Paris Pass Query

I have yet to see any itinerary making the Paris Pass a good purchase. It is nothing other than a grouping of otherwise easily available tickets or passes, packaged and sold at a price premium. I would avoid it completely.

You might consider the museum pass, which is included in the Paris pass, if you plan on spending a lot of time in museums. However, any museum ticket you purchase in advance, on line for example, allows you to skip the ticket lines and enter museums with pass holders. Depending upon your interests and itinerary, you may save money purchasing individual tickets on line and avoiding the museum pass.

One element included in the Paris Pass is the Paris Visite pass which allows you to access all public transportation within zones 1-3. CDG is in zone 5 meaning you cannot use the included Paris Visite to reach Paris, or Disney, or Versailles unless you buy additional coverage at the SNCF ticket office.

For transportation, you might consider purchasing a Navigo Découverte card (5€) and loading it with a zone 1-5 weekly pass valid for any Monday through Sunday period. The Navigo weekly fares costs 22.80€ and allows you unlimited travel on the RER, métro, funicular, buses, and Transilien trains.

I don't have a yes or no on your specific question, but we had our Paris Museum Pass shipped to us in Canada before our trip, exactly so we wouldn't have to waste time shopping for it upon arrival.

Paris Pass = ripoff, to put it most succinctly.

Thank you so much for your quick reply for helping me to zero in on the same.

So we'll take the Paris Museum pass for 5 adults and will not take 3 children pass (as they are less than 12 years old).
Considering my Airbnb location is Sentier metro station, am planning to opt for the following areas to explore. Will take t+carnette ticket for metro and bus for the commute.

Day 1: Will start from 8 am from Sentier metro station - Louvre (3 hrs), Musee d’Orsay (3 hrs), Arc de Triomphe, Champ de Mars, Pont Alexandre III bridge, Seine River Cruise, Eiffel Tower (2nd floor timed entry access at 8 pm considering am travelling at May to get both daylight and sunset time), Trocadero (night)

Day 2: Will start from 8.30 am from Sentier metro station - Sainte Chappelle + Concierge, Notre Dame, Left Bank, Sacre Coeur, The Montparnasse Tower (night)

Please guide whether I need to alter.

Regards, Samir

Regards, Samir

I assume you have at least 3 nights in Paris. Day one is very full. You might be able to complete such an itinerary but a logical sequence would be Louvre, river cruise from Pont Neuf (reduced price tickets available here), Musée d´Orsay, Eiffel Tower. You´ll see the Alexandre bridge on the river cruise.

Day 2, I would start early at Sacre Cœur, take métro 4 to Cité to visit Conciergerie and Ste Chapelle, then walk past Place St Michel, maybe head west down rue St André des Arts to either (1) left on rue de Seine, proceeding south to the Sénat and the Jardin du Luxembourg and Tour Montparnasse or (2) continue a bit farther west to rue Buci to intersect blvd St Germain to the St Germain des Prés area, turning left on rue de Rennes to Montparnasse. Either is a fascinating Left Bank walk from Cité to Tour Montparnasse.

For transportation, you can either purchase a reusable Navigo Easy card (2€) and load it with 10 tickets t+ (14.90€, one card needed per user) or purchase and share groups of 10 separate tickets t+ at 16.90€. Children 4 through 9 years old may use the ticket t+ enfant sold at half the normal fare.

You still seem to be talking about the Paris Pass since you mention. 'children's passes' -- there is no children's Museum Pass and that is what you should be getting. Handle your transportation with the Navigo Decouverte (for everyone) or the Navigo Easy which just loads ordinary carnet of t+ tickets and can load the half price tickets for kids 4-9) or buy paper carnet of 10 tickets.

Kids are free to museums and just walk in with you almost everywhere.

If you want to go to the Louvre you need to reserve on line timed reservations which you can use with the museum pass --

Day 2 - do you know that the Notre Dame Cathedral had a fire so isn't open?

Dear Nigel, thank you for your concern - yes am cognizant of the Note Dame mishap. So sad to saw the news when it happened. Hope to come back again to Paris when it'll open.

Dear Tocard, Dear Janet

Thank you so much for helping me to create the itinerary. I'll do some basic research again with the google map and Moovit + RATP apps during the week-end to design a minimum travel journey + walk to get maximum output/sightseeing.

I'll be more comfortable to take the first 3 sets of t+ carnet tickets and if required, will purchase as I feel that we don't need too many metro rides.

