Getting around Île-de-France
There are lots of different ways of getting around Paris and the Île-de-France region via public transport - metros, buses, trams, RERs and transiliens (regional trains). Many people who live in the area will have a weekly or monthly navigo card that allows them to take all public transport.
For a lot of people, buying tickets on your phone via the Bonjour RATP app is the easiest, but some people (like me) prefer to have a physical card. For most people who are visiting Paris individual tickets, a day ticket or a weekly ticket is best depending on how often you want to take public transport.
the TL;DR
The short version is:
- metro-RER tickets cost 2,5€
- bus-tram tickets cost 2€
- airport tickets cost 13€ (do not risk trying to get there on a normal ticket, there are often ticket controls at airport stations)
- day tickets cost 12€ for the entire Île-de-France region but exclude airports
Navigo card
In March 2024, I started a project in the Île-de-France area and in most of these article I talk about my navigo card when breaking down the cost of public transport. But what is a navigo? Essentially it’s a travel card that allows you to take all public transport within the Île-de-France region (with a few exceptions). There’s a few different types of navigo (because why make anything simple?).
There are four main types of navigo cards which can be bought at most stations:
- Navigo Easy: it costs 2€ to buy the card, doesn’t have a name on the card and is used to have individual t+ tickets or day tickets. If you’re travelling in a group, every person needs their own card (or phone)
- Navigo Découverte: it costs 5€ to buy the card, is named (you will need to add a photo otherwise you risk getting a fine) and can only have day tickets, a week subscription or a month subscription
- Navigo: for people who live or work in the region, it’s more or less the same as the Découverte but you have to be a resident to get this card.
- Navigo Liberté +: for people who live or work in the region who don’t take public transport enough to justify the weekly or monthly cost. You get charged at the end of the month
Individual tickets and day tickets can be bought directly on your phone without having a physical card, but a weekly and monthly subscription require it to be tied to a physical card.
Additional info can be found here.
ticket t+
As of January 2025 there have been changes to the pricing of the ticket t+. It’s now a fixed 2,5€ for a metro-RER ticket (excluding airports), and 2€ for a bus-tram ticket. Previously the RERs had different pricing depending on the zone, so now it’s much simpler.
These tickets can be bought directly on your phone, or can be loaded onto a navigo card. There is no longer a discount for buying packs of 10, so you can buy the tickets as you need them.
day tickets
Day tickets are available, it costs 12€ for all zones (excluding airports). There is no longer a discounted rate for under 26s.
These tickets can be bought directly on your phone, or can be loaded onto a navigo card.
Airport tickets
Pay attention when it comes to buying airport tickets - there’s often ticket checks at the airport because a lot of people make mistakes here. A normal metro-RER ticket and a day ticket are not valid to get to the airports.
To get to the airport you need a specific airport ticket which costs 13€ or a weekly or monthly navigo. If you are travelling to Paris via an airport a weekly navigo might work out cheaper (a week run from the Monday to Sunday, it’s not a rolling 7 day period).
Weekly
There is a weekly option which costs 31,60€ for all zones. This card is valid from Monday to Sunday. If you charge your navigo from Friday, it will charge the navigo for the following week.
Monthly
It costs 88,80€ per month for all zones. This is valid from the 1st of the month until the end of the month (regardless of when you actually purchased it). If you charge your navigo from the 20th of the month it will charge for the following month. It can be charged either from a station or via the Bonjour RATP app.
This article is to be used as a guide only. Refer to Île-de-France mobility for the latest info regarding pricing, and ticketing options. All pricing mentioned in this article is for a regular adult ticket unless otherwise specified.
If you have any questions, or notice anything that’s outdated, you can reach me via email at contact@abisummers.com or via instagram at @abiguides
Archived pricing
These prices are no longer active
As of January 2025 there have been many changes to the pricing - it's much simpler now. I am keeping the old pricing here so that you can compare the changes.
Zones
The region is broken down into 5 zones, the price of tickets depends on the zone you are travelling in. You can find more details about the zones here.Ticket t+
This covers all transport within zone 1, and can be used on buses & trams outside of zone 1. You can't use these tickets on the RER (unless you're only taking the RER across Paris within zone 1) or transiliens. This is mostly used by people who don't take the metro very often. It costs 2,15€ per ticket, or 17,35 for a pack of 10. (this will be different during the olympics)destination tickets
If you’re looking at getting a ticket between two stations, eg Paris and Versailles, you need to get a ticket from a machine at the station - there’s currently no way of buying this via the app for on a navigo. The direction on the ticket doesn’t matter - say you’re doing a day trip to Versailles and you’re buying paper tickets you can buy both tickets in the morning. The ticket will say Paris Versailles but it can also be used in the other direction as well.
2024 Paris Olympics
there’s been a lot of talk around public transport for the olympics. The ticket t+ are going to be more expensive during this period, however you can charge your navigo easy in advance with these tickets to avoid the 4€ per ticket cost. They have launched a special ticket for this period,
They are also launching a Passe Paris 2024, more info about that can be found here. The pass can be used between the 20th July and 8th September, for 1 day up to 7 days. The pricing starts at 16€ per day, up to 70€ for 7 consecutive days. (which is double what a weekly pass normally costs)
published date: 16th April 2024
updated date: 3rd January 2025
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