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
- 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.
- 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
- Get 5% off all Paris Passes
Use coupon code: GO5POT – Look for “promo code?” in Step 4 of checkout)
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
- Get 5% off all Paris Passes
Use coupon code: GO5POT ( – Look for “promo code?” in Step 4 of checkout)
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.
Hello Roger. Very informative blog. Taking a leisurely trip 6/13-6/21 Paris/London. I almost bought London and Parispass. Arrive in Paris, travel thru Eurostar to London, back to US. What are your thoughts on Carnet(Paris)? Also, any alternative for Londonpass? Thanks much.
Bela,
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the carnet of 10 Metro tickets in Paris is better than paying for each ride, but it’s not as convenient as the Visite Pass that comes with the Paris Pass itself. It depends on where your hotel is in relation to most of the things you’ll be seeing. Paris is a city where tourists end up taking many Metro rides each day, but it will be fewer if you are staying very close to the Eiffel Tower or Louvre areas.
The Paris Pass and London Pass are really good for most people who buy them, and they cover almost all the major sights that people actually want to see. In London there are no other attraction cards, but that’s mostly because all the major museums there are free. So if you want to spend most of your time in the British Museum and Tate Modern and such, no card is needed. But if you want to see the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey and the other major sights, the London Pass is the one you want. -Roger
Hello Roger,
Thank you for a very informative blog. I will be visiting Paris for a week with my family (4)and will stay first night at Holiday Inn CDG. Will take the RER & Metro to central Paris and will be back again by night. 2nd day I will take the RER to Disney for 2 days then back to Paris (central Paris) and from there to Versaille and back. My question is does the Paris Visite Travel card (zones 1-5) cover these destinations and does it worth buying?
Thank you in advance
Abdelhamid,
The CDG Airport area is in Zone 5 on the RER, and Disneyland Paris is also in Zone 5, so the Visite Travel Card would cover the journey. However, if you are staying near the airport it’s probably better to take the express train from Terminal 2 that goes straight to Disney Paris in 10 minutes. Going into the city center and back out to Disney would probably take 90 minutes or so.
Versailles is in Zone 4, so that one is simple with the Zones 1 to 5 Visite Card. Depending on whether you want to use it for the Disney visit or not, it might be good value, but if you are able to take the express train (to Disney) then you are better off just paying separately for Versailles, and probably buying the Zones 1 to 3 version for general sightseeing.
The Metro (and the RER in some cases) is essential to getting around Paris quickly, so I recommend getting a travel card if you can. The alternative is standing in the queue to pay for each ride, or fumbling with the (cheaper) 10-ride ticket books. Really, it depends on how many rides you think you’d take, but for most visitors they are great value. -Roger
I will be staying in Paris for two weeks in September with my 78-year-old father. We will be in the 13th arrondissement and plan to travel to most major sights and areas. My father is not so keen on museums and art galleries. Would the Paris Pass be worthwhile (the river cruise and HOHO bus looks attractive) or would we be better off just getting two weekly Visite passes? We want to spend a bit of time exploring the left bank, going to markets and just pretending to be locals! Thanks for your very informative website and replies to comments.
Sonja,
Thank you for the kind words. It’s tough to say, but it sounds like the Paris Pass might not be a great choice for you and your father. The bus tour and river cruise are indeed really great ways to get oriented in the city. But aside from those, most of the other attractions are similar to museums, if not museums themselves.
Also, since you have two full weeks, it makes more sense to pace yourself on sightseeing. The Paris Pass is usually great value for those who have a week or less to see everything, and especially for people who plan on hitting many of the fabulous museums that Paris offers. You’ll have a great time either way. Bon voyage. -Roger
we are a family of 4, with two teens. Is it worthwhile getting the teen pass if teens under 18 are free? what are the benefits that we would otherwise not realize if we did not buy them the passes?
Daina,
That’s an interesting question. The benefits of getting Paris Passes for the teens would be that they are valid on all the non-museum attractions that aren’t free for young people, such as the hop on hop off bus tour, the Seine River cruise, and several others. You’d also get to skip the ticket queues as a family because the teens would still have to stand in the ticket line to be checked and get in for free at the museums.
It’s hard to say whether that would be worth getting them each a Paris Pass. Those tours are recommended, but if you think you’ll mostly be going into museums, I’d probably skip the pass for them. Have a great trip either way. -Roger
Hi Roger,
I plan to be in Paris from 3rd to 6th June when we will leave for Mumbai from CDG,with my wife,who will be here for the 1st time,though I have been here earlier-ages back in 1987! We shall arrive from Amsterdam by 11am on the 3rd and will have half the day to do the river cruise and the hoho tour to get a general feel of the city. We plan to be staying very close to Du Nord. We would buy tickets for those as we board.
The next 2 days we plan to do the Eiffel Tower,Arc de Triumph,Champs Élysées, and the louvre and anything else we can squeeze in on our 3 rd day there ie 5 th. I possibly will buy only a Metro tkt book and pay as we go.
Do you think this is the correct way to go about our 3 days in Paris?