Only a basic check please help me to understand to avoid more google research. e.g If am going from one station to another one and in between if I need to change the Line (but am not going out from station exit) then there is no worry as long as my exit time towards destination within 90 minutes and of course, I should not go beyond 1-3 zones. For example, from Sentier to Sacre Coeur, might be I need to change 2 lines i.e Line 11 (where I need to drop to catch a train to Anver ie Line 2).

I do hope that even with the same t+ ticket if required basis my RATP guidelines before I move from one place to another if Bus is quick, the same ticket can be applied.

I'm a bit worried because the first time I'm traveling to Europe without any travel agent. Honestly a big kudos to Steve sir and this time the great forum like this... it's a hidden paradise for the traveler like me.

Honestly, I got a great guide from Switzerland forum where am moving from Paris to there for 8 days and now your team is helping me to shape up the Paris itinerary.

Hopefully, by monday, I can complete the travel plan with the help of you and of-course will share here so that other energetic travelers like my group can follow if they have a similar group with children with the full-packed itinerary for 2 days (only catch is that how our 3 little girls can help us while roaming around the beautiful world :) - hence every week am sharing some story about Paris to boost their energy and of-course one thing to learn the french basic courtesy words which they are more expert than me :)

Regards, Samir

The ticket t+ is valid one way on any métro line, city bus, funicular, and tramway. You may use the t+ on the RER network not to exceed the limits of zones 1-2 which is basically the city of Paris. RER tickets are generally sold point to point. Unlimited transfers are permitted as long as you do not exit the transportation network. You may transfer métro to RER or bus to tramway. Keep your validated ticket with you until reaching your destination.

The 90-minute limit only applies to making bus transfers.

If you only require two days of public transportation within Paris, the ticket t+ should be all you need.

Thank you so much Tocard, its really a good update

I noted the Bus duration and corrected my info.

So you mean to say the following, that would be wonderful then.
About Metro to RER - what I understood that If from one point to another point (in between if I need to change so I can opt either Metro or RER but that has to be a one-way direction and I should not exit from turnstile gate and only catch for RER, just need to keep in mind upto Zone 2)

About Bus to Tramway - concept remain the same.

Thank you once again.

Regards, Samir

Louvre (3 hrs), Musee d’Orsay (3 hrs),

Don't do these two in the same day. It will result in art museum overload. Even though I have a degree in art, I can't do more than three hours a day in art museums.

The biggest mistake most visitors make when using public is that they do not keep their validated tickets at hand when using the system. Losing or not keeping track of your validated tickets is a good way to be fined when controlled by inspectors who can be present anywhere within the network.

The concept of single direction travel applies mainly to buses. Once you are in the métro/RER network, you can stay for up to 2 hours riding anywhere you like as long as you do not leave the network. There are no direction restrictions using the métro.

I hesitate explaining a lot of detail which might confuse because few people use public transportation for any reason other than to use one ticket for departing point A to reach point B.

I should like to agree with DougMac above about spending too much time in museums during just one day.

Hi Samir,

My family is doing Paris in 2 and a half days this spring. My husband and I went to Paris 15 years ago, so we know what we want to show our kids (ages 16 and 12). I can post our plan below. We decided to get the 2 day Paris Museum Pass because when I added up the museums we wanted to go to, it was about 10euros cheaper to get the pass than to buy them separately - that said, don't forget to factor in the price of shipping - and you SHOULD have it shipped to your house before you depart because you need the serial number on the Pass to secure a Louvre reservation time.

See the Louvre details here: https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/home

My pass was shipped to the US in about 4 days. I created the Louvre account and put in our passes' serial numbers to obtain a time slot ticket with bar code - one in my husband's name and one in my name. The tickets are in PDF form and you will have to show the Paris Museum Pass with the serial number and your bar code ticket with your name and serial number to get in. The kids do not need a ticket.

Our plan:
Arrive around lunch; eat late lunch in Luxembourg Gardens (3pm)
Catch Batobus at St. Germain de Pres stop and cruise up around Notre Dame and the Ile de Saint Louis for a quick tour of the city from the Seine. The Batobus stops at the Eiffel Tower. Get off at Eiffel Tower; tickets at 7pm, which will be around dusk.
Take Metro back to hotel

Day 2
Walk to Saint Chappelle and visit the chapel and the Coinciergerie/Palais du Justice (10am-12pm)
Walk across Pont Neuf
Lunch on Rue di Rivoli
Enter Louvre at 1pm
Exit Louvre at 8:30pm (it's open late this evening)
*my husband and I spent an entire day in the Louvre and didn't see everything and our children love art museums. If they get tired of the Louvre, we may split the time between it and the Musee d'Orsay.

