Save up to 104 euros, boasts the Paris Pass on its website. But if you’re looking to visit the French capital, is it really as good as it sounds or are you paying more upfront than you need?
With more than 60 attractions included, there’s some new family-friendly additions, such as the Petit Train de Montmartre, which is perfect for saving small legs as it putters through this gorgeous hilltop quarter, passing the Sacre Coeur.
In fact, the pass includes free entrance to almost every major Paris attraction, with the exception of the Eiffel Tower. You can also take an open-top bus tour and cruise on the Seine, it includes a Metro pass plus RER within central Paris – and most tempting of all, the promise you’ll jump the queues at some of the main stops.
You’re never too young to visit the Louvre…
The key is how much you’re happy to pack in to the time – a 2-day pass costs 110 Euros for adults, €64 for 12-17-year-olds, and €36 for four to 11 years – as well as whether you’re planning to tick off the higher priced options like Versailles.
It certainly makes life easier. With unlimited Metro in the centre, you can hop from A to B (and C, D and E) without worrying about tickets.
The queue jump can also be a huge bonus – when I last visited, it was an enormous relief to skip past the snaking line at the Musee d’Orsay, even if the wait for the Louvre wasn’t as overwhelming. Don’t think you’ll avoid all waiting times though.
At Versailles, we may have skipped the line to buy tickets for the palace but not the line for entry, which was almost an hour long. As you can also buy tickets in advance at various locations in central Paris, the pass isn’t essential for this.
And although it does get you into the Trianon palaces (albeit by way of a slightly less scenic route through the grounds), it doesn’t guarantee entry to the palace gardens, as this depends on the day and other shows taking place, so that’s another queue if you want to be sure to see those. You’ll need an additional train ticket to reach the palace as well.
If you’re determined to scurry from sight to sight, cramming in as much as possible, it’s almost certainly a guaranteed money saver. And if you’re not sure where to start, the pass can help cherry pick the must-see destinations along with some background information – the revamped site also includes a map tool to plan visits, along with the details of special offers.
If you’re planning a gentle amble around the city, soaking in the atmosphere, stopping at the parks and heading to one or two major sights, it’s worth doing your sums first to see if you’re really going to be better off in terms of time or money. Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur are both free, for example.
Realistically, consider if you’ll use the 10% discount for Galeries Lafayette, visit the Museum of Publicity or try the wine tasting? Probably not. Will it cut a few corners to stretch your long weekend just a bit further? Absolutely.
Two last words of warning – a two day card is valid for the first and second day you use it, not for a 48-hour stretch, so don’t time your first use for 5pm if you can avoid it. And with many of the city’s major attractions and museums closed on a Monday, you’ll be hard pressed to make it worthwhile if you use it on that day.
There are also four and six-day options available.
Image: Philippe Put/Flickr