Our this past winter break, the Michael W Travels family flew to Paris. Kim and I had both previously visited Paris (separately) around 18 years back.
We were both excited to return to the city for a visit together and with our kids, Lucas and Theo. (During the trip we also visited Nice and Monaco for the first time.)
Paris is a pretty large city divided up into 20 arrondissements. Getting from one area to the next can be time consuming.
Luckily, the Paris Metro is really efficient, reliable and affordable.
Trains tend to come every 4-9 minutes, give or take. If you miss a train, there’s no need to worry. (I think during our trip, we missed the train and waited longer than 5 minutes.)
A single ride ticket on the Paris Metro will set you back 1.90€ (around $2.16 US). Tickets are good on the metro, buses and even the Montmartre funicular!
While around $2 per ride is fair, the costs can add up when you need to purchase multiple tickets. (We needed two adult tickets per ride and one children’s ticket for Lucas which was half the price with the option I mention below.)
We wondered if there was a way to save during the times we needed to use the Paris Metro.
Tip: One option to save time, was to take Uber for short trips. However, this wasn’t really cheaper. I’d say short Uber rides may’ve set us back an extra $1-3 while saving us a walk to a Metro station, waiting time and then getting us to our destination at the stop.
After a quick look at the Paris Metro ticket options, we decided that a day pass wasn’t worth it for us. I don’t recall the exact price, but I think you’d need to take four rides in a day to make it worthwhile.
The best option for our visit was to buy a discounted carnet (book) of 10 tickets. When purchasing 10 tickets at a time, the cost drops significantly.
The book of 10 tickets cost 14.90€. At 1.49€ per ride each ride now costs $1.69US, which comes to a savings of .47¢ each time you step on the Paris Metro!
A kids (4-10 years old) book of 10 tickets costs half the price at 7.45€.
Will you get rich over these savings? No, but you can use the savings to buy some delicious French macarons!
Another thing to keep in mind when you purchase a book of 10 tickets is that you can share them. It isn’t like you get a card good for one swipe per set amount of time. So if you’re visiting Paris with a friend for a few days, you can purchase one book and then decide later if you need more tickets.
Do you have any money saving transportation tips to share? If so, let us know in the comments below.
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If you haven’t yet signed up for an Uber account, consider using my link and you’ll get $5 off your first ride. (After you take your ride, I’ll get credit too.)
The carnet tickets (#10 of them) are also valid on the buses.
Yes, valid on buses and more you have 90 minutes to use your ticket on different lines of buses, but never the same line twice during this period.
Take the public bus in Paris instead of the metro. Great to get around and can see the sights at the same time. Good if you get a day or multiple day pass. Can also usually get a seat. Also most bus stops tell you when the next bus is coming.