Has anyone used any of the Paris activity passes that promise to include your admission to major attractions and get you in an accelerated line? If we are there 7 days is one of these passes worthwhile? We used something like this in New York and it actually saved us quite a bit of time and money. Wondering if anyone recommended any of the Paris options. thanks!
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon...Formerly Ventura, CA
2262 posts
jenilu509-We used the Paris Museum Pass and got a lot of value from it. Below is a link to the official site, there are several sites that want you to think they are official…
56e for a 4 day and 69e for a 6 day, pick it up when you get to town. Most places you want to go are covered, and you'll often get in much quicker with it too.
http://en.parismuseumpass.com/rub-museums-monuments-by-name-5.htm
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
As you come out of the arrivals hall at CDG you can pick them up at the tourist information booth.
Definitely worth it.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
There is a Paris Pass, a Paris Visite Pass, and a Paris Museum Pass. They are three different things (yes, it is confusing). For most people, the first two are not worth the money. The Paris Museum Pass, on the other hand, is often a good deal - if you are seeing enough covered attractions in the allotted time, and/or if you're going to some of the very busy places in high season (like Versailles or the Musee D'Orsay). But if you're not going to a lot of covered attractions, it doesn't always pay; and, the skip-the-line feature is not important at many sights. Many don't have lines, and for some others (like Ste-Chappelle), the security line is the slow one, not the ticket line (the pass doesn't exempt you from security lines). On the other hand, a big advantage of the pass is that you can go to the same attraction on multiple covered days without paying again. This is great for the large museums like the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay, which are much nicer when broken down into small chunks.
Here's the website for the Museum Pass, so you can see what's covered. And don't pay extra to buy it before you go, as it's easy to get in Paris.
Posted by
Chicago
8556 posts
for transport if you are there during a Mon-Sun period the Navigo Decouverte is a great transport pass. It can be loaded for Paris or for all 5 Ile de France zones.
Paris visite is a transport pass designed to clip tourists; it is almost always a bad deal -- very overpriced. Instead if the ND doesn't work for your dates, buy carnet of ten individual metro/bus tickets which can be shared and buy more when needed. A Mobilis for 5 zones for the day is probably wise if the destination for that day is Disney. Mobilis passes do not access the airports.
The Museum Pass is probably a good idea for a first visit to Paris -- even if you don't save money it is convenient and you can get multiple access so spending say 2 hours at the Louvre twice rather than a marathon visit may work well. The only places where lines are a huge issue are the d'Orsay and Versailles and perhaps the Orangerie. The pass gets you in quickly at the d'Orsay (as does an advanced purchase ticket) and you only have to do the long security line and not the also long ticket line at Versailles.
The Paris Pass is a marketing scheme that takes the overpriced Paris Visite Pass, the ordinary Museum Pass and throws in some other coupons and add a huge fee. I cannot imagine anyone getting the value equal to the huge cost.
The ND and the Museum Pass are easily purchased when you arrive; no need to order on line and pay shipping or worse have to go to some inconvenient location for pick up.