ParisByTrain.com

[Vicki]

Hi Ben,
We will be in Paris Dec. 4-11 arriving and departing CDG. Should we buy a Paris Visite for 5 days and then just purchase a carnet as needed? Also purchasing seperate tickets to and from the airport on the RER. I'm trying to figure out the most cost effective way to cover 7 days of transportation. Thanks for your help.
Vicki

[ben]

Hi Vicki,

The most cost effective ticket solution depends on your style of travel/tourism and if you'll be visiting sights outside of central Paris (such as Versailles).

If you like to walk a lot & staying within central Paris
As you're arriving on a Thursday, I would suggest buying return (aller-retour) [urlhttp://parisbytrain.com/billet-ile-de-france-train-ticket/]Billet Ile-de-France tickets[/url] for the RER B to get in and out of Paris (4 tickets x 8,40€ = 33.60€, I'm assuming you're two people). Keep in mind that these tickets will work for connections on the Metro as long as your trip is uninterrupted (thus you can get right to/from your hotel using a single ticket).

Two carnets of Metro tickets (20 tickets for 22,80€) shared between you could cover your travels within Paris. That's basically 5 return trips from your hotel to somewhere in Paris, for each of you.

Total cost: 56,40€

Option 2: Prefer taking transit a lot & are staying within Paris
Again, buy billets Ile-de-France for the RER B from/to the RER B as before (33.60€), but also buy a couple 5 day 3 zone Paris Visite cards (2 x 28,30€) which will cover all of your travels within central Paris on all types of transport, cheaper than you could do so with 5 Ticket Mobilis day tickets.

For the last day before returning to the Airport you could either buy a couple 2 zone Ticket Mobilis (2 x 5,80€) for unlimited travel on Dec. 10.

Total cost: 33,60 + 28,30 + 11,60 = 73,50€


If you're planning visits outside of Paris, you'll need to weigh whether it's worth it to buy a 6 zone Paris Visite (48,80€ each) to cover that, or whether it's more cost effective to buy single billet Ile-de-France tickets for travel outside. The Paris Visite is obviously less hassle, but a waste for making a single trip outside of zone 3.

In the above I'm considering that the first and last days are mostly spent on recuperating and getting to/from the airport which limits tourism possibilites, so you may need to adjust my suggestion...

Best regards,

Ben

[Elke289]

...cheaper than you could do so with 5 Ticket Mobilis day tickets.
For the last day before returning to the Airport you could either buy a couple 2 zone Ticket Mobilis (2 x 5,80€) for unlimited travel on Dec. 10.

I've been reading quite often now of people (tourists) who were denied the Mobilis because they weren't resident in Paris. Does anyone perhaps have info on this?
Thnx

[ben]

Hi Elke,

Mobilis tickets have no requirements of residency. They're available for purchase from vending machines, so, I'm not sure how a machine would enforce that regardless.

Would you happen to have a link to the sites where people are saying the Mobilis ticket is for France residents only? I'd like to set them straight.

Best regards,

Ben

[Elke289]

Hi Ben!
I've read it on Tripadvisor - several people struggling to buy Mobilis from the ticket officer - one officer even saying it's only for French workers! But apparently someone wrote to the RATP and they replied back that it's available to everyone. I assume it depends on whether the person behind the counter is having a bad day! I just thought I'd get some clarification!