Quick question, my wife and I are arriving in Paris next Friday morning (her 1st trip my 3rd). We are staying at the Le Regent in St. Germain. Given the closeness of our hotel to the St. Michel station I am hoping to take the RER directly to St. Michel and walking to the hotel. It appears that the line goes to St. Michel but I have also read posts about having to transfer. Can any one let me know which is correct. My previous trips to Paris were always via train while living in The Netherlands so I am not certain about the trip from CDG.

Thank you to all the Fodorites for the great posts and once again making trip planning a breeze.

Some RER B CDG trains go directly to Saint-Michel/Notre Dame stop but others may terminate at Gare du Nord so look at the overhead info signs trackside at CDG RER station to see if the Saint-Michel stop is lit or not - if not that train's not going there. Though you could always change at Gare du Nord, from one platform to another, it's easier to wait for a direct train from the airport. www.ratp.fr has all the schedule details for your RER journey.

Great, thank you.

People who take the RER and then transfer do so because the RER station isn't close enough to their hotel to walk.
I believe the RER express from CDG bypasses outlying stations, but once entering Paris, all the RER stations on Line B have a stop. As recommended above, go to www.ratp.fr and use "Horaires", RER-B and pull the timetables.

We did this route this past summer and the train went directly there from CDG. The only confusing part was once we got off at St. Michel, there were at least 3 different exits from the station and it took us a little while to figure out which direction to go from the street level in order to get to our apartment. It's a great area to stay in, enjoy!

The Place Saint Michel exit will be at the front of the train. If you get off at the back, you will be on Ile de la Cité in front of Notre Dame.

"...Some RER B CDG trains go directly to Saint-Michel/Notre Dame stop but others may terminate at Gare du Nord ..."

I don't understand this comment, Pal-Bob - the RER stops at all 7 Paris stations <b>every trip</b>. I just reviewed all 15 pages of both timetables. The only reason a station would be bypassed is if it were closed for maintenance/repairs. Passing through these station does not require any transfers - you stay seated until you are approaching the station you want.

<u>The stations are:</u>
Gare du Nord
Chatelet-Les Halles
St Michel-Notre Dame
Luxembourg
Port Royal
Denfert Rochereau
Cite Universitaire

Oops wrong again moi i guess - i thought there were some CDG trains that only went as far as the Gare du Nord, terminating there. You are saying that every RER train from CDG goes to Saint-Michel - and i'm sure you're right.

However at the airport i advise not getting on the stopping trains that stop at every station before the Gare du Nord as these rather dumpy trains are much slower and can be jammed especially from Alnoye-sous-Bois on, making these trains less than optimal for those with luggage.

So hop on the trains at CDG that say &quot;Sans Arret (non-stop) to Gare du Nord, then apparently they will stop at every station on RER B in Paris itself. Thanks for the clarification.

Thank you all.

A certain number of RER B trains from CDG do indeed have Gare du Nord as the terminus. But any train that continues through Paris stops at every stop inside the city. So if ever you are dumped off at Gare du Nord, just wait for the next train on the same platform.

I didn't see one train on the timetable that did not continue on thru Paris....can you give an example? Or is it possible that you could change over to another train that operates under the same 'name' to continue on?

Actually, now that I think of it, it is trains coming from the south that often have Gare du Nord as a terminus. That's because that's where the RATP stops and the SNCF begins. Coming from the north (CDG), I am not totally sure, except for major strike days when the RATP and the SNCF do not interconnect, and EVERY train becomes &quot;Gare du Nord terminus&quot; from both directions.

Do I understand that you are thinking that the RER from CDG might terminate at Gare du Nord -only- in the event of a rail strike (otherwise, it continues according to the timetable through to Cite Universitaire)..? If so, that would explain the disparity...

Anyway, our experience is that we can take the RER to and from CDG via Denfert Rochereau, so no terminating at Gare du Nord in either direction.

Half way through this thread I thought I'd found the answer to what happened when I took the RER from CDG, but now I'm not sure.

The train we were on terminated at Gare du Nord and started back to the airport. When we realized we were going back (about 10 passengers) we got off at the next stop and went back to Gare du Nord and transferred by metro to St. Michel.

Anyone know where we went wrong?

Either was a strike or there are indeed trains that terminate at Gare du Nord - i'd like to know what is the real deal as well.

Ha, I guess print the timetable and have a 'plan B'..!

You are not the only one. Went CDG to Paris this time last year and expecting to go right through to St Michel on train. At Gard Nord - everyone else got off and we were quick to jump when we realised the train was about to go back in the other direction. No rail strike on.
BTW, first time posting - been reading Fodors for cpl of years.