Is the Paris Pass 2024 worth it? We review prices and value here

After a couple of slow years like every other city, Paris is booming again and 2024 looks like another busy year for the city and its major attractions. The Paris Pass made some changes and then changed back last year and now in 2024 it’s easier and more straightforward than it’s been in a while. And unlike many other major tourist cities, most attractions in Paris didn’t increase prices in 2023 so the Paris Pass is about the same price as last year as well.

The Paris Pass can be a great tool for many visitors. Not only does it allow free entry into most of the top tours and attractions that are most popular with first-time visitors, but it also helps you plan an efficient itinerary that will save you a lot since so many of the best attractions are close together. As we will discuss below, I highly recommend both the hop-on, hop-off bus tour (in the morning) and the 1-hour Seine cruise (around sunset) whether you buy a Paris Pass or not. Fortunately, they are both included.

Note: This article was last updated in March, 2024. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. This helps to keep this site going.

The main Paris attraction passes

  1. Paris Pass – This includes a Paris Museum Pass (see below) and an All-Inclusive attraction pass, which includes entry to most of the famous attractions and tours that are not specifically museums.
  2. Paris Museum Pass – This includes only admission to nearly every major museum in Paris.

If you are NOT interested in things like the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour, the Eiffel Tower guided climb, the (highly recommended 1-hour Seine Cruise or the wine tasting experience, then the Paris Museum Pass alone will save you money.

Prices for the Paris attraction and transportation passes

Paris Pass 2024 prices

2-day passes

  • 2-day Adult Paris Pass: (including a 2-day Museum Pass) €179
  • 2-day Child Paris Pass (ages 4 to 11): €94

3-day passes

  • 3-day Adult Paris Pass: (including a 2-day Museum Pass) €214
  • 3-day Child Paris Pass: €109

4-day passes

  • 4-day Adult Paris Pass (including a 4-day Museum Pass): €275
  • 4-day Child Paris Pass: €130

6-day passes

  • 6-day Adult Paris Pass: (including a 6-day Museum Pass) €300
  • 6-day Child Paris Pass: €140

Exclusive discount for Price of Travel readers

Prices of the most popular museums covered by the Paris Museum Pass, which is included with the Paris Pass

Palace of Versailles: €18

Built during the 1600s and 1700s, the Palace of Versailles is one of the largest and most famous palaces in the world. Always one of the most popular attractions in the Paris area, it’s outside of town and it takes 60 to 90 minutes to reach, depending on your starting point. Admission is included with a Paris Museum Pass and you’ll have to make a reservation as well.

Louvre Museum: €17

Obviously you can visit Paris and not visit the Louvre, so it’s good that it’s included in the Paris Pass. You now have to make reservations for your visit, but it’s an enormous place so that is usually simple. The building itself is a historic palace that would be worth a tour even if it didn’t contain the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, among thousands of other important pieces.

If you are an art fanatic, feel free to spend 4 or 6 hours in the Louvre or even visit twice. But honestly for most people, it gets overwhelming after an hour or maybe two. When I bring new people to Paris I walk them to the Mona Lisa and then to the Venus de Milo. By that time we’ve passed by thousands of paintings and sculptures and been there 45 minutes. After that we look around at anything else that has caught our eye, and then exit through the gift shop. A focused hour is more enjoyable for most people than wandering around for four hours unsure of what you are looking at. It’s also always pretty crowded.

Musée d’Orsay: €16

Located across the Seine from the Louvre in a gorgeous former train station, the Orsay Museum is actually more enjoyable for most people because it’s far more compact and yet also filled with super famous pieces. Here, along with smaller crowds, you’ll see one of Van Gogh’s Starry Nights, Whistler’s Mother by Whistler, and Bal du moulin de la Galette by Renoir. Honestly, you’ll probably recognize at least 10 or 12 famous paintings and you won’t wear out a pair of shoes in doing so.

