We were given two adult Paris Passes for the purpose of this review. All opinions are honest and our own.
You'll remember that over the summer holidays we went on a little French road trip and we ended up in Paris. I love Paris and have vistited a couple of times before but not for years and the hubby has never been not we have taken the children so I wanted to make the most of the two days that we were there.
We were staying just outside Paris in a Eurocamp and from there it took a bus to take us to the train station and the train station took us through to the Metro were Paris was our osyter!
We picked up our Paris Pass as soon as we got into the city, we picked it up from the Big Bus Shop which is on Avenue De L Opera and was easy to find and right next to the Pyramides Metro station. There was quite a queue in the shop but once I was at the front I was able to pick up my pass and the staff were really helpful in explaining how to use it. We had two adult day passes which included a Museum Pass and the Paris Pass card. It also entitled us to a River Cruise and one day on the Big Bus Hop on Hop off Buses (both the red and blue routes). You could add an extra day on the bus for only $10 euros I think and I do wish that we had done that as these buses are a great way to get around the city and learn some interesting facts along the way. You are also given a travelcard for the buses and Metro which is really invaluable. Because the travelcard stretches to zone 3 we were able to use our travelcard to take us all the way back to our Eurocamp each evening which saved us some money. It's also easier to use than trying to work out the ticket machines and which type of ticket that you need!
The Big Bus Paris
The bus is great for travelling with kids as you aren't rushing in and out of Metro stations. Getting on and off is easy and of course they stop at all the major attractions. You are given a set of headphones when you get on and you can listen to the tour guide (always in English) if there is one or a pre-recorded guide which is available in several languages. We used the red tour on our first day in Paris and we went around the whole route, getting off when we wanted to visit something and making the most of the tour guides excellent local knowledge.
The Paris Attractions Pass
You are given a really handy booklet with your passes which tells you exactly where you can use them. You can use the Paris Pass in so many different places and the bonus is that it usually lets you skip the queue too - brilliant when you are travelling with young children in the heat of summer like we were! To really make the most of the value of the Pass I would recommend planning your day around a few of the places that are included on the Pass. It's great knowing that you don't have to budget any extra for entrance fees over the course of your trip, as these are already covered in the cost of the Pass. We used the Paris Pass to get into the Aquarium and to go on a river cruise which was an amazing experience.
The Museum Pass
Alongside your Paris Pass comes a Museum Pass. We used this a lot to get into places like the Arc de Triomphe and The Louvre. Children get free entry into many of the museums which was great as we didn't have a Paris Pass for the children (although you can buy one - which I would do next time). The great bonus of using your pass is that you get fast tracked into these places so we hardly had to queue at either of them - a real blessing considering the queue for The Louvre was huge!
We had an absolute blast touring Paris for two days and our Paris Passes were invaluable. I'd recommend planning out where you want to visit and really make use of where the Paris Pass gets you entry to make the most out of what you spend on it. The little extras add up too, like the Bus Tour and the River Cruise and the Paris Visite Travelcard too. You can also use it to get discounts in some shops and restaurants so it's well worth giving the booklet it comes with a really good read and making use of the app too.
There were so many places that we didn't have time to visit, next time we go we will buy a longer Paris Pass (they are available in 2, 3, 4 and 6 day durations) and visit for longer!
An adult two day Paris Pass retails for 131 Euros each, Teen and Child passes are also available as are longer duration passes. You can buy them online and pick them up in Paris or have them shipped to your home address.
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