Carte Orange

Sylvia, You may find it helpful to have a look at This Website. It should answer your questions. The France or Paris Guidebooks also have good information on the various passes. Which Pass to purchase will depend on how much Metro or rail travel you plan on doing while you're in Paris. For getting around on the Metro, I usually find that a Carnet works well. Happy travels!

The problem with Paris passes is that the proper Navigo weekly passes only run from Monday to Sunday, so they aren't convenient if you arrive or leave on different dates. The tourist aimed Paris Visite passes are a rip-off and day passes are pretty poor value for money compared to many other cities. Unless you will be there from Monday to Sunday I'd buy carnets and use them as you go.

For a list of all your transportation ticket and pass choices, with links to detailed explanations of each one, go here.

If I can get at least 4 days out of the Navigo pass, I find it worthwhile. It is very convenient, during rush hour there are separate pass-only turnstiles in the metro, and I like that I can hop on a bus for a couple of stops - saving my feet for all that walking that's inevitable in Paris.

I was there from Monday to Sunday so it worked perfectly for me. I'd have to echo Chani's post that if you were there for 4 days or more it would be worth it. But not if those 4 days were Saturday through Tuesday. I really liked that I could hop on a bus anytime one came along, and if that was the wrong bus, I didn't feel I'd used up a ticket for nothing. You can buy the pass at the same place at CDG that you buy a ticket on the RER to Paris. I made a color copy, shrunk down a bit, of my passport photo, and they have scissors there to cut it down.

"I really liked that I could hop on a bus anytime one came along, and if that was the wrong bus, I didn't feel I'd used up a ticket for nothing." If you notice that you're on the wrong bus, you can reuse the ticket when the right one comes along. Paris buses allow route-to-route free transfers.