Paris METRO zone question
 

I'm staying at a hotel that is near the end of line 13 (Gabriel Peri). I know that I can use 1 ticket to get there. However, do I need 2 ticket to get to zone 1 (the usual tourist areas)? How does this change if I get a carte mobilis (day pass)?

I suppose I have the same question for visiting the Arch at La Defence...

http://www.ratp.fr/en/upload/docs/ap..._transport.pdf

This is in french of course, but the Paris Centre is a huge area all covered by the standard metro ticket.

Paris is a great walking city too. We always just buy the 'carnet' option which is 10 tickets for 13.30 euros. We've never come close to the value of the pass on one of our trips. The convenience is nice and you may value that over time to buy another carnet when you run thru the first one.

You have a slightly complex situation where single tickets are valid throughout the metro network, regardless of zone, but on the RER only within zone 1. So, for example, if you want to go to the Grande Arche, you can use a standard single to go on line 1 of the metro, but you need a more expensive ticket to catch RER line A or the train from St Lazare.

With the mobilis, the minimum zones are 1-2. All metro stations are considered to be i these zones, even if an adjoining RER station is in zone 3 (again, Grande Arche de la Defense).

I think you're right to consider the mobilis rather than the poor value Paris Visite, which tends to get pushed rather harder.

Thank you doglover and Stut for your answers. I feel better now for booking hotels way out in the suburbs...

So I guess the "zones" listed in the RATP map are to define prices (# of tickets) for bus and RER only...

What is the actual name of the metro station you will use for access to your hotel?

My hotel (Ibis) is at 10 Bis Rue du Chateau, Asnieres-sur-Seine 92600.

According to google map and RATP's website for direction, the METRO stop is
Gabriel Péri, the 3rd stop on the northwestern branch of Line 13. Just north of the river. That is why I asked about the zones...

The hotel is a 1.2km walk from the station to the hotel, but the price is very good for this hotel (I paid $121 for the 2 weekend nights in June)

Ah, but that's right nextdoor to Asnieres-sur-Seine railway station. If you have a Z1-3 ticket, then you can use the train service to Paris St Lazare (every 6 minutes, takes 6-8 minutes). You can also get to La Défense (and Versailles, for that matter...) with a simple change at Becon-les-Bruyeres.

Is that $121 for both nights or each? is that a prepaid rate?

Yes, 2 nights (~$60usd per night!). I thought it was a really good rate found on hotels.com. I booked this several months ago, but the same rate was available as late as 2 weeks ago. However, it is sold out now. I also should note that I have May 31 - June 2 (2 nights). May 30-31 (the thursday night before) rate was almost double! So I am staying at another hotel off Line 13. In case you were wondering, that hotel (Parc Even) had a great rate before May 31, but not for the complete 3 nights I wanted, so I split the reservation...I will waste some time repacking...(I'm "backpacking", so the repacking/hotel change won't be a big disruption).

Stut, thanks for that tip. I do know there is a train station very close to the hotel. I found very little explanation/discussions on Paris tourist blogs/forums regarding RER other than getting to/from CDG.
(I assume the train service you described above is part of the RER system?)

So, what you are saying is that if I have a Carte Mobilis Z1-3, I can use the Metro and RER to/from my hotel? Also, I assume that I can conveniently get from my hotel to CDG (I know it is in zone 5)? Or do you mean my normal METRO tickets work on the train?

Edit: I just looked up the RER map and can't find the Asnieres-sur-Seine station... I think that is a SNCF Transilien station, which I have no idea if it is part of the same ticketing system... however, I am researching this and may end up using it for my visit to Paris. Thanks again.

Getting to a metro station will be cheapest. I took the train to Saint Lazare from Becon-les-Bruyeres and the fare was 2.60 euros.

In 9 days in Paris my wife and I will go thru 4 carnets. The cost of a 9 day pass for 2 people would be nearly double. It really depends on how often you plan to ride.

Correct, it's part of the Transilien train network, but outside of the RER. The ticketing system is fully integrated. As it's outside zone 2, you can't use the "ticket t+" carnets for single fares, like on the metro, but if you have a Z1-3 Mobilis, that will be valid.

The 1-3 Mobilis is 8€80, so that's 7 carnet tickets. But only you can decide whether the convenience is worth it!

If the Carte Mobilis works on this train, I am sure I will get the Z1-3 day pass for at least one of the days I am there. This will save me ~2km of (needless) walking each day!

Yes, definitely valid on the train (I have some friends who lived near Pont Cardinet station, so I used to use this line regularly, albeit within Paris). Just make sure, when headed out of Paris, that you're on the right train! The destination will normally be Ermont Eaubonne, Maisons Lafitte or Nanterre-Universite, but check the stop list at the platform entrance.

I would like to tag on a question here, since I can't figure out how to check the RATP site...

From my hotel in Asnieres-sur-Seine, how much would it cost to take the "train" into Paris, then transfer (a new ticket?) to RER-B to CDG airport?

