Travel with Paris metro/train -- five in the family

No sorry there is not. You can however walk from many sites to each other. However at least the kids are free at many sites and museums.

A carnet (book of 10 tickets) for the central zone costs about 13 euros, which would cover you group for two rides. As mentioned on the earlier post, taxi rides can cost about the same - e.g., I paid 8 euros for the distance from the Rue Cler to the Jardin de Luxembourg. Rick also mentions a one-day metro/bus pass good for youths on either Saturday or Sunday (only) for 3.65 per youth per day (Tickets Jeune Weekend, p. 68 in France book or p. 35 in Paris).

Buy carnets as needed and walk between places as much as you can to save money.

I took my teens to Paris last year. If you plan your days well you may have a metro trip to a certain area, walk around, then a metro ride back to hotel. But don't hesitate to use the metro or taxi if you need to. Sometimes at the end of the day when we were tired we just returned by taxi. There's nothing worse than tired, grumpy teenagers.

While it is easy to get a taxi for 5 from the airport and the train station, it is not easy on the street as only van cabs have room. So taxi is cheap for 5, but every taxi stand won't have a taxi and most won't have a van cab available. If you call one, you pay the cost of their getting to you.

I'd buy carnet and use the metro and buses. All your kids are adults for transport purposes. If you go to Disney for a day (not recommending it, but some people like to do it) then get Mobilis day passes for that day as in addition to the round trip on the RER, they will also allow you to use the metro/buses back in Paris for the rest of that day for similar cost to just the two tickets (round trip) to Marne le Valee

TS,

Here is where planning comes in.

If you plan on where you go, you can minimize your walking time.

here is what i do. you and others my not like it or want to do it, but im throwing it out there.

• 1. plot all of the sights on a map and where im staying so i know where to go.
• 2. then group them into the days i want to see/do them.
• 3. then i go to the furthest thing first and work my way back to the hotel. This i do every day so im hopefully walking less and less.
• 4. when i do more walking is on my way back, not on the way there. Also, once my day of sight seeing is over, i will spend that time walking around when things are closed, not when they are open and im loosing valuable time.

in the end you will figure out and your feet/legs will let you know what has to give - a pack of carnets or your feet. low hanging fruit for me.

happy trails.

yes grouping activities saves money -- but metro fares are a fairly minor part of the costs of a trip like this. when we stay centrally we get carnet and then use about two a day -- e.g. we train to an area that is outlying e.g. Montmartre or the Eiffel Tower and then do a variety of things on foot in that area -- and use the metro to get back to home base. central Paris itself is best seen on foot.