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Paris Pass versus Paris Museum Pass

Which pass is a better deal for seeing the sights in Paris. My mother is older so we will not be walking everywhere. The museum pass makes sense, but the Paris Pass seems to include more attractions.

Posted by
7981 posts

the Paris Pass is not a pass if by that you think of a single card that does various things like museums and transportation. It is a marketing scheme where the company takes an ordinary Paris Museum Pass and an ordinary Paris Visite pass and puts them in an envelope with coupons for some other things like the HOHO bus and adds an enormous fee. You can't do all the things in the time allowed (e.g. if you are using the slow and cumbersome HOHO bus to get around, you aren't using the crazy expensive Paris Visite pass etc.

The museum pass is a good deal for a first visit. The Navigo Decouverte is a good choice for a transport pass IF your trip is 5 days or more and falls between Monday and Sunday of one week. Otherwise, just get a carnet of 10 bus/metro tickets for 14.10 and buy another when you run out. If your mother has mobility issues, the metro is full of stairs and so you might prefer the buses. You have to be 75 to be entitled to a seat by age so if she has walking issues, carrying a cane is a way to signal a need for a seat.

If you do decide that you want a transport pass and the Paris Visite is the only one that works for you, it will be cheaper to just buy that in Paris. Get the museum pass at the first museum you visit (choose one that is less busy like the Cluny) The pass will let you use a special line at the Orsay and Orangerie and the Richelieu entrance at the Louvre.

If you want a Seine river cruise just walk up and buy a ticket; the one with the dock just upstream of Pont d'Alma is the most accessible with a ramp to the dock.

Posted by
32 posts

The Paris Pass also includes a pass on the Metro for the number of days the pass. The Pass does include more attractions, but if your Mother will only do a few places a day, the Museum Pass is the better option. There is a big price difference between the two of them. For it to be worth it you have to do a lot of places in the time your pass is good.

Posted by
32 posts

janestravel44

In the Paris Pass you do get 3 key pieces. You get the Museum Pass, Metro & Attractions, that can only be used once unlike the Museums you can go back to the Louvre every day if you wanted to. This is from the guidebook they provide.

Check that your Paris Pass contains the three items pictured below.
The top of each attraction page in this book shows a picture of the card
that you need to use to gain entry. The Paris Museum Pass is not included for
teens or children as most museums give free entry; please note that there are
6 attractions where under 18s must pay locally, this is noted on the attraction
pages in white boxes. Teens should carry photo ID as proof of age.
Please note the Paris Attractions Pass gives entry to each attraction once
whereas the Paris Museum Pass can be used multiple times at each museum.
Sign and date all three cards.

Since I cannot put the picture here I will list the 3 cards.
1. Paris Attraction Pass
2. Paris Museum Pass
3. Paris Travel Card

Has that changed since you have purchased yours?

Posted by
19656 posts

I don't think anyone here has ever purchased a Paris Pass, since to do so would mean you have "SUCKER" stamped on your forehead.

Posted by
11507 posts

So true.. but I did have a know it all friend who insisted it was a great deal.. because ( and he showed me).. look at all the stuff he still had left over( in over words.. he paid for things he didn't get around to needing or using)!

A Museum Pass can be a good deal, and for a shorter visit a carnet or two will work fine ( a carnet is 10 one way tickets good for bus or metro, sold at discounted price of 14 euros .. as opposed to single ticket price of 1.80 euros.

PS.. if mom has mobility issues.. stick to buses.. metros can have long tunnels to walk and stairs. Some stations have lots of stairs.. and even the ones with elevators , usually still means theres a lot of walking , or elevator or escalator can be out of service.

We found one metro station with well over 140 stairs and no elevator or escalator.. but what are you going to do when you arrive there.. you just have to suck it up and climb!

Posted by
7981 posts

SWO -- they make it sound like these are special products, part of a Paris Pass -- they aren't. They are just generic stuff you can buy for less. The ordinary Museum Pass which is what you get as part of this package of course allows multiple entries; that is not something special offered by Paris Pass. The transportation pass is just an ordinary Paris Visite, an already overpriced pass that you can buy for less separately when you get there. Neither of these are difficult to find and purchase. And then there are special coupons for one time attractions any of which can be purchased easily if you want to do them -- without paying a middleman or being stuck with a bunch of stuff you paid for an didn't use.