I did a little more googling, and would like some clarification:

The Carte Mobilis:

The 3 day Z1-3 Paris Visit Pass is 23,40 €. Will this work on the train to/from Asnieres-sur-Seine? I am not getting train travel clearly defined on most of the googled websites I am reading about tickets/passes, so I am very unsure...It is claimed that RATP and SNCF trains are covered by this pass...

The daily rate of the Carte Mobilis is 8,8€ (26.4€ for 3 days). So the Paris Visit Pass (3 days, zone 1-3) is a better deal for me? Also, I plan on going up to the Arc de Triomphe, so the discount helps a little.

One ticket will do you - I can't find the fare right now, I'm afraid, but it's similar or same as the fare from central Paris. Downside is that it's a slightly annoying route, with two convoluted changes. It may be easier to use the Roissybus shuttle to/from rue Scribe, and walk the 5-10 minutes to St Lazare from there, depending on your luggage and the time of day.

And yes, if it's 3 days then the Paris Visite is a good deal. The RATP site isn't clear, but if you dig into the detail, it is accepted on Transilien SNCF services, not just RER SNCF services, so you would be OK to Asnieres.

I am back. I want to confirm/answer some of the questions I asked, and then ask another one...

Yes, the Mobilis and the Visite Paris pass both worked well on the Transilien/SNCF train. It was explained clearly in the literatures and ticket sale machines in Paris.

The Mobilis 2-zone pass was €6.6 per day and 3-zone was €8.8.
The Visite Paris pass for 3-zone for 3 days was €23.4

I ended up buying the 3-zone Visite Paris pass for €23.4 cuz it was cheaper than the 3 days of Mobilis pass and I wanted to visit the Montparnasse tower (30% discount = €3.5 off) and Arche de triomphe (20% off = ~€2), so it was by far the better deal.
Also, as expected, I was dead tired by the time I got to Paris, and the weather wasn't perfect, so I rode on various buses almost all 3 days I was there. That was pretty fun too.

(I may be off by a few tenths of Euro in some of the prices above).

Question: I learned (the hard way!) that the visite Paris pass expires at/near midnight. On my last night, I stayed at the Grand Arche (La Defence) too late, taking photos, and was denied getting on the subway. I ended up having to buy tickets. The price for individual tickets were €2.7, while 10 was €20.xx. The next day, I asked the lady at the subway, but she was not able to explain to me the significance or difference of these tickets from La Defence. Why are they so much more expensive compared to individual/carnets at regular Paris subway ticket machines? Do they have special usage I can take advantage of? (in hindsight, I should of brought only 1 instead of 10....)

One interesting tangental story: I not only lost usage of my Visite Paris pass to get back to my hotel beside Asnieres-sur-Seine train station, I missed the last train from St. Lazare. I know there is an ~hourly night bus, but I literally missed it by 15 seconds at St. Lazare station. Not wanting to wait another hour or so (it was 1:20am by then), I decided to take the subway to Gabriel Peri and jog the 1.2km to my hotel. Of course, with my luck, when I got to the station exit, google map on my phone didn't work for some reason, and I have no idea how to get to my hotel. But luckily, after trying to explain my situation to a bunch of RATP employees, and trying desperately to get them to at least point me in the direction of the train station, one of them stylishly tossed his cigarette, pointed at his company car and then drove me to my hotel!

Another unrelated note: MacDonald Cafe Macaroons in Paris are quite good, especially considering their price! (I brought a dozen for €10.) Much much better than the free ones at the Air France Lounge at Terminal 2e. :-)

La Defense station is in a weird situation. The RER/SNCF is in zone 3, so is outside the central Paris ticketing area, hence te extra cost. However, the metro part of the station is considered to be in zone 2, because it's the metro. If you want to buy a "ticket t+" carnet, as opposed to the more expensive z3-z1 one, you have to go to the metro part of the station.

Sounds like you had a great trip, though!

No, it does not: its validity starts at 05.30 and ends at 5.30 on the next day. At least, this is according to RATP site.

http://www.ratp.fr/fr/ratp/c_22599/paris-visite/

I quote:
Paris Visite est un forfait valable 1, 2, 3 ou 5 jours consécutifs sur les zones 1 à 3 ou 1 à 5 (Attention: la journée commence à 5h30 et se termine à 5h30 le lendemain).

Hmmm, the pass was working great all day saturday, until I tried getting through the SNCF gate at La Defence. I then tried the ticket at the other side - the Metro station side, and it didn't work either.

Perhaps I somehow invalidated the ticket by putting it through the SNCF ticket gate?

This was some time between 12:30am (technically sunday) and 1am.

I did have a great trip!

So, I have these white tickets with the M, RER, and SNCF logos on it (no "t"). Also printed on it "La Defence". So can I use these tickets for something extra that the regular "t" tickets can't do? Or are the tickets the same, but simply cost more because of where I brought them? Also, I first tried buying the tickets at the SNCF ticket machines, which gave me the initial sticker shock of 2.7 for 1 ticket and 20.x for 10. Then I walked ~50 feet toward the METRO side and got quoted the same price on the older RATP machines with the big rolling pin.

