Paris Navigo vs Mobilis vs Paris Visite

[DeeGee]

I'm off to Paris tomorrow until Monday. While I'm there I'm going to be rattling around the city pretty aimlessly - I lived nearby for a year, so I've "seen" all the sights, although I'll probably take some photos. I might make decent use of the buses rather than forcing myself underground, but apart from a couple of runs, I've got no plans. All I know is I won't be sitting all day in my Montmartre hotel room.

Now I've done the maths, and it would appear that a Navigo (Thurs-Sunday) +a Mobilis works out at about 75c more expensive, than five Mobilis, when you take into account the cost of buying the pass.

There's also the Paris-Visite, for 5 days, which would be 70c more expensive than the five Mobilis, although there are add-on benefits.

Normally, it would be a simple decision on cost grounds, but there are two practicalities I need to consider.

On Saturday and on Sunday I will be running (parkrun on Saturday morning, marathon on Sunday) and I don't really want to be taking my wallet with me. I'm happy carrying a note in a pocket when running, but not coins, so I'd prefer to have my ticket before leaving the hotel. Therefore a longer duration ticket such as the Paris-Visite works for me, I'm happy paying 70c for convenience.

There's one more thing, though. I might fancy taking a trip out to Chantilly-Gouvieux on Friday (I used to live there, I fancy a look round). Chantilly-Gouvieux station is on the RER (in a fashion), but just outside the tariff zones. If I were to get a Navigo, would it be possible, like with Oyster, to add an extension out to Chantilly-Gouvieux (in which case it might make sense), or would I still be obliged to buy a ticket from Gare du Nord (in which case it won't be worth it)?

Finally, can any of these be bought on Eurostar, saving me faffing about with luggage on arrival at GdN?

 

[Shinkansenfan]

The Navigo Monday through Sunday week pass is valid for 5 zones, and I believe you can just purchase a supplement for any travel outside of that zone. If not, just buy a separate ticket to cover the area beyond the 5th zone.

To purchase the Navigo valid for the rest of this week you must purchase it no later than end of day Thursday. On Friday they start to sell the pass valid starting on Monday. I think this arrangement is cumbersome. I'd prefer a true 7 day pass that starts upon first use--taking advantage of the smart card flexibility embedded in the pass chip.

You will also need to bring with you a slightly smaller than passport size photo, and pay a one time charge of 5 Euros for a smart card valid for 10 years. The passport photo is affixed to an ID portion of the pass and together with the smart card, they are sandwiched into a plastic sleeve that holds both together for inspection upon demand by staff.

The weekly pass itself is 21.25 Euros. I recently bought mine at CDG, but they can be purchased at Gare du Nord as well.

If you miss the Thursday end of day deadline then IMO the Mobilis tickets are the next best value.

I doubt the Mobilis tickets are sold on Eurostar, and I'm certain the Navigo is not. RATP English pages direct one to the Visit Paris pass, and not to the lower priced alternatives. The French language pages has information on all three passes.

 

[Myb]

Well it's a bit late to answer, but I thought it might be useful to bring up the following obscure point.

Although served by suburban trains, Chantilly, as Gisors, Creil or Malesherbes, are in what could be called a fare "black hole", being located outside the Ile-de-France region.

Tickets can only be bought at a "grandes lignes" ticket desk and not at a "Transilien" desk or any kind of ticket machine (whether suburban or mainline). Tickets prices are not advertised on the internet.

Also, as all single tickets must be validated, if combining a Navigo and a single ticket for the non Ile-de-France region [needless to say printed on IATA stock for maximum practicality] it is mandatory, unlike the common UK practice, to break the journey to validate the ticket :roll:

 

[Panceltic]

Also, as all single tickets must be validated, if combining a Navigo and a single ticket for the non Ile-de-France region [needless to say printed on IATA stock for maximum practicality] it is mandatory, unlike the common UK practice, to break the journey to validate the ticket :roll:

Yes, be careful! We were caught on a RER B from Gare du Nord to CDG Airport with a zone 1-2 Navigo Pass + Stade de France-CDG single. The problem was it was a non-stop train!