Getting around Paris
Paris is easy to explore on foot, but of course you can’t walk the length and breadth of the whole city.
In my experience, the simplest approach works best: walk within a single neighbourhood and use the metro or RER trains for longer distances.
Buses are handy if they go directly to your destination. The average tourist hardly needs trams, and I wouldn’t take a car into the centre of Paris at all.
Book a hotel in the centre of Paris
When choosing accommodation, don’t just look at the distance from the city centre.
It is much more important that the hotel is no more than a 5- to 10-minute walk from a metro or RER station.
A cheaper room far from rail transport could easily cost you an extra hour every day. We describe specific locations in the chapter on Accommodation in Paris.
What ticket to buy in Paris
At first glance, the Paris transport fare system seems very complicated, but it’s actually quite simple. For a standard tourist visit, you only need to choose from four options.
| How you’ll be travelling | The best ticket | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 4 journeys per day | Single tickets | 2,55 eur metro, RER 2,05 eur bus, tram |
| At least 5 journeys in a single day | Navigo Day | 12,30 eur |
| Your stay falls between Monday and Sunday + frequent journeys or a trip to the airport | Navigo Week | 32,40 eur |
| Unlimited travel for 1 to 5 days, including airports; Navigo Week isn’t suitable for you | Paris Visite | 30,60 eur up to 78 eur |
This is, of course, just a simplified recommendation.
If you explore most of Paris on foot, single tickets may work out cheaper even for a longer stay. Conversely, the Navigo Week pass can sometimes pay for itself in as little as two or three days, particularly if you include both journeys from the airport.
You can find an up-to-date overview of all fares on the official Île-de-France Mobilités website.
Do you need to worry about zones in Paris?
For standard single tickets, practically not at all.
From 2025, a journey by metro, train or RER will cost the same in both Zone 1 and Zone 5. The only exceptions are rail journeys to Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports.
That’s 2,55 eur , you can therefore travel not only around the city centre, but also, for example, by train to the Palace of Versailles or on the RER A to Disneyland.
The zones are mainly relevant for long-term season tickets. As a tourist, however, when buying a weekly ticket, you should still choose the option covering all zones 1–5.
Mobile, Navigo Easy or Navigo Découverte?
Your ticket must be loaded onto your mobile phone, smartwatch or one of the Navigo cards. Traditional paper tickets are now a thing of the past.
- Mobile phone – the simplest option with no card fee; you’ll need a compatible NFC-enabled phone (almost all phones are these days)
- Navigo Easy – an anonymous plastic card 2 eur, onto which you can load individual tickets, a Navigo Day pass, a Paris Visite pass or an airport ticket
- Navigo Découverte – a personalised card for 5 eur, which you only need if you want a physical Navigo Week weekly pass; your name is written on the card and a small passport-sized photograph is attached (you must provide your own)
The Navigo Week pass cannot be loaded onto a Navigo Easy card. However, it works perfectly well on your mobile phone.
You can buy a physical Navigo Easy card at metro and train stations, at ticket counters and at most ticket machines. You can top it up at a ticket machine or by holding it up to your phone using the app.
- 👉 You can buy tickets on your phone, for example , via the official Île-de-France Mobilités app – Google Play / App Store.
Every passenger needs their own physical or virtual Navigo card. A single physical Navigo Easy card cannot be used repeatedly by multiple people. On Android, please also bear in mind the rule: one phone = one passenger.
iPhones are an exception. From 2026, you’ll be able to create several separate virtual Navigo cards in Apple Wallet and manually select the correct card before each journey.
However, for families with children, separate physical Navigo Easy cards are still simpler and less prone to error. The procedure is described in the official Île-de-France Mobilités guide.
So do I need a physical plastic card?
- No, not if you don’t mind tapping your phone against the readers (watch out for your battery running out – make sure you carry a power bank!)
- Yes, if you want to be on the safe side, for example in case your phone runs out of battery
Personally, I bought a Navigo card for €2. I travelled around Paris a lot and found it more convenient to keep taking out the card rather than my mobile.
