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- the connoisseur's guide to France
IMPORTANT:
Covid pass
Update 2024. There are currently no
covid-related
restrictions on visitors entering France, but the situation could
change at any moment in the event of a new outbreak. Visitors are
therefore advised to make sure that they are fully protected against
covid, before traveling.
Visitor passes
There's a massive amount of advertising on the Internet to
encourage
anyone interested in visiting Paris to buy a tourist pass. For some
visitors, a pass will definitely be worth having; but for others a pass
is quite unnecessary. Check out the pros and the cons with
this clear guide.
Visitor
passes are not essential, but they are
very valuable
You
will
want a pass if....
You value your limited time in Paris, and don't want to waste too much
time standing in queues.
With a Paris tourist pass in your pocket, you can "skip the lines",
i.e. avoid most of the queues that form outside the entrance to all the
main monuments and museums... and that can mean litterally saving
several hours of queueing if you visit Paris during a popular period.
If you value your time, you'll value a pass.
There are several different Paris visitor passes available.
To find the one that's best for your needs
►: Jump straight to
the
Pass
Comparer
Visitors who take a full pass including travel can
also just walk on to buses and
metros, saving even more time.
You
will not
need a pass if...
You have all the time in the world while visiting
Paris. If you're not pressed for time while in Paris, or don't want to
visit a lot of monuments, attractions and museums in a short space of
time, there's no point in buying a pass unless you still want to avoid
queuing for tickets at the main museums or monuments.
If you plan to visit just a couple of attractions
or museums in a day, or want to spend a whole day in the Louvre or
taking a trip out to Versailles, for example, it will be a lot
cheaper to buy tickets individually. You can buy print@home
e-tickets on the official sites for the
Louvre
or the
Musée
d'Orsay : to visit Versailles, you can buy a
half-day
coach tour from Paris City Vision, or make your own way to
Versailles by RER train.
Ticket queues
and security queues
Even if you have a pass, you may need to queue to get past security...
or just to show the pass. But you won't need to waste time standing in
a line to buy a
ticket for each visit you make . If you have a combined transport
and attractions pass, you won't have the hassle of needing to buy a
ticket each
time you take public transport.
Compare the main different Paris Passes:
2025 prices
- Paris
Essentials
: Recommended
by About-France.com The cheapest of
the all-in-one pass: 17 top attractions, including museums
(Louvre, Orsay etc.) , Eiffel Tower, and
sightseeing. Adult passes start at 119.90 € for a single day. Check
out or buy
- Paris
City
Pass
: Recommended
by About-France.com The best value of
the all-in-one pass:
over 60 attractions including museums (Louvre, Orsay etc.) and
sightseeing. Adult passes start at 139.90 € for two days. Check
out or buy.
- Go City
Paris inclusive
: Check
out or buy . More attractions to choose from, but
most of the additional ones are less known and others are outside Paris
- Go
City Paris explorer:
Provides access
to between 2 and 7 attractions only; includes a Disneyland
option More
info here
- Paris
Pass'Lib. Access to between 3 and 6 attractions only, to
be chosen from a list. Four tarifs with different lists.
- Paris
visite: Travel only -
just a Paris public transport pass.
2 day adult pass zones 1-3: 19.50 € More
info here
- Paris
Museum pass : Museums only : just gives entry into the
main museums
(Louvre, Orsay etc.) 2 day pass 52 € . More
info here
Compare
Paris passes for content and standard prices - updated as of January
2024
Important: think what
you can do in a day! Few visitors can manage more
than five attractions in one day!
Website |
Paris Essentials
from Turbopass |
Paris
City Pass
from Turbopass |
Go
City Paris "all inclusive" or 畅
游包 |
Go City Paris explorer |
Paris Museum Pass
|
|
Number of attractions included
(approximately) |
17
essential
attractions |
Over
60 attractions
|
90
attractions |
From 3 to 7
|
Over
50 museums |
|
Cheapest offer
for 2 adults |
239.80
€uros |
278.80
€uros |
378
€uros |
208
€uros |
140
€ |
|
Transport
(= metro,
city buses) |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
|
Main
museums and attractions |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Options |
Yes |
|
Eiffel
Tower |
Elevator
to
second floor |
Option
- Elevator to
second floor |
Climb
on foot (674 stairs) to the second floor.
