A single Paris Metro or RER ride costs €2.55 as of January 1, 2026, valid for one continuous trip with transfers, anywhere on the network, within a two-hour window. Travelers on a multi-day city break typically save by loading fares onto a €2 Navigo Easy card or buying a Paris Visite pass, from €30.60 for one day, per the transit operators' own fare pages.
What a Single Ticket Costs and Covers
The standard fare for one Metro, RER, or suburban train journey within Paris is €2.55 at full price, or €1.30 at the reduced rate, according to RATP's official ticket page, which states these prices took effect January 1, 2026, with the page itself last updated May 26, 2026. The ticket, still widely called by its former name "t+," covers a single continuous journey — including transfers between Metro or RER lines — for up to two hours from first validation, provided the traveler stays inside the transport network and does not exit through the barriers between legs.
Paper strips have not disappeared, but RATP's page now emphasizes loading fares onto a Navigo Easy card, a smartphone, or a smartwatch through the IDF Mobilités or Bonjour RATP apps, alongside continued sales at station ticket desks, vending machines, and approved retailers. The operator's current fare page does not list pricing for a bulk carnet of ten tickets, so anyone planning several single rides on a short trip should check pricing at the point of purchase rather than assume an old bulk discount still applies.
Validation matters as much as the fare itself: RATP's page describes the ticket as usable "within a two-hour limit, and without leaving the network," meaning a traveler who exits through station barriers partway through a planned connection forfeits the remaining time on that fare. Visitors switching between Metro and bus, or between bus routes, should confirm at each stage that they remain inside a single continuous journey rather than starting a new one, since the fare rules are built around that distinction rather than around elapsed time alone.
The Navigo Easy Card, and When It Helps
For a city break of more than a day or two, Île-de-France Mobilités — the region's transport authority — positions the Navigo Easy pass as the practical option for visitors who would rather carry a card than validate journeys by phone. The card itself costs €2 and is sold immediately at ticket offices and carrier counters across the network. It is not tied to a single named holder, so it can be shared or handed off within a travel party, and it can be topped up at ticket windows, partner shops, or through the Île-de-France Mobilités app.
A Navigo Easy card can carry several fare products at once — single Metro-Train-RER tickets, bus and tram tickets, a one-day pass, the Paris Region-to-airports ticket, and the Paris Visite pass — loaded and swapped as needed rather than bought as separate paper documents each time, according to the authority's page for the pass.
Multi-Day Passes for a City Break
Visitors staying two or more days who plan to move around frequently may find a Paris Visite pass cheaper than paying per ride. The pass, sold by RATP for unlimited travel across Paris and the wider Île-de-France region, is available for one, two, three, or five consecutive days, with coverage that extends to the region's Metro, tram, bus, and RER network, SNCF's Transilien commuter trains, the Orlyval airport link, and connections to both Paris airports, Disneyland Paris, and the Palace of Versailles, per RATP's official pass page, updated May 26, 2026. Children ages four to nine pay half price on every duration.
| Pass or ticket | Adult price | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Single Metro/RER ticket | €2.55 | One trip with transfers, two-hour limit |
| Navigo Easy card | €2 (card only, plus loaded fares) | Reloadable holder for tickets and passes |
| Paris Visite, 1 day | €30.60 | Unlimited regional travel |
| Paris Visite, 2 days | €45.40 | Unlimited regional travel |
| Paris Visite, 3 days | €63.80 | Unlimited regional travel |
| Paris Visite, 5 days | €78.00 | Unlimited regional travel |
| Paris Region Airports ticket | €14 | One trip to or from CDG or Orly |
Prices in the table reflect RATP's and Île-de-France Mobilités' published fares, effective January 1, 2026, and verified against the operators' own pages on August 20, 2026.
Doing the Math on Single Tickets Versus a Pass
Because a one-day Paris Visite pass costs €30.60 and a single ticket is €2.55, the arithmetic on RATP's own published fares puts the break-even point at twelve rides in one day — a pace few visitors reach outside a packed sightseeing day that crosses the city several times. For a more typical city-break rhythm of four to six rides a day, single tickets loaded onto a €2 Navigo Easy card generally cost less than a Paris Visite day pass; the pass earns its price mainly on days with heavy back-and-forth movement, or across a multi-day stay where the two-, three-, or five-day rates work out to roughly €22-€23 per day rather than €30.60. Travelers should weigh their own planned itinerary against these published figures rather than default to either option.
Getting To and From the Airports
Travelers connecting between the city and either Orly or Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport can buy the Paris Region-to-Airports ticket directly, priced at €14 full fare or €7 reduced, according to RATP's fare page for the ticket, which states the price took effect January 1, 2026. The ticket covers the Metro, RER, suburban trains, and the Orlyval shuttle at Orly, is valid for two hours with connections, and can also be used for travel between the two airports rather than only into central Paris. Like the standard single ticket, it loads onto a Navigo Easy card, a phone, or a smartwatch through the same official apps.
Where and How to Buy
All the fare products above are sold at station ticket desks and machines throughout the Metro and RER network, plus approved retail counters, and each can be loaded digitally through the IDF Mobilités or Bonjour RATP apps or onto a Navigo Easy card bought on the spot for €2. Neither operator's page reviewed here describes paper tickets being phased out entirely, but the emphasis across RATP's ticketing pages, last updated in May 2026, is now on card- and phone-based fares rather than individual paper strips bought one at a time.
Visitors expecting fewer than about a dozen rides across a short trip will generally spend less on single tickets loaded onto a Navigo Easy card; those planning heavier movement across several days are the ones for whom a Paris Visite pass, from €30.60 and up, is worth pricing against a planned itinerary before arrival. Either way, the fares above reflect the transit authorities' own published rates as of January 1, 2026, and are worth checking again closer to travel against the operators' current pages.
For a related guides perspective, read Amsterdam: How to Get Around by Tram, Metro, Ferry, and On Foot.
For more context, read Vienna: Which District Fits Your City Break.
For more context, read The Michelin Guide's Price Tag: How Cities Pay to Get Rated.
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