Paris Metro Ticket System 2023
The Paris metro system is one of the most popular modes of transportation in the city, serving millions of riders daily. As of 2023, the city has transitioned from paper tickets to a modern, electronic system, in an attempt to make it easier for both visitors and locals to navigate the city.
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?
‘t tickets’ (small paper tickets) will remain on sale for single trips, but they have passed from €1.90 to €2.10. These single tickets can be bought in a metro station and can also be used on buses, but you can’t 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 decision to remove the ‘carnet’ (bulk buying) of paper tickets was approved on Wednesday the 14th of April 2022 by the board of directors of Ile-de-France Mobilités (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 20%, meaning you get 10 tickets for €16.90 or €1.69 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 €2, which pays for itself on the first purchase since books of ten tickets are sold for €2 more.
An Important Note
When you buy a Navigo Easy Card it can’t be used for more than one person, meaning that if you pass the metro turnstiles with it you can’t 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 won’t 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 doesn’t 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 you’re 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 don’t 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 €8.45 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 it’s 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 you’re 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 ‘Navigo Semaine Carte’ 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 €30 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
For the passes, you need to buy the actual card that you will charge the ‘pass’ onto, this is the Navigo Decouverte. It’s €5 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.
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 €43.30 for 5 days, 30.10 for 4 days, 22.05 for 2 days, and 13,55 for 1 day. You also get 25% of the entrance fee to the tour Montparnasse observation platform and certain other offers from their partners.
Attention ⚠️ the above prices are for zones 1 – 3 (central Paris), if you want to go further afield to Versailles, Disneyland, etc. it’s 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
The new electronic ticket system has made travel on 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 you’ve got to be prudent about which ticket is best for your trip and let’s face it change is never as smooth as we hope it will be. Many locals are still struggling with the changeover!
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 12 to get to our Cooking School 😉 . 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 you’ll be experiencing and if you have any questions about the best choice for your particular trip leave a comment!
Looking for French cooking classes in Provence, Gard, Nimes, Avignon, Pont du Gard? Book your French cooking class taught by a French chef in English from Cook’n With Class Uzès
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 5€ 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!
Thanks for the helpful information! Does the Navigo Easy card have an expiration date, i.e., if I buy one in 2023 and then don’t 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 I’m 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 haven’t 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 “Service” window and exchange the paper tickets for a Navigo card. And we were not the only ones in this situation, by far…the 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 don’t 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 😊