How long do you think you are staying in Paris? One day? 3 days or 5 days? It does not matter! If you want to move freely around Paris with Public transportation, there are no worries. One convenient way to move around Paris is with the Paris Visite Pass. Paris VisitePass is a travel card pass allowing users to access and utilize all the public transport services in the city. Personally, I find Paris Visite Pass one of the best ways to get around Paris and its nearby areas. It depends however on each one's inclination and plan.

If one has to buy the ticket everytime, a single 3-zone ticket, if I remember good, costs around Eur 1,70 while a "carnet" of 10 tickets costs Eur 12. Thus, if you have to only go back and forth once, Paris Visite Pass is not economical. However, if you would like to move anywhere in the area freely, this card is good. The Paris Visite pass consists of a travelcard and its ticket. It provides unlimited rides on the transport system of the Île-de-France region: Metro, RER (express regional trains), bus, tramway, suburban Transilien SNCF trains, funiculaire de Montmartre, Montmartrobus, Noctambus, Optile bus system,within a given fare zone (from 1-3, 1-6). It is good from the first day of use (not from the date of purchase) until the last consecutive day. You may buy Paris Visite in advance and save time avoiding last minute lines and this can be bought in Metro stations (ours we had it from the service booth) but I assume the ticket vending machines have this too (not so sure).

ASIDE FROM METRO STATIONS, WHERE ELSE INTERESTED USERS MAY BUY PARIS VISITE PASS?
Paris Visite Pass are also available and may be purchased in all Paris RER, Transilien SNCF stations, bus terminal ticket counters, RATP Boutiques, RATP sales desks at Orly and CDG airports and Paris tourist offices. One can also buy the pass in certain travel agencies and tour operators abroad.

Rates in euros for the Paris Visite Pass

ADVANTAGES of Paris Visite Pass?

1. Convenient for travelers

2. Prices are in package, the more days, the cheaper per day

3. Dynamic, can be used in many ways, trams, metro, RER, etc.

4. Practical and saves time: no need to buy individual ticket everytime

DISADVANTAGES of Paris Visite Pass?

1. If the user plans to travel once or twice in one of the days i between, it's not refundable

2. In case of loss, you lost the entire amount you spent!

3. It counts the day, not the number of hours (1 day is 24 hours)

4. Mine expiredat 10PM (not midnight) and I was blocked in the Metro for this! Of course you can always complain to the service desk if they are still open.


Below is the specimen Paris Visite Pass from My Recent Trip to Paris
Basically, the card contains the necessary information about the Paris Visite Pass and its usage in five (5) different languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. Isn't it very smart to have all these langauges? In fact, you can also write your name in one of the folds of the card of Paris Visite Pass. One part of the fold contains a mini-pocket where the more valuable part of the Paris Visite Pass can be inserted: the magnetic tape pass itself.

Below is the pocket-like fold of the Paris Visite Pass where the user can insert the magnetic tape pass. I found it very useful because the card is thicker, bigger (easier to find inside one's purse or bag) and it also contains the information that's useful in case I forget. It is very good for safe-keeping purposes also.

The reverse side of the pass with the magnetic tape.This is what users use to enable the station doors to open. This is very important, don't lose it!