I am travelling to Paris on the 12th of July until the 19th with two of my friends. There are two of us that are 19 and one who is just 18 years old. We will arrive at CDG at 14:35 and would like information on how to reach Gare de Lyon to get the train/metro to Nanterre. I have checked for information on the Internet, but I am very confused. Also, the transport is very expensive. I would appreciate some feedback and answers on it, so it would be usefull to hear what you have to say. Thanks!

Are you going directly from CDG to Nanterre? If so, take the RER B to Chatelet les Halles and change to the RER A or D to Gare de Lyon. Buy your ticket at CDG. It shouldnt be too expensive - I dont know exactly but cant be more than €15?

Here is a map of the metro: http://www.aparisguide.com/maps/metro.htm

Why Gare de Lyon (which is to the south-east of the centre), if you're going to Nanterre (which is in the western suburbs)? Just change at Chatelet-les-Halles for RER A1 (the other RER A trains go to Nanterre Préfecture, but then by-pass any other stations in Nanterre - so you may need to ask exactly which station you need in Nanterre).

http://www.ratp.fr/plan-interactif/

As far as I can make out from the RATP site, the fare from CDG to central Paris is €8, and from central Paris to Nanterre Ville is €2 or thereabouts. You should be able to buy a single ticket at the airport for the whole journey.

As others said, there is no need to go to Gare de Lyon if your final destination is Nanterre. Take RER B to Paris and change at Châtelet-les-Halles to RER A in the direction of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

It costs 10.65 € and depending on which of the 3 stations that are in Nanterre is your final destination, it would take 47 to 59 minutes from CDG 2.

If you give us the address of your final destination we could advise you on the nearest RER stop.

Hi M,

You can use www.ratp.fr for all of your public transportation planning.

If you need help translating, I use http://imtranslator.com/.

Enjoy your visit.

http://www.ratp.fr/en/ is the english version

Thanks so much for your feedback. It is greatly appreciated. we are staying at Hotel L'amandier,la defense in Paris. If you have more information on transport it would be helpful. Let me know.

I have tried using http://www.ratp.fr/en/, nut it won't let me go to July it only goes as far as April which is no help. Any other websites i could choose!?

I dont understand what you are trying to do? Are you trying to figure out how to use the Paris Metro - if yes, you buy a book of 10 (a carnet - pronounced carnay) tickets, each one good for a ride on teh metro. the book of 10 costs about €12.

The metro runs every few mins all day long every day - why do you need to put in info for May?

Oh you can but these at automated machines if you have a chip and pin credit/debit card, or you can buy them from the manned ticket booths in the stations.

Is there a particular reason you are staying there? Its not a location I would suggest for a first timer to Paris...

...and you may need to buy an additional ticket to get in and out of Paris if its out of zone 1...

Your hotel's website shows that it's closest to the stop Nanterre Préfecture. It is in zone 3 but line A is a very convenient line to visit Paris. I live on RER A myself in zone 3 but on the other side (south east).

I am not sure what you are trying to do on the ratp website but if it's the trip planner, just put any upcoming weekday, it won't be any different in July.

A carnet of 10 tickets to go to Paris costs 18.80 €, making each ride 1.88 € to get anywhere in Paris from Nanterre. A carnet of 10 tickets to use within Paris only will cost 12 €, making each trip 1.20 €. You need to compare with passes.

If you go with carnets, you'll be sharing 40 RER tickets between the 3 of you: 25 € per person. One carnet of métro tickets for a week can be sufficient so it's another 12 €. + 21.30 for your airport transfers. Total transportation budget: 58.30 € per person.

Passes available:
Paris Visite 5 day pass: 29.90 € that you would use the 5 days excluding your arrival and departure days. Allows unlimited travel within zones 1 (Paris) to 3 (suburb). + 21.30 for airport transfers = total of 51.30 €. I don't know if you'll have any time for touring Paris on either arrival or departure day, in which case you may need a couple of extra RER/métro tickets.

A combination of the weekly Mon-Sun navigo découverte pass + airport + individual tickets for your last Monday in Paris would come to about 52-55 € per person.

So as you can see there is no major difference between the different options. The 5-day pass seems like it would be the most convenient and slightly cheaper. It also gives you discounts on some attractions:
http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_22088/p...-presentation/

Thanks for all that will have 2 discuss with my friends. Answering your question "jamekins" it was one of the only cheap hotels I could find in Paris. If you have suggestions for others that would me a help...

Mary, if you are looking for cheap and more central, I can't recommend specific places but you could use www.hostels.com. They have more than just hostels, just check the box that you want to search also for hotels. You can search for the dates you want. You can look at them display on a map. There are other great features. There are reviews too. Or you can check for any reviews on www.thorntree.com or www.tripadvisor.com.

Thanks Laurie, very helpful must check now...

Mary - what is your budget? I havent stayed here yet, but we booked rooms at Hotel Cosmos based on a recommendation of an apartment owner we rented from last new years. Its by republique - so in central Paris, not right by the river, but we stayed in the area last year and really liked it. We are paying 67 euro a night for a double in June. Its not a typical place for a first timer to stay but WAY better than your current location in my opinion. You would be close to the RER from CDG and lots of Metro lines so its very easy to get around, plus we walked to Opera and the Latin Quarter from there with no problem.

http://www.cosmos-hotel-paris.com/en,1,6436.html

Another good place to check out affordable places is www.eurocheapo.com

And because its in central paris its cheaper for metro tickets - the carnet for 12 euros would be all you would need...you wouldnt pay more for the transit into central paris.

What is your hotel budget?