ParisByTrain.com

[bigenna]

Well, I am so glad I found this forum. What a lot of helpful information for a first time visitor to Paris!

Now for the background : My husband and I will arrive at Orly on Monday, Sept. 29th and stay until mid day Friday, October 3rd, where we will depart home from CDG. During that time we will also want to make a trip to Versailles, as well as packing in as much Paris sightseeing as possible. It seems as if the Navigo/Carte Orange Zone 1 - 5 pass would be our best bet at €38 (€33+5). Does that seem logical to you too? And can we just bring our own digital photo or does it have to be done professionally? (color or black and white?)

Our other thoughts were to just pay for both Orly to Paris and Paris to CDG airport journeys and the trip to Versailles separately and then either get carnets of the T+ tickets or the Mobilis Day passes if it looks like we will need to be using transport a lot with Paris.

Thanks for your valuable input.

Anne (also from Canada)

[ben]

Hello Fellow Canadian,

You'd be a perfect candidate for a Pass Navigo Découverte with a 5 zone Carte Orange due to your Monday arrival.

Let me price out single tickets and compare it to the Carte Orange.

Orly (Zone 4) to Paris: 6,30€ (Orlybus)
Paris to Versailles (Zone 4): 5,80€ (2 one way tickets)
Paris to CDG (Zone 5): 8,40€ (RER B)
1 carnet of 10 one way ticket t+: 11,40€

Total: 31,90€

Pass Navigo Découverte with 1 week Carte Orange 5 zone: 38€

The convenience of the Navigo card, to me personally, is worth a lot. Unless another option is significantly cheaper or my visit is surgically planned out, I opt for the pass card.

Paris is dense. Really dense. And it's peppered with stations and bus stops. There are 297 Metro stations and over 1200 bus stops within a 10x10 kilometer area. Thus, your opportunities to take public transport within Paris are immense. And keep in mind that transfers between rail and bus methods are not allowed with single tickets. With the Navigo card, (nearly[*]) everything is covered.

The photo requirements are really lax for the Navigo Découverte cards. (See what I mean here). Any old photo that is small (3.5cm x 2.5cm) will work. Even make a photocopy of a photo of yourself and cut it to size. Have a digital photo of yourself somewhere? Print it out on regular paper, cut it to size and bring it with you.

[*]Orlyval train between Orly West/Orly South and Antony station on the RER B line is not covered by a Carte Orange loaded Pass Navigo / Pass Navigo Découverte. But, you can just take the Orlybus to Denfert Rochereau amongst other options.

[bigenna11]

Thanks Ben.
So the photo we will need for the card can be either colour, or black and white? (or of any Sesame Street character )
And just to get it really clear, we would be able to buy the pass at Orly airport then use it to take the Orlybus to Denfert Rochereau and then transfer to any other mode of transport from there to get us to our hotel? We will be staying near Chatelet les Halles.
Or even better, can we buy the pass earlier than the week we want to use it? We will be in Paris very briefly (one day) on Sept 9th and it woulld really speed up the process at Orly on Sept 29th if we already had the pass and could just validate it for the week we actually start to use it.
Hope to hear from you soon.
(Canada finally got some medals at the Beijing Olympics - yahoo!!)

[ben]

Hi Anne,

Either colour or B/W photos are fine.

I'm double checking with RATP whether the Découverte pass cards are available for purchase within the Orly terminals and I'll get back to you with the answer.

Orlybus, a special express bus for Orly, will take you from either Orly South or Orly West to Denfert Rochereau in southern Paris, making three stops along the way. At Denfert Rochereau you'll need to transfer to the RER B in direction Mitry-Claye or Aeroport Charles de Gaulle, until station Chatelet Les Halles. You could also take Metro Line 4 in direction Porte de Clignancourt to either Chatelet or Les Halles, but it won't be any faster.

You probably already know this, but Google Maps is great for finding your way between your arrival station and your hotel, since all Metro/RER stations are shown on their maps.

If you happen to be passing through Paris you could purchase the pass card itself (for 5€), but not the actual Carte Orange week fare for use far in the future. The earliest you can buy is Thursday for the following Monday.

Having the pass card in hand, even without a Carte Orange week loaded on it, is convenient, if you can use automated ticket machines, which can charge Navigo cards with Carte Orange. It's convenient because you can avoid ticket window lineups by using the automated machines. Unfortunately, unless you have a smart-chip credit card, the machine will most likely not work for you. (My Visa cards from Canada & the US have never worked in these machines, nor at RATP ticket windows, thus keep some Euro bills handy).

I'll get back to you on the Découverte cards,

Ben

[Guest]

Google Maps is great. Now that I look at it, my hotel is actually closer to Metro Etienne Marcel (on Rue du Cygny), so that makes that decision easier. Thanks for the tip.

[ben]

Hi Anne,

Just heard back from RATP. You can purchase the Navigo Découverte cards at the ticket window for the Orlybus at Orly South. I'm guessing that the there's also a ticket window at Orly West, but the person who replied to my query specifically said Orly Sud (South) Orlybus ticket window has the Découverte cards for sale.

Best regards,

Ben

[Guest]

Thanks so much for all the information, Ben. Only 15 days now until we leave on our holiday!!!!
Regards,
Anne

[nebnebis]

Hi
i'm visiting paris for the second time this year on thursday and am staying for a week [thursday to thursday]. I came to paris in april and was there for a month so bought a navigo découverte which i used about 5/6 times a day and saved me a small fortune. i wanted to know if it would be better for me to top it up for a week and then again on the monday or if i should opt for another ticket. it just seems a waste to not use it particularly as it worked so well for me during my last visit.
thanks
ben

[ben]

Hi Ben,

Unfortunately, Thursday is the one day when Carte Orange for Navigo Découverte passes are not sold. Sales for the current week of Carte Orange "abonnements" ends on Wednesday (end of service) and sales recommence on Friday for next week's passes.

If you plan on traveling around a lot during the first few days, grab a Paris Visite card for three days, then top up your Navigo Découverte for the following week (do this before Monday, as the lineups at ticket windows and recharging machines are longer the first day of the week).

If you plan on walking and taking it easy during those first few days, maybe just grab a carnet of single tickets t+.

Best regards,

Ben