What is Carte Orange?

• A weekly or monthly public transportation “pass” for Paris and the Ile-de-France region.
• Exists in the form of a contactless smartcard known as a Pass Navigo (for residents) or a Pass Navigo Découverte (for non-residents). Formerly, Carte Orange was an actual paper
  card, orange in colour, with personal identification, paired with a coupon like ticket for use in turnstiles for access into fare-paid zones.
• Price varies on zones (1 to 6) and duration purchased. (See a Paris Fare Zone map).
• Valid for RER (regional express trains), Metro (subway), buses, trams, cable cars, and commuter trains.
  Weekly passes are valid from Monday start of services (approx. 5:30am) till Sunday evening last service (approx. 1:30am).
• Monthly passes are valid from first till last day of the month.
• No limit to quantity of voyages on public transportation system while the pass is valid.

Restrictions

• Pass is non-transferable.
• Pass requires bearer’s facial photo and name.
• Carte Orange is not valid on Orlyval shuttle train to Orly Airport.

Buying Carte Orange

• Before Carte Orange can be purchased, one must hold a physical pass card: either a Pass Navigo or a Pass Navigo Découverte.
• Pass Navigo cards are available to individuals with a mailing address within the Ile-de-France. Applications can be made online via Navigo.fr or through letter mail paper application. Cards are delivered to the applicant’s mailing address.
• Pass Navigo Découverte cards are available instantly to anyone for a €5 fee plus a 3cm x 2.5cm facial photograph to be used with the card. Available for purchase at all RATP / SNCF ticket windows at Metro stations and train stations.
• With smart card in hand, Carte Orange can be purchased at most RATP (Paris Transit Authority) ticket windows within Metro, RER, bus stations, or at SNCF (French National Railway Company) “Billet Ile-de-France” ticket windows.
• Carte Orange can also be purchased through automated vending machines (Billetterie Ile-de-France) within train stations and Metro/RER stations, which take coins and smart-chip based credit card/debit cards.
• Weekly Carte Orange (hebdomodaire) is available for purchase from Sunday to Wednesday (close of service). Afterward, only next week’s Carte Orange is available for purchase from Friday (start of service) onward.
• Monthly Carte Orange (mensuel) can be purchased for the current month up until the 19th day of the current month. From the 20th onwards, only next month’s carte orange is available for purchase.

How to use Carte Orange

On the Paris Metro & RER

• After entering the confines of a metro station, approach turnstiles (reserved turnstiles may be used)
• Hold the pass next to the purple circular card reader.
• Wait for a chime sound.
• Pass through the unlocked turnstiles.
• The Pass Navigo card can only be used once every 5 minutes for the same turnstile or direction (prevents multi-person use).

On Buses and Trams

• Enter at either the front or back doors.
• Once on board, find the card reader placed on a pole near the entrance.  Validate the pass by holding the card close to the purple swirl design on its face. Wait till a “chime” sounds and a green light appears at top.

On Transilien/Ter commuter trains

• Validate the pass using standalone card readers throughout station or platform. (Not strictly necessary, but requested by SNCF).
• Show pass to controllers as requested for verification by portable card reading machines.

(Metro/Bus card reader photos courtesy of RATP)

• Metro
• RER (within Zone 1)
• Tramways,
• RATP buses
• Noctilien buses (night bus)
• Optile buses (Paris suburbs)
• Cable car of Montmarte (Funiculaire de Montmarte)

Ticket t is currently priced at 1,70€ for a single ticket (as of July 2011). A package of 10 tickets, a carnet ["car-nay"] costs 12,50€.

The ticket t can be used for transfers, made within 1 hour 30 minutes of first use, only between certain methods of transport and depending on the type of transport used. You cannot mix and match the transfers listed below, each bullet point should be regarded as separate transfer type. For example, you cannot transfer from Metro to Bus. Ticket t transfers are allowed between:

• Metro lines, without exiting the confines of a station, or
• Metro and RER lines, or
• 2 RATP Bus lines, or
• 1 RATP Bus and 1 Optile bus, or
• Tramway and any bus lines that cross it, or
• Noctilien buses (except on Noctilien buses requiring special fares)

Notice that there are no “and”s in the above list. That’s on purpose. You can’t mix any of the above transfer situations.