Day 3:
Visit Saint-Sulpice, walk through Luxembourg Gardens, Pantheon (9am-12pm)
Lunch 12-2pm (if we can dine on the Ile de Saint Louis, we will)
Opera Garnier 2pm-4pm
4pm-6pm Walk through the Place Vendome, Place de la Concorde, Tulieries/Orangerie, Palais, Pont Alexandre
Dinner on the Champs-Élysées
8pm View Paris at night from the Arc

*We went to Sacre Coeur on our first visit and to be honest, it was so far out of the city and it was in an area where i felt the least safe. There are some beautiful churches right in the heart of Paris and the view you get from Sacre-Coeur isn't THAT great, but that's my humble opinion.

Personally, I think you could do the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay in one day, but we are the people who spent all day in the Louvre and only saw half of it. Just know which pieces of art you REALLY want to see and mark out your path on a map. I would allot 4 hours for the Louvre and maybe 2 hours for the Musee d'Orsay (depending on the art you like).

Have a great time!

Dear Sally,
Thank you for your great feedback about Sacre Coeur and even when I was reviewing Tripadvisor, I found the mixed feedback from tourist about this location and now with your endorsement, am planning not to visit that extended area of Paris rather wanted to roam around within Main Paris itself. With your travel itinerary, it seems you and your family enjoyed a lot in Paris.

Dear Tocard,
I’ll keep it in my mind and already apprised this to our family members about ticket precautions

Dear DougMac and Dear Tocard,

I know about the entire day of Museum hopping, so I consciously took the decision after talking with family members since they are OK. Lets see how things will rock and roll on the 2nd day. But these 2 museums we heard a lot so it seems there would be some appetizer for us.

So after a 10 hours research, this is something my first draft itinerary and you need to endorse me to correct if my research findings are ok.

Day 1 - Kol to Paris reach at 6 pm (air india via delhi). Will purchase Paris Museum pass online before hand and will collect the pass at CDG terminal 2 as guided by you – move to Sentier hotel by Taxi

Day 2 - Start at 8.15 am from Sentier by metro – visit Sainte Chappele @9am
10 min walk to Notre Dame – see outside @10.30 am
10 min walk to Latin Quarter – explore and move towards Luxembourg Gardens (lunch and give rest to children) till 2 pm
Take bus 82 from August Comte stop (35 min ride) – Enjoy Bateaux Parisiens Seine Cruise @3.30 pm – keep 2 hours
Take bus 82 from Tour Eiffel and drop after 2 stops - Visit Champ de Mars @5.30 pm to give rest to children and enjoy Eiffel tower beauty and photography till 6.45 pm
10 min walk to reach Eiffel Tower security area at 7 pm to access 2nd floor at 8 pm dusk
15 min walk to Trocadero (night photography and enjoy the sparkling of Eiffel) @9pm
Back to Sentier base @10.15 pm

Day 3: Start from Seniter at 8.15 am (Bus 74/85 or M line 3&7) to reach Louvre @9am to enter security line to enter @10 am timed entry – keep 3.5 hrs (follow Rick Steve’s guideline)
Visit @2.30pm l’Orangerie by Metro (Line 1 - 19 min) (keep 1 hr)
10 min walk to Visit Musee d’Orsay @4pm (keep 2 hrs)
Take bus 73 or metro line 12 & 1 (20 min ride) towards Champ Elysees and walk towards Arc de Triomphe at 7 pm (for dusk and night photography)
Back to Sentier (M2 + M3)

Day 4 – Sentier to Gare De Lyon to catch the TGV train @10.17 am to Basel SBB

With this itinerary, I’ve developed a few questions. Need your guidance.

Day 1 : Hope I can collect my Paris Museum pass at 7 O’ clock from one of the CDG terminal 2 desks once I produce the online voucher as I’ve seen the extra charge to send the Pass at home which I wanted to save. Please confirm as my next 2 days travel plan is quite tight and I don’t want to collect on Day 2 from the tourist centre.

Day 2: While walking to Eiffel to Toracadero is there any shortcut way to reach? Whether it's safe to walk at night with 3 women and 3 girls?

Day 3 : Any recommendation about good restaurants for quick lunch

Day 4 : Whether Metro allow travellers to carry the luggage in the morning since we are planning to catch Gare de lyon bullet train to Basel SBB

Day 2 and Day 3 – Since there will be alll women hence am worried about public toilets while roaming around such sites. Steve sir already guided about Louvre Toilet area and If I’ve knolwedge beforehand about others, it woule be great for my family and kids.
Also hope there would be ample source to refill our water bottle.

With best regards, Samir