Arc de Triomphe: €13

You already know what the Arc de Triomphe looks like, and it’s definitely worth going up to the observation deck on top because you’ll get many of your best Paris photos from there. Most people will climb the 234 stairs, but they also have an elevator for anyone who doesn’t look like climbing 234 stairs is possible (or a wise move). The HOHO buses stop here and it’s a good place to get off for a visit because many other people also get off so there will be empty seats on top when you want to get back on. That isn’t true of several other stops.

Sainte-Chapelle: €11.50

Conveniently located just a short walk from Notre Dame cathedral, the Sainte-Chapelle church will be another unexpected highlight of your Paris visit. This 800-year-old church has easily the world’s most impressive and beautiful stained glass windows in several different rooms. It’s breathtaking when you first see it, and one other great feature is that it’s small enough that you can easily enjoy it in less than an hour. The Paris Pass allows you to pack in many smaller and quicker attractions like this without worrying about going broke in the process.

What ISN'T included in the Paris passes

  • Eiffel Tower Elevators – 2nd floor elevator: €18.10, 3rd floor elevator: €28.30
  • Catacombs of Paris: €18.00

The Paris Pass DOES now include a guided walk up the 700 steps to the 2nd Floor including expert commentary, but obviously the climb isn’t ideal for everyone.

Extras included in ONLY the Paris Attractions Pass

Eiffel Tower guided climb to 2nd floor: €38

This is an exclusive deal for Paris Pass holders and it’s not for everybody, but it will be the highlight of your Paris trip for many. This is a climb of the 674 stairs up to the 2nd Floor (out of 3) with interesting live commentary and explanations in English. It takes 3 to 4 hours in total, so you won’t be racing up. If you are fit enough this will be amazing. And honestly, the 3rd floor isn’t much higher and it’s so high that all of your best photos will be from the 2nd Floor anyway.

Wine Tasting: €36.00 (includes free full-size bottle of wine for each person)

If you want to learn more about wine and try a few interesting French bottles then this is perfect. It’s a long block from the Louvre but an easy walk along the Seine, so it’s an ideal activity to schedule for after your Louvre visit. You get an English-language mini tour in a historic cellar explaining the key aspects of wine making, and then samples of three different wines near the end. They even send each visitor away with a full bottle of French wine to take with you, so it’s a hard one to pass up.

1-day Big Bus Paris hop-on, hop-off tour: €45.00

This is a full-day hop-on, hop-off pass on the double-decker bus that goes by and stops at almost every major tourist attraction in Paris in about a 3-hour loop. You can use it as transportation to get from one attraction to another, but I highly recommend starting early and doing the full loop once before hopping off. I’ve done at least 25 similar HOHO bus tours in major cities and the Paris one is easily my favorite. Paris is compact enough that the loop isn’t too long, and all of the main sights are clustered on either side of the Seine, so you don’t waste much time driving through random areas.

Whether you buy a Paris Pass or not, I highly recommend you take the HOHO bus tour on your first full morning in the city, and you will have seen all of the main sights and know how to get back to them later before noon.

Bateaux Parisiens River Cruise: €18.00

In my opinion, this is the other must-do tour in Paris, whether you buy a Paris Pass or not. These large boats with plenty of top-deck outdoor seating leave from near the Eiffel Tower on a frequent basis, but they are popular so it’s wise to get there a bit earlier than you want to depart. The trick is to select a departure right around sunset. Paris is stunning as it is lighting up for the evening, and you pass under 18 bridges that are each lit up in a unique way. By the time you get back to the Eiffel Tower an hour later, it will also be gorgeously lit up for amazing photos.

Parc Astérix: €59

This large theme park in the northeast suburbs of Paris is based on the Astérix comic book and characters, so it’s a great option and compromise if you are traveling with young ones. The place has many roller coasters and other thrill rides to go along with the character-themed attractions. There are buses that leave from central Paris that take you to the park for a fee. You can also take the RER train to Charles de Gaulle Airport and then a special shuttle from that train station to the park.

