Paris tourist passes are a way to save money. Is this statement true or not? Travel companions, you have plans to visit Paris, you are putting together an itinerary with attractions to see, activities you want to do, and surely you have come up with the question that assails us all at those times, will it be convenient for me to use a tourist pass on my trip to Paris?
If you are still in the stage of putting together “what to see in Paris”, we have a post with a 3-day itinerary which is adaptable to the number of days you dedicate to the city of light.
But we continue, or rather we begin to clarify a little the subject of tourist passes in Paris.
Indice:
Can I save money by purchasing tourist passes in Paris?
Let’s make a clarification before continuing, and it should be taken into account before you start thinking about a pass. Paris museums have a free admission day, usually the first Sunday of the month, and children under 18 and EU members under 26 have free entry to most of them. ( See information )
Let’s continue now, with these exceptions, with the explanation. And we go to the recurring question: Do you need a tourist pass in Paris? Do I save money with them?
The answer to this question will depend on several factors, and what type of traveler you are:
► If you want to visit several attractions and save on them
►If you want to visit several museums and save on them
► If you just want to save on public transport because you will use it a lot
What types of tourist passes are there in Paris?
Here we will see the most popular Paris tourist passes, and the differences in how each one is used.
We have the Paris Pass, Go Paris Explorer Pass, Paris Visite, Passe Navigo, Museum Passand Paris PassLib. There are marked differences between them, and there are some that include others in their purchase, so we will go into detail.
Which pass is right for me?
Let’s get to know them using practical examples of the type of visit you will make to Paris. Let’s imagine five different travelers:
Traveler 1: You’re going to walk a lot, you won’t use the metro much, except for some transfers, you’re not that interested in museums, you’re looking for free visits more than anything, and perhaps paying an entrance fee to go up the Eiffel Tower.
It is not advisable to get a pass in this case, as most of them do not include the Eiffel Tower, at least at the moment. Remember that these things vary and you should always check the official websites. You will probably not make good use of any of the passes, and they may not be a good option for you.
Traveler 2: You will use the subway a lot, and all public transportation, you will make many transfers although you are not interested in visiting museums or attractions and you are looking for free activities.
You are then looking for savings only on transport. To save on transport, the Paris Visite is ideal. It offers day passes from 1 to 5. The other pass option to save on transportation is the Passe Navigo, it is the pass used by Parisians, it offers weekly and monthly passes. We’ll detail each pass below.
Traveler 3: You are a traveler who wants to visit as many museums as possible, although you are not interested in taking tourist buses, boat rides on the Seine, or climbing the Eiffel Tower.
Perhaps the Museum Pass is the most suitable pass for you. A saving on tickets to museums is what you are looking for and this pass gives you it. The Museum Pass, although it is also included in other passes that we will see later, can be purchased separately.
Traveler 4: You want to visit some attractions that you have in mind, you don’t want to be in a hurry and you want to spread those visits over several days.
Perhaps the Go Explorer Pass and Paris Passlibb are the options to choose from. Both passes offer you a choice of a number of attractions to do during your stay, ranging from 2 to 7, and can be a good option if the places you want to visit are included in them. We explain it in detail below
Traveler 5: you are a traveler who wants to visit many museums and many attractions, you are tireless, you have a series of days to do it and you are going to squeeze them.
The Paris Pass is perhaps the most suitable. The Paris Pass offers you a day pass to visit all the attractions included in the pass within those days, 2, 4 or 6. You also have the Museum Pass included with this pass. IMPORTANT: The Paris Museum Pass is no longer included with the 2 and 3 day Paris Passes, but in the 4 and 6 day Passes, these things change constantly, so I repeat: always check the official pages!! (December 2022) IMPORTANT: no longer includes transportation. (October 2021). Passes are constantly evolving, so before buying it, check the attractions on The Paris Pass website for the attractions including prices.
↓Details of each Paris sightseeing pass↓
We are going to detail in broad strokes what each of them offers.