Reservations
- subject to availability |
Option - Elevator to second floor
Reservations required
- subject to availability |
|
|
Seine
river cruise |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Option |
No |
|
Hop-on
hop-off tour bus |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Option |
No |
|
Monet
museum |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Prices
- single day pass |
Adult
: 119.90 €
Youth 12-17: 59.90 €
Child 4-11 : 29.90 € |
Not
offered |
Not
offered |
|
|
|
Prices
2 Days |
Adult
: 139.90 €
Youth 12-17: 75.00 €
Child 4-11 : 29.90 € |
Adult
: 139.90 €
Youth 12-17: 59.90 €
Child 4-11 : 29.90 € |
Adult
18+
: 189 €
Child 2 - 17 : 94 € |
Passes
valid 60 days
Adult rates:
From 104 € for three attractions, to 269 € for 7 attractions
Child rates (up to 17)
From 89 € for three attractions, to 249 € for 7 attractions.
Includes Disneyland |
Passes
valid for 2 days, 4 days or 6 days. One entry to
each museum.
70 € for 2 days
90 € for 4 days
110 € for 6 days |
|
Prices
3 Days |
Adult
: 159.90 €
Youth 12-17: 85.00 €
Child 4-11 : 55.00 € |
Adult
: 169.90 €
Youth : 69.90 €
Child : 39.90 € |
Adult
18+
: 224 €
Child 2 - 17 : 109 € |
|
Also
available |
4
days (Adult 189.90 €)
5 days (Adult 199.90 €)
6 days (Adult 209.90 €) |
4
days (Adult 189.90 €)
5 days (Adult 219.90 €
6 days (Adult 229.90 €) |
4
days (Adult 264 €)
6 days (Adult 309 €) |
|
Info
and
buy |
Paris
Essentials
Use code Aboutfrance
|
Paris
City Pass
5% special
discount when you book from About-France.com. Code Aboutfrance
|
Go
City Paris
Buy online in advance |
Go
City Paris explorer
|
Paris Museum Pass |
|
Note: Most
passes are offered for periods of 2 days, 3 days, 4 days,
sometimes 5 days, and 6 days. The Paris Pass'lib is also
available for just one day, this "mini" version just
includes the hop-on tour bus and a Seine river cruise; but at
40 € for one adult, it is 20% more expensive than the Combo
bus
tour + Seine cruise offered by Paris City Vision
IMPORTANT: Eiffel Tower :
Access
to the top of the tower must always
be purchased separately, or as part of certain specific
tours .
See
Eiffel
Tower
information.
The passes in more detail....
- The Go
City Pass
, and the Paris
City Pass
These
include attractions and Seine
cruise
These are both general limited-time passes for museums and
attractions.
All these passes include a
Seine river cruise,
a free Paris guide
book,
and
lots more - but no Eiffel Tower lifts / elevators. These may be
purchased as optional extras. For key locations, users should book
their time slots in advance.
- Buy
your pass in advance, and avoid
the queues to get in.
It
is pretty well impossible to visit everything covered by these two
inclusive passes, even with a five or six day pass, as the list of
attractions covered includes several
that are well outside Paris. And
the passes do not include cafés and restuarants where you
will want to
stop off and relax
- Paris
Pass'Lib Culture .
this has replaced the "museum pass". This pass keeps changing. Now it
comes in 2 versions, offering
entry to between 3 and 6 attractions out of a list. With the cheapest
version (35€), choose 3 activities out of a list of 17. With the more
expensive version (75€) choose five out of a list of 18 attractions -
the difference being the Eiffel Tower. A Pass'Lib is valid a year.
- Go City Paris explorer
This may be a good idea if you want to include a
day at Disneyland
Paris, since the 104€ cost of a 3-attraction pass is the same as
the indicated "normal" adult day-ticket to Disneyland alone. (For the
record fixed-date adult day passes for Disneyland Paris cost
between 81€ and 124€ on the Disney
site depending on date). Otherwise, it is mainly useful for people
spending up to two months in Paris,
who
know that they will want to visit certain attractions. Passes
are valid
for between 2 and 7 attractions only.