Can you pay with a standard payment card on the Paris Metro?
No. Whilst you can use a bank card to buy a ticket from a machine or via the app, you cannot simply tap it on a standard metro or RER turnstile and travel, as you can in London, for example.
Direct card payments are gradually being introduced on buses and also work on the Montmartre funicular. For the time being, however, this remains a marginal phenomenon.
Be aware of the airport ticket on your phone
The ‘ Paris Region Airports Ticket ’ ticket cannot be used on the same mobile phone or Navigo Easy card as an unused ‘ Metro-Train-RER Ticket ’ ticket.
The app may therefore sometimes not offer you the airport ticket at all.
The most reliable option is to keep your airport ticket on a separate device: for example, on your phone and your city tickets on your Navigo Easy card, or vice versa.
If you want to keep everything on a single device, use up your airport ticket first and bear in mind that the system may not allow you to load another incompatible ticket for up to 2 hours.
Individual tickets
A single-journey ticket is the best value if you’re doing a lot of walking around Paris and only use public transport a few times a day.
| Ticket | Price | Where it’s valid |
|---|---|---|
| Metro-Train-RER Ticket | 2,55 eur | Metro, RER, Transilien trains, Montmartre funicular |
| Bus-Tram Ticket | 2,05 eur | Buses, trams |
| Paris Region Airports Ticket | 14 eur | Metro line 14 to Orly, Orlyval, RER B to CDG Airport |
With a ‘ Metro-Train-RER Ticket ’ ticket, you can change between the Metro, RER and trains for up to 2 hours, but you must not leave the transport area.
With the ‘ Bus-Tram Ticket ’ ticket, you can change between buses and trams for 90 minutes.
A change between the metro or a train and a bus or tram counts as a new journey and uses up a second ticket.
The official terms and conditions can be found on the website:
Navigo Day – all-day ticket
The Navigo Day ticket costs 12,30 eur and is valid for unlimited travel across all zones during one chosen calendar day. It is not a 24-hour ticket.
It pays for itself from the fifth journey by metro, RER or train during the day. If you travel exclusively by bus and tram, it only starts to make financial sense after several journeys.
The Navigo Day pass is also valid for journeys to Versailles or Disneyland, but it is not valid on Metro line 14 to Aéroport d’Orly station, on the Orlyval, or on the RER B to the Charles de Gaulle airport stations.
Standard, cheaper buses and the T7 tram to the airports are included in the price.
You can load the ticket onto your mobile phone or onto a Navigo Easy card. Full terms and conditions can be found on the official website.
Navigo Week – often the best option
A weekly Navigo Week pass for zones 1–5 costs 32,40 eur and is always valid from Monday to Sunday. It does not cover seven days from the first use.
From Friday onwards, only tickets for the following week are sold. If you want a Navigo Week ticket for the current week, you must buy it by Thursday at the latest.
Unlike the Navigo Day pass, it also covers journeys on Metro line 14 to Orly and on the RER B train to Charles de Gaulle. It is not valid on the Orlyval or on certain special or tourist buses.
For example, if you arrive on a Wednesday and depart on a Sunday, the Navigo Week pass is almost automatically the best option.
Two single rail journeys from the airport would cost 28 eur and with just two further journeys around the city, you’ll exceed the cost of a weekly pass.
The easiest way is to buy the Navigo Week directly on your mobile. It can only be loaded onto a Navigo Découverte card in person for 5 eur, for which you’ll need a photograph and which isn’t sold by every ticket machine.
Paris Visite – convenient, but expensive
Paris Visite allows unlimited travel across all five zones, including the airports, Orlyval, Versailles and Disneyland.
| Validity | Price for an adult |
|---|---|
| 1 day | 30,60 eur |
| 2 days | 45,40 eur |
| 3 days | 63,80 eur |
| 5 days | 78 eur |
The ticket is valid for 1, 2, 3 or 5 consecutive calendar days. It is activated upon the first validation, but the first day always ends at midnight. It is therefore not worth activating a one-day Paris Visite ticket in the evening.