Montmartre & Sacré Coeur walking tour: €36

Leaving three times per day (10AM, 2PM, 5PM), this 90-minute walking tour is a highly recommended way to get to know perhaps Paris’ most interesting neighborhood. Especially gorgeous at night (so the 5PM tour could be perfect), Montmarte is the city’s most famous art district and community. At its center is the namesake hill with the stunning Sacré Coeur cathedral perched on top. This will be one of your favorite stops in Paris and some of your favorite photos as well.

Emily in Paris: The Unofficial Tour

Fans of the hit Netflix show will definitely be interested in this 2-mile guided walking tour of some of Paris’s loveliest neighborhoods. It only goes on Tuesdays and Fridays as of now at 1:30 PM so you’ll want to plan well in advance and make reservations. You’ll see the character’s apartment and other famous exteriors including Gabriel’s restaurant along with the bakery where she has her first pain au chocolat. If you don’t watch the show it’s definitely not worth it, but if you do this will be a major highlight.

Grevin Wax Museum: €26.50

This is the French equivalent of Madame Tussauds and it’s far more enjoyable than most people expect. With a central location close to several other included attractions, the Grevin Wax Museum is in a gorgeous building filled with over 450 characters that look so lifelike that you keep expecting them to move. There are obviously many French historical figures, but also international historical figures and athletes and actors and pop stars. You’ll know scores of them. While it’s true that you might not normally pay €26.50 to visit a wax museum, it’s great with the Paris Pass because you can just pop in for an hour or so in between other places. Most people are very impressed.

The Paris Big Bus Tour and Seine River Cruise are great ways to get oriented for first-time visitors

On your first visit to Paris you definitely want to visit the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and hopefully the Palace of Versailles (a bit outside the city center), but you also want to have a good look at the city of Paris itself.

Whether you buy the Paris Pass or not, you’ll want to strongly consider taking the Paris Big Bus Tour (included in the Paris Pass) as well as the Seine River Cruise. Both of these offer an excellent and efficient look at all of the famous places you might want to visit later, and you can do both of them in half a day. Take the hop-on, hop-off bus tour as early in the day as you can, and plan on doing the Seine river cruise just after sunset in order to see how beautifully lit the bridges and famous buildings are at night.

Is the Paris Pass good value?

If all of the above seems confusing, you are in good company. These ‘city cards’ can be a great tool for many first-time visitors to destinations, but in some cases they cost too much or disrupt your trip in other ways. Before a trip it’s easy to plan 4 or 5 museums and attractions for each day, but once you arrive that always feels too ambitious. A big part of what makes Paris so incredible is the gorgeous city itself, not just the museums and main sights.

Another thing to consider is that if you lock in your sightseeing expenses before you arrive there will be the temptation to just rush from one thing to the next to get the most from your money. If you happen to have a day when you only get to one or two attractions, you might have a sense of guilt over missing your pre-trip goals.

On the other hand, if you prefer to pay in advance and then challenge yourself to make sure you see all the amazing sights that Paris has to offer, then the Paris Pass can be a great deal. If you are mostly interested in the museums then the Paris Museum Pass is probably the better deal, but if you also want to take a bus tour or a river cruise or do the wine tasting then the Paris Pass is the way to go.

For great value hotels check out our recommended Paris hotels section, which gives you 5 excellent choices without the hassle of going through nearly two thousand hotels in the area.

New: How to get the most out of a 2-Day or 3-Day Paris Pass

Important advice for getting good value out of a Paris Pass

After using so many of these city passes through the years, and also getting some comments from customers who don’t feel like they got good value out of the Paris Pass, I can reveal two important bits of advice for Paris Pass holders.

1. Start early in the day, at least on your first couple days using the pass

The number one struggle for those who regretted buying a Paris Pass is starting early enough. Especially on your first couple of days using the Paris Pass you are strongly encouraged to leave your hotel by 09:00 or so, and go to the most popular attractions first. Places like the Louvre or the bus tour tend to not get too busy until 11:00 or so, which means that if you start on those things right after breakfast you will have time to do TWO top attractions before lunch. After that you’ll have the rest of the day to do one, two, or three more activities, and you’ll still have the whole evening free to have a long dinner and wander the beautiful neighborhoods.

