Can you use contactless on the Paris metro?

How I actually pay for the metro these days

The first time I rode the Paris metro, I assumed I’d just tap my bank card at the gate the way I do on some other city systems. I didn’t, and I’m glad I checked before standing at a turnstile with a queue building behind me. Paris isn’t there yet. If you’re planning your first trip and searching for a straight answer on how payment works, here’s what I’ve actually used, and what changed recently.

The ticket reform of January 2025

Until fairly recently, the classic move was to buy a paper carnet of tickets at any station. That’s fading out. Since the reform of January 2025, Île-de-France Mobilités sells two single-journey titles instead of the old paper ticket: the Metro-Train-RER ticket, which covers the metro, RER and regional trains, and the Bus-Tram ticket, for buses and trams. Neither one is a physical card you carry loose in your pocket anymore. Both are digital titles you load onto something else. If you want the fuller picture of every ticket and pass option side by side, our Paris metro tickets and Navigo guide walks through all of them.

That “something else” is either a Navigo Easy card or your phone. Navigo Easy is a small plastic card, sold with no name attached, that you buy once at a station and top up as you go, the same way you’d load credit onto a transit card in plenty of other cities. It isn’t linked to your identity, so if you lose it, you lose whatever’s loaded on it, but it’s simple to replace and reload. I keep mine in the same pocket as my regular wallet cards and tap it the same way at the gate reader.

Why tapping a bank card doesn’t work here

This is the part I want to be blunt about, because I’ve seen it written elsewhere as if it were settled, and it isn’t. Direct contactless payment straight from a foreign bank card at the metro gate is not an established, working feature of the network. I’m not going to tell you it works when I can’t confirm that it does. If you walk up to a gate expecting your Visa or Mastercard to open it the way a Navigo does, you may be disappointed and end up holding up the queue. Budget the ten minutes it takes to sort out a Navigo Easy card or your phone before your first ride, ideally at the airport or your first metro station, rather than finding this out at rush hour.

This mix-up usually comes from confusing metro payment with everything else you pay for in Paris. Cards and contactless work fine almost everywhere else, cafes, museums, shops, so it’s easy to assume the metro gate is the same. Our guide to money, cards and payments in Paris breaks down where contactless genuinely works and where it doesn’t, the metro being the main exception worth knowing about before you land.

If you’re staying more than a couple of days

For a short hop or two, loading single Metro-Train-RER tickets onto a Navigo Easy card works fine. But if you’re in town for several days and riding the metro daily, that gets tedious fast, and there’s a better option: the Navigo semaine pass. It runs Monday to Sunday, not on a rolling seven-day basis from whatever day you buy it, which matters if you land midweek and only have a few days left in that cycle. It also requires a photo, so bring a passport photo or be ready to have one taken at the counter.

The other option built specifically with visitors in mind is Paris Visite, sold for a set number of consecutive days. I’ve used both depending on the trip: Navigo semaine when my week lined up with the Monday-Sunday cycle, Paris Visite when it didn’t. Neither price is something I’ll quote here, since it changes, but ask at any staffed counter or check the current fares before you commit to one over the other.

What this actually looks like on the ground

On my last trip, I landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and bought a Navigo Easy card at the RER B counter before heading into the city. I loaded it with enough Metro-Train-RER tickets to get me through the first two days while I decided whether a weekly pass made sense for the rest of the stay. It did, so I topped the same card up with a Navigo semaine pass a few days in. One card, two different products loaded onto it at different points. That flexibility is the actual advantage of the new digital system over the old paper tickets, even if it means an extra step at the start of your trip. For the full walkthrough of that RER B ride, including where to buy the card before you even leave the terminal, see our CDG to Paris city centre guide.

If you’d rather skip the card altogether, both ticket types can be loaded onto a phone through the relevant transit app, which is worth setting up before you land if you’re comfortable navigating a French-language app on unfamiliar wifi. Having a working data connection for that app matters too, so it’s worth sorting out an eSIM or local data plan before you touch down; our guide to staying connected in Paris covers the options. If you’re flying into Orly instead, the process is just as straightforward now that metro line 14 reaches the terminal directly.

