This guide is to help you decide what kind of Paris Metro and RER ticket option is best for you and gives you information about where and how to buy it.

Individual tickets

You can buy a book of 10 tickets, called a carnet, which allows you to use the Paris Metro and buses up to zone 3 and the RER up to zone 2. It is great value if you only need to make a small number of journeys. It is available to buy from Hello Paris in advance.

Hello Paris also sells individual tickets for a variety of specific popular destinations like Stade de France, Versailles, Disneyland, the exhibition centre at Parc des Exposition and also RER tickets from Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly (ORY) airports.

Individual tickets, which are also know as T-Tickets, allow you to :

• use the whole of the Metro and the Montmartre funicular
• use the RER (RATP and SNCF) within Paris
• use the RATP buses in Paris and the suburbs (except for lines with special fares)
• you can change between the Metro and RER as part of a single journey
  
• use the Noctilien network (of night buses) without connections, in accordance with the specific fare system on the Noctilien network
• change between bus and bus and bus and tram

Paris Visite Pass

A popular alternative is to buy a Paris Visite Pass which covers you for all forms of transport within Paris and is valid for unlimited travel for 1, 2, 3 or 5 days for either zones 1 to 3 or zones 1 to 6. For example, a Paris Visite Card for zones 1 to 6 would cover you for your transport from the airport to your hotel, all your trips around Paris during your stay, and your journey back to the airport.

The beauty of a Paris Visite Pass  is that it is valid from the day you start using it. So you don't need to worry about which day you will arrive in Paris. You can buy your Paris Visite Card online from Hello Paris here. There is an FAQ on how to use it here.

Mobilis pass

A Mobilis pass for is valid for one calendar day. The price is different depending on which zones you want to travel in. If you plan to stay within the city, a Zone 1 pass is all you need. The Mobilis pass can be bought at a ticket window or from a ticket machine.

Navigo Découverte pass

This pass is a smart card (like a credit card) which will cost you €5 to buy and carries a picture of you. You can load the card with a validity for either one month or one year. Instead of being a ticket which is passed through a machine, it is like the London Oyster card. You wave it near the ticket barrier and you are then let through.

To buy it you have to find a ticket window and they will take a picture of you with a webcam. If you want a decent picture on your card it is advisable to give them a passport photo!

The plain Navigo pass is for residents only, so visitors must make sure they ask for the Navigo Découverte.

Problems with tickets

Customers sometimes complain that their tickets do not work in the ticket machines. This can be because the magnetic stripe on the back has been affected by a mobile phone or because the ticket has been bent or torn. Try to keep your tickets away from your phone if you can and make sure they do not get bent or torn. If your tickets are damaged in any way and do not work in the ticket barriers you can go to a ticket office at a main station or airport and explain that your tickets don't work. They should replace them for you.

Where to buy the tickets ?

You can buy all the types of ticket including a Navigo card at a ticket window which are now at only the main stations and airports. The assistants sometimes speak English, but mostly not. There are often long queues at these ticket windows.

Alternatively you can use the ticket machines which are at all the metro and RER stations. You can pay using credit cards. The instructions for using these machines are partly in English, but you often need some French to complete the process. They are not particularly easy to use.

Paris Metro and RER maps

Metro, RER and Bus Maps can be downloaded from our maps page.