Special note: single tickets purchased on buses, directly from drivers are often not valid for transfers and appear like this:

With these tickets you will not be able to transfer to another bus nor tramway.

References: RATP

The prices below show weekly prices, based on zones of travel. Most people will want the one of the first four options, which allow travel from central Paris (Zone 1 & 2) to progressively further destinations (Zones 3, 4 and 5). A Navigo pass with Zone 1-5 coverage will include unlimited travel to Orly and CDG airports as well as Paris Disneyland.

(Prices current as of July 2011)

Find out more about the Pass Navigo

Pass valid for 1, 2, 3 or 5 days on Bus, Metro, RER, and Ile-de-France trains (not TGV).

Pass valid on OrlyVal train to Orly Airport (with 5 zone pass).

Price ranges from €9,30 to €51,20 depending on zone coverage and duration (1 to 5 days). Coverage of Central Paris (not incl. airports) for 5 days would be €29,90 adults, €14,95 for children under 11.

(Price schedule courtesy of RATP)

Carte Paris Visite counts days from day of first use, not 24 hour periods. If you arrive at night and use the pass, that will be counted as one day.

Details

The Paris Visite Carte is a 1, 2, 3 or 5 day pass good for either Zones 1 to 3 or 1 to 5 around Paris. If you’re staying just within Paris itself and not venturing out to Chateau Versailles, Chateau Fontainebleau nor Euro Disney, stick with the Zone 1 to 3 card, which will cover all of “central” Paris.  See the Paris Fare Zones Map for more information.

The key difference between the Paris Visite Carte and the Passe Navigo Découverte is the timing. Pass Navigo’s are valid strictly from Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59:59. If you land at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport on Wednesday and buy a week long Pass Navigo Découverte, it will work only up until Sunday midnight. Starting from Thursday, you will not even be able to purchase the card.

Paris Visite cards are good from the day of first use (not time of first use). This means that if you arrive on Thursday evening at 8pm, buy and use a 3 day Paris Visite card, by 1am that night, the card will have “used” an entire day. So to maximize the value of the Paris Visite Card, start using it during the morning. If you’ve arrived in the evening at one of the Paris airports, simply buy a single Ile-de-France ticket from a ticket window that will get you into Paris (€9,10 from CDG, vs. €19,60 for 1 day Paris Visite 5 Zone Card).

In summary, if you’re arriving in Paris on Thursday and want to have a unlimited Paris transit pass for 3 or 5 days, this is the least expensive pass (Mobilis pass may be cheaper for 1 or 2 days dependent on number of zone). In addition, there are discounts for various tourist attractions and services for Paris Visite pass holders, such as 25% off boat tours on the Seine, 20-40% off admission to the Arc de Triomphe, the Opera house, the Pantheon, and other sights and services.

Paris Visite Card Discounts

As of June 2011

• Arc de Triomphe: 20% off
• Dali’s Universe Museum: 6€ instead of 10€
• Branly Museum: 6€ instead of 8,50€
• National Operal House: 5€ instead of 8€
• Pantheon: 25% off
• Bateaux Parisiens: 25% off cruise of Seine river
• Open Tours: 25€ instead of 29€
• Chateau D’auvers sur Oise: 10€ entrance fee instead of 12€
• Chateau de Fontainebleau: 2 Euros off
• Chateau de Vincennes: 25% off
• Disneyland Resort Paris: 20% off a one day pass
• France Miniature: 30% off
• Grevin museum: 30% off
• Cité des Sciences: 6€ entry instead of 8€ on Explora exhibits
• Tour Montparnasse: 35% off
• Provins medieval city: 5€ entrance instead of 9,50€
• Shopping at Galeries Lafayette: 10% off + 1 free bag with minimum purchase
• Show Lido: 50% off t

Links

Paris Visite Fares

Paris Visite Discounts

Smart card for week/month pass valid on bus, metro, RER, Ile-de-France (Transilien) trains (Not TGV)

5€ fee for card itself PLUS:

Navigo Week pass price, valid only from Monday at 00:00 to Sunday 23:59:59 (as of July, 2011)

• 18,85€ for Paris only (Zone 1+2)
• 33,40€ for Paris out to Airports CDG/ORY (up to Zone 5)
• 37,60€ for all zones (up to Zone 6) They have merged zone 5 with zone 6 reducing the maximum cost to 33,40

On sale up until Wednesday, midnight. Next week’s pass, on sale from Friday onwards.