Take care:
the choice of attractions is capped by a "purse value" which
is
the maximum amount you can use based on the standard gate price for
each attraction. For example, with a 3-choice adult Explorer
costing 119
€, you can visit three attractions the sum of whose
normal ticket prices is not greater than €205... which could include
both Disneyland and Parc Astérix.
One advantage of the Paris Explorer pass is that it can
include the second floor (not the top) of the Eiffel Tower. However, be
warned; the date and time of the Eiffel tower visit has to be booked in
advance, and the claimed 42€ value of the
tour to
the second
flooor of the Eiffel Tower can be misleading. The actual cost of access
to the second floor of the Eiffel tower is not 42€ but just
16.70
€ if you take the elevator (lift), and just 10.50 €
if you walk up (Prices as from 2024) (see
Eiffel
Tower )
-
Paris visite: [Public transport only ]
- Important note: Paris public transport in 2025. Public
transport ticketing for the whole greater Paris area is being radically
overhauled and simplified as from 2nd Jan 2025.
From then on any single train/metro/RER journeywithin greater Paris,
including changes, will cost just €2.50, whatever the distance. A day's
Navigo Jour (Navigo Day) pass will cost €12.50. A single
bus/tram journey will cost €2.20.
The Paris
visite pass covering all modes of transport will continue
to exist, but at a daily price of € 29.90, it will rarely be
an attractive option.
- Until the end of 2024, the following info still applies.
Visitors who plan to use lots of
public transport in Paris but don't want to visit lots of museums and
sites may find that the best or cheapest solution
is to take a visitor's
pass, "Paris
Visite", though this is not necessarily the
case
(see below).
The Paris Visite passes are available on a 1, 2, 3 or 5 day basis, and
cover all types of official public transport in the central area or
central area and suburbs, depending on the option chosen.
Paris
Visite - gives unlimited use of the metro / RER / bus
network for a given numer of days. Prices
start at €13.95 for a one day adult pass covering zones 1 to 3
or 22.65
€uros for 2 days
(As of Jan
2024).
Full details in English, plus downloadable Paris
Metro
and
public transport maps from the official
Paris visitor website. However,
it's worth noting that a two-day Paris visite pass is only worth it if
you plan to do a lot of trips on the metro or buses in a day.
Downloading a
pack of ten individual journey tickets - a "carnet"
- (valid until they are used) from
the machine at any metro station will cost you € 17.90,
whereas buying
a two-day Paris
visite card will cost you €24.30 (see below) . You buy packs
of
tickets from the machines in all stations or, when there is one, from a
ticket booth. Paper tickets are no longer sold, though existing paper
tickets can be used until 2025.
To download tickets or a carnet,
visitors need first to download to their phone a
"Navigo Easy"
pass, which costs 2 €, onto which they can then load individual
tickets, or more sensibly a carnet of ten trips... plus any suburban
travel tickets they may need. Navigo Easy cards are available from all
machines and also in some shops. Each traveller needs his or her own
Navigo Easy card... including kids. So four people travelling together
need four cards, as each will need a card to get through the turnstiles.
Take care... Where
to buy Paris visite pass ?
The simplest is to buy it when
you reach France,
from any Paris area train / metro station, airport, information point
or tourist office. Buy it at the ticket office, not from a ticket
machine
(unless renewing). If you want to buy it on line in advance,
only do so here (official site):
you'll get the tickets at the official price, but you will pay extra
(at least 9 Euros) to have them mailed to you. DO
NOT
purchase in advance from other online websites that sell these tickets
well above the real cost, and charge excessively for delivery too. You
could end up paying double the cost......
- Paris
Museum pass [Museums
only ]
-
giving unlimited admission to some 60
monuments / museums in and around Paris, excluding the Eiffel Tower. Prices
start at 52
€uros for two days or 66€ for four days.
This pass - best
purchased
on the day at
the first museum you visit - does
not
include any transport, so things like Seine river cruises, metro
tickets and sightseeing tours must be purchased separately. See below.
The Paris Museum Pass is included in the Go City inclusive pass and the
Paris City
Pass (see
above).
- Choose
tickets à la carte :
Just buy tickets
for what
you have time to see. Check out sightseeing bus tickets and
river-bus tickets below; check out prices for individual monuments on
their websites, which are listed at the foot of our Paris tourist attractions page.
Tickets for many attractions can now be bought on the
attraction's own website, and with an online ticket (print your own or
on your phone) you don't need to stand in a queue to buy on the spot.
