Hi, I have been looking on this forum and elsewhere for information in English and French about metro passes in Paris, where I will be staying for a month. Unfortunately, I%26#39;ve been confused by the sometimes out-of-date, incomplete, and conflicting information I%26#39;ve come across. Perhaps you may have the answers to the following questions.
1. Where do you buy the Passe Navigo Découverte? Is it available at all metro and RER stations?
2. Can you store value on the PND by inserting the Passe and money into an add-value machine?
Or do you have to buy a Carte Orange (worth one week or one month of travel?) and then load the value of the Carte Orange onto the PND?
In other words, is the PND useless without the Carte Orange? But wouldn%26#39;t this be a problem if it is also true that the Carte Orange is being phased out and no longer obtainable at many stations?
3. In what zones of the Ile-de-France are the PND and Carte Orange valid?
If I am using a PND and/or Carte Orange to travel, for instance, from the Gare d%26#39;Austerlitz to Versailles on the RER, would I have to pay a supplement or buy a supplementary ticket to cover the distance from the Paris city limits to Versailles?
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Thank you in advance for your help.
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The Navigo Decouverte is sold in the metro/RER ticket windows, same as other RATP types of tickets.
It does not store any monetary value other than the Carte Orange weekly or monthly pass. (I believe the Navigo does store other credit balance).
The Carte Orange is a transport value - currently in the form of an id card and PAPER TICKET. This paper ticket is being phased out and replaced with the PLASTIC electronic card. The Carte Orange itself is not being phased out.
The Carte Orange can be bought in varying zone coverages. A map of the zones can be found on www.ratp.fr - I think you need the Regional RER map. Paris proper is zones 1-2. Versailles is zone 4. Disney and CDG are zone 5.
My understanding is that if you want to use CO zones 1-2 to go to Versailles on RER-C, then you must figure out the last station within zone 2, deboard to buy a ticket for remaining route. Since a round-trip single ticket to Versailles from Paris center only costs 6 euro or so, such an exercise would be silly. It is best to just buy a train ticket to the destination if you aren%26#39;t going to get a CO for the proper zones.
Some English info on tickets, passes and prices can be found at:
www.transport-idf.com
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In case you missed this distinction, there is the original Navigo pass, and then there is the newer Navigo Decouverte pass. The first requires an application form to be completed, proof of French residency... the latter is %26#39;anonymous%26#39; which leaves the door open for visitors to purchase it.
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;2. Can you store value on the PND by inserting the Passe and money into an add-value machine?
Or do you have to buy a Carte Orange (worth one week or one month of travel?) and then load the value of the Carte Orange onto the PND?....In other words, is the PND useless without the Carte Orange?%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
At present, the ONLY %26#39;..value(s)..%26#39; that you may add/load onto the Navigo system%26#39;s DÉCOUVERTE %26#39;device%26#39; is either the specific fare for the weekly (hebdomadaire) or monthly (mensuel) CARTE ORANGE transportation pass product. The DÉCOUVERTE still requires a %26#39;haed-shot%26#39; ID photo.
Yes...the DÉCOUVERTE %26#39;device%26#39; is pretty much useless without the fare of a CARTE ORANGE pass %26#39;..loaded..%26#39; onto it....though it is reuseable/reloadable for a period of eight(8) years...and makes a nice %26#39;personalized %26#39;souvenir%26#39; (beats key chains and tee shirts to hell %26#39;n gone).
CARTE ORANGE transportation passes are sold for different Travel Zones of validity. As an example, Zones 1-2 would cover all of the City of Paris (and in a few exceptional cases, just a bit beyond). Zones 1-5 would cover all of Paris, and a large part of the greater Île-de-France...out to CDG, DLP, beyonf ORLY and VERSAILLES.
Weekly (hebdo) CARTE ORANGE passes are valid from First Train on Monday AM until Last Train on Sunday PM. The CO for the CURRENT week is available for sale through Wednesday of the CURRENT week and from Friday for the follwing/next week.
Monthly (mensuel) CARTE ORANGE passes are valid from the First Train,on the First Day of the Month until the Last Train on the Last Day of the month. A CO for the CURRENT month may be purchased through the 19th of the current month and from the 20th for the following/next month.
Though you say you will be in Paris for a month, unless your travel itinerary meshes with the calendar month...and if you plan side trips away from Paris for a few days at a time, individual weekly CO as necessary, will probably be your best bet.
CARTE ORANGE INFO--
ratp.info/informer/titres_de_transport.php
TRANSPORTATION ZONE Diagram--
www.ratp.info/orienter/plan_plan_zone_pdf.php
stif.info/les-transports-aujourd-hui/les-tit…
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So basically, you%26#39;re still stuck with Sunday to Saturday Carte Orange days? And if you arrive on a Friday and leave the following Thursday it%26#39;s kind of dumb to buy the Carte Orange weekly?
confused - any help out there?
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%26gt;%26gt;So basically, you%26#39;re still stuck with Sunday to Saturday Carte Orange days? And if you arrive on a Friday and leave the following Thursday it%26#39;s kind of dumb to buy the Carte Orange weekly?%26lt;%26lt;
Weekly COs are for Monday to Sunday travel (not Sunday to Saturday as you posted).
Whether or not it%26#39;s dumb to buy the CO for a Friday arrival/Thursday departure will entirely depend on how much you plan to use public transport. If you do buy the CO, it will only be valid for the Mon-Thurs. You will need separate tickets for the Fri-Sun portion of your trip. Your options will either be the daily Mobilis passes or carnets (10 individual tickets bought as a pack).
I am in the same situation with my trip later this year, with a mid week arrival and departure. Given that I walk alot, I will probably opt for using carnets.
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Merci mille fois! I have used the CO before and found it a great bargain, but with that daily restriction, your advice is excellent.
Thanks!
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I%26#39;ll be honest I%26#39;m confused about all the options as well. If one is staying in the Disney area I know I need a pass that goes through zone 5.
Would I be foolish to just buy a multi-day Paris Visite pass and be done with it? For five days it is 59 Euros. That seems pretty reasonable to me but what bothers me is the 32 Euro delivery fee to North America.
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Jeff according to the ratp website the 5 day zone 1-6 Paris Visite pass can be bought at any metro station for 47 Euro. I would wait until you get to Paris and buy it there.
Are you planning to travel into Paris everyday? If you are spending some days at Disney (I am assuming this otherwise why are you staying there?) you may be better off just buying a 1 day pass for the days you are going into Paris.
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Fichtenbaum,
I bought the carte orange last month at a metro station,be aware that if you buy from the attendant you need a credit card,she did not wanted cash,she said only cash for the automatic machine and there was a line of people at the machine so I paid with credit card 16,30 euros for a week zone 1-2.
I did arrive on a saturday so I bought a carnet.
Even that we walked a lot we really use the carte orange.
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