Getting to Paris and other Paris, France Transportation Tips

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: You can get to Paris either by plane or by train, and both methods are just fine. Paris has 2 main airports: Charles de Gaulle -CDG- (where I usually fly into and is located in the north east of Paris) and Orly (located in the south); a smaller airport (Beauvais, mainly used by the budget airlines and quite small and inconvenient) and many train stations, such as Gare de Lyon (shown on the picture). All of the airports and train stations are connected to the Metro and/or RER (regional train) network, so you don't have to spend a fortune in a taxi to get to downtown Paris as it was the case many years ago.

In my personal case, I took the RER + metro from CDG airport (I've flown from Mex City to Paris directly with Air France and via London with British Airways) all the way to Gare de Lyon train station, which was only 2 blocks away from the hotel I was staying at. You can do the same if you arrive at any other of the train stations located in Paris - it's easy to move from one place to the other using the extensive metro/RER network.

If you arrive by plane, there are also buses (such as the so called Roissy-Bus) which will take you from the CDG airport to the Opera Garnier, and Air France cars that will take you from either of the 2 airports to different spots in Paris for a fee of around 9-15 EUR (per person) depending on where you're going (for more info on the latter check website provided).

If arriving to Orly, they also have 2-3 different options to go to Paris, besides the AF Cars: you can take buses to nearby RER stations or a fast train called ORLYVAL which takes you to the Antony RER station; then you can go anywhere you want within the metro network.

There are also different options to transfer between these 2 airports, with Orlyval, Orlybus and AF cars.

Leave a Comment

Website: http://cars.airfrance.fr/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: To move around Paris, there's nothing better than using the metro (I personally never used the buses but they must be good, too) as it's very widely spread and it'll take you anywhere you want to go. There are metro stations all over Paris and there's certainly one close to wherever your destination is. Look at the picture and you'll see a map of the Parisian metro lines. The price of one metro ticket is 1.60 EUR (as of 2009, thanks to VTer Beausoleil for letting me know that the rates had been updated since my last trip to Paris), but you can buy a 10-ticket carnet - if you plan to stay at least 3 days it's worth it - for 11.40 EUR. The regular metro ticket was purple last time I bought one but now it is white... however, it still looks pretty much like these old tickets on the picture. It's good for all metro and bus lines and also for the RER train *within* Paris limits.

If you wish to travel out of town (airports, Eurodisney, Versailles palace) you need to buy a special RER ticket (like the yellow one on the pic) and the price will depend on where you want to go (e.g. the one-way ticket from Paris to the Charles de Gaulle airport was 7.60 EUR, going to Versailles cost 4.70 EUR --> info from 2002). My ticket from Pont-de-Rungis RER station (close to Orly airport) to Paris cost me around 3.50 EUR in 2007. You can get the tickets either at the ticket booths or in ticket machines at the metro stations.

Leave a Comment