Hmm, I'd say it shouldn've been, but you could've triggered their 'time restriction' system (there is a time limit imposed on each 'period' ticket, meaning such a ticket, once used, can only be used next time in 10 or so minutes, so to prevent it from been used by more than one person). RER and Metro are two different systems and theoretically no such restriction should exist in your case, but who knows...

P.S. RER line A is not SNCF, it's managed by RATP, as is metro. I presume you tried to get access to the RER station...

I arrived at La Defence via METRO shortly after midnight. Spent 15 minutes walking around the Arche, then tried to get in the train station. (I previously looked at a train map and believe there is a train that goes from La Defence to St. Lazare, passing through my stop) I believe it was the SNCF (Transillian) gate, but it may be the RER gate...maybe they were the same gate? Anyway, I put the ticket it, and I heard a buzz, and the gate didn't open. So I tried again, and it did the same thing, with a red stop sign lighting up. I walked over to the Metro gate and it gave the same red stop sign... People were hopping over the gates left and right at that point, and I was temped to do the same (but did not). So I went and brought Euro 20 worth of tickets.... I did not think of the system having some sort of double-usage prevention.... I threw the ticket away thinking I was wrong about the expiration time of my VISITE Paris pass... Oh well, a Euro 20 mistake.

Was purchasing the tickets an issue without a chip and pin CC?

Also if I am staying at the Marriott Champs Elysees will I need to take the subway to a lot of the tourist attractions (Louve, Seine, Eifel Tower, etc.).
Should I wait until I get there or is there an advantage to buying a head of time?

I have purchased a 3 day museum pass as an FYI.

I have a chipped credit card, and I brought my 3-day VISITE PARIS pass from a metro ticket agent (a person), so I can't answer your initial question.

I see no good reason to buy the museum pass ahead of time. As far as I can tell, most of those museums will sell you the pass the same way you buy the regular admission ticket. I did find that getting in some of the places faster with the pass. I brought mine when visiting Versailles. Another reason is: If for whatever reason (sickness, energy, weather), one of your party doesn't want to visit all those places, then you wasted your money.

Walking between the sights: It really depends on your ability and interest in hiking. I've walked a lot in past Paris trips (and this one), but for most tourist, walking from, for example, the Eifel tower to any of the other big tourist attraction is far. i would recommend instead to use the subway to conserve energy and time. If you get a 2 zone day pass for Euro6.6, you don't have to worry about transit cost and just take the fairly simply subway system to where ever you need to go. If you are visiting in the summer, Paris is humid (compared to Portland), so you will get sweaty.

Regarding your museum pass: Are you sure you have a 3 day pass? I think they only sell 2 and 4 and 6 day passes... You must visit Palace of Versailles to make it worthwhile to get your money's worth, since it is by far the most expensive ticket on the list. Other must see places on the museum pass (my opinion of course):
Arc du Triomphe - the view up top at night is very nice
Tower of Notre Dame - the view up top is also very nice. long line up, and the pass doesn't help.... so go early!
Pantheon - Impressive building inside and out.
Orsay Museum - Not counting the art, I think this museum is the prettiest of them all...but no camera allowed!

There are so many other museums on the Pass, and you should pick the ones that really interest you. I am not the biggest art or museum fan, but I walked through most of them on my previous Paris trip and found them to be satisfying just to see the inside of the building. Most are in the central tourist area.

Thanks for the advice. I lived for 30 years in Houston, TX so humidity is not too big of an issue.

Meant 2 day pass and it was the Paris City Passport. Was linked on another thread and will be at the hotel waiting on us.

For 9 days, it would probably be easier to buy a zone 1-2 Navigo for one week (around 21EUR each, if I remember correctly + a one-time 5EUR for the card itself) and then a carnet for the extra two days. That would cost you about the same but gives increased convenience. Might even be a few EUR cheaper.

You are going to want to take the subway (and I also suggest using buses) to get around Paris. It would take most of an hour to walk from the Arc to the Louvre, longer to the Musee d'Orsay. Paris is a great walking city but public transport is too good and relatively too inexpensive to waste valuable time walking from one place to another.

One big advantage of the carnet is that they never expire, so any left over can be used next time.

We're just back from a couple of days in Paris and we used carnets my parents probably bought in the 1980s. They worked perfectly. Ironically, carnets left over from last year, did not work. However, we were able to exchange them for working ones at the Info booth.

Very funny. Were there yellow?

It could be. But I don't know if the colour had changed over the years. They were simpler (in appearance) than the new ones.

my recollection of my first trip to paris in the late 70s is that the carnet tickets were blue...but that was many passports ago.....i didn't know they didn't expire, as I have several yellow ones left over from 2011!! thanks!