Some people complain that by the time they got to their first attraction of the day, the place was packed, so they started on a bad note and then felt rushed the rest of the day trying to catch up.

2. Plan your day and route before you leave your hotel

The Paris Pass comes with a very helpful booklet that shows all of the attractions on a map, with hours of operation. If you spend some time before you leave your hotel for the day, planning an efficient route that connects the attractions you want to see that day, it will all seem easy and you’ll get the most out of your Paris Pass.

If you aren’t able to plan ahead like this then maybe the Paris Pass isn’t ideal for you. If you aren’t able to spend a bit of time planning ahead, chances are you’ll be racing around and wasting a lot of time, and you’ll be unhappy with the Paris Pass.

The Paris Pass is ideal for:

  • First-time visitors to Paris who want to cover most of the main sights in a few days
  • Travelers who want to see and do as much as possible on a short trip
  • Visitors who want to orient themselves with the bus tour and Seine river cruise

The Paris Museum Pass by itself is ideal for:

  • Culture vultures who plan on visiting at least 2 museums each day but don’t care about tours or anything else
  • Budget travelers coming during busy season who want to skip the ticket queues

Visiting with no pass is ideal for:

  • Visitors spending more than 7 days in the city who might prefer to see only one sight per day
  • Backpackers and other extreme-budget travelers

Exclusive discount for Price of Travel readers

One last thing to consider about budgeting your time in Paris

There are plenty of free things to do in Paris, many of which should be high priorities for first-time visitors, including strolling the Champs-Élysées, exploring the Montmartre neighborhood, and admiring the Eiffel Tower and the Arch de Triumphe from the street, so spending a lot of money on museums and attractions isn’t necessarily the key to enjoying the city.

Also, remember that there are only so many hours in the day, and you can only do one thing at a time. The Louvre itself takes at least 3 hours even for a “quick” visit, and while you are inside it doesn’t matter if you get 50 or 100 other “free” things included, you’ll only have time to do a few per day at the most.

However…

The Paris Pass is a popular and efficient way for first-time visitors to see all the best sights in a short time, with little stress and almost no time wasted in ticket queues. Whichever way you decide to visit Paris, you will have a good time. If you can get a discount on the Paris Pass, it’s obviously a better deal and worth considering.

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All Comments

  1. Fj WOLFSON says:

    Any special recommendations for seniors??? Special savings,etc??

    (Fj, sorry, but the Paris Pass is the same price for all adults. -Roger)

  2. Robert Beaver says:

    I have tried to purchase a Paris Pass. I have entered all the data and paid for it on my credit card however I can not print out a receipt or information of my purchase Can you please help me?

    (Robert, you’ll need to contact the company itself at parispass.com. Hopefully you got a confirmation email when you bought it and that should tell you what to do next and whom to contact. Good luck.-Roger)

  3. Bessi says:

    Hi Roger, my husband and I and our 15 yr old are going to Paris this Sept for 5 days. It’s our first trip and I’m a little unsure about the best option for us. We want to see the sights and museums as well as Versailles and a day in Disneyland. I’m thinking to get the 5 day zone 1-6 Paris Visite Travelcard for each of us plus 2 Paris Museum passes for my husband and I as I read somewhere that Under 18’s get free entry into Museums. Do you know if that’s true and also whether you think these are a good option for us? Much appreciate your advice. Cheers.

