Paris > Transportation > Buses

Paris Buses

How to buy transit tickets and ride public buses in Paris, France.

ABOVE: Passengers board an RATP city bus in Paris.

• For 2025: The Paris transportation network has announced new fares. A "Bus-Tram Ticket" costs €2,-- and is valid for 90 minutes in one direction in Paris and its suburbs (excluding airports). Children under 4 travel free as long as they don't occupy a seat.

By Durant Imboden

In a city where Métro stations are never more than 500 meters apart, buses may seem like an anachronism.

Still, there are times when a bus line may be the shortest distance between two points in Paris, and some travelers would rather look out a bus window (assuming that they can find a seat) than feel cooped up in a subway tunnel.

Paris transit buses are operated by RATP, the regional public-transportation network.

Bus lines within the city have two-digit route numbers (such as 63 or 82), while suburban lines have three-digit numbers.

You can download transit maps and apps from the RATP Web site.

In this article, we'll tell you about fares and tickets, how to ride the buses, and where to find more Paris bus and transit information on the Web.

Paris bus fares and tickets

ABOVE: An electric Montmartrobus.

A single journey with an electronic Bus-Tram Ticket costs €2,-- if purchased in advance or €2,50 if you pay by SMS at the bus stop.

See our Paris Metro Fares and Tickets article for information on using a stored-value card such as Navigo Easy or the RATP's Bonjour Paris app. The tourist-oriented Paris Visite pass and the RATP's Navigo Jour one-day travel card (which costs €12,-- in 2025) are other options.

Traveling with children:

Children under age 4 travel free on buses, trams, or the Métro as long as they don't occupy a seat. Kids 4 and older pay the full adult fare.

How to ride Paris buses

ABOVE: A No. 82 bus stop at the Eiffel Tower.

• Wait at the bus stop, which will have either a shelter or a signpost. (Some stops have electronic signs that display bus numbers and waiting times.)

• When the bus arrives, board at the front.

• Validate your ticket or electronic pass immediately upon boarding. This is important--you can be fined heavily if you're caught without a validated fare.

• When you're ready to get off the bus, press the nearest red button to activate the "stop requested" sign. (You'll see red buttons scattered throughout the bus.)

• Leave the bus through the rear doors.

Note:

• If you're traveling with the Paris Visite pass, follow the validation and usage instructions in the accompanying booklet.

• Your ticket is valid for 130 minutes in one direction, with free transfers between buses, trams, and funiculars if needed.

• The "how to" instructions on this page apply to standard Paris city buses, which can be identified by their route numbers.

Paris bus and transit links

ABOVE: A bus enters the Avenue Friedland from the Place Charles de Gaule (a.ka. the Étoile). The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is on the right.

RATP
The official site of the Paris and suburban transit network has maps, timetables, current fares, etc. in French, with some tourist information in English and five other languages.

Paris Visite
If you want to buy a 1-, 2-, 3-, or 5-day transit pass before you leave home, this site will make the process easy--though not as easy as buying the pass after you arrive.

Paris: Buses
Today's RATP buses aren't nearly as distinctive as the vintage buses that you may have seen in classic movies--and which are shown in glorious black-and-white on Dewi Williams's Web site.

Paris Transportation Articles - Index parisforvisitors.com
This page has links to our articles on the Paris Métro, RER, Montmartre funicular, sightseeing buses, airport ground transportation, Vélib' city bike rentals, Seine sightseeing boats and water buses, St-Martin canal boats, and Eurostar trains between London and Paris.

About the author:

Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation.

After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (including Paris for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post.

For more information, see About our site, press clippings, and reader testimonials.

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