Paris Metro Ticket System 2024
Updated January 2024
The Paris metro system is one of the most popular modes of transportation in the city, serving millions of riders daily. As of 2024, the city has made plenty of changes for the upcoming Summer Olympics!
If it’s been a while since your last trip to Paris, you should first know that the paper metro ticket books gradually disappeared in 2022. So what now if you want to get a few tickets without worrying about committing to an official pass?
โt ticketsโ (small paper tickets) will remain on sale for single trips, but they have recently passed from โฌ2.10 to โฌ2.15 (they were โฌ1.90 in 2022!). These single tickets can be bought in a metro station and can also be used on buses, but you canโt buy one on a bus. Check out this blog to find out how to take the bus like a Parisian and thoroughly become like a local as you navigate the city, the method of using tickets on buses has remained largely the same since the introduction of Text (SMS) Tickets.
The decision to remove the โcarnetโ (bulk buying) of paper tickets was approved on Wednesday the 14th of April 2022 by the board of directors of Ile-de-France Mobilitรฉs (IDFM). The sale of these booklets was discontinued in the first half of 2022. They have been replaced largely by the Navigo Easy card.
Paris Metro Navigo Easy Card
The Navigo Easy card allows users to buy tickets individually or in bulk by charging 10 tickets onto the card. When you go for this option, you save around 20%, meaning you get 10 tickets for โฌ17.35 or โฌ1.73 per ticket.
You can purchase the Navigo Easy card at the ticket counter or RATP info point of every Metro station. To charge your card, you either can use an app, or the vending machine, or pay at the RATP ticket counter.
The card itself is sold for โฌ2, which pays for itself on the first purchase since books of ten tickets are sold for โฌ2 more.
An Important Note
When you buy a Navigo Easy Card it canโt be used for more than one person, meaning that if you pass the metro turnstiles with it you canโt hand it to your friend to use it as well, even if you have enough tickets charged. The card reader will know that you just passed through and it wonโt allow them to pass at the same time. If you ever try to get through the turnstile and it reads the card but you get stuck or the door doesnโt open, be sure to see the person at the information point to tell them what happened. They will be able to see that your card was read and they will open the door for you. Your friends will need to get their own cards.
Do Kids Ride for Free?
Mostly, no. But if youโre traveling with children UNDER 4 years old, then they can ride for free. but 4 – 9-year-olds can get a reduced fare of 50%. So your child will need their own Navigo card and be sure to get the one with a reduced fare!
Paris Metro Passes
If you donโt want to worry about how many tickets you have charged on a card you can also opt for a pass that is valid for unlimited travel for a day or a week.
Paris Metro Day Pass
The day pass is โฌ8.45 for central Paris (zones 1 and 2) and is valid for that particular day starting from midnight to midnight. This means that if you buy a day pass at 4 pm it will expire at midnight, so consider the time before buying to see if itโs worth it for you.
For the day pass to be worth the money, you want to have at least 5 rides scheduled or you may as well go for the Easy Pass for a better price. For the inclusion of trips outside of Paris (e.g. Versailles), you can also expect the pass to be more expensive.
Paris Metro Week Pass
If youโre here for a week in Paris, you might consider the week-long pass and yes it is possible to fully enjoy Paris in under a week!
The โNavigo Semaine Carteโ lets you travel in both the center and around Paris (zones 1 – 5, including Disneyland, the airport, and even Versailles).
The cost of this pass is โฌ30.75 for all zones, you can also get a lower cost if you want to stay within Paris but I recommend having flexibility, depending on what you want from your stay.ย but similar to the day pass you have to be careful WHEN you buy it. For the RATP a week means Monday – Sunday, so if you buy your week pass on Sunday morning you will be disappointed to find it invalid on Monday morning (the following day)!
Paris Metro Navigo Decouverte, Monthly Pass
For these passes, you need to buy the actual card that you will charge the โpassโ onto, this is the Navigo Decouverte. Itโs โฌ5 and you may need to stick a little photo of yourself onto it for any ticket controls.
For locals, the Navigo Pass is the best option. This reusable smart card allows for unlimited travel on the metro, RER trains, buses, and trams within the city. The Navigo Pass can be loaded with weekly or monthly passes, or it can be loaded with funds for pay-as-you-go travel. You can also choose to charge it with a weekly pass forfeit or even daily. The monthly price is โฌ86.40 for all zones.
