Robespierre

There are two RER stations, one in Terminal 1 and another in Terminal 2. The ticket windows are upstairs from the platforms - but if you have 8,20€ in your pocket, you can buy your ticket from a machine and save a long wait.

For your departure, your airline will tell you how far in advance they want you there, so just add a half hour to know when to be at the RER station.

kerouac

<According to the RATP website..there are elevators in all RER stations (and none in metro lines except line 14)>

I can't imagine that the RATP website said that last part, because I can think of elevators at Saint Michel, Cité, Saint Fargeau, Abbesses, Lamarck-Caulaincourt, Porte des Lilas, to name just a few elevator stations not on line 14.

Nlingenfel

I usually walk or take the metro. But, I would definately suggest that you take a taxi to your room from Gare de Nord. It's not expensive and it will get your vacation off to a good start.

tropicalkerry

Merci to all!

Robespierre

On the other hand, negotiating the RATP network will get you to your hotel with a keener sense of where you are and how to get places than if a taxi simply deposits you at your front door.

The complete list of elevators (<i>acenseurs</i is at http://www.ratp.info/informer/reseau_ferre.php. If it says <i>avec agent</i>, it means that an RATP employee has to operate the elevator, otherwise they're self-service.

NeoPatrick

&quot;On the other hand, negotiating the RATP network will get you to your hotel with a keener sense of where you are and how to get places than if a taxi simply deposits you at your front door.&quot;

Funny you should say that. I suppose if you took busses, that might be true, but one thing about taking the RER and/or metro is that you arrive in a neighborhood with no sense of where you are, what direction things are located, and how far other places are from you. Arriving by taxi and passing Notre Dame, the Louvre, seeing the Eiffel Tower in the distance, crossing the Seine, etc. really gives one a much better &quot;sense&quot; of the city than arriving underground.

I don't think simply following directions for how to get to the RER station at CDG and then riding it gives one THAT much knowledge of getting around -- and plenty of time to do that later when you aren't also encumbered with luggage or still being jet lagged.

Robespierre

That's all true about tunnels - but if you have to locate your hotel on a map with respect to the train stop before you can put down your suitcase, you already know a lot more than &quot;the Eiffel Tower is that way&quot; and &quot;oooh, look - there's the Louvre&quot; (which 99% of people wouldn't recognize anyway unless they saw Pei's pyramid).

kerouac

I don't have trouble negotiating directions in the various subway systems of the world that I have used. When in unfamiliar territory, the first thing I check on a map is N-E-W-S. If I am coming from the north (like CDG) and going south, I keep in mind at all times that the front of the train is the south and the back of the train is the north. When exiting, I try to continue to retain this information while noting what left turns or right turns are doing to the direction. Yes, this is tricky sometimes. Nevertheless, I would say that in 90% of modern transport systems, there is a neighborhood map at the exit for you to get your precise bearings.

However, I do know that some people have absolutely no sense of direction, and I would tend to assume that it is these people who are the most militant for taxi use or any other imaginable excuse to support being deposited in front of their destination's door.

kenderina

Sorry, Kerouac, that was my mistake, I was talking about elevators for wheelchair users (which is the list Robespierre provided later), I should have clarified that