Getting Around Paris: The Public Transport Guide (Updated)

Let me say the important thing first: the real beauty of Paris is on the street, in the shifting architecture, the doorways that open onto hidden courtyards, the tall windows with no curtains that let you glimpse a frescoed ceiling. So walk. Walk as much as you possibly can. That is how you fall for Paris.

That said, it is a big city, and when you are tired or crossing town, the public transport network is a blessing, and, since a big 2025 reform, far simpler than it used to be. Here is how it works now. (One warning: a lot of older guides online still describe the old zone-based tickets, which no longer exist, so ignore them.)

The network, metro, RER and suburban trains, trams, buses and the Noctilien night buses, is run under Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), whose app and website plan routes and sell tickets. The operators you will see are RATP and SNCF.

The 2025 fare revolution

On 1 January 2025, Paris abolished its old zone system for single tickets and the familiar little “ticket t+”. In their place are two simple flat fares, valid right across the Île-de-France region (Versailles and Disneyland included), whatever the distance:

• a Métro-Train-RER ticket, around €2.50 (it edges up a little each year, so check the current price), valid on the metro, RER and suburban trains, with unlimited transfers between them for two hours;
• a Bus-Tram ticket, around €2.00, valid on buses and trams with transfers for 90 minutes.

The catch to remember: you cannot transfer between the two networks on a single ticket (metro to bus, say), and neither covers the airports (see below). Buying on board a bus adds a small surcharge, so buy ahead.

How to carry your tickets

The paper tickets are gone. You now load your fares either onto a Navigo Easy card, a reusable contactless card costing a couple of euros that you buy at any station and top up at machines, counters or via the app, or straight onto your phone, through the Île-de-France Mobilités app or Bonjour RATP. Tap in (and, on RER and trains, tap out) at the gates.

If you will take several single journeys, load a carnet of 10 Métro-Train-RER tickets onto your Navigo Easy for a discount of around 20 percent, the modern replacement for the old paper carnet.

Day, week and month passes

If you are hopping on and off all day, a pass may beat singles:

• Navigo Jour (day pass), around €12.30, gives unlimited travel on metro, RER, bus, train and tram across all zones for one calendar day (airports excluded).
• Navigo Semaine (weekly pass), around €30 to €33, runs Monday to Sunday, all zones, and does include the airports, excellent value if your trip spans a full week and you travel a lot.
• For a longer stay there is a monthly Navigo too.

Check the current prices, which are revised each year. As a rule of thumb: for one or two gentle days, singles or a day pass; for a busy week, the Navigo Semaine.

Getting to and from the airports

Airport journeys are the one thing the flat fares do not cover. Since the reform there is a single Paris Région ↔ Aéroports ticket at around €14, covering the RER B to Charles de Gaulle, and metro line 14 or the Orlyval to Orly. I have written the whole thing up in my guide to the Paris airports; the short version is: buy the airport ticket, and do not try to use a normal metro ticket to the airport, as it does not work and can get you fined.

The tourist passes: usually skip them

You will be offered the Paris Visite pass (1, 2, 3 or 5 days, with some monument and shop discounts). Be honest with yourself about the maths: for most visitors it costs noticeably more than a Navigo Jour or a handful of singles, and the discounts rarely make up the difference. Unless you will use it very heavily, singles on a Navigo Easy, or a day or week pass, are almost always better value.

Good to know

• Metro hours: roughly 5:30am to about 12:30am on weekday nights, and later (around 1:30 to 2:15am) on Fridays, Saturdays and the eves of holidays. When the metro sleeps, the Noctilien night buses take over.
• Children: free for under-4s, and half-price for children aged 4 to 9.
• Line 14, the automatic line, now runs all the way to Orly airport, which is a lovely, fast way in.

Getting around Paris by bike

Paris has thrown itself into cycling, and it shows. Vélib’ is the city’s excellent self-service bike share, with a dock roughly every few hundred metres, both ordinary and electric bikes, and day or week passes (the first 30 minutes of each ride are included). You unlock the bikes with a bank card or through the app; you must be over 14. It is one of my favourite ways to move through the city on a fine day, along the river or the newly created bike lanes. (Paris’s old electric-car share, Autolib’, closed back in 2018, in case an old guide sends you looking for it.)

Walk first, then let the network carry you when your feet give out. Bon séjour à Paris.

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

• Getting in from the airport: the Paris airports, an updated guide
• Where to base yourself: where to stay in Paris
• On foot, the way Paris is meant to be seen: a walk through Montmartre and the best bookshops in Paris