It also includes discounts at selected attractions and services, but I wouldn’t buy it just for those.
The Paris Visite mainly makes sense if you plan to travel a lot, including to airports, and the dates of your stay do not fit the significantly cheaper Navigo Week (for example, Friday to Monday).
Children aged 4 to 9 pay half price. You can load the ticket onto your mobile phone or onto a Navigo Easy card.
If using a physical Paris Visite card, please fill in the passenger’s first name and surname. You can find the full terms and conditions and a list of current benefits on the official website.
Children on Paris public transport
- Children under 4 travel free of charge
- Children aged 4 to 9 receive a 50 per cent discount on single tickets, including airport tickets and the Paris Visite
- Each child needs their own physical or virtual Navigo card
As there is no standard child version of the Navigo Day pass, it may be more cost-effective for families to purchase individual discounted tickets.
What is Navigo Liberté+?
Lower fares 2,04 eur for the metro or train, and 1,64 eur for buses or trams are only available with the Navigo Liberté+ service.
This is not a standard ticket that you simply buy via the app, but a contract-based fare where journeys are billed the following month.
You can set up the service on your phone, but it requires registration and a bank account within the SEPA area. For a standard stay of a few days, I wouldn’t bother with it at all. It’s mainly suitable for people who travel to Paris frequently or stay there for longer periods. The terms and conditions are set out on the official Navigo Liberté+ website.
In short: Navigo Liberté+ is intended primarily for local residents. Not for tourists.
Route finders and apps
Google Maps works well in Paris for general route searches.
However, for the metro and RER, I recommend checking for service disruptions using one of the official apps, as maintenance work and partial closures are common, particularly in the evenings and at weekends.
- Île-de-France Mobilités – journey planning, real-time traffic updates and ticket purchases: Google Play / App Store
- Bonjour RATP – very user-friendly route search and ticket purchases: Google Play / App Store
- RATP website – route search and real-time services at ratp.fr/en
If you already have one of these apps for buying tickets, you don’t need to download another transport app.
Metro and RER trains
The Metro and RER cover the vast majority of journeys around Paris. The Metro has a denser network of stations in the city centre, whilst the RER has stations further apart and is usually significantly faster over longer distances.
When travelling on RER trains, make sure you check the terminus and the branch of the line. A single line may split into several directions beyond the city centre, and not every train stops at every station.
<a href="<a href="https://www.booking.com/city/fr/paris.en-gb.html?aid=355333;label=p-pariz-doprava-btn">https://www.booking.com/city/fr/paris.en-gb.html?aid=355333;label=p-pariz-doprava-btn</a>" data-btn="true">Find a hotel near the metro
We describe the network of lines, operating hours, connections and our practical experiences in detail in a separate chapter entitled ‘The Paris Metro’.
Buses
Buses aren’t as important for tourists as the metro, but they can sometimes save you time and a long walk through underground passages. What’s more, you’ll get to see a bit of the city from them.
I’d mainly use them when the app suggests a direct route with no changes. During rush hour, however, they can actually slow you down considerably in traffic jams.
Regular daytime services run from around 5.30 am to 12.30 am. Services in the city centre usually run every 5 to 15 minutes, though intervals may be longer in the evenings, at weekends and on the outskirts of the city.
If the route number on the front display is crossed out diagonally, the bus will not run all the way to its usual terminus but will end its journey earlier.
Routes and timetables
Timetables for specific routes, including a simplified route map, can be found on the websiteratp.fr/en/horaires-bus.
Regular daily services run from approximately 5.30 am to 12.30 am.
Services usually run every 5 to 10 minutes, although at weekends and on outlying routes, the interval may be up to 30 minutes.
If the bus route number is crossed out diagonally, this means that the bus does not run the full route.
