susan4

My daughter and I will be taking the Eurostar to Paris, arriving Friday evening. What option would you recommend to get to the Hotel Europe Saint Severin? It is near the St Michel RER station. We would like to use public transport if not too complicated. Thank you.

ira

Hi susan,

Go to http://www.ratp.info/informer/anglais/index.php
for directions between any two points in Paris.

LAwoman

If you are arriving at Nord, the metro goes straight from Nord to St. Michel. Unless you have a lot of luggage, that should be the quickest way to go.

susan4

Thanks so much.

Robespierre

The route finder at <b>ratp.fr</b> is a little easier to use (if the French doesn't throw you) because it offers valid choices when you start typing a station name. The English site forces you to get the exact name, spelled correctly, before it will tell you anything.

MorganB

Take the RER B. From Gare du Nord it stops at Chatelet followed by St Michel. Its about a 4 minute ride.

sandi_travelnut

we took a cab from there to our hotel in the same area and it cost about 25e with 3 people plus luggage.

Robespierre

<b>susan4</b>

If you plan to move about much, you will probably want to acquire a transit pass as soon as you get to Gare du Nord, which would render your trip to St-Michel &quot;free.&quot;

How long are you staying, and where do you plan to visit? Your transportation within the city can cost from &euro;1.05 per ride to &euro;2.20 per day, depending on your situation.

111op

Could you elaborate on the transit please, R? Thanks.

Robespierre

Pricing starts at the &quot;t&quot; ticket <i>carnet</i> price of &euro;1.05 per ride, which is fine for up to 5 rides per day. But if you get on a bus or go into the M&eacute;tro/RER more times than that, you should get an unlimited pass.

The daily <i>Mobilis</i> card is &euro;5.30 per day. However, if you're going to travel more than 5 times a day for more than two days, it might be cheaper to acquire...

a <i>Carte Orange</i>, which costs from &euro;5.13 a day for 3 days to &euro;2.20 a day for 7 days. The only catch is that the days must be during the same calendar week, Monday through Sunday.

(Why are you asking me this? You probably know more about it than I do.)

111op

Oh, I misunderstood -- I thought that it was something special to do with the Eurostar (i.e. show Eurostar ticket and ride to a final destination in Paris for free).

My reaction was, hm..., why didn't I know this before?

Actually I always buy a carnet -- don't know how the Mobilis or Carte Orange works but have read about that here, of course.

susan4

We are arriving Friday afternoon and leaning Monday about noon. We should buy a 3 day ticket then? Have not planned our itinerary yet (working on it). I have never been there before but hope this is first of many trips and do not intend to try to cram in too much. Want to walk alot and soak in lots of atmosphere. Also, I think our hotel is within walking distance of a number of sites. thanks again for help.

LAwoman

Just buy 10 tickets - 'un carnet' - for &euro;10.50 at Nord. It's very easy to do, there are machines that dispense them, very similar to ATM, you can use cash, credit card or ATM card. If you run out you can buy another carnet or individual tickets, depending on how much time you have left in Psris.

Robespierre

Although walking around the various neighborhoods is a splendid use of your time, Paris is too spread out to get from district to district on foot, especially during such a brief stay. You don't want to use your precious hours getting from here to there. Besides, continuous marching for two days will wear you out, detracting from your enjoyment of the trip.

I suggest using a <i>carnet</i> for Friday and Monday, but getting one-day Mobilis cards for Saturday and Sunday. Use the wonderful bus system to get from your hotel to the far-flung sights. Even if you only ride for a few blocks at a time, you will save time and energy. Print the <i>Bus touristique</i> map from this site to jog your imagination:

<b>http://www.ratp.info/orienter/tous_plans_pdf.php
</b>

Note especially the Balabus route, which operates on Sunday afternoons from April to September.

Within Paris proper, you will need a Mobilis for Zones 1-2. Going out to Versailles (RER C5 to Rive Gauche) will require Zones 1-4.