Paris Metro Navigo Decouverte

For a monthly pass, you should only buy zones 1-2. If you need to travel outside those zones (airport, Versailles, etc), you would buy individual tickets outside the pass.

Unless you have VERY unusual travel plans (or are staying outside Paris proper), the only time you will be outside zones 1-2 will be to go to Versailles or the airports. For these trips, just buy separate tickets. One catch: the 1-2 zone pass is good on all Metro routes and stops, including those (like La Defense and St. Denis) that are outside the city. However, RER stops in these places are in zone 3. So, with your pass you cannot take the RER to La Defense, but can take the Metro. Again, unless you are staying at a hotel in La Defense (and someone on another board is a big fan of doing so, but most would recommend against it), it's not a real issue.

Thank you!! I will buy the basic pass and just pay to travel beyond those zones. Appreciate your time to respond!

Nothing to do with your question, but since you will be in Paris in Sept. I wanted to mention the Journees du Patrimoines. It's usually the 3rd weekend in Sept and all the government buildings are open to the public and free of charge, many with special exhibits. Also some embassies have special exhibits. I was lucky enough to be in Paris a couple of years ago. I saw the National Assembly and the Senate, both in palaces, and the Hotel de Ville, another palace. These buildings are closed to the public during the year. I highly recommend you put it on your calendar. The lines can be long, but they move pretty quickly, and it is so worth it.

I trust you have read about the pass on the Metro website, so you know to bring a photo of the right size. The card with your photo stuck on is good for about ten (?) years, so you can buy any time period and any number of zones for future uses of the same card. Note that the time periods are by the calendar, so if you arrive just before September, you'll have to decide whether to buy a week and use for, say, four days, and then pay for the calendar month of September. I've always had trouble finding an attended-human booth that can take my American swipe credit card; the wall-mounted machines only take Chip-and-PIN. So if you have a second transaction (after buying your card, I mean) you might have to find a machine with a brown-burgundy stripe at the top that takes 5, 10, and 20 Euro bills, no 50's.