Although the websiteratp.fr/plan-busshows a map of bus routes in the city centre, it only includes routes with high frequency (4–7 minutes), and many other useful routes are missing.
Bus stops and boarding
At bus stops, you’ll always find timetables and a digital display showing how long it will be before the next bus arrives.
On standard buses, you always board via the front door, where you validate your ticket in the validator (or tap your mobile phone on the reader).
Some routes are served by articulated buses – you can board these via any door, as there are card readers and validators at every door.
All stops are request stops, so you must wave to the driver before boarding and press the ‘stop’ button well before reaching the stop when getting off.
Trams
Another, less commonly used form of transport is the tram, which runs around the centre of Paris and in its suburbs.
There are only 13 lines, numbered T1–T13.
When boarding a tram, you must validate your ticket; you can board through any of the doors. All tram stops are equipped with ticket machines.
- Tram timetables: ratp.fr/en/horaires-tramway
- Map of the Paris tram network: ratp.fr/en/plan-tramway
By boat on the Seine: Batobus
Batobus is the river equivalent of hop-on hop-off sightseeing buses. Its circuit along the Seine has nine stops, including the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay, Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde.
The entire circuit takes about 2 hours and a one-day ticket costs from 23 eur. You can get on and off the boat as often as you like whilst the ticket is valid.
Batobus is not part of the public transport network, and neither the Navigo nor the Paris Visite passes are valid on it. As a means of transport in its own right, it is slow and expensive; I’d see it more as a sightseeing cruise that also takes you between several landmarks.
Bike-sharing apps
A bike is a very good alternative to walking and public transport for getting around the city.
A major advantage in this respect is the fact that Paris is (apart from Montmartre and the Latin Quarter) a flat city with excellent cycling infrastructure.
Most of the sights and attractions are on flat ground, and the cycle path along the River Seine is very popular, even amongst locals. There are several companies offering bike-sharing schemes here.
Vélib is one of the most popular thanks to its affordability. You’ll find bike stations all over the city, mostly near metro stations and tourist spots. You can hire a bike on the spot using a credit card at a self-service machine or via a mobile app.
There are two major bike-sharing apps operating in Paris, with docking stations scattered throughout the city:
- Velib’ – mobile app on Google Play / App Store
- Bolt – mobile app on Google Play / App Store
Velib’s prices for non-subscribers are as follows:
- 0–30 minutes’ ride: 1 eur
- 30–60 minutes’ ride: + 1 eur extra
- for every additional 30 minutes’ journey: + an extra 1 eur
Montmartre cable car
A popular tourist attraction is the short funicular railway in the Montmartre district, which leads up to the famous Sacré-Coeur Basilica. The funicular is just 108 metres long and climbs 36 metres over that distance. Two carriages run along the track.
The funicular operates daily from 6.00 am to 12.45 am, with services running at intervals of approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
The fare is the same as on all other RATP services, and all the ticket types described above are valid here.
Information about the funicular to Sacré-Cœur:parisjetaime.com//funiculaire-de-montmartre.
Night transport
Paris is perfect for romantic evening strolls, a long drink at a bar, or simply when you need to be at the airport so early that the regular daytime services aren’t running yet.
Night transport in Paris is provided by the Noctilien bus network, with routes marked by the letter ‘N’ and a number. Each route runs approximately every 20 to 30 minutes, and the network in the city centre is very dense.
All-day and multi-day tickets are valid on night buses, as are single-journey tickets costing €2.
Night bus timetables:ratp.fr/en/horaires-noctilien.
Taxis, Uber, Bolt
Thousands of taxis ply the streets of Paris, but from a transport perspective, they should really be a last resort.
Traffic in the city centre is very heavy, and in the vast majority of cases you’ll get there faster and much more cheaply by metro or RER train.
The starting fare for standard taxis is 2,75 eur, and you’ll pay around 0,90 eur per kilometre during the day, or 1,20 eur at night. If the taxi is stuck in traffic, an hourly rate may also apply (around 30 eur).
