Tickets and fares
There are individual tickets that can be purchased at all metro stations and authorized dealers, mainly tobacco shops. They cost € 1,60 and a "carnet" consisting of 10 tickets comes a bit cheaper at € 11.60. Tickets are good for bus/bus or metro/metro correspondances but are not valid for correspondances between bus and metro and vice versa. Within city limits they are also valid for the RER and the Montmarte funicular. Bus drivers sell a different ticket at € 1.70 which doesn't allow correspondances at all. Tickets are also accepted on the Noctilien buses, where the fare is based on the zones.Passes
If you are staying a bit longer, perhaps you will save money and time finding tickets by purchasing a pass for unlimited transport within the zones of your interest.
The Navigo Decouverte Pass: The Navigo Pass is the pass for parisian public transport. An anonymous version (Navigo Decouverte) is available for visitors at the price of € 5.00. It consists of a plastic case with a credit-card type card with a chip on the front and a paper leaflet of the same size. When you buy the product, you stick a photo of yourself on the leaflet on the space provided and write your full name on it. Then the card and the leaflet fit in the plastic case. It is available at all metro and RER stations. As soon as you have the pass, you can "load" it with as many zones as you wish, paying the appropriate fee either at the ticket office at an automatic vending machine. We had good luck with both systems. Automatic vending machines usually need a credit card with a chip on the front side but they also accept Euro coins and banknotes. There are weekly and monthly passes depending on what you need. The weekly pass starts on Monday and ends on Sunday with no possibility of change (ie a week is not 7 continuous days but it must start on monday). Everything related to Navigo is purple. Using the pass is very simple, you just pass it over the appropriate checkpoint at the turnstills of the stations or inside the busses every time you enter the metro/RER or board a bus.
Notice: We have found that the pass is not purcheasable at the Orly airport. After visiting the RATP sales point we were told that the pass is not on sale at the airport. At the Paris tourist information at the airport, we were told that the pass cannot be sold at the airport, because special equipment is needed to print the photo on the pass, which is not installed there. Apparently, this is misleading, since no such equipment is needed. The leaflet provided with the card has a sticky space where you put your personal ID-sized photo. If you don't have a photo, most stations have automatic machines that will take your photo and print it for a fee. We felt that this misleading response is a trick to make tourists pay for the Orlybus, which is covered with a Navigo pass covering zones 1-4 or to promote the Paris visite pass. We also addressed to the SNCF (French National Railway) stand at the airport where the agents told us that we could buy the pass at the airport from the same people that refused this to us and they gave us good information. In any case we chose to use a commuter bus (285) and metro instead of taking the Orlybus because we felt this was not a right attitude.
Paris Visite Pass: The RATP has created this pass for tourists, which offers access to public transport and some reductions at other interesting things in the Paris area. The pass can be purchased for 1,2,3 or 5 days and depending on duration and zones covered has different prices. We feel this is in general a worst deal than the Navigo decouverte, but if you are staying longer than one or two days and less than a whole week then it might suit you.
Mobilis: Mobilis is a ticket for unlimited travel within a day.
More information on current prices and tickets can be found at the official RATP site. We feel that the site has all the information needed. It is bit complicated and needs a bit of time to understand everything but it is very helpful. Also useful, the website of the Navigo Pass.
The Navigo Decouverte Pass: The Navigo Pass is the pass for parisian public transport. An anonymous version (Navigo Decouverte) is available for visitors at the price of € 5.00. It consists of a plastic case with a credit-card type card with a chip on the front and a paper leaflet of the same size. When you buy the product, you stick a photo of yourself on the leaflet on the space provided and write your full name on it. Then the card and the leaflet fit in the plastic case. It is available at all metro and RER stations. As soon as you have the pass, you can "load" it with as many zones as you wish, paying the appropriate fee either at the ticket office at an automatic vending machine. We had good luck with both systems. Automatic vending machines usually need a credit card with a chip on the front side but they also accept Euro coins and banknotes. There are weekly and monthly passes depending on what you need. The weekly pass starts on Monday and ends on Sunday with no possibility of change (ie a week is not 7 continuous days but it must start on monday). Everything related to Navigo is purple. Using the pass is very simple, you just pass it over the appropriate checkpoint at the turnstills of the stations or inside the busses every time you enter the metro/RER or board a bus.
Notice: We have found that the pass is not purcheasable at the Orly airport. After visiting the RATP sales point we were told that the pass is not on sale at the airport. At the Paris tourist information at the airport, we were told that the pass cannot be sold at the airport, because special equipment is needed to print the photo on the pass, which is not installed there. Apparently, this is misleading, since no such equipment is needed. The leaflet provided with the card has a sticky space where you put your personal ID-sized photo. If you don't have a photo, most stations have automatic machines that will take your photo and print it for a fee. We felt that this misleading response is a trick to make tourists pay for the Orlybus, which is covered with a Navigo pass covering zones 1-4 or to promote the Paris visite pass. We also addressed to the SNCF (French National Railway) stand at the airport where the agents told us that we could buy the pass at the airport from the same people that refused this to us and they gave us good information. In any case we chose to use a commuter bus (285) and metro instead of taking the Orlybus because we felt this was not a right attitude.
Paris Visite Pass: The RATP has created this pass for tourists, which offers access to public transport and some reductions at other interesting things in the Paris area. The pass can be purchased for 1,2,3 or 5 days and depending on duration and zones covered has different prices. We feel this is in general a worst deal than the Navigo decouverte, but if you are staying longer than one or two days and less than a whole week then it might suit you.
Mobilis: Mobilis is a ticket for unlimited travel within a day.
More information on current prices and tickets can be found at the official RATP site. We feel that the site has all the information needed. It is bit complicated and needs a bit of time to understand everything but it is very helpful. Also useful, the website of the Navigo Pass.
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