Paris Metro Visite Card
For visitors, the most convenient option is to purchase a Paris Visite card, which allows for unlimited travel on the metro, RER trains, buses, and trams within the city. The card is available for purchase for 1, 2, 3, or 5 consecutive days and can be purchased online or at metro stations.
But it is quite pricey, at โฌ44.45 for 5 days, 30.90 for 43 days, 22.65 for 2 days, and 13,95 for 1 day (Paris only). You also get 25% of the entrance fee to the Tour Montparnasse observation platform and certain other offers from their partners. Kids do have a better rate, of โฌ22.20 for the Paris area for 5 days, and it descends from there with less time in Paris.
Attention โ ๏ธ the above prices are for zones 1 – 3 (central Paris), if you want to go further afield to Versailles, Disneyland, etc. itโs close to double the price for each case.
Both the Paris Visite card and the Navigo Pass can be purchased and reloaded at metro stations or through the official Navigo website
Removing the ticket books (carnets) has arguably made the Paris metro more convenient and efficient for both visitors and locals. With unlimited travel options and easy purchasing and reloading options, getting around the city has never been easier, but youโve got to be prudent about which ticket is best for your trip and letโs face it change is never as smooth as we hope it will be. Many locals are still struggling to keep up with all the new options and price changes!
The 2024 Olympics
So you’ve probably heard by now that the Olympics are being held in Paris as of July 2024, and the city is making some changes to prepare for all the visitors that will be heading this way. This is good news for those of you seeking a new experience in Paris but bad news for our wallets! The prices for metro tickets will almost double from July 20th to September 8th 2024! This is intended to help cover the cost of expanding the transport network for the Paris Olympic Games (from July – August).
Changes:
t-tickets – will go from โฌ2.15 to โฌ4
Easy Pass – charging 10 tickets will become โฌ32
New Flat-Rate Pass – there will be a special pass for savvy tourists who can pay โฌ16 per day of โฌ70 per week during the Olympics, with travel to Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports included.
It’s been said that the residents of Paris will not be affected by this change as they should not be punished for the Games coming to town, however so far the only advice I’ve found is to ‘stock up on metro tickets’ before they double in price…
Picking Your Direction
After you have your ticket pay attention not just to the stop your trying to get to e.g. Jules Joffrin on Line 12ย to get to our Cooking School ๐ . On line 12 you have two different directions (terminals), Mairie d’Issy and Mairie d’Abervilliers. Look at the stop that you are currently at and the stop you’re trying to get to, you want to pick the terminal that has your stop between where you are currently.
Example:
You are at Abbesses, you want to get to Jules Joffrin. In this case you need to get the metro train that is heading towards Marie d’Aubervilliers (see below).
If this feels like an overwhelming amount of information to take in, remember that Paris is a beautiful city, and getting around Paris on a bike or by foot is not an impossible task! There are even bike-share options that you can look into during your stay.
To decide on the best way to get to where you’re going you can download a navgational app on your phone or check out the RATP’s page for making your travel itinerary here. Using the RATP website is great because they keep it updated for delays or closures that other apps may not yet be aware of.
So weigh up the options, consider the weather youโll be experiencing and if you have any questions about the best choice for your particular trip leave a comment!
Now that you know all there is to know about getting the metro, the next step is knowing your destination! Join us in Montmartre for a cooking class! From macarons and croissants to French cuisine, bring a taste of Paris back to your kitchen! Click below to explore our classes โฌ๏ธ
The best info I have found so far. Was getting very confused about Paris passes. We live in Australia. Will be in Paris for 7 days. Without buying the Paris Visite pass which would be best for us. We want to use bus, RER and metro and will be staying in Courbevoie so I think Zones 1-3 will be fine. Does the Paris Weekly Metro Pass cover those modes of transport or would we be better with the Navigo Easy or Decouverte cards? We will arrive from London via the Eurostar on a Monday. Do we just purchase on arrival at a station? Would really appreciate your help.
Hi Geniegal,
Thank you so much for your comment, knowing the information has been valuable to your trip planning is an absolute delight! And it is a confusing system for visitors and Parisians alike (there are a lot of changes to keep track of).