Alternative taxi services such as Uber and Bolt also work well in Paris and usually offer significantly lower fares than traditional taxis. Download their apps and book a ride any time, anywhere:
- Uber (Appstore / Google Play)
- Bolt (Appstore / Google Play)
Airport transport
You can find detailed information on transport to Paris’s airports in our special guides to airports around the world.
Check out the cheapest and quickest travel options, journey times to the airport, and other practical information on the number of terminals and which airlines operate from which terminals.
Any questions left?
If you have any questions or comments about the article...
10 comments
Hi I'm going to Paris for a week and I'm thinking of buying a weekly ticket for 32 euros on the mobile app. Is this ticket valid for all transport ? RER , trams buses and metro ? Thanks burner
https://www.iledefrance-mobilite...decouverte
https://www.ratp.fr/en/titres-et...vel-passes
It might be worth adding a link to the text of the guide.
beware of the conditions of the tickets, I innocently bought tickets over the weekend and relied on weekly tickets and the ticket was MON - SUN. So we made a better plan of what to see and I used the one way tickets purchased on the Bonjour RATP app.
It is written in the text of the guide. 😉
Paper tickets have already been abolished. Tickets can be purchased via the app or a paper card can be bought for €2 to load tickets onto. Only one type of ticket can be loaded on it. You can also buy the card at metro stations if there is a working ticket office. It is better to buy it at railway stations. It can be recharged in vending machines in the metro and at railway stations. There are usually no machines at bus stops.
So I read it here and I'm stumped. So how do I get from Orly or CDG to Versailles cheapest? And what is the approximate travel time? I would be very grateful for the answer.
Download a map of metro and suburban (city) trains: https://eu.ftp.opendatasoft.com/...ION_GF.pdf
From CDG to Versailles for 13€. https://www.iledefrance-mobilite...-aeroports The journey will take about 90 minutes.
From Orly to Versailles: by T7 tram for 2€ and by train for 2,5€. First buy a Bus-Tram Ticket via the app or Navigo easy card and at the transfer station buy a Metro-Train-RER Ticket via the app or Navigo easy card. The journey will take between 80 and 100 minutes.
Thank you.
Hello, is it possible to upload a Navigo Week Pass for two people (adult + child) to one phone (one app)? Then how does it work when going through the turnstile? Does it let both people in at the same time or do I have to hand the phone to the child and they have to scan it again?
Hello, are there still physical Mobilis tickets for different zones on which I can write my name and date with a pen?
Hello, there are still Navigo Découverté cards available for €5. However, you will also need a passport-size photo.
Thanks, but I'm interested in a day pass.
In this case, Navigo Easy is the best choice, see above. No date or surname is needed.
Hey. Hey,
I'm posting a fresh experience from my stay in Paris from 15 May - 18 May 2025. If you are planning a minimum 3-day stay and will be travelling around Paris by metro, I definitely recommend the Navigo Decouverte card, which can be loaded with a weekly fare for 31.60 EUR. The card is valid for all means of transport, including the RER commuter trains and the Montmartre funicular (similar to the Petrin funicular) for all 5 zones. With a single ticket costing €2.50 and a €13.- trip to/from CDG airport on the RER, it's definitely worth it. The actual card costs 5,- EUR, so you pay a total of 36,60 EUR, which is still a bargain. You need a small ID photo for the card, take a photo from home, even an older one, the staff doesn't worry about that, they will issue you a card with the fare loaded on it and you put the photo in yourself. Right at CDG airport by the RER B train station there is a transport office where you buy a Navigio Decouverte, the operator will upload the fare straight away. But allow for time, we had an hour (!) queue, which kept growing, out of about 6 counters, 2 were in use around 9am, just the French... If you don't have a photo, there are photo booths at the airport that "speak" Czech as well, you can get 6 passport photos there for 8,- EUR. You then attach the card to the validators at the turnstiles in the metro or at the station where the RER trains leave from. The card is valid for a calendar week, i.e. from Monday to Sunday midnight, and can be purchased for that week no later than Thursday. Navigio Decouverte with a weekly fare is therefore worth it if you take the RER-B train to/from CDG (2x13EUR) and take at least 5 metro, RER (e.g. to Versailles or the Eiffel Tower) or bus rides during your stay, which we took advantage of. I wish everyone a wonderful experience in the metropolis on the Seine!