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Bessi, yes, children under 18 and European citizens under 26 are allowed free access in most of the museums and monuments included in the Paris Museum Pass itinerary. And those travel passes sound wise as well, although you might not need that many zones unless you are sure you are going to the edges of the city. -Roger

  4. Donna says:

    hi Roger,my parents and I ,are going to Paris ,they’re not to young ,…I Was thinking at a paris pass,but now i read that you can’t reach the airports,and also ,you d’ont skip the lines as it says,….also the tour eiffel isn’t included, we’re going to remain 5nights , what card do you thik we schould buy ,also what do you think about the mini appartaments you rent ib the centre of paris ? thank you so much

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Donna, the transit pass that comes with the Paris Pass is good for all travel in and around Paris, but it’s true that it doesn’t cover the full trip to the airports. But during the main sightseeing days it will cover everything. And it does allow you to skip the ticket queue at virtually all included attractions, there are just a few that have security lines that you still have to go through. Still, it’ll be faster. I’d recommend the 2-day or 4-day Paris Pass in your case, and you can see the Eiffel Tower on a non-pass day. The 4-day passes are on sale for the next few days, although the 2-day pass could work if you wanted to just concentrate your sightseeing into those two days.

      And yes, those apartments are a wonderful idea for visiting Paris if you can afford them and they are within the first two district rings. -Roger

  5. Sherry says:

    Hi Roger,
    I understand that to get to Giverny we take the train from Gare St. Lazare to Vernon for about 25 euros. When buying tickets online you have to specify a date & time. But I’ve also read that they can be used anytime, would you please comment. We are planning going on a Mon. & will be arriving in Paris on Sun. when the SNCF boutiques are closed.
    Thanks

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Sherry, this isn’t really my area of expertise although I’ve done plenty of short journeys like this. It appears to be only a one-hour direct train ride, with departures every 30 minutes or so. If it were me I’d just go to the station and buy a ticket just before boarding. It should be a bit cheaper than buying online in advance and these local trains never really sell out, so even if you go at rush hour and get incredibly unlucky the worst case scenario is having to stand up. Buying in advance online isn’t really worth it for shorter trips and especially if you are not sure of exactly when. -Roger

      1. Steve says:

        We have been going to Paris for ten years, and have seen moslty ever major & minor sight sight in Paris multiple times. We have found ourselves with a timeshare one block from the Champs for a week beginning in mid-january. At this point, we’re looking for ideas on places to go that are not on the regular tourist route. FYI…we are two seniors comfortable with public transportation & willing to try anything once! Wine, food and architecture are high on our lists. Nightlife at 66+ years old – is not.

        Don’t mean to sound anything less than gratious, as Paris is an incredible city – our favorite in the world. And that’s why we want to dig deeper on this next visit.

        Is there a question here? Yes: Would either the Paris Museum or Paris Viste passes likely suit us?

        Thanks very much, Roger

        [email protected]!

        1. Roger Wade says:

          Steve,

          If you’ve been going to Paris for 10 years then I am guessing you know the city better than I do. My hunch is that the Museum Pass wouldn’t do much for you. It sounds like you’ve been to all the famous museums, so it would mainly be a way to save a bit of money while visiting the less famous ones. If you’ve gone to Paris 10 times and haven’t been interested in those less famous ones, it’s probably because you just aren’t that interested rather than that they were too expensive. But it’s a personal choice, of course.

          The Visite Pass is just a transit pass, as you certainly know. I think those are great for people who are planning to hustle around the city, taking at least 4 Metro rides per day. Those in Paris for only a few days will usually do that, especially if they are trying to take advantage of a Paris Pass or Museum Pass, but if you are just doing normal sightseeing (and you’ll be back over and over) then I’d think that the 10-ticket book is probably a better deal. But again, I think you probably already know which things work best for you while you are visiting this amazing city. -Roger

  6. David says:

    Please confirm that the Museum Pass would skip the long lines at the Louvre and Versailles, which on previous visits can be hours long. Thank you…David

    1. Roger Wade says:

      David, yes, both the Paris Pass and the Paris Museum Pass allow you to skip the ticket queue at the Louvre and the main Versailles museum. -Roger

  7. Maggie Romano says:

    Hi Roger! My husband and I will be in Paris next weekend celebrating our 20 year anniversary… from the 26th to the 29th of April. We are staying at Hotel du Louvre. We have purchased the 4 day Paris Pass that we will pick up at the Hard Rock upon our arrival. As it is our first time in Paris…would you suggest an itinerary for each day that includes the must see attractions and the seine river cruise. Thanks in advance!