You’ll be staying in zone 3, so the visite pass is a fair option, but I would actually suggest going for the week card (it is available for metro, bus, RER, tram and train) as you’re arriving on Monday (so you actually get the week) and it will give you more freedom to know that if you did want a surprise trip to Versailles or Fontainebleau you could run with it! It would mean getting a Navigo at the station (you would probably want the one called Navigo Decouverte at 5โฌ where you can then go to a machine to charge the actual forfeit you want).
I would say that also keep in mind that the Easy card gives you a lot of flexibility – it’s like buying single tickets at a reduced price that you then recharge.
I hope this helps you make your choice!
Hi Jessica , your post has been most helpful. I will be arriving to paris on a Saturday and leaving on Wednesday for a 5 day trip . I will be going to Disneyland 1 day and another day to Versailles palace. And I will be arriving to Paris Beauvais Airport. If I were to take the carnet ticket of price 2.10 euro can I use it to all this destinations? Or is it a different price ?
Hi Priya, Thanks for your comment I’ll do my best to help out!
If you get the Navajo weekly pass, Versailles and Disneyland travel from Paris will already be included. This will be valid until Monday (after your arrival on Wednesday). The Navigo Easy pass which is the replacement for the carnets doesn’t include Versailles and I don’t think it includes Disneyland either as I’m pretty sure the regular t-tickets which are essentially installed on the easy pass (but for a discounted price) are only for within Paris. If for example you wanted to buy a single ticket to Disneyland, the airport or Versailles you would notice that it’s more than the standard 2.10 euros for a single t ticket, and to put things into perspective, the Navigo Easy Pass is essentially a carnet of t-tickets.
So, to sum up, in this situation I would recommend getting a Navigo Decouvert and charging it for one week for your stay ๐
Thanks for the helpful information! Does the Navigo Easy card have an expiration date, i.e., if I buy one in 2023 and then donโt come back to Paris until, say, 2025 (hopefully sooner, but you never know), will I be able to use the same Navigo Easy card again, or will I have to buy a new one? I was pleasantly surprised when an Oyster Card I had bought in London still worked when I returned to London several years later, so Iโm wondering if the Navigo Easy card works the same way.
Hi Betsy,
Good question. The Navigo easy pass is valid for 10 years.
Thank you!
Just a warning: despite the paper tickets being discontinued, we found out the hard way that many machines, particulalry outside the station, still dispense them. They havenโt been removed from the machines (writing this on 22 May 2023). We had to head over to Gare du Nord, the closest large station, to find an open โServiceโ window and exchange the paper tickets for a Navigo card. And we were not the only ones in this situation, by farโฆthe line outside the window was quite long and full of people in our exact situation. Please help spread this information so others can avoid our trouble. Thanks!
Hi Patricia,
Thanks for letting us all know! I’ve yet to come across it myself but yes I would say that as the Navigo Easy Pass is in use as a replacement for the bulk ticket option, if anyone sees the option of buying a t-ticket ‘carnet’ they should avoid it as this might not be legitimate due to its discontinuation.
However, it is true that you can still buy individual t tickets for one single trip on the metro/bus/tram/rer so these will still be available in the machines and are valid for use. It is also possible to buy multiple single tickets to use which won’t be invalid until they are passed through the metro gates/bus validator but you won’t be getting a great deal from doing this and you run the risk of them getting accidentally demagnetized (an issue that led to the change of the carnets).
I hope you managed to get everything sorted while in Paris!
Hi! I am trying to figure out how I would use 3 t+ tickets to take the bus 350 to the airport. I’ve read the journey takes 3 tickets (I know there are other options, but with the entire family it’s significantly cheaper). However, I am at a loss as to how I would activate these tickets? Do I put all 3 in when I enter the bus (assuming I have paper tickets)? do I wait until I switch to another zone? This is particularly confusing. Also, I may need to take a tram to connect to the 350. Would this require a 4th ticket? I would be travelling from Porte de Clichy to CDG Terminal 2.
I found that this may have changed and it’s only 2.10Euro to take the 350 bus from Porte de Chappelle to CDG. Looks like only 1 ticket is needed.
Hi Jessica,
This is a really useful post, thank you.
We are travelling as a group of 6 from the Gare du Nord (stepping off the Eurostar) to Gare de Lyon to get the train to Italy.
From your latest reply in May 2023 it sounds like we could still use paper tickets to complete this journey so that we donโt all have to purchase individual Navigo cards. Could you confirm if this is correct and if so, where could we purchase them from and can we purchase them on the Eurostar?