Paris Visite
Paris Visite. It’s a good way to save on transportation if you’re going to use it a lot. It offers passes of 1, 2, 3 and 5 days, and which zones you choose to have access to (from 1 to 3, or from 1 to 5) the first option of zones is to move around the center of Paris, and the second to use to the airports, Versailles or Disneyland Paris. Prices in 2023 range from €12.80 to €70.30. With it you get an unlimited transport pass for the number of days chosen, keep in mind that the days are counted as full days regardless of the time at which it begins to be used.
To know if you will get the most out of it, estimate how many trips you will make per day, taking into account that an individual metro ticket without a pass costs €1.90, and a group of 10 tickets costs €16.90 for zones 1 to 3. The Paris Visite is only advisable if you are going to use the metro or other public transport a lot. It includes the metro, RER trains, buses, trams, SNCF trains, and the Montmartre funicular.
Passe Navigo
There is another transport pass widely used by Parisians which is the Passe Navigo, the difference is that it offers weekly or monthly passes. The validity of the weekly pass is always from Monday to Sunday, not being able to complete the week for example from Wednesday to Tuesday, and you may not use it well if you go for fewer days to Paris, the prices for those that include from zone 1 to zone 5 (center and transfers to airports, Versailles or Disneyland Paris, It is € 30 for the weekly and € 84.10 for the monthly. Keep in mind that if you buy it up to and including Thursday you use it until Sunday, but cards purchased on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will not take effect until Monday morning of the following week. The Passe Navigo can be purchased at all metro stations, train stations and at Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports . You must bring a photo to get the card and it has a one-time cost of €5. The Navigo Pass is advisable if you are going to use the metro or other public transport a lot. It includes metro, trains, buses, and trams.
Museum Pass
Museum Pass. If your priority is to visit many museums and monuments, the Museum Pass is perhaps a good option. Although it comes with the Paris Pass, it is also sold separately. You have access to more than 50 museums and monuments, including the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe, the Palace of Versailles, the Pantheon, and the Centre Pompidou. This pass works by days, being able to visit everything including the number of consecutive days for which you have purchased the pass, 2, 4, or 6. Prices range from €55 to €85. Before purchasing it, take out the account of what you will add by buying the tickets individually for the places that you are actually going to visit during your stay and compare it with the price of the pass.
Please note: most museums are free for people under 18 in general and for under 26s who are members of the EU.
Go Paris Explorer
Go Paris Explorer. The Go Paris Explorer comes in two modalities, day pass and attraction pass. If you’re looking to visit a few specific attractions without running around, the Paris Explorer Attractions Pass is a good option. You can choose from 3, 4, 5 or 7 attractions from a list of available activities. It gives you 60 days from activation to distribute the visits you want to make of those 3, 4, 5 or 7 that you have chosen. Prices range from €84 to €269
Paris Passlib
Paris PassLib is the pass of the Paris Tourist Office. It comes in four different options, Mini, City, Explore, and Explore+. The activities must not be carried out on consecutive days and you have a period of one year to use them from their activation.
In the Mini option you have 3 activities to choose from among 14 options, these do not include the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre museum. The 2023 price is €45
In the City option you can choose 5 activities from 33 options. The price for 2023 is €99
In the Explore option you can choose 6 activities from 38. The price for 2023 is €169
The Paris Passlib Explore + option is presented with a choice of 7 activities as well but to choose from 76 options. The price 2023 is €249
As I always say, check all the information about included activities, prices, usage times, on the official websites of each pass, because the options really change as the months go by. I always leave the links for each option on the blog.
Paris Pass
Paris Pass is the star of passes, although this does not mean that it is the right one for you. As we said at the beginning, think about what you will do mostly, and then do the math well to see if you will make it profitable. The Paris Pass includes the Museum Pass in the 4 and 6-day passes, which makes it possible for you to visit many attractions in a few days, and want to enter several museums, this is perhaps the most suitable pass for you. This pass is presented with the option of a day, 2,3,4 or 6-day pass, with 60 attraction options. We repeat, in these cases they are consecutive days and calendar days. Prices for 2023 range from €90 to €229.
Conclusion
We have given a brief overview of the most commonly used tourist passes in Paris. From this range of options, we must decide which one is ideal for us. As we said at the beginning, take a good look at what type of traveller you are and what activities you are going to do most in Paris to know whether to choose a pass or not, and if so, which one will best suit our trip.
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NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links