hello, i will be visiting Paris on June 13-16, 2025. please help me to advice on what card should i buy for the city transportation. on June 13, from Orly, I will go straight to Disney hotel in Serris area (by metro or by taxi/disney shuttle), then on June 15, I change hotel around Richard Lenoir metro (plan by metro from Serris) and strolling around in the city using metro/bus/tram (it will need about 10rides max). on morning of June 16, I will go to Gare du Nord by taxi for train trip to Amsterdam.
from this schedule, i will need max about 12 times in the public transport for 2 days. can you advise me, what card should i purchase? thank you.
As for the physical cards, I would correct the wording of the article. Navigo travel card is for residents (from the text it is clear that the tourist can get it at most by MAIL? who would do such preparation? :-D ). Tourists can get a physical card right away for that Navigo Decouverte for 5 EUR...... The weekly ticket Monday-Sunday for 31,60 EUR cannot be bought on Navigo Easy physical card for 2 EUR, but it is on Decouverte for 5 EUR (you have to have a passport photo then you have to shrink it to fit on the card and it still says your name). So it's better to have the tickets on your phone, then it's a saving of 5 EUR and the cost of taking the photo :-) On the other hand, owning a physical card is an advantage, you can see how it works sporadically there, turnstiles (creeping, jumping, cutting the door by force), vending machines not working and someone still complains about the mobile app. You buy that Decouverte card at the window in the metro/RER station with a weekly voucher and finish it yourself by sticking a photo and writing your name on it, but as it's not protected in any way it can then be easily rebranded to another person, this is what I didn't understand, they didn't secure it, but I guess they don't have a problem with it, only one person will always go with it :-) Then CDG airport is a chapter in itself. Those buses No 350/351 now only run from Terminal 3 of the bus station until the 2025 holidays (they are fixing something at Terminal 2 and that's why it doesn't go there) , you can easily buy a ticket from the driver for 2,5EUR in cash, whoever gets a ticket from the machine for 2 EUR will save a bit. Someone may like the option to save fare from CDG by taking bus 350 to the first RER B station after CDG airport and instead of 13EUR pay only 4,5EUR = 2E(bus)+2,5E(train). Bus 351 to the Nation is an exotic passage through Senegal for first time visitors to Paris, both in the occupancy of the bus and the neighborhoods traversed.
Revisers will be 100% present at the exit of the RER train to the CDG terminal, otherwise not much is visible. :-D
Thanks for the info!
I updated the article in February with the new rules, but now I see that the weekly one has disappeared from Navigo Easy. Thanks, I'll update again :D
Daily navigo tickets for zones 1-5 can be used to go to la valle village, right? Then where can I buy navigo tickets? The problem is that I want to buy through the application, I can't maintain it.
Yes, tickets are valid for La Vallée. If you can't buy them on the app, you can buy a navigo from a machine at any metro or train station.
It's 2026, paper tickets are history, the price is the same for all zones 1-5, which is good news. The bad news is that they deliberately don't sell Navigo Découverte at the airport. OrlyBus to Orly and RoissyBus to Charles de Ganll have been cancelled. Some things have been simplified, some things have been reversed. This is well summed up by the YouTube channel Paris Top Tips in the video Metro/Navigo/Tickets in 2026 (edited)
I guess it's about CDG?
Thanks for the info, I will update the article.
However, buses 350/351 are still available at the airport for 2,05 EUR.
Have any of you tried the bus line? I killed last hour looking for a bus stop, just a disaster.
There is still a tram from Orly that you can change to the metro and the exorbitant prices don't apply.