Navigo Month pass price, valid from the first day of the month through till last day of the month (as of July, 2011)

• 62,00€ for Paris only (Zone 1-2)
• 109,90€ for Paris, CDG Airport, Versailles, and Orly (via RER C & Orlybus only. Navigo is not valid for Orlyval train from Antony station on RER B train line).  This Navigo price covers Zones 1-5

Monthly Navigo Passes are on sale from the 20th day of the preceding month. For example, if it’s January 20, you can purchase and apply February Navigo Monthly pass validity to your Navigo card and it will be good up through to February 28/29 (depending on leap year, oh why did I choose a month that has varying length for an example).

Zone Map (PDF)

Pass Navigo Découverte Prices in Detail

Details

The Paris train, metro, RER, tram and bus system uses a smart card called Passe Navigo Découverte for week passes. These passes are open to visitors (see note) as opposed to normal Navigo passes which are for residents of Ile-de-France only.

The Navigo Découverte pass can be purchased for a 5€ fee on top of the regular week pass prices noted above, which varies from 33,40€ for all give zones to 18,85€ for only zones 1 & 2 which covers only Paris. Five zones includes Paris and surrounding suburbs, airports Roissy-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly (ORY), Chateau Versailles, Fontainebleau, Parc Disney. The services included are any metro, RER (suburban) train, buses (RATP/Noctilien/Optile), and trams up to the zone limits of your pass.

The Navigo Découverte is sold at nearly any ticket window that normally sells tickets and passes for the Metro, RER, Ile-de-France trains. You’ll need a smaller than passport size photo to be used on the pass (exact Navigo Decouverte photo size is 3cm tall by 2.5cm wide), plus a pen to write your name. There’s nearly always a photo booth nearby ticket windows at major stations, costing 5€ for a set of four pictures, so be sure to get your photo taken before going to the ticket window where they’ll likely have scissors handy for trimming your freshly minted photo on the pass.

The downside of the pass is its timing. The pass validity starts on Monday morning, first service (usually around 05:30) and ends the following Sunday at last service (metro trains usually arrive at their terminus station around 01:40). If you happen to be arriving mid-week, it may not make financial sense to purchase the pass. After Wednesday midnight, you cannot add zones to the pass for the current week. From Friday onwards you can only purchase zones for the following week.

If you plan on arriving Thursday - Sunday, consider buying a carnet of tickets (book of ten or twenty) that are good for Paris zones 1 & 2, or day passes called Ticket Mobilis. Another option is to buy a Paris Visite card, which is really just a more expensive Mobilis ticket that can be used for a set period of days, starting from whenever you first place the ticket into a turnstile machine. The Paris Visite cards are good for 1, 2, 3 or 5 days and for either zones 1 to 3 or all five zones.

Who can buy a Passe Navigo Découverte?

Some travelers to Paris have been getting hassled by RATP staff into buying a Carte Paris Visite by refusing to sell them a Passe Navigo Découverte.  Please don’t let this happen to you.  You have the right to purchase a Passe Navigo Découverte as outlined in a publication entitled Guide Navigo, published by STIF in October 2008, the parent organization of RATP (Paris Transit Authority).

Page 9 of this document explains that the Passe Navigo Découverte is open to all travelers.  Here is the excerpt:

The translation of the first two points is as follows:

• The pass Navigo Découverte is open to all travelers, residents of Ile-de-France or not, and are allowed to load onto it a Carte Orange subscription.
• It’s purchaseable directly from ticket windows from a [Metro/RER] station or a train station or an authorized resellers at a price of 5€.  It is then issued immediately without formality.

If you are concerned about hassles with purchasing a Passe Navigo Découverte when in Paris and don’t wish to be forced into buying a more expensive Carte Paris Visite, print out Guide Navigo and bring it with you to Paris.  If a ticket seller tells you the Passe Navigo is only for residents, show the guide to the ticket seller.