RER questions

Hi,

I%26#39;ll be travelling to Paris for the first time in October. To get to my hotel, I need to take RER %26quot;B%26quot; from Charles De Gaulle airport to St Michel Notre Dame, then RER %26quot;C%26quot; in the direction of Pontoise and alight at Pont de l%26#39;Alma.

I undertand it costs about Euro8.40 for taking the RER %26quot;B%26quot;. Do I need to buy a separate ticket for taking the RER %26quot;C%26quot;?

Can I purchase a Paris Visite Pass at the same time when I purchase the RER ticket?

Thanks.

Regards

Sylvia

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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;I undertand it costs about Euro8.40 for taking the RER %26quot;B%26quot;. Do I need to buy a separate ticket for taking the RER %26quot;C%26quot;?%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

So long as you remain within the gate-controlled spaces of the station, you can transfer from the RER %26#39;B%26#39; ligne over to the RER %26#39;C%26#39; ligne on the same ticket...no additional fare required.

CORRESPONDANCE is the signage for passageways between different lignes.

SORTIE is the signage for passageways that lead to EXITS.

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;Can I purchase a Paris Visite Pass at the same time when I purchase the RER ticket?%26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

YES...you can purchase the PARIS VISITE transportation pass at the CDG RER stations...BUT...are you sure that this is the best transportation pass or ticket option for your proposed stay??....specifically your day-of-the-week of arrival, departure, proposed itinerary, airport transfers, day-trips out of Paris, etc. while in Paris?? Details often matter.

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Thanks. I will be arriving at 6.30a.m. from Singapore on 17 Oct and leaving 19 Oct at noon. I plan to buy a 2-day Paris Visite for the first 2 days. I%26#39;ll be visiting zones 1 %26amp; 2 only due to the my short stint in Paris. On day three, I won%26#39;t be moving around much and will probably need another RER ticket to the airport.

I%26#39;ve contemplated using the Paris shuttle in the first place, but since reading about the ease of using RER and also it is a cheaper mode of transport, I%26#39;ve decided to travel by RER to my hotel. I%26#39;ll only be carrying one luggage, so it shold not be a problems moving up/down the steps.

Any more ideas or suggestions would really be appreicated.

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A 2-day Paris Visite, zones 1-3 (the fewest you can buy) is 14.0€.

2 days%26#39; worth of Mobilis day-tickets (5.80€ each) will cost 11.60€, if you feel like saving a couple euro. I think, though, there are some other small discounts that accompany the P.V. pass....

www.transport-idf.com/frontal…

ratp.info/informer/anglais/paris_visite.php

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Thanks travelnutty. Being new to the city, the transport system seems so complicated. May be I will opt for 2 days mobilis and travel around on buses and metro to the various sights within Paris.

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I found the Paris metro system pretty easy to use and I don%26#39;t come from a city with public transportation.

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The metro system may be simple, but the RER much less so. For instance, because of the transport zones, and because most RER lines have several branches. The fact that some RER lines are handled by the RATP (the Paris metro authority), and others by the SNCF (French state railway), also doesn%26#39;t help.

At Saint-Michel Nôtre Dame, you will need to find the right platform first. I%26#39;m not positive, but I think this is platform A (%26quot;Quai A%26quot;)

Then you will have to find out which train to get on - trains may go in the right direction, but they do not always stop at all stations! On the wall, you will find a map with a list of all the stops - behind every name you will find all the %26quot;names%26quot; - four-letter codes - of the trains that stop there; in some cases 2 or 3, but there could be as much as 6 or more.

You will also see electronic signs that show the next 10 or 12 trains departing from the platform, with their four-letter %26quot;names%26quot; and the time of departure.

When you need to go to Pont de l%26#39;Alma, trains stopping there are: VICK (this train is going in the direction of Gare de Versailles Rive Gauche), NORA (direction Gare de Pontoise), GOTA (direction Gare de Montigny Beauchamp) and SARA (direction Gare de Saint Quentin en Yvelines).

transilien.com/web/…horaire-train

http://www.transport-idf.fr

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Thanks Jane, the links are useful but the first one is in French. Just wonder if it is easy to go from one platform to the other for the transfer. I hope there are proper signs displayed and easily understood by the non-French speaking tourists like me.

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It is easily understood, there are some stairs but nothing really hard. I am an eldely lady and did it. For 2 days a ten tickets package called carne (without the RER) might be enough. It costs 11.40 Euro and covers zones 1-2. The RER from CDG costs 8.40 each way. This is last week info. We used RER lines within zone 1-2 too with the same Metro tickets.

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I checked for you - RER C trains that stop at Pont de l%26#39;Alma are: GATA, GOTA, GUTA, KEMA, KUMA, NORA, PAUL, SARA, SLOM and VICK (so probably just about every train leaving from that platform, but still check to be sure).

Each platform (%26quot;quai%26quot; in French) has 2 tracks (%26quot;voies%26quot; in French), you will see the train names on the display hanging overhead near the tracks. The top name is the first train leaving from that track. The time when it leaves is also indicated; if it says %26quot;à l%26#39;approche%26quot; it means the train is nearing the station.

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Thanks once again. Really appreciate your help!