Paris Museum and Metro Passes

If you are going to a lot of museums in Paris, then the the answer is yes, definately. If not, then the answer is no. If you'll be tearing around all over Paris, a Metro Pass is a good deal. If you are going to walk alot, then 10-pak Carnet books are the way to go. If you are getting to town early in the week, the Navigo Semaine pass is a good deal, but it expires Sunday night, so if you are straddling the weekend, it is not.
Buy separately, not bundled like the Paris Pass.

I think they are great and that their value exceeds the total of all the admissions you avoid. That is the value of spontaneity and serendipity. What that means in practical terms is up to you.

If you are staying for five nights a four day Paris Museum Pass might be worthwhile if you're visiting a lot of small museums. The weekly Navigo Semaine pass is only valid for a Mon-Sun calendar week, so it will only be worthwhile if you're arriving early in the week. The Paris Visite pass aimed at tourists is usually not worth the money. Day passes on the Paris transport system are poor value for money - it's usually better to get a "carnet" of ten single-journey tickets at reduced price.

I disagree with Philip from London (sorry about that). I found the Paris Visite pass a very good value if you plan on using the Metro, RER, and busses often. If not, it may not be worth the cost. If you plan on going to many museums, the Museum Pass is a good value, but check beforehand what museums do not take the pass (Eiffel Tower for example).

The museum pass is also great in that it allows you to "skip the line" at many of the venues. That alone was worth a lot to me, even though we may not have broken even money wise. Also, we found some tourists didn't know that the pass can be used at Versailles and waited in the ticket line for hours there when they had the pass. We just walked right into the security and was in rather quickly.

"really worth it" is in the beholders eye. Personally I figure we are spending a lot of dollars per tourist day just to be in Paris and reasonable expenses that let us do more per day are worth it. Even for a few museums I thought the passes were worth it since they let you skip the lines. And since its a flat price, once you own it then it becomes worth dropping in on a museum you might not have wanted to pay full price to visit. For the metro, we just bought the carnet as needed.

Hi Jim - The Museum pass is definitely worth it. I found myself going into places I normally wouldn't have gone in without the pass. Sometimes with a quick in and out. 10 minutes. Also consider the time saved waiting in line....it did cost a lot of money to get/stay in Paris...airfare/hotel room....time is truly money.

We did 5 nights like you. The museum pass yes if you plan to see a few places. The metro pass No, it was easier to buy a carnet (10-indivdual tickets) and use them as needed. It worked out very well for us.

We were in Paris for 8 nights and bought the 6-day Museum Pass, which turned out to be a great deal. I added up the ticket prices of each museum we'd visit, plus Versailles, and compared that total to the cost of the pass. We saved 5 euros with the pass, but the most important "savings" were skipping the long lines at the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and Versailles. Regarding the Metro - we each bought a carnet and we used up those tickets, we bought 3 more tickets each and that was the perfect amount. The carnet is a great deal. If you go to Versailles or other sites outside Paris via the RER, be aware that you need buy RER tickets. Those are not the same as Metro tickets.

jim I have been to Paris a lot, I mean likely well into the hundreds of days of the decades.. and sorry, Paris Viste pass is not really a good deal, and Paris Museum Pass CAN be a great deal, as others say, depends on your usage. And btw , the Paris Museum pass includes almost any site a first or even second or third timer would like to see, EXCEPT the Eiffel Tower but that's pretty clear on website, the list is provided , some people don't read though. For four days I would only buy a carnet of metro tickets. As for Museum Pass ( its easy to confuse with Paris Pass and Paris Viste Pass, but its just called the "Paris Museum Pass") it can work out , but is not always needed. I have used it twice since it came out. Once because I hadn't prepurchased tickets to Versailles and knew it let me skip the ticket line there ( but not security) and it was middle of july, so I KNEW what lines would be like and I was with my child ( who gets in free with me). The other time was just last summer, I was with my BF and he had never been to Paris so I took him on the Bataan Death March of sites and Museums, we saw at least 2-3 a day which definitely means you come out ahead with the 4 day pass. Some think even breaking even is worth it if you can skip a few lines. Its not always necessary to buy one to skip lines but its one way of doing it.