bus 69

Posted by kathy (St. Louis MO) on 03/03/15 10:55 PM

I know Ann started a topic on this regarding the cemetery but I didn't want to scavenge her thread.

We are interested in Rick's bus 69 tour but would like to hop off the bus at a few of the stops. If I'm understanding correctly we can use ONE ticket from the carnet to ride the length of the bus 69 route and even get off a time or two as long as we reach our destination (the cemetery) within 90 minutes? Then we can take the metro back to our stop (Ecole Militarie) using a second ticket from the carnet. Do I have that right?

Thanks for any help!

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

03/03/15 11:30 PM

16893 posts

Sorry, no. This is from p. 34 of Rick's France book:

Carnet ticket holders--but not those buying individual tickets on the bus--can transfer from one bus to another on the same ticket (within 1.5 hours, revalidate your ticket on the next bus), but you can’t do a round-trip or hop on and off on the same line. You can use the same ticket to transfer between buses and tramlines, but you can’t transfer between the bus and Métro/RER systems (it’ll take two tickets).

Posted by kathy OP

St. Louis MO

03/04/15 01:37 AM

731 posts

Ok, got it. I did read that on another thread but didn't put it together....makes sense!

Posted by Carolyn

Seattle, WA, USA

03/04/15 02:49 AM

784 posts

Keep in mind that the bus may be crowded and you may not get a window seat. Parisians use this bus to commute and otherwise get around the city, it is not a tour bus. For what you want, you might be better served by a hop on hop off bus. I can recommend L'Open Tour with four routes. You can buy tickets from the driver at any stop. The have one and two day passes. However, they too can get stuck in traffic.

Posted by Dick

Olympia, WA, USA

03/04/15 03:27 AM

6489 posts

I'm sorry, Kathy, I wasn't clear enough on the other thread. (And BTW thanks for starting your own on your own topic.) Using just the 69 as if it were a HOHO would mean multiple tickets -- but still might be worthwhile. Tickets are cheap enough and you can see the street scenes as you go. Or you could assemble a "bus tour" with one ticket using different lines and transfers as Laura describes.

Returning to Ecole Militaire would require a new ticket and Metro would be the way if you want to get there fast. Transfers between Metro lines, of course, are free and not time-limited. (You could spend all day underground if that's your idea of a good time!)