This is good to know! I've wasted a fair amount of time waiting in line to buy tickets on RER and SNCF with my US credit card.

bonjour et a bientot

I thought I'd give a consolidated posting about my recent RER B experience while it is still all fresh in my mind. Sorry - this is a bit long-winded.

These instrucitons are for leaving from and returning to CDG T1 (T2 will be slightly different).

There are two RER B stops at CDG - CDG1 and CDG2, all RER B trains stop at both stations, coming from Paris, CGD1 is first.

You would normally use the CDG2 stop for terminal 2, and CDG1 for terminal 1 or 3. The CDG1 stop is actually at terminal 3, and there is a free airport train that runs from T1-Parking-T3-Parking-T2 and back (T3, confusingly, is between T1 and T2), so you could conceviably use either stop from either terminal.

Leaving CDG from T1:

Follow the signs to the airport train, which is well marked for the RER, but the signs on the trains and platform indicate both stops as RER options - just get off at T3.

You will come up into a large open area that is marked to go toward the right for tickets. If you go right there is a large bank of ticket machines (that in my experience DO take US credit cards) as well as service windows. When we came through mid-afternoon on 12/26 the line for the ticket machine took 45 minutes, and the wait for the service windows seemed even longer. I don't know if this is typical. The current fee for downtown Paris is indeed EU8.40. There are no change machines that we saw - so your choices are coins/cc at the machines, or stand in line for the service window. Since the tickets work in both directions and don't expire I would [big hint] just go ahead and use the CC and buy tickets for the return journey at the same time and be done with it.

However, if you turn LEFT instead of right, there is a single ticket machine by the other entrance. You might try that machine first, especially if the line at the main entrance is long.

After getting your tickets, you go through the turnstile and take the escalator down to the platform, which is marked "All Trains Go to Paris". There is a monitor on the platform which should tell you when trains arrive, and which are express - when we came in on the 26th it just said there were service interruptions.

The trains normally come every 10 minutes or so, but on the 26th we waited 45 minutes for a train which was then packed. (This made our total wait time at CDG 90 minutes, plus the time spent on the airport train).

The express trains are much faster, with no stops until Gare du Nord and then Chatelet/Les Halles and then St-Michel, I didn't notice where it stops after that. The local trains seem to stop at a station about every 30 seconds.

Keep your ticket handy, as you will need it when you exit.

Returning from Paris:

This is the link to Schedules:

http://www.ratp.info/orienter/itineraire.php

Change the default to "station" and enter your departure and destination.
I couldn't find a "helper" for the station codes, for St-Michel use:

Saint-Michel Notre-Dame - Metro-RER

For Gare do Nord use:

Gare du Nord (Surface) - Metro-RER-SNCF

For CDG, if you enter Aeroport, it promt you which one you want.

(if you enter just the first part of any station you'll be prompted to choose from a list)

and then enter your proposed departure time.

On the resulting screen there are options for earlier and later departure times.

The schedule doesn't indicate which trains are express (that I could see), but it seems that from St-Michel the express trains are scheduled for 33 minutes and the locals for 38.

At St-Michel, if you don't already have tickets, there are a couple options. At the entrance closest to the bridge, there is a ticket machine with on-screen instructions in French and English (and maybe other languages). One of the first options you see is a box to buy tickets for the airports. As far as I know this machine does not take US credit cards - it was broken completely when I tried. There is also a service window, which frequently has a long line by it (or is closed). If you walk south toward the other end of this very large and complex station there is a more major ticketing area, follow signs to "billets", where there are several ticket machines and a larger service area, which may be open longer hours.

Again - you can buy these tickets at any point, do it when you come through CDG at the beginning of your journey, or at any METRO station when you see an open service window with no line. Don't wait until the last minute and risk a broken machine and closed window.

When you have tickets, follow signs to RER B CDG2. (all CDG trains stop at both CDG1 and CDG2, but the sign says CDG2 as that is the last stop on that line.) On the platform look at the monitor which will list the next few trains that are arriving, do be careful since some trains take a different branch and don't go to CDG. There is also a separate monitor that shows - via lighted stops - which stations the next train stops at. If the next train is NOT an express I'd wait since the trains come frequently. The train from St-Michel is express if only Chatelet/Les Halles, Gare Du Nord, CDG1 and CDG2 are lit.

At CDG, just go up the escalator and everything is well signposted for the various terminals. Again, you will need your ticket to exit.

