If you're visiting Paris for just a few days and you expect to move around the city quite a lot by public transport, you may save money with a Paris Visite ticket from RATP.

Then again, you may not. In many cases, new Navigo transit passes are better deals; and paper tickets like the Paris Visite are being phased out in favor of plastic RFID transit cards.

What It Is

The Paris Visite (pah-REE vee-ZEET), a paper ticket with a magnetic stripe on the back, allows 1, 2, 3 or 5 consecutive days of unlimited travel in central Paris on the convenient Métro, city buses, funiculars, RER suburban trains and SNCF Transilien regional trains.

A 2-day Paris Visite ticket valid for travel in Zones 1, 2 & 3.
Expensive, but convenient...

(For a single day, you may be better off buying a Navigo Easy or Navigo Jour pass or Mobilis ticket. For five days or more, you may be better off buying a Navigo Découverte pass. More...)

What It Costs

The cost of a Paris Visite adult ticket for Zones 1 to 3 ranges from 13.55€ for a one-day adult pass to 43.30€ for a five-day pass; kids 4 to 11 pay half price. Zones 1 to 3 include all of central Paris and some nearby suburban destinations, but not the airports of Charles de Gaulle and Orly, or Disneyland Paris, or the Château de Versailles, all of which are in Zones 4 and 5.

A Paris Visite adult ticket for Zones 1 to 5, including the airports of Charles de Gaulle and Orly, or Disneyland Paris, and the Château de Versailles, costs 28.50€ for one day, up to 74.30€ for 5 days; kids pay half.

By the way, a round-trip/return ticket on the RER from central Paris to Aéroport Charles de Gaulle costs 22.90€.

(Compare these costs to that of a one-week Navigo Découverte pass at 30€ which include Zones 1 through 5 and the airports—but is valid from Monday through Sunday only. More about that here.)

Validity

The validity of the Paris Visite ticket begins at midnight on the first day that you use it and continues for 1, 2, 3 or 5 consecutive days, ending at midnight on the last day. Even if you first use the ticket at 22:00 (10:00 pm) on Day 1, the validity will be calculated as beginning at midnight on that day—in other words, you'd only get 2 hours' use of it—so it makes sense to begin using the ticket early in the day.

Protect It!

Like a paper ticket t+, the Paris Visite ticket has a narrow magnetic strip on the back that holds data on its validity. If this data is corrupted, your ticket will not work. Corruption can be caused by putting the ticket near a mobile phone or any other metal object or device with magnetic influence. Keep your ticket away from metal, keys, electronic gizmos, batteries, etc.

If the ticket fails to work within the period of its validity, take it to a ticket agent and ask for it to be re-magnetized, or for a replacement ticket.

Discounts

Paris Visite also entitles you to discounts of 15% to 20% and more on a number of museums, activities and attractions in and around Paris, and on some shopping.

Is It Worth It?

Zones 1 to 3 (Central Paris)

The challenge is to determine whether the Paris Visite ticket makes economic sense for you. If you plan to use public transport numerous times each day; if you look at the ticket's discount offers and decide that you may take advantage of several of them; then the ticket may make sense for you.

But remember: a single Métro/bus ticket costs only 2.10€., and if you load 10 tickets (a carnet) onto your Navigo Easy card for 16.90€, the cost per ticket drops to 1.70€. At that price, two people equipped with Navigo Easycard can take five Zone 1 & 2 rides each (virtually all of historic Paris) in a day for 16.90€ (7.45€ per person)—and if you don't take that many rides, you can use the tickets another day.

If two people buy one-day Paris Visite tickets, they will pay 27.10€ total (Zones 1 to 3), which makes sense if they expect to take at least seven rides each per day, and/or take trips to Zone 3, and to use some of the discounts offered.

Seven rides each is a lot of time on the bus and Métro in one day...and if you spend that much time in transit, will you have any time left over to take advantage of the discounts?

Zones 1 to 5 (Paris + Airports)

Because the Zones 1-to-5 Paris Visite pass includes travel to the airports, Disneyland Paris and the Château de Versailles, it presents a different economic prospect. If you fly into Charles de Gaulle or Orly Airport early in the morning and plan to see Paris in a day, then return to the airport at night, the Zones 1-to-5 Paris Visite pass make sense (though the Navigo Jour pass covers the same zones and costs less.)

The Convenience Factor

There is this: it's more convenient to have just one ticket that you can use over and over, rather than having to get out a new ticket each time, then dispose of it after you ride, and not get the new and used tickets mixed up.

So...how much is that convenience worth to you?

When in doubt, I would say...stick to buying carnets of tickets on a Navigo Easy card or, for longer visits, consider buying a Navigo Jour or Navigo Découverte pass:

Navigo Découverte Pass

For anyone staying five days or longer, and particularly those who expect to return to Paris for similar periods of time in the future, or who are traveling to and from the Paris airports, the Navigo Découverte card can make a lot more sense. More...

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