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Maggie, congratulations on the anniversary and trip. You are going to love Paris, but it would be difficult for me to suggest an itinerary without knowing your tastes and so forth. There are fine art museums and modern art museums and palaces and so on. I’d suggest taking the Seine River cruise as early as possible, and also consider the bus tour that comes with it early as well. Doing those will give you an idea of where everything is and what you want to see up close.

      Also, the Paris Pass comes with a really nice little book that has a map of all the included attractions along with opening hours and short descriptions. Once you have that it won’t take more than an hour or so to figure out which things you are sure you want to see and which other things are close by. Bon voyage. -Roger

      1. charlie says:

        Hi roger I would like to know the proper attire for daytime in paris
        some people have told me no shorts. we are going june 1st of this
        year I am sure it will be hot can you advise me. thanks you
        charlie

        1. Roger Wade says:

          Charlie, first off, on June 1 in Paris the average high would be about 70F/21C so long pants might be the better choice anyway. And partly because there are so few really hot days in central and northern Europe, not many Europeans wear shorts. But on warmer days there will be plenty of tourists from the US, Canada, Australia, and Brazil that wear shorts, including me. If you’ll feel self conscious being in the minority then go with long pants, though that is really the only issue. -Roger

  8. Arlene Smit says:

    After reading your blog I am really glad that we have started planning our trip so early as there is so much to consider. We are ski-ing in Chamonix for a week in Jan 2014. I really want to ‘save’ France for the spring, but since we are already paying the airfare (from SA) we decided to spend a week or so in Paris from the 27th Dec. We’re travelling with our two sons (11 & 15) and plan to make day trips from Paris to Normandy (for 15yrs) and Disney (for 11yrs) and to Chantres.
    So we were going to get a rail pass (also to take us through to Chamonix). Do I understand that the metro is not included in the rail pass?

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Arlene, it’s true that a Metro Pass is not included with a France Rail Pass, however a Metro Pass is included with a Paris Pass. Buying a Metro Pass once in Paris should be simple enough though. -Roger

  9. Marissa Simhachalam says:

    I will be arriving in Paris on June 27 at 8:45am. The first day there we would like to do the Eiffel Tower and then pick up the seine river/dinner cruise on the Bateaux-Parisiens that leaves at 8:00pm. Friday the 28th we were thinking of doing Musee d’Orsay, Saint Chapell, Notredame and tower. Saturday 29th my child has to move in dorm so taking that day off to explore and get oriented with surroundings, Sunday the 30th do the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and champs- Élysées. We would also like to squeeze in the free Haute Coutre 100 dresses at Hotel de Ville and maybe dinner one night at Chez Michou- dinner/ show. Can you please advise me if the this is the best order to see these places and what would be the best value. Would we be able to skip the lines and have unlimited metro if we purchase a pass? This is for two adults. I appreciate your help and getting the best value for the things we would like go do .

    1. Roger Wade says:

      Marissa, yes, each Paris Pass comes with a Paris Visite Pass, which is good for unlimited rides on all Paris Metros, RER, Buses, Trams, SNCF Overland Suburban Trains, and the Montmartre Funicular within zones 1 – 3, which covers the entire of central Paris (no access to airports). This is especially nice since buying individual tickets can be a pain.

      As far as which order to see the sights in, it depends a bit on where your hotel is, but I believe that all of those you mention are in the center so they are only a couple Metro stops apart, if not walking distance. If you order the Paris Pass online in advance they will send you a really nice booklet that shows all the included attractions on a map along with their opening hours and a brief description. Once you have that it should be pretty obvious which order to see them in, and you’ll probably discover a few interesting things nearby or on the way as well. Bon voyage. -Roger

  10. yaffa says:

    What would be better, economically, for a visit of five days :
    Passe Navigo Découverte
    Or
    Paris Visite travel card