If you plan to use the bus/metro alot, you can also use 3 Mobilis passes : 1 day pass - illimited number of journeys - 5.5 Euros each for zone 1-2 (enough for Paris)
If i remember, Mobilis pass users get a (small) discount on the Batobus ticket

Sorry, wrong info : no discount on the Batobus associated to the Mobilis (only the other passes )

I was having trouble finding good info on the Mobilis pass. It looks like a good option: 5.5 eu each for unlimited travel in &quot;the center&quot;. I may buy 3 of those the first day and take it from there.

I've never bought anything but carnets. Do I just go to the same window and request &quot;trois MO-bee-LEE&quot;?

BTW: Can I can buy all of these (RER, Mobilis, Batobus) at the CDG RER station?
(assuming the line isn't formidable)

The Mobiliss are featured on the french version of the RATP site (www.ratp.fr - clic on 'titres de transports'), (they are the 1 day version of the carte orange)
While not promoted on the international / tourists version, they are not 'locals only'.
Ask for &quot;trois Mo-bee-lee-S&quot; at the same window than for the carnet, you will be given 3 'ID-cards' + 3 tickets (you need a passport sized photo to stick on the id part)

The Batobus tickets are sold in CDG (and at all Batobus stops)

I don't know if they sell the zone 1-2 mobilis pass in CDG; any Metro/RER station inside Paris will sell them for sure but - since CDG is zone 5 they may not have the 'smaller' tickets

I'm not brilliant today - while rechecking i noticed they have changed the mobilis since the last time i bought one for myself (long ago) : it' looks like you don't need the ID/photo part any more - just the ticket itself

Hi J,

&gt;for only 2 euros more, we'll buy the 2-day Batobus pass and that should suffice.

Correct.

Allow me to make a few corrections. Some of the fares went up on the first of July. A single ticket on the RER from CDG to Paris costs E8.10 so each person in your group will pay E16.20 roundtrip. A carnet costs E10.90. Since you plan to ride the bus a lot and each bus ride would require a new single ticket, a Mobilis pass (E5.50) could be a very good deal. Unlike the Carte Orange, it does NOT require a photo. Three of them, one for each of your three full days, would still be less than a three-day Paris Visite pass. You could share carnets as needed for Friday afternoon and evening.

Excellent. This has been a very informative thread.

Just booked our airfare---We are actually going to do this! With such short notice I wasn't sure we could pull it off. I'm going with my twin sister and her husband travelling from a different city.

And we'll be there for our birthday! Tres bien!

I really like the Mobilis for unlimited travel if you plan to use buses very much. I haven't used single tickets in a while on the bus, but I don't think you can transfer with one ticket (didn't used to be able to), so you can use more of them up easily. However, you can share carnets, so there is that advantage.

I've been buying Mobilis since they were first introduced in 1997, and you never needed a photo for them. The &quot;ID&quot; card that comes with them has changed a little over the years, but never needed a photo on it (unless it was just a couple months in the very beginning of their usage). The ticket itself has changed a little in terms of what you write on it. You are supposed to write your name and the date of use on it (although the machine will regulate the use date). It used to be you had to write the ID number of the Mobilis blue card on it, also, but I guess they decided that was sort of silly as that blue ID card doesn't do anything and it was just an extra step for no purpose. In the beginning, I think the guys who designed them were thinking Carte Orange and followed that model. I still have several of my old Mobilis blue cards from various years, but I don't even know if you need one of them any more or if they give them out. They were just a convenient case to carry it in that protected it a little. There was something very similar before 1997 called the Formule 1, but I don't think it required a photo either (it was a ticket with an arrow on it, as I recall).

Five <i>carnet</i> tickets cost &euro;5,45. A <i>Mobilis</i> card is &euro;5,50. So any day you'll go into the M&eacute;tro/RER or get on a bus more than 4 times, the pass makes sense. A trip around Montmartre can consume four or more tickets by itself (to/from, <i>Montmartrobus</i>, and <i>funiculaire</i.

A pass is also a handy thing to have if you just want to sit down for a few minutes and get somewhere while you do it.

<b>If you buy multiple <i>Mobilis</i> passes, write the date you will use each one in the space marked <i>Valable le...</i> as soon as you get them, and be careful not to use one prematurely. The first time you put one through a machine, it will be invalid for any other day.</b>

Oh. The date for use is not assigned until you validate the pass! (I assumed the date was assigned at purchase.)

Thanks for clearing THAT up! We'll be doubly careful.

Hey, Jeanne - have a great trip! We're hoping to go to the golf tournament in Sept. where, last year, we met your sis and her husband. I see our boy may not be playing this year, so it's a good time to go to Paris. What am I saying - it's always a good time to go to Paris.
Lynn

Great information -- glad you are going JeanneB, and had these questions. I'm piggybacking on the answers for my trip in last September.

Hey, Lynn. Wish we could meet up again in Paris! I had a note from Betty the other day...excited about the Ryder Cup.

Thanks again, everyone for so many useful tidbits. I'll raise a glass of kir royale to you from Paris!

We were rookies at Paris transportation when we went a few weeks ago. We went up to the ticket booth down in the metro at Gare du Lyon, and asked for 2 day passes for each of us. They were indeed 5.50 eu each and proved to the be easiest way to get around. They also work on the bus. You just reuse one ticket for the whole day and then toss it in lieu of the fresh one the next day you need to get around. They are not dated. Just don't forget to label the tickets so you don't accidentally both on the same day and waste one.