I apologize in advance for my naivete... but can anyone give advice on the best way to travel from CDG to the Marais? Should we grab a cab (how much would this cost?), there are 2 of us, OR does it make more sense to take a train into Paris (3eme), although we would have our luggage with us? We would be arriving CDG at 6.30 a.m. in July.
Also, after spending 6 nights in Paris we are planning on renting a car and driving down to the Loire for a few days. Any tips on where specifically in Paris to pick up a rental car? We plan to return it in Tours and then take the TGV back to the airport.
For the train from Tours back to Paris, do we need to book tickets in advance?
Thanks much for any advice!
Travel / Metro / Trains around Paris
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Hi Mamox, I received some good advice on a similar question a week or two ago. I don't want to screw up your thread by pasting in a long link, but I think you can find it by clicking on my profile.
For our trip later this week, we've decided to take the RER from CDG to Gare du Nord and then taxi from there to our hotel in the 6th. It sounds like that will be cheaper than taxi-ing the whole way but we'll avoid the difficulty of switching trains, lugging suitcases in the metro, etc.
Good luck!
Link to interactive Metro map - http://www.ratp.info/orienter/cv/carteparis.php
Taxi would be approx 50E.
A cab will cost a lot -- 50E or more.
RER-Métro might do it, depending on how close your hotel is to a métro station; your RER ticket is valid for the métro.
Pick up your car on the south side of Paris: Porte de Versailles, Porte d'Orléans, or even Gare Montparnasse (you can go along the east side of the tracks to get to the périphérique).
There is an Avis office at the St Pierre des Corps train station, and the TGV goes there, too. That is where we p/u and d/o our rental for some Loire V. explorations in 2004.
i think you can check out shuttle-inter.com
emailed them for rates and i think they charge 50 or 55euros per trip (private transfer), and quite a few fodorites have used them with good reviews.
hi max,
A shttle will be about 19E pp.
www.beeshuttle.com
http://www.paris-blue-airport-shuttle.fr/index_en.php
www.parishuttle.com
Regarding a train from Tours to Paris -- does one need to book tickets in advance? No, but the regular fare is about €54. If you buy a PREM ticket online ahead of time, it is showing €17 on certain TGV trains.
It's often much easier to ride the train into town and get a bus rather than transferring to the Métro. See my bus guide and see if there isn't a bus stop near your hotel that connects to the RER.
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/the-shortest-distance-between-pointe-a-et-pointe-b-cest.cfm
p.s. The AutoRoute toll from Paris to Tours is in the 20€ range - we got off at Exit 18 last summer and it cost us 17€.
robespierre... wow, I had no idea! You have to pay a 20 euro toll for the highway from Paris to Tours??? And I thought the Mass Pike into Boston was bad. Wow. Glad we're planning on taking the train back up to CDG!
If I buy the Navigo Decouverte weekly pass for the Metro (zones 1 and 2), does this include the RER train from CDG to Gare du Nord??? Or is this separate?
For road tolls in France, the www.viamichelin.com will give you the precise amount of the tolls for any itinerary plotted.
CDG is in zone 5, so the RER from the airport is absolutely not included.
Good tip, kerouac. Michelin says the toll is 20,80€ for the 2h17 trip.
(After we got over the shock, we used our GPS to navigate local roads after that. They weren't too bad, although about 30% slower.)
I just made a major road trip over the past 3 days, but I was lucky to have toll sting taken away by using French vacation vouchers at the toll booths. I bought them through my office last November at a 30% discount, and that was so long ago it was as though the tolls were free. (I also paid all of my hotel bills with vacation vouchers, but that's another story.)