A few things worth knowing before you tap through

• The 16 metro lines and 5 RER lines all use the same gate readers, so one Navigo Easy card or phone covers both once it’s loaded correctly.
• Airport RER journeys sometimes carry a specific fare rather than the standard Metro-Train-RER ticket, so don’t assume your loaded ticket automatically covers the ride from Paris Orly (ORY) or CDG.
• Keep your Navigo Easy card until you’re through the gate at the other end; some journeys are checked on exit, not just entry.
• If you’re combining metro travel with day trips outside the 16 metro lines and 5 RER lines network, such as heading to Versailles or the trains toward Giverny, those regional trains sometimes use separate tickets rather than your city Navigo product.

If you’d rather not deal with tickets at all

Some visitors sidestep the whole ticketing question for parts of their trip. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are an easy fallback for late nights or heavy luggage days, and our guide to taxis and ride-hailing in Paris covers when that’s worth the cost versus the metro. Others prefer two wheels for short hops between neighbourhoods; cycling in Paris with Velib runs on its own separate payment system entirely, so it’s worth understanding before you assume your Navigo card covers it too. Either way, it helps to have your bearings on how the wider network fits together, which is where our Paris RER and trains guide is useful if you’re heading beyond the city on regional trains.

Is it actually safe to rely on the metro this way

Handing over a Navigo Easy card at every gate for a week or two naturally raises the question of whether the system itself is safe to use so routinely. Short answer: yes, millions of Parisians do exactly this every day. If you want more detail on pickpocket hotspots and general etiquette underground, our piece on is the Paris metro safe covers what’s actually worth watching for, and it’s a reasonable companion read alongside this one before your first ride.

Planning the rest of the trip around this

Once your Navigo Easy card or phone setup is sorted, getting around for the museums, monuments and day trips gets a lot less stressful. If you’re weighing up how many sights to fit in, a multi-day Paris museum pass can pair well with your transit card, since it’s a separate purchase that doesn’t affect how you pay for the metro itself.

For a slower afternoon between metro rides, I’ve also enjoyed a themed walking tour through the city’s musical history, which is entirely on foot and needs no ticket at all. And once you’ve got the transit basics down, don’t be afraid to use that same Navigo setup to reach the RER stations that connect to day trips: a private vintage car tour through Le Marais makes a nice contrast to a day spent tapping through gates, while a longer day trip out to Étretat with lunch included is a reminder that not every day needs the metro at all.

Getting the payment system right on day one means you’re not fumbling with it every single ride after that. Sort your Navigo Easy card or phone setup early, know that a bank card alone won’t get you through the gate, and pick the weekly pass or Paris Visite based on how your dates line up rather than habit.

Paris metro payment: frequently asked questions

Can I just tap my contactless bank card at a Paris metro gate?

I wouldn’t count on it. The system is built around Navigo Easy cards and phones, not bank cards, so plan to buy a Navigo Easy card or set up your phone rather than assume your card will work at the gate.

What happened to the old paper metro tickets?

They’re being phased out. Since the January 2025 reform, Île-de-France Mobilités sells two digital titles, the Metro-Train-RER ticket and the Bus-Tram ticket, loaded onto a card or phone instead of printed as a paper ticket.

What is a Navigo Easy card?

It’s a reusable, anonymous card you buy once and top up with tickets or passes as needed. You tap it on the reader at the gate like you would any transit card.

Should I get a Navigo Easy card or a Navigo weekly pass?

It depends on your stay. Navigo Easy suits short trips or occasional metro use, since you load only the rides you need. The Navigo weekly pass, which runs Monday to Sunday and requires a photo, suits a multi-day stay with frequent travel.

What is Paris Visite and who is it for?

Paris Visite is a pass designed specifically for tourists, sold for a set number of consecutive days. It can be simpler for visitors who don’t want to think about topping up a Navigo Easy card mid-trip.

Can I load Paris metro tickets onto my phone?

Yes, both the Metro-Train-RER ticket and the Bus-Tram ticket can be loaded onto a phone as an alternative to a Navigo Easy card, through the relevant transit app.

Does the same ticket work for the RER to the airports?

The Metro-Train-RER ticket covers RER travel within Paris and the wider Île-de-France network, but airport connections on RER B can carry a specific airport fare, so check before you tap through.

Do I need cash to buy a Paris transit ticket?

No, ticket machines and counters at stations accept cards, and increasingly the whole system is moving toward cards and phones rather than cash or paper.