Staying in Paris - Charles De Gaulle

Question

Me and my friend want to go to Paris this november, we will be travelling from London to Charles De gaulle (CDG) can anyone reccommend any reasonably priced location thats close enough to get a taxi from the airport (about 40ish euros) and close enough to a metro that will take you to the centre of Paris in not too much time??

Also, is it easy enough to use the metro's to get around Paris? Can you get like a ''travel day / week'' card? I've been there before but don't really remember :) Thanks for any help given!

Answer 1

It sounds like you're considering staying at a hotel right near the airport. I wouldn't recommend that. While I've never done that myself, to the best of my knowledge, the hotels there are not cheap. I would stay in the city proper, or in a suburb literally just outside of it (Issy-les-Moulineaux, Chatillon, etc.)

Answer 2

I found the Paris metro easier to use than the London tube.

Yes you can get a variety of travel passes for  different zones, that also include CDG airport.

Answer 3

I suspect that you have a mistaken notion of the size of Paris and the relative distances from the airport to the Paris city center and therefore have improperly conceived a plan for your visit.

Book a hotel in the city center and take the commuter rail (RER) from the airport into the city. Its safe, its easy, and its cheap (8.40 euros).

There are a vast number of hotels within a few blocks of the Chatelet, St. Michel or Luxembourg RER stations. Any of them would be an excellent base for exploring the city. Tell me your desired price range and I can make specific hotel suggestions.

Using the Metro is very easy and much more convenient that using the London underground because the density of stations is about four times as high as in London. Because of this there is almost no location in the city of Paris that is more than a few blocks from a Metro station.

The city of Paris is so compact and the major tourist sights are, for the most part, grouped in a fairly narrow band on either side of the Seine. If you plan out your itinerary, you'll find it most efficient to simply walk from one sight to the next in most instances.

For most people its enough to just buy a "carnet" of 10 tickets and use them as required. This costs 11,40 for the ten tickets or 1.14 a ticket.

There is a single day pass called a Mobilis (they don't mention it on the English language version of the RATP website (the RATP runs the RER, the Metro and the bus lines) . The cost is 5,80 euros for zones 1 & 2 which encompasses the entire city of Paris. there is also the Carte Orange which is a weekly pass that runs from Monday thru Sunday which may or may not be a good buy depending on when you arrive and depart. Generally I don't suggest getting one since most days you will not be using public transport to make it worthwhile.

Answer 4

Rillifane is right.  CDG is far from Paris City.  When i went to Paris i stayed on this hotel--  http://www.preludehotel.com/

From CDG you may take train instead of taxi.  In that way, you can save time and money.  I also used a one day pass (mobilis) and i bought mobilis tickets in the airport.