The Paris Visite pass is designed to make the Paris Metro a tourist-friendly experience for travelers from abroad. This pass is generally more expensive than buying tickets or one-day passes a la carte, but it gives peace of mind to travelers who don’t speak French or are uncomfortable interacting with the Metro cashiers or ticket machines everyday.
The Paris Visite pass is valid for 1, 2, 3 or 5 consecutive days of unlimited travel on Paris Metro trains, RER, buses, tramways, and the funicular in Montmartre. (On the bus, just show the pass to the driver — don’t feed your ticket to the machine.) The clock starts when you use the pass for the first time. The unlimited travel feature is essential if you’re type of travel who makes outings to several different places in one day.
There are two types of Paris Visite passes: The Zone 1-3 pass for Central Paris (including La Defense in Zone 3), and the Zone 1-5 pass which includes Charles de Gaulle airport, Orly Airport, and the suburbs (Versailles and Disneyland Paris). If you want your pass to cover airport transportation, be sure to buy the Zone 1-5 pass.
The Paris Visite pass has two pieces, and you need both of them in order for the pass to be valid. You will get a pouch with a credit card-sized pass, and a reusable paper ticket with a magnetic strip. There’s a slot on the pass that holds the paper ticket in place.
You must sign the back of the pass, copy the serial number on the pass onto the magnetic paper ticket, and fill in the start date (du) and end date (au) of your pass on the paper ticket. (Hold off on doing this until you’re actually heading to the station for your first ride. You don’t want to start the clock running on your pass until you’re sure you’re about to use it.) The magnetic paper ticket is what you insert (magnetic strip down) to go through the Metro turnstile. You will need to retrieve it from the turnstile every time and put it back into your pouch.
Where to Buy a Paris Visite Pass
You can buy a Paris Visite pass online here from Rail Europe. Travel agencies that sell Rail Europe tickets will also usually have them for sale. If you’re taking the Chunnel from London to Paris, you can get the Paris Visite at the Eurostar terminal at St. Pancras.
In Paris, you can buy them at any Metro, RER or SNCF train station. The Metro ticket machines don’t provide the complete pass, only the paper ticket. You still have to get the pass from a staffed ticket window, so you might as well conduct the whole transaction at a window if you wait to buy your pass upon arrival.
Though it’s not their main selling point, the passes also grant you discounts on certain tours, a coupon for Galeries Lafayette department store, and discounted admission to certain tourist attractions like Les Invalides (Napoleon’s Tomb), the Pantheon and the Arc de Triomphe, and Disneyland Paris (20% off). The Paris Visite should not be confused with the Paris Museum Pass. It does not grant any sort of “skip the line” privileges.
Having a Paris Metro pass can be really convenient. It keeps you from having to wait and line and speak to an attendant every time you want to get somewhere, and saves you frustration if you don’t speak French. (Plus, it spares the local French commuters who would be in line behind you while you try to sort things out.)
It’s hard enough trying to keep your things organized and secure while you navigate Paris as an out-of-towner, a pass is much easier to keep up with than a single paper ticket – and trust me, you DO have to keep up with those paper tickets, even after you board the train. You can be stopped and fined by the Paris transit police for being caught anywhere in the Metro system without one.
You can’t on Metro ticket windows to always be manned. Some Paris Metro stations aren’t staffed with ticket cashiers at all, only self-service machines that take euros (sometimes only euro coins) and debit cards with chips (not the kind we use in the U.S.). It’s better to have a Metro pass on you at all times than to take a chance. And once again, you can avoid being the annoying tourist who holds up the line trying to figure out the machine.
Is the Paris Visite Pass Worth It?
If you don’t have any worries about conducting daily transactions with cashiers or ticket machines in Paris, then buying single ride tickets, multiple 1-day “Mobilis” passes, or a carnet (a book of 10-single ride tickets) would all be cheaper options. But if the thought of this makes you uneasy, then the Paris Visite is an easy solution for you.
Another reason to buy a Paris Visite pass is that it’s the only Paris Metro pass you can buy in advance before you get to Paris. Some travelers prefer to purchase a Metro pass in advance. This allows you to pay for it in U.S. dollar and have it ready to use as soon as you arrive in Paris, and so you can avoid the infamous line at the ticket window at Charles de Gaulle airport. If that appeals to you, then the Paris Visite pass is for you.
