Bounjour;
Will be in Paris beginning on a Tuesday. Will see major Paris sights Tuesday through Friday. On Saturday, will tour Versailles.
On Sunday, will leave Paris and go to Bayeux.
Will not have a car and will rely on public transportation.
I believe the Navigo Decouverte Pass will be the best option for me with regard to cost; ease of use, etc.
Do you agree?
If not, please make suggestions.
Kind regards;
.
Yes, with Versailles thrown in it is the best deal! Have photos handy (30x25mm, smaller than US passport), print them at home ideally.
I would agree, especially if you are arriving at CDG and can use it to go into Paris from there. Bring your 1 in by 1 1/4 in ID photo with you.
This is very close to the ideal use case for the Navigo Découverte -- all your Parisian travel falls within one week (Tuesday to Sunday), you arrive early enough in the week to buy the pass for that week, and you will make a trip to Versailles that would otherwise have required a point-to-point ticket.
If as Sam says, you were planning to take the RER from CDG to Paris it makes even more sense, but I'd still get the Découverte even if that weren't part of your plan.
Thank you so much for the responses.
I plan to take a taxi from CDG to hotel in Paris.
Anyway, where do I purchase the Navigo? Can I order it from home and have it delivered to my home prior to my trip?
I leave for Paris mid-August.
You have to buy the card in person in Paris — no way to order it online. (You also have to add value to the Découverte in person at a machine at well.)
I remember buying ND with the first week's travel already on it -- I just let the person at the booth take care of it. EDIT: Bought the card at the station at CDG and took the train in to Paris.
And make sure to keep the card to use on your next trip to Paris.
Definitely the ND! We were just in Paris in June and it was fabulous - we were Monday to Sunday, but used it everywhere, including going to Versailles and the Funicular at Sacre Coeur . You can buy it at just about any metro station, as long as there is a kiosk or desk area. And just so you know, it would work for travel from CDG as well (we took a car service to our hotel as well, because of the long flight and tired, we did not want to mess with the metro). All you need is a photo copy of your passport photo, reduced by 25%, and you are set!
We bought our navigo decouverte passes at train station by CDG and then went upstairs and caught a taxi to our Paris rental apartment because we decided it was easier than trying to figure out how to transfer and find the apartment while we & our 2 teens were so jet-lagged. (We all feel we have a different appreciation for Paris drivers than we would have without that taxi experience. It definitely takes guts to drive in Paris!)
Absolutely perfect.
Thanks for the responses.
Joan
Just to verify; a photocopy of your passport picture, not an original photo is ok for the pass? We just had some passport size photos taken and now I just need to go somewhere and have them reduced; Thank you so much for the info about the proper size; I didn't know that so now I can be prepared.
We found digital pictures of our smiling faces and cropped just the heads to the right size and printed them on regular paper. (We did color, but I'm pretty sure I've seen people's passes with black and white images.)
I had both copies of passport pictures and driver's license picture. The sales agent preferred the photocopy of the driver's license for size.
Good to know. I was able to reduce our passport size pics by 49% on my copier and that was almost exact as far as the 25 by 30 mm so we should be good but I will copy driver's license as well. Thanks.
Lots of information about the required photo but to be valid for use, the ND card must also have the bearers name printed in the space provided. These cards are nontransferable which is why they must have both the bearer´s photo and name.
Could someone please clarify the "loading" concept? Does this apply to the Découverte pass, or a different pass? How do you decide how much to load?
All Navigo cards, to include the Navigo Découverte and the Navigo Easy, are just cards. A fare must be loaded onto the card before use.
The process is simple:
I was able to take an extra passport photo to a local Staples and have them reduce it to the appropriate size in color on glossy paper for under $2
