Bonjour,
I read that it is recommend to purchase an europass at your home country before you travel, why? is it because that you might not be able to get one near the airport where you take trains?
So the pass is quite expensive and I would like to know what options I have. Are these true?
- If I were travelling inside Paris I just need a local pass
- To travel between countries, get a euro pass(for the ICE train)
I think what I need is a local pass for the 7 days in Paris, perhaps there is a weekly or daily pass that is cheaper than europass. Then I'll get an europass for the number of days I will be travelling between countries. As for reservation, I'll just hop on the train whenever I can, even for outter country rides to Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. Merci!
Your travel within Paris is separate from your railway travel during the rest of your trip.
Within Paris, you may be better off buying "carnets" of 10 Métro tickets for € 11,10 each; this offers a saving over the single-ticket price of € 1.50.
There is a pass called the Carte Orange which requires a photo, but these are being phased out, and I don't think the cards are being given out any longer. (You can still buy the weekly ticket - €15 - that goes with it, but it's illegal to use the weekly ticket without the card.) These weekly tickets are limited in usefulness by their rigid Monday-through-Sunday validity.
There's a "Paris Visite" pass that is marketed to tourists, but that offers poor value for money.
For the rest of your rail travel in Europe, you'd have to compare the cost of ordinary-fare point-to-point trips to the cost of any "europass." See the Rail Europe website for the different kinds of passes and validity periods. The passes must be bought before you leave the USA.
It's hard to give a good answer without knowing your exact itinerary and timeframe, but, in general, these passes are best for long rail journeys withing the validity period of the pass, and not for relatively short trips. Be aware that, even with the pass, you'll have to reserve and pay any premium for fast trains such as ICE; that means waiting on line. See the French (sncf.com) national railway site and Germany's Die Bahn for schedules and fares. Also check out Rail Europe for single-trip fares; usually they are much higher than those bought directly from the railways, but there are exceptions.
- Steve
There are several passes on sale, if you buy the one that only covers Paris, well goes without saying that it only covers Paris! If you plan to travell around in Paris perhaps the 'Paris Carte' is for you, and it does give you something off certian addmission prices. The next is the 'Carte Orange' [Passport pic required] that covers an area rougly equivílent to the Ille De France, if you are going to places like St Dennis or Monet's place at Giverny you will need one of these. Next is the 'French Carte', being for travel inside France. And lastly there is a whole heap of Passes that you can buy, if you wish to travell within Europe! But i do think the last kind of pass mentioned is not sold within Europe? But be warned [i think] that all of the Paris train stations consist of three levels, the steet level we are dealing dealing with long haul GTV trains, the area below is set aside for the intermeadite 'Carde Orange' type trains, And below them is the Metro.
The Carte Orange is still for sale. You can buy it for a variety of zones and it's valid Monday-Sunday. It's sold Monday-Wednesday for the currrent week. No sales on Thursday. If you buy it Friday-Sunday, it won't be valid until Monday. It will NOT cover a trip to Giverny.
Even if you can't use a Carte Orange for the full seven days, it's usually a better deal than a Paris Visite which is sold for several different time periods and is not tied to particular days of the week.
The carnets mentioned by #1 are good anywhere the Metro goes, on the RER within zone 1, on city buses, and on the Montmartre funicular.
There is also a one-day pass called Mobilis.
As #1 says,if you choose to buy a Eurail pass, buy it from home. Unless your'e taking lots of long rides, point-to-point tickets may be cheaper than a pass. Read the railpass sections at www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com for detailed information.
If you take the train and the local bus, is i did, you certianly can visit Monet's place #3.
I know I will arrive to Paris on Friday, is there a way to purchase Carte Orange in advance during Monday to Wednsday online or something? And I can print it out or pick it up when I arrive on Friday?
#4: Of course you can visit Monet's house and garden by train and local bus from the town of Vernon, but it will not be covered by any kind of ticket or pass that would be used in Paris. Rail fare to Vernon is about € 12 each way.
#5: You can't buy local tickets or Carte Orange for Paris in advance. Many online sources will sell you a voucher for the Paris Visite for a premium over the already overpriced pass, but you would still have to go to a Métro station to pick up the actual ticket. If you can still get the Carte Orange (as opposed to the weekly ticket you would use with it), that would be the best deal for you.
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