Julie

I have seen questions regarding metro passes on this forum and have become confused. <BR> <BR>I wanted to buy the 5 day metro pass for zones 1-5, do they sell these in the U.S. only, or can I get them in Paris? It seems as if most people are getting the carte orange card, please let me know why I should buy one or the other and whether I can get the recommended card in Paris. <BR> <BR>Also, if I can get it in Paris, how do I go about it. I am sorry for asking this. I thought I knew what I was doing, but the more I read, the more I am getting confused about this trip.

Patsy Klontz

I bought my Paris visite pass at the DeGaulle airport. PJK

julie

thanks, <BR>we will be arriving in Paris via Charles de Gaulle. I assume there is an information desk or something that sells them.

elaine

Julie <BR>I am not a pass expert, I usually do fine with just carnets (groups of 10 metro tickets) but here is the information I have gathered on the passes, from this forum, the ratp website, etc <BR>www.ratp.fr. metro info, metro passes <BR>www.subwaynavigator.com/bin/select/ <BR>english/france/paris <BR>These are the choices: <BR>Carte 'Paris visite' 5 zones <BR>Carte hebdomadaire(weekly), 4 zones <BR>Carte orange ( monthly ticket), 4 zones <BR>Carte integrale (yearly ticket), 4 zones <BR>The Mobilis 1 day pass. Mobilis gives you unlimited travel within Paris in all zones, for one day. It is worth it if you will be using it for at least 6 rides. <BR> <BR>The bus, Metro and RER network is divided into 5 zones for the whole of the Paris region. Zones 1 and 2 correspond to the city of Paris itself and a little of the suburbs. Make sure you buy a ticket with the right number of zones when you travel outside Paris. A 4-zone ticket will include Versailles and St. Germain-en-Laye. A 6-zone ticket will include Fontainebleau. <BR> <BR>Carte "Paris-Visite": also offers you reductions of between 20 and 35% on many of the tourist sites in Paris. Unlimited travel on the entire RATP network : metro, RER, bus, tram, suburban trains, ADATRIF and APTR buses. If you buy one for all zones it will even include transport to Disney Paris but then you are paying as if you were using all zones every day. You have the choice among a 1, 2, 3 or 5 day pass. Free travel for children under 4, and half price for children aged 4 to 11. No photo needed. This pass is expensive and only worth it if you will be constantly on the go (at least 7 bus or metro rides per day). Most visitors find that it's not worth it, especially if they will be traveling to many places on foot. <BR> <BR>Carte Orange hebdomadaire: This ticket allows you an unlimited number of voyages for a whole week from Monday to Sunday. The most frequent choice by Parisians and probably <BR>the best value for money if you'll be there a week or close to it. <BR>For the Carte Orange, you'll be given a small ticket, a card, and a plastic holder. You will need a small photo of yourself for ID, about 1" square. There are photo machines at some metro stations, or just bring one with you. A Polaroid will do, as long as your face is about 1". When you purchase your card, fill out the back, attach the photo, seal it in the plastic holder, also store the ticket in the holder. Use the ticket in the automated metro turnstiles; on buses you'll just show the card. <BR> <BR>Don't buy a pass to cover transport from the airport or Versailles - you are paying for days of zone 8 trips when you only need 2 trips. Pay for the airport bus or RER separately. Buy a zone 1-2 pass, whether it's the Visite, Mobilis or CarteOrange <BR> <BR>If you won't be in Paris long enough, or if you're using the metro a few times every day but not constantly, just buy a 10-trip carnet (pronounced "car-nay") to get about. A carnet is a bunch of 10 tickets. Savings with the 10 tickets are about 40% of the cost of individual tickets. Most people who combine transportation with walking and spending time in museums, restaurants, etc find that a carnet is more cost-effective than a pass. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

sam

One bit of advise. Buy your tickets, no matter what ticket you buy at the Metro stops. The airport is not bad, but after a 8 hour flight and you are looking for the luggage. If you are taking the RER into Paris, buy a separate pass. Also, I find outside of Versailles and the airport, I do not leave zones 1 and 2. It is best to buy those tickets as individuals.

Christina

I just posted a long post on this but it seemed to disapper, so I will say that there is some misinformation posted above on several points, which should be corrected. All passes can be bought for most any zones you want (1-2, 1-3, etc); the Mobilis is definitely NOT for all zones (it's for however many zones you buy it for) and the other passes are NOT just for zones 1-4, etc. The Airports and Versailles are not in zone 8; Orly and Versailles are in 4 and CDG is in 5. The Paris Visite can be bought for various zones, also, not just 5 (1-3, for example), although not as many choices as the regular passes. YOu can buy a Paris Visite at tourist booths as well as metro ticket windows; they are on sale at the airports, also. You cannot buy a Carte Orange at tourist booth. the CO is only good Mon-Sun, PV and sequence of days starting when you first use it; you need a passport-size photo to put on the CO, no photo for the PV. Unless you plan trips to Versailles and to/from the airport, a 5 zone pass may be unnecessary. Frankly, even though I've been there many times, I usually don't buy a pass if I'm there less than 5 days, I just buy a carnet or Mobilis on a day I may be expecting to use the metro a lot.

Sue

Julie, if you are planning to use RER to and from CDG airport, I would get a Carte Orange for Zones 1-5 (173 FF). Since round trip airport/Paris is 96FF, the additional 77FF = about a carnet and a half (15 rides or 3 rides a day), plus it allows you to go to Versailles. (If you are coming from Orly, CO Zones 1-4, 142 FF, is only good for Orlybus, not the RER) <BR> <BR>If you do not plan to use RER from airports, then CO Zones 1-2 = 85 FF. That's worth about a carnet and a half (15 trips = 3/day) <BR> <BR>The above is only true IF you arrive Mon, Tues or Wed, due to CO's running Mon-Sun. If you arrive on other days, settle for carnets and single airport tickets. <BR> <BR>The Paris Visite card is very expensive (300 FF for 5 days Zones 1-5, for example) and the discounted places are minimal. By the same token, I don't think the Mobilis (day pass) is ever worth it. You are truly better off buying carnets of 10 tickets (55 FF). <BR> <BR>You can find this information at www.ratp.fr; however, the English version doesn't show Carte Orange (of course--they want to encourage foreigners to buy the more expensive Paris Visite). Just click on "voyager" above, and then on "tous les tarifs" in the second column to see costs of all the above. <BR> <BR>Don't forget to hold onto your ticket until you are totally out of the Metro! Hope this made sense.

Bill Fleites

I agree with the previous poster that <BR>the Paris Visite card is not a good <BR>deal. You are better off with carnets <BR>or the Carte Orangehebdomadaire. By <BR>the way, the Carte Orange hebdomadaire is in theory only for locals and not tourists. However, I've purchased it <BR>from an automated machine in one of the larger metro stations without any problems. When you do it this way you <BR>do not need a photo, and you only get a <BR>paper ticket that you can only use on the Metro as near as I could tell since I did not attempt to use it on the bus system. <BR> <BR>which in t