Transportation in Paris?

Question

I will be in Paris next week for 12 days and I have a few questions regarding trasportation.

I have been reading about those reduction cards. I am confused because each gives access to certain zones in Paris.

If the hotel is outside those zones, how can we get back there with those cards?

Do those cards also work on the buses and trains?

For a family of 4 people, what are the best cards to get around?

Answer 1

Choose the "English" option at:

http://www.ratp.fr

This is the website for the metropolitan Paris transit network (metro, buses, suburban rail, etc.) and you should be able to find the answer any question you might have (fares, zones, specials, and so  on).

Enjoy!

Answer 2

Just to add a couple of points to the previous (excellent) answer.

The carte orange weekly coupon goes from Monday to Sunday and not Sunday to Saturday.

Anywhere outside zones 1 and 2 is not officially called Paris on its postal address. So if your hotel has a Paris post code (starting with 75) it will definitely be covered by a zone 1/2 card.

If you are planning to spend your time visiting Paris, you should make sure your hotel is in Paris or the VERY close suburbs.

A poor guy on this forum last week got himself stranded in a hotel which involved a train ride and a shuttle bus by his travel agency.

Answer 3

There are a variety of different types of transport passes. You buy the pass which suits the type of transportation you will need.

The entire Paris center is included in zones 1 and 2. If you are, for some reason, staying outside these zones, you should simply buy the pass which includes the zone in which you will be staying.

The various passes can be used on most of the forms of public transportation including buses, subways and the commuter rail system referred to as the RER.

The Carte Orange is the best buy but it is sold only for either a calendar week or a calendar month. Since you will be staying for 12 days you would buy the Carte Orange for one week of that period. You could then buy the one day pass which is called a "Mobilis" for the remaining days.

I should mention that when you buy the Carte orange you will have to provide a passport sized photo.

Answer 4

Good answers above. I never bother with the Carte Orange, instead I just buy a carnet de dix (10 tickets) which are good for the buses, metro and RER. If I wanted to go outside the peripheric (the big ring road around Paris) to Versailles, or La Defense (for example), I just buy an 'aller retour Versailles/La Defense.'

I would be pretty surprised if your hotel was not in Paris though.

You can also buy hop on hop off tickets for the bateau moches which run from about Bir Hakeim to Notre Dame, if you aren't up to using the metro and bus system.

Enjoy - Paris is wonderful