Paris in two days, and the ticket system that changed in 2026
A two-day walking route through Paris — plus the Louvre's new two-tier pricing, the free Notre-Dame slot, and why paper métro tickets are gone.
onesim team
Two days in Paris is not a compromise. The centre is four kilometres across, the best of it is outdoors and free, and the museums that matter are within walking distance of each other.
What has changed is the admin. In 2026 the métro finished moving off paper, and the Louvre started charging visitors different prices depending on where they live. Both are worth understanding before you land.
The ticket system, in 2026 terms
Paper carnets are gone. You now load journeys onto a Navigo Easy card — €2 for the card itself, from any station machine — or onto your phone, and top it up as you go.
| Ticket | Covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
Métro / RER / train single | One journey in Paris, transfers included | €2.55 |
Bus / tram single | One bus or tram journey | €2.05 |
Navigo Easy card | The card you load them onto | €2, once |
Paris Région ↔ airports | CDG or Orly to anywhere in zones 1–5, two hours of transfers | €14 |
Child 4–9 | Métro, RER and train | €1.30 |
The €14 airport ticket replaced the old per-leg fares and is the simplest thing about arriving: one ticket from Charles de Gaulle or Orly, valid across the whole network for two hours, which is more than enough to reach any hotel in the city. Buy it before you leave the airport station; the machines take cards.
From CDG, the RER B reaches Gare du Nord in about 30 minutes and Châtelet in 35. From Orly, the métro line 14 now runs directly into the centre and is faster than the old tram-and-RER combination.
The Louvre: two prices since January 2026
The Louvre introduced two-tier pricing in January 2026. Residents of the European Economic Area pay €22; everyone else pays €32 — a 45% rise for non-EEA visitors, and the first time the museum has charged differently by nationality.
Entry is timed and the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Under-18s are free, and under-26s resident in the EEA are free too, which is worth checking if you have a student in the group.
The plan to move the Mona Lisa into a dedicated room with its own entrance is real but slow: it is not expected before 2031. Until then she is where she has always been, behind glass, in a room with several hundred people holding phones above their heads. The Vermeers two rooms away are better and nobody is standing in front of them.
If a single museum day is the plan, consider the Musée d'Orsay instead — one building, one collection, and the Impressionists that most people picture when they picture Paris.
Notre-Dame is free, and the slot is free too
Notre-Dame reopened after the fire and is free to enter, as it always was. You can walk in, and in the middle of the day you will queue for it.
The cathedral also takes free timed reservations through its official site and app, up to two days ahead. It costs nothing, it takes a minute, and it is the difference between ten minutes and ninety. The bell-tower climb is a separate, paid ticket.
Day one: the river, the island, the Marais
Start on the Île de la Cité early — Notre-Dame on your slot, then Sainte-Chapelle for the glass, which is a small paid ticket and a genuinely extraordinary room on a bright morning.
Cross to the Latin Quarter: the Panthéon, the Rue Mouffetard market street, and the Jardin du Luxembourg, where the green chairs are free and you can move them where you like.
In the afternoon, cross back to the Marais. This is the best walking in Paris: the Place des Vosges, the Jewish quarter on Rue des Rosiers, the Musée Carnavalet — free, and the story of the city itself — and the streets between them.
Day two: the west, then up the hill
Walk the Champs-Élysées if you must, but the better version of that morning is the Tuileries to the Place de la Concorde and across the river to the Musée d'Orsay.
The Eiffel Tower needs booking ahead for the lift; the stairs to the second floor are cheaper, always available and a better experience. Alternatively, skip it: the tower is the one thing in Paris that is better seen than climbed, and the Trocadéro on the far bank is where it looks its best.
Give the evening to Montmartre. Go up the back way, from Abbesses through the Rue Lepic rather than the steps under Sacré-Cœur, and finish at the top for the view east over the city as the lights come on.
If you have half a day more
- Père Lachaise — an enormous, quiet, tree-covered cemetery, free, an hour on the métro
- Canal Saint-Martin — iron footbridges, locks, and where Parisians in their twenties sit on the quay in summer
- Versailles — a full day, not half, and it is only worth it if you book the palace and do the gardens too
Practical notes
Almost every café has two prices: cheaper at the bar, more expensive at a table on the terrace. Both are legal and both are printed.
Service is included by law, and the pourboire is small change or a euro or two, not a percentage.
Drinking water is free and good: the city's Wallace fountains run all summer, and about thirty public fountains dispense sparkling water. Ask for une carafe d'eau in a restaurant and you get tap water at no charge.
The métro runs until around 01:15 and an hour later at weekends. Paris is also genuinely walkable — most of this article is a four-kilometre walk a day — and the Vélib' bike share fills the gaps.
