Hello...I arrive in Paris on Monday and will stay till Sunday. Thinking of purchasing the pass Zones 1-5 and using it to travel to Versailles. Is this possible? It seems so.
Also, if I'm heading to Bayeux from Paris can I use the Navigo pass and where would I need to purchases an add on ticket? I'd appreciate your input. Thank you much...
Rick's book says that the weekly pass only covers central Paris and the monthly pass covers the suburbs. If your two RER trips outside the central zone of Paris are CDG and Versailles, then those tickets are pretty cheap to buy separately. CDG costs 10 euros each way and the airport ticket office can probably charge you a lower, add-on rate if you're buying the Navigo at the same time. Versailles costs under 7 euros roundtrip, and again you could ask for an add-on rate at a staffed ticket window.
The train from Bayeux to Paris St. Lazare station is not impacted by the Navigo pass. Buy a regular SNCF (national railways) train ticket for about $50 each way in 2nd class.
Yes, it will work if you get the all zone variety (Zone 1-5) to/from CDG and Versailles, but not outside the Paris suburbs, so you will need to buy train tickets to Bayeux. It contains an RFD chip that operates the turnstiles on the Metro and RER network and works on the buses. To save time, bring your 1" by 1 1/4" passport type photo with you. It can even be a selfie reduced to the proper size on your computer printer. If you just buy the inner zone variety (Zone 1-2) , you would need supplement tickets for CDG and Versailles.
As I look at the map Versailles seems to fall within the Weekly Zone 1-5 pass. However, from what I'm reading I would have to purchase the month pass to get to Versailles on the Navigo. Feeling a bit confused...:)
I used my weekly pass for Versailles.
I think this sentence might be confusing you. This is a google translate version:
" Except for packages Zone 1-5 to already access to all areas, your Navigo Month package is region free (access all areas) weekends (Friday midnight to Sunday midnight) and days holidays (midnight to midnight)."
I interpret that as if you have a month pass, even if it is just the inner zone variety, you can travel the entire network on weekends and holidays.
Thank you, Sam. That makes more sense. By the way, we lived in Oshkosh, WI for 4 years. Love those Green Bay Packers...:)
Then I encourage to visit WOS (Wide Open Spaces). It is THE Packer bar in Paris. On Rue Saint Jacques in the Left Bank, between the Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon.
The Navigo Decouverte covers the ile de France and so Bayeux which is in Normandy is not covered.
It will cover as many zones as you buy it for. If Versailles is the only spot outside Paris, it won't be economical to buy an ND for 5 zones (unless you are also using it in from the airport in which case it does)
The confusion about using it outside Paris only if it is monthly is related to the fact that if you have a monthly pass you can go anywhere in all zones on weekends if you have a Paris only pass i.e. zones 1-2. If you have a weekly pass paid for 5 zones, of course you can use it for all 5 zones. If you have a monthly pass you can use a zone 1-2 pass for all 5 zones for no additional charge on weekends.
Also if you have a zone 1-2 pass you can within 3 hours of a trip top it up for that trip only -- a parcours -- which gives you the trip at a discount. So for versailles you would buy the trip to and charge it on your Navigo just before travel and again just before travel home. This is probably more trouble than its worth for this inexpensive trip, but it starts to be worth it for trips to CDG or Disneyland which run about 16-18 round trip.
Thank you all.
Sam (and others)...are there any other places you would recommend that are better known to the locals? Restaurants, sights, etc. ?
Thanks much.