DO BE ALERT. I've had more than one friend who was pickpocketed at CDG, and yesterday when I arrived at the security checkpoint I found that zipper on the back pocket of my backpack was open. Nothing was taken since there was nothing IN IT, but this is the first time, anywhere, that I've had this happen. I actually think it happened at CDG and not on the RER since the train and platforms were all very empty early on Sunday morning. I believe it happened on the escalator from the train station to T1, since there were people sort of waiting for us to get on and acting a bit oddly.

very nice post I would agree 100% on the directions from CDG to Paris since we just did this as well on 12/29. The return directions also look good from my experiences in 2006 but will see again for sure in a few days. Thanks milepig.

Also I do want to let people know that there is a weekly train/bus/rer ticket called a NAVIGO and it replaced the Carte Orange and it works on all Paris metro lines including to/from CDG. (If you are in Paris for more then 3 days this is A WAY better deal then the PARIS VISITE, that everyone will encourage you to buy here) It is 33 Euros (for zones 1-6) and valid by the week Monday to Sunday, and can be purchased up to Wednesday for that week. It is a smart card and just scans at all stops and has been invaluable to us during our stay here. As of each Thursday you can re-load the card for the next week. Also it can be purchased for less zones 1-2 for example is 16 euros for the week. Just an additonal point about it, I have been told that some vendors at the stations will discourage you from buying it as a tourist, but it is valid for tourists, and I understand that is because it is so much cheaper then Paris Visite which is like 55 euros for 5 days. But be firm you can buy it, BTW it can be purchased at CDG so it would prevent you from having to buy a ticket into town.

Oh yeah and lastly you are suppose to have a passport sized photo to affix to the card, we have some but have never affixed them to the card, has not been an issue, my suggestion is to print out some from your computer on cheap paper, and go from there.

Good to know about the NAVIGO card - do the ticket machines dispense these, or do you need to go to an agent?

However - at EU33 you'd need to ride a fair bit to make it worthwhile. The two of us were in Paris for 10 days, and used the Metro a fair amount, but also walked all over since we love to walk.

Our total expenses (per person) for transportation were:

CDG-Paris - 8.40
1 Carnet - 11.40
1 RER to Versailles 5.8 (2.9 x 2)
Paris - CDG - 8.40

That totals EU39.80 for 10 days, the NAVIGO card would have been EU33 and would have covered only 7 days - meaning at least a separate ticket to/from CDG for a total of EU41.40, plus most likely a few Metro tickets for the other 3 days. If our trip had exactly covered a Monday-Sunday it would have been a good deal.

Just to clarify rkaradi's good point about the weekly pass: the one available for tourists is the Navigo Decouverte. It costs 5 euro to buy the card at a ticket window (probably at available at CDG train station, I haven't tried there). Some people prefer the anonymity of the Decouverte, because the regular Navigo tracks all your reloads and your trips and connects the info to your account (the Decouverte stores that info, too, but it's not connected to any name).

You can get passport-sized picture at from a vending booth at most Metro stations for only a few euro; it's probably a good idea to have the picture on the card in case of being controlled, which does happen. You charge your smart card weekly pass from a ticket booth, machine and certain tabacs.

Before I left for Paris I made a copy of my driver's license photo and it worked perfectly.

Bobette

The last time (on 11/26) I was at CDG2 station going from there to central Paris, there was a change machine that was working (on several previous visits it wasn't:td:); you can use coins in the Automated machines. (1) why don't these take bills? (2) many of the Automated machines were inoperative on several previous visits--causing long lines to form at the ones that were working. From my recollection, there are Automated machines in the corridors lining the various terminals of CDG2--many even sell metro carnets.

Just an idle speculation, but I wonder if the issue is that Euro bills aren't all the same size. Machines that take bills seem much more common in the US, where all the bills are the same size. I can see how it would be harder to make machines that can easily accommodate various size bills.

while I don't know why RATP machines don't accept notes, I have to add that its very common all over europe for machines to accept these. that cannot be the reason and different size doesn't matter at all.

They've been fitting some metro stations with machines that accept bills; perhaps they'll eventually get around to doing it at the train stations too.

You'd think they'd want to, as it would make life simpler for many people--or maybe it's just a racket (a) so that people will go buy stuff from the nearby vendors to get change, or (b) to ensure job security for the people at the counter...

we bought ours from the counter at the CDG train station, you have to buy them from a vendor they can't initially be purchased form a machine. Once purchased though, they can be reloaded at machines at the metro stops. either w/ cash or credit card.