Get Around Paris on the Cheap. Paris is a huge, often confusing city, but once you figure out navigate through the arrondissements and use the métro, you should be able to find your way around fairly easily.
Instructions
1. Buy a Paris Visite card before you leave home. Similar to the London Travelcard, this pass gives you unlimited travel on the métro and RER trains and SNCF Ile-de-France buses, as well as the bus parisiens (RATP) networks. Fares vary, depending on the number of zones you need to cover.
2. Purchase métro tickets in a booklet, or carnet de billets, of 10. Not only will this save you money, but you won't have to stand in line for tickets as often.
3. Walk whenever possible. Paris is a very large city, so you probably won't be able to walk everywhere you want to go, but do explore the city on foot as much as you can.
4. Get a detailed street map of Paris that shows the city divided into its neighborhoods, or arrondissements. Also carry a pocket métro map to help you plan longer trips.
5. Carry a French phrase book with you, and learn a few helpful phrases. This will be useful if you need to ask for directions, because it may be difficult to find an English-speaking Parisian who can help you.
6. Take a Paris L'Open bus tour, offered at a discount to Paris Visite cardholders. Although it's not exactly cheap, it's a good way to see the city, because you can get on or off the tour as many times as you like along the way and catch a later bus when you are ready to carry on. Commentary is in English and French, and the full journey lasts two hours and 15 minutes.
7. Ride the Noctambus line if you plan to be out late at night; this bus line covers most of Paris and the surrounding area and operates between 1:00 and 5:30 a.m.
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