Other
passes:
- Hop-on
hop-off sightseeing bus pass
The Open-Tour
/Cityrama
service, has a choice of hop-on
hop-off passes from 39 € for a one-day pass, and covers four
different routes
(plus
optional Batobus service on the Seine). Alternatively Big
Bus Tours (formerly les Cars Rouges) run open-top
guided tour
buses linking nine major
sites; a two-day
pass costs 45€.
- The
"Batobus" and travel on the Seine.
The Batobus
are river buses that go up and down the Seine from the Eiffel tower to
the quai de Montebello (near Notre Dame). There are 8 stops in all. An
adult
day pass at the start of 2022 costs 19 €, and a 2-day pass
(consecutive days) costs 21
€ per adult.
WHICH PASS BEST SUITS
YOUR NEEDS?
PASSES are
often the easiest solution, but not necessarily the cheapest
way to visit Paris ...
►
Choosing which
pass is best for you, or whether you actually need a pass at all, will
depend untimately on what sights you want to see, what you want to do
in Paris, and how long you are staying. Paris has litterally
hundreds of different tourist sights (see
Paris tourist
attractions),
including museums, monuments, views, places to walk, tours, concert
halls, cabarets, restaurants and cafés. No-one has time to
see
everything. In fact, most tourists, in the space of a short trip to
Paris, can do no more than scratch the surface.
So before choosing a pass, or no pass, ask yourself the
following questions.
- Do
you want to take in at least three paid entry attractions a day
(between monuments, museums, river cruise...) . If so,
the Paris
City Pass is probably your best value option,
- Do you want primarily to visit Paris's world-class museums,
more than other attractions? If so, the Paris Museum Pass
may be your best
solution.
- Do
you want to avoid the big paid-entry sites, with their queues, and
enjoy Paris by visiting smaller museums, taking in Paris's free attractions (including
museums), soaking in the atmosphere of the old
streets
and riverbanks, and enjoying the bars and cafés ?
If so, you
don't
need a pass at all, it would be a waste of money. Just
pay at the entrance to the paid-entry sites you visit, and enjoy the
others for free.
- Do
you plan to use the metro/ trains several times in a day,
including getting to and from your hotel located in central Paris or
the inner suburbs? If so, a
Navigo Jour travel
pass will be your easiest option. As from Jan 2025, it's much cheaper
than the Paris Visite pass... though the latter lets you use
buses
too.
- Do you want to pack in as much as possible in a short space
of time, including the main sights ? If so, the Paris
City Pass is your best value option.. Do you want
to do everything in a day? then the Paris
Essentials pass will be your cheapest option....
But you'll have a pretty hectic day!
- Are
you spending a few weeks in Paris, during which time you'll visit
different attractions in your own time, on different days? Then maybe
the Go city Paris
explorer pass is best suited to your needs.
Copyright
About-France.com 2007 - 2024
2025
The
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Disneyland
Paris... just click
The
best value Paris pass is now even
better
value with the About-France.com special discount
...
Even
before the About-France.com discount, The Paris City pass
is the cheapest of the full Paris visitor passes -
up to nearly 50% cheaper
for children. Prices start at just 29,90 Euros for a two day pass for
children and 139.90 Euros for a two day adult pass
Exceptional....
Get 5% off all passes by booking direct from About-France.com (click
here) and use the discount code "aboutfrance"
In
an emergency
in Paris:
24
hr chemist / pharmacies:
a) 84, av des Champs-Elysées 75008, tel
0145
62 02 41
b) 6, place Clichy 75009, tel
0148
74 65 18 .
English-speaking
pharmacies:
British Pharmacy
62, Avenue des Champs-Elysées
75008 Paris
0143
59 22 52
British-American pharmacy,
1 rue Auber, 75009
0142 65
88 29
English-language
crisis line;
SOS-Help
Daily 3 pm - 11pm
01 46 21 46 46
Ambulance:
Call/phone: 15
Hospitals:
Hertford British Hospital: 3, rue
Barbès, 92300 Levallois-Perret
Tel 0146 39 22 22
American Hospital of Paris
63, Bd Victor Hugo
92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine
0146
41 25 25
Text
and photos © copyright About-France.com 2004-2024