Anil
Anil,
This looks like a fine plan for a quick Paris visit. I especially like the idea of doing the two tours on the day you arrive to help get oriented. And those 4 things you mention for the other days are all quite close together, so you could do them all in one day if you preferred. But of course there are so many interesting things to do in Paris that you’ll have no trouble filling up your time. And I do think for a trip of this nature that getting a 10-ride carnet of Metro tickets to share between you should work well. -Roger
Hi,
We are arriving in Paris on April 8- the day of our silver wedding anniversary. On that day – we want to visit the Eiffel tower and maybe Notre Dame or a church. We are thinking of buying th 6 day museum pass as we wouldlike to visit all the main ones – louvre, arc de triumph, pompidou,notredame towers, orsay and versaille. not sure if the Paris pass is worth it. we would also want the Seine river tour. i think the Paris pass is a bit expensive. we plan to get either a day pass or weekly metro pass. what do you think is good? also we might want to go to Lourdes. Any thoughts/recommendation/tips.
btw – thanks for helping all of us with your insights. maybe Paris tourism shoudl pay you 🙂
jane
Jane,
I agree that the main Paris Pass does seem expensive at first, but if you are going to be visiting so many of the included attractions, it can be good value. The Seine River Tour is interesting and worthwhile, but I’m actually quite a fan of the hop-on hop-off bus tour of Paris that is included, especially if you do it early in your trip. Once you get started your sightseeing, you’ll end up walking within many touristy neighborhoods, but otherwise you’ll be taking the Metro from place to place. The bus tour gives you a really nice orientation of the whole city center from the open top.
However, if you don’t think you’ll do the bus tour, then the plain Museum Pass might be better for you. It’s tough for me to give any more specific advice without knowing precisely which things you’ll end up doing. Whichever method you choose, I’m sure you’ll have an excellent anniversary trip. In other words, try not to stress about choices like these because Paris is wonderful whether you hit everything on your list or if you don’t.
If I were you I’d get the weekly Visite (transit) Pass, whichever way you go. It’s really nice to be able to use the Metro as often as you please (which will be often), without having to stand in ticket queues and try to get what you want in broken French. If you happen to speak French then it’s not as important, but for those of us who don’t speak the language, it can be quite stressful to be in a long ticket queue and trying to order the exact right thing from a clerk who may or may not understand you. Bon voyage! -Roger
Hi Roger,
First of all, thanks for the great piece of info. I am going to Paris in the first week of May on my honeymoon its a 5 day visit n then we are heading south to nice. Just wanted to know, are there long queues on major attrations like Eiffel Tower and Louvre in May as well since May is not a high season. If not, what would you suggest?
Cheers
Zohaib,
While the month of May isn’t the peak season in Paris, it’s still packed with tourists. So yes, the ticket queues in May can be expected to be pretty long, especially on weekends. Part of the problem is that the big attractions don’t open all of their ticket and admission windows until June, so queues can stay long even with fewer people there each day. It’s really only November through March when crowds are thinner. -Roger
Hi Roger,
Thank you so much for this enlightening information. I am traveling to Paris June 20-28 with my daughter, son and two year old granddaughter. We have rented an apartment off louvre st from an agency recommended by Parisinfo. I picked that location for the apt because it is centrally located. We would like to take the Eurostar to London for one day, and shopping/Disney Paris for another. In addition, we are planning a visit to the catacombs. Based on the extra activities we have planned I am thinking about the 4 day paris pass. Does that sound appropriate? Thanks so much for your advice!
Kris
Kris,
I’m always happy to hear that this information helps people, so thank for mentioning it.
Yes, I think a 4-day Paris Pass is a great choice on any trip of 6 or more days (and it’s also on sale through Tuesday, February 25). In Paris especially, it’s nice to have at least a couple of extra days to just walk around and enjoy the architecture and food. So even with a London day and a Disney Paris day, you’ll have a couple extra days when you are not “on the clock” trying to see as much as possible. I’d recommend doing the bus tour and perhaps the Seine cruise on one of your first days in Paris, and that will help orient you so you can find places you want to return to later on your non-pass days. Bon voyage! -Roger
Hi Roger, I was wondering if you could help me here. My husband and I will be in Paris in Feb 8th until valentines day and we only really want to see Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versailles, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe and Pantheon and the Tower. I was wondering if buying a pass would be beneficial to us. Also we are staying in the 12th arr and wondering if the pass would help save money on metro. Please any assistance you could provide is great.
Pamela,
Based on that list, I don’t think a Paris Pass would be good value for you. The Eiffel Tower isn’t included, although the other things you list are included. Still, the best features of the Paris Pass are the bus and boat tours to help get your oriented on a quick trip. I really do recommend those, but if you aren’t interested in them then you’ll be better off with just a Paris Museum Pass, or paying as you go. In February you really shouldn’t have to spend much time in ticket queues, so just paying as you go is probably best.
The transit pass that is included is fantastic, but you can buy a Visite Pass (as they are known) once you get there if you want one. They sure do make seeing a lot in a short time much easier, and they also save you from buying individual ride tickets from ticket booths with attendants that prefer not to speak in English. In other words, they just make everything easier, so even if they don’t save you much money, they will save you headaches. -Roger
A question. If I purchase a 6 day museum pass at the airport and do not activate it for a week as I intend to be in Paris for a month; must it be used 6 consecutive days from first use?
Barbara,
Sorry, but I’m quite sure the passes are only valid on consecutive days. -Roger