Many Thanks for your help.
Nic
Hi Nic, if I understand correctly, you would be going from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon which is a trip that can be done on the metro without much trouble at all. You could definitely buy 6 paper t-tickets for the trip between those stations. For a one-off trip such as that I would not recommend getting a Navigo card. You can’t buy the tickets on board the train as far as I’m aware, but you can easily get them at the station as soon as you arrive at one of the ticket dispensers.
I hope it all works out and enjoy Italy!
Hello Jessica – Thank you for all your insight. Still have some questions here however. First time traveler to both London and Paris in December and very excited for my first trip out of the US. I will be arriving on the Eurostar from London on Wed 20 Dec and staying in the 11th Arrondissement. I will be returning to the US on the 25th. Which pass would you suggest? The Navigo Easy or the Weekly? (even though I’ll be in Paris less than a week). Also what would you suggest the best way to get to CDG from my hotel in the 11th district? Grateful for your response?
Hello Will, As you’re arriving on a Wednesday I recommend the Navigo easy pass to get more out of the week – the weekly pass will expire on the Sunday four days after you arrive. The best way to get to the airport depends on the time you leave and your budget. If it’s very early, 5 am for example, you might want to take a taxi but if you’re up for taking public transport during the day I would take the metro, check the closest line to your accommodation and change to the RER B which will have the airport CDG as it’s terminal (going North). Using the Google navigation app can help you find the best metro line to make the change, or you can see the RATP website (also linked in the text above) to plan your itinerary. And although it’s great you’re already planning on how to leave Paris, don’t forget to do some exciting activities during your stay! Our cooking and baking classes are in high demand during the holiday season so if you want to take a piece of Paris back to your kitchen and have a delicious and convivial time in the process, make sure to book in advance ๐
Hi Jessica
Great notes very helpful. I will be visiting the 24th Oct – 27th oct via Eurostar from London staying next to Lisiรจre Pereire station. If I understand correctly get a Navigo easy card and load some euro’s and use like I would an Oyster in London as pay as you go?
Thanks
Hi Gerry, thank you for your kind words I’m so glad you found the blog helpful! It’s the fruit of living with Paris and responding to the questions I receive very often at our cooking school Cook’n With Class – it turns out that people who love to learn how to cook and bake like the French also like to get around town like the French ๐
So, the Navigo Easypass is similar to the Oyster card in that it is a contactless card that you tap on the turnstiles or the specified area on a bus or tram in Paris. With the Navigo Easypass you can charge up to 30 single tickets on it and you can check the balance using the machines found in the metro stations and inside/outside of certain train stations.
I hope this answers your question, please feel free to let me know if there was anything else you weren’t sure about ๐
Jessica
We arrive in Paris on Friday 20 September 2024 and depart on Wednesday 25 September. We have a Descouvete card we have used on pass trips to Paris. We plan to take the metro from CDG on Friday but take a taxi back to CDG when we leave so probably will not use metro on Wednesday. Our plan is to load a week pass for Fri – Sunday and two day passes for Monday and Tuesday. Does that make sense and can we load them all at the same time?
Hi Georgr, The decouverte card can hold up to two passes (day, weekly or monthly), I’ve not personally tried to load more than one forfeit at a time but the official website confirms this. Just be careful about how you would use it, because the same card can’t pass through the barriers twice in the same direction within a time frame of about 5 – 10 minutes – I believe it will be considered as invalid because it looks like you’re sharing the card.
If you’re including travel from the airport the weekly pass could be a good investment (t-tickets won’t be valid for this trip, unless you get a special ticket at โฌ11.80 from their ticket machines at the airport) and I’m glad to see you already know about it losing validity by Sunday night so it will be the equivalent of around โฌ10 per day for all travel. As for the day passes I think it depends on the activities you plan on doing (if you will be walking a lot outside of needing a metro for example). This is the factor that could determine if you’d want a day pass or the Navigo Easy pass. With the easy pass you would have more flexibility about how much you add to it should there be a day where you don’t travel much. That being said, given that you have already invested in the decouverte you may not want to invest the โฌ2 for another card type.
Ultimately, I think you have a good plan, just keep in mind that should you not need the metro very much in your last two days that the Easypass could be a solution, and I don’t think they allow one card to be shared between two people.
I hope you’ll be visiting our cooking school during your stay or enjoying the charming neighborhood of Montmartre!