Transportation Tips In and Around Paris

A party of five is visiting from Madrid, Spain. Should they rent a car, take the RER, take a bus between the airport and Nation? These are questions one normally asks when arriving in a new city. The answer? Share a taxi (van) from G7 sharing: one price (currently 45 euros), one destination, reserve on line. Want to be by yourself? Fixed Taxi Fares

Should they rent a car or take the RER C to Versailles palace: My advice, if you drive, you must find the parking. Less complicated is to buy a Mobilis day-pass ticket and take the RER C to Versailles-Rive Gauche.

Name the scenario, RATP has a solution

Visiting Paris is RATP’s Parisian kit with numerous hints to explore, including a helpful app “without eating up all your data!”. Want to use a top-up style card? Try the Navigo Découverte. Read Ben’s web page on Paris by Train in English for more details on the Découverte and Weekly pass.

The RATP pages below are mostly available in French, English and Spanish. Some include other languages. The RATP is the Régie autonome des transports parisiens and was created in 1949 to insure and oversee all public transportation. Up until 1944, the companies were private enterprises.

RATP information

Tickets and passes catered for you
RATP tickets explained
Planning your itinerary
RATP under 26
RATP apps for smartphones

RATP – Metro Interactive Map
RATP Traffic information (in French only)
RATP Grand Plan Bus avec rues (with streets)
RATP Grand Plan Metro avec rues (with streets)

Airports

Le Bus Direct – Paris Aeroports (Formerly Cars Air France)
Between Paris and The Airports
Back and forth to the airports with buses, trams, RER, shuttle (Charles de Gaulle-Roissy CDG, ORLY, Beauvais)

RER (airports, Versailles, Disney, day trips outside Paris centre, etc.)

- - When using the RER to reach Paris or starting in Paris for another destination (airport, for example) your RER ticket is valid for a metro transfer (but not for a bus transfer). Even if you leave the RER station, your ticket is valid.
  - Transilien/SNCF Website for general route planning outside Paris (available in French, English and Spanish)
    - Really cool page is the “Tourism in Paris and Surrounding Region” – history of châteaux (castles) and directions
    - Accessible stations in 2017
    - Transilien/SNCF map of Ile-de-France network map (includes all RERs)
  - When using the RER to reach Paris or starting in Paris for another destination (airport, for example) your RER ticket is valid for a metro transfer (but not for a bus transfer). Even if you leave the RER station, your ticket is valid.
  - Keywords translated from the Ile-de-France network maps page
  - Agencies SNCF = SNCF Train offices
    Francilien = Ile-de-France
    Gare = train station
    Noctilien = night transport
    Plans = maps
    Réseau = network
    Tarifaires = tarifs
    Téléchargez = download
Find a Taxi
Catch the Montmartre Electric Bus (Montmartrobus)Buying Train Tickets to Italy
How do I get from A to B?

Sightseeing

RATP Open Tour bus – now goes 100% electric (I prefer Open Tour because it is part of RATP and stops at selected, regular bus stops)
RATP History
History of Paris metro names (Metro.Paris – A Ticket for Paris – History of Names from RATP)
Sightseeing in the metro – .pdf document from the old Web site
Archi-bus “promotes contemporary Parisian heritage”. Download the bus maps. The Paris Tourist Office Pyramides may still have hard copy maps.
Paris Tourist Office sightseeing/free tourist guide books are free at their offices or available for download on line.
If you have not been to Paris before and especially with children, it might be fun to see the city from the top of a double decker bus. I recommend L’Open Tour because of its numerous stops along regular bus routes and its scenic routes.

I found that the QR Code Reader on iTunes (free) is very handy for traveling by bus in Paris. Bus stops have a GPS connection and the next two buses register your wait time.

Paying for your ticket

Use Euros in cash or change at the ticket dispenser in the metro. For US credit cards, even with a chip, go to the window.

Credit cards without the smart chip (puce) are permitted at the metro information window. The attendants are getting better with their English to answer your questions.

Ticket t+ tips or passes

The carnet is a pack of ten tickets. The “Ticket t+” are good for Paris transportation: buses, metros, electric bus through Montmartre (Montmartrobus), the tramway, and the RERs within Paris. You have 90 minutes to make transfers using the same ticket from a carnet. Tickets purchased on the bus are not valid for transfers.

If you plan four days in Paris, I would suggest buying the weekly pass Navigo Semaine. Otherwise, the Mobilis (day card) is a great value.

From this station to that station
Metro, RER and Tram information on “RATP News” at the RATP. Follow their tweets at @GroupeRATP

Sightseeing Outside Paris with Transilien (trains) using the Navigo Monthly or Annual Passes or Mobilis

Chateau de Versailles (RER C – Direction Versailles-Rive Gauche) – use the Zone 1-5 Mobilis

Château de Fontainebleau (Train R from Gare de Lyon + shuttle bus) – use the Zone 1-5 Mobilis