I often visit Paris to see friends and family etc. Whenever I do so, I try to book all museum, travel and activities tickets in advance simply because I absolutely hate queueing.

In the last couple of years I've been using this online service called Allo-france, who sell everything from metro tickets to popular show tickets (lido de paris, moulin rouge, etc).

They're quite a small company which means they are very efficient at what they do and I have had excellent feedback from them.

I really recommend to anyone who is planning on going to Paris to at least buy their metro tickets in advance as they will struggle with the French metro ticket system when they get there. One of my favourites is also the Paris museum pass which gives you access to all museums across the city. Great for managing your time.

www.allo-france.com

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If you accidentally go through the barrier to the wrong platform on the Paris Metro and then try to climb back over the barrier to rectify your mistake, make sure you know enough of the French vocabulary to be able to explain to an armed police officer that you aren’t in fact a fare dodger but have made an honest mistake!

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If you are staying for several days buy a Carte Orange, zone 1 & 2, to use metro/buses etc rather than the Paris Visite tourist pass which is more expensive.

Tickets can be bought at most metro stations, you will need to ask for the wallet and card from the ticket desk, then attach a passport-sized photo and you have free travel from Monday to Sunday. As this is a weekly pass, aimed at Parisian commuters, be careful with the dates, it runs from Monday to Sunday.

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Arguably one of the world's most famous opera houses. On its busiest night, I decided to gamble and walk in ten minutes after the start of the Saturday 7pm performance of (...I honestly can't remember, but it featured a nun who had renounced her vow of celibacy and was sung in German...).

I asked, using my basic French vocabulary for the cheapest ticket available. Three minutes later, I was in the 'Gods', in a packed Bastille, watching opera with Paris glitteraty ... for €5, yes FIVE EUROS. It was fantastic. I recommend anyone gambles!

L'Opéra de Paris-Bastille, 120 rue de Lyon 75012 Paris France ... It's at the Bastille!

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This is effectively a museum pass which you can buy to cover 1, 3 or 5 days. It will get you into almost every Paris attraction you may want to see from the Louvre to Notre Dame, with the possible exclusion of the Eiffel Tower, it starts at 15euros for 1 day and gets progressively cheaper for longer periods The best bit isn't the museums it gets you into though, it's the fact that for places like the Louvre and the Orsay because you don't have to queue to get tickets you can skip large sections of the queuing process and just get straight to the interesting bits. It also encourages you to try the smaller museums you wouldn't have done before as you don't have to pay more to go in. They can be bought at any metro station or any museum or even at the eurostar terminal.

www.paris.org/Musees/mmc.html any metro station

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