I am having difficulty figuring out what type of ticket to buy for the metro. We will be in Paris from Friday to Monday evening. One day we will use it to get from CDG, 1 day to Versailles and 1 day to Orly (the other day will just be local). What type of tickets should we buy. We are a family of 4 (children are 12)
Thanks in advance!
You should buy a carnet for your in town day and point to point tickets for your trips from CDG to Paris, to and from Versailles and to Orly. I don't believe that the Paris Visite pass will save you money and your timing does not work for the Navigo pass.
You'll be taking the RER from CDG to the city where it connects to the Metro. Transfer to the Metro is free. Same going to Versailles - you take the RER. Totally separate ticket from Metro tix. Since it'll cost you €40 for the RER, you might want to spend a little extra and take a cab from the airport to your hotel after a loooong flight.
And you may as well take a taxi to Orly because of the new (since March 2016) fixed rate fares of 30 euros from the Left Bank and 35 from the Right Bank for parties of up to four. There is a dispatch fee of 4 euros for immediate dispatch or 7 for reservations but at most you will pay 42 euros. The most common way to Orly (RER B to Orly Val shuttle) will be 41 euros for your family of four. There are cheaper options, of course, like the Orlybus or Metro Line 7 to the Tramway or RER C to Rungis followed by a shuttle to Orly but I am not a fan of any of those methods for various reasons.
public transport to Orly from Paris for 4 people will cost about 48 Euro; it is 30 or 35 by cab. It was never economical to use public transport from Orly with more than 2 people. And it is not much better from CDG; 40 Euros to carry your bags up and down stairs, be vulnerable to pickpockets while you are carrying all your valuables, and then walk to your lodging versus 50 or 55 for door to door service by cab. As others have noted the metro does not go to the airports; it covers Paris only and the airports are well outside Paris. But the suburban train ticket you need from CDG allows transfers to whatever metro you need to get to your destination in Paris. But get a cab.
Versailles costs about 7 round trip (you buy two tickets -- to and from for each person) A carnet of 10 tickets for transport within Paris is 14.10. With your schedule you only need metro tickets for one day; one carnet will do it for the group if you plan that day carefully with much of it walking.
Wow...so glad I posted this question. Thanks to everyone who tool the time to respond...very helpful...taxi it is!!
Just as a quick comment - it is possible to use Metro tickets on the RER within the central area of Paris, it's only for longer journeys like the airports and Versailles that you need to buy a specific ticket. The one that sometimes catches people out is that La Defense can be reached from central Paris with an ordinary carnet ticket if you use Metro Line 1, but RER Line A needs a specific ticket to go there.
