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Transportation
by air
Paris is served by two main airports, Orly in the South and Charles de Gaulle in the North.
The main airport is Charles de Gaulle and most overseas flights arrive here, while internal French flights usually go to Orly-Ouest. Charles de Gaulle is 23 kilometers (14 miles) northeast of Paris. Air France runs buses and an RER line from Charles de Gaulle to Orly airport, with a journey time of approximately 50 minutes. The bus leaves every 15-20 minutes between 5.40 am and 11 pm and deposits passengers at Porte Maillot, Etoile/Place Charles de Gaulle, or Gare Montparnasse. An RER/TGV station serves the airport directly. Trains leave every 15 minutes (between 5.30 am and 11.30 pm) to downtown Paris. Travel time is 35 minutes to Gare du Nord.
Orly airport is located 14km (nine miles) south of the city, on the A6 motorway. It has two terminals, Orly-Sud (Orly South) and Orly-Ouest (Orly West) which are linked by a shuttle (navette). Orly Sud handles mainly international flights and Orly Ouest mainly domestic flights. The Air France Bus leaves every 15-20 minutes from the airport and deposits passengers at Gare d’Austerlitz, Gare Montparnasse, or Gare St-Michel. The journey time is about 40 minutes. There is also an Orlybus service to and from Denfert-Rochereau, departing every 15 minutes. The OrlyVal is a conductorless train you can also take from the airport, with a frequent connection to Antony.
RER Line B + Orlyval (connection in Antony)
Mon-Sat: 6.00 am – 11.30 pm
Sunday: 7.00 am to 11.55 pm
Frequency: every 4 to 8 minutes
Fare : €18 approx
RER train:
Average trip time between the Gare d’Austerlitz and Orly: 35 minutes.
Single fare : €6 approx
by train
The national railway service of France is the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (SNCF). Paris has six major stations: the Gare du Nord, Gare St-Lazare, Gare de l’Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse and Gare d’Austerlitz. Each station has cafés, restaurants, banks, bureaux de change, ATMs and car hire on the premises or nearby. The Gare du Nord is the French terminus of the international high-speed Eurostar train service. More information on Eurostar trains is available at http://www3.eurotunnel.com or by calling 0870 1606600. All of the major train stations in Paris are directly linked to the métro network.
The Eurotunnel allows drivers and passengers of cars and buses to cross the English Channel in specially adapted trains. The journey time is approximately 35 minutes from Kent in Southern England to Nord-Pas-de-Calais in Northern France. The tunnel is linked to the UK and French motorway networks. Tickets can be purchased on the day of travel at check-in or can be pre-booked at the Eurotunnel call centre. More information is available at the Eurotunnel website.
Bicycles can be carried on some trains, and sent ahead for a charge of around €45. Check with the station you intend to depart from.
Paris is well-connected to other cities via motorways and is surrounded by the often congested Périphérique ring road. The A16 leads directly from Boulogne (near Calais) into Paris and the E19 motorway leads from Brussels into Paris via the A2 and A1. Lille is linked directly to Paris via the A1.
Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) on motorways, marked with an “A,” and 110kph (68mph) on dual carriageways separated by a central reservation. When it is raining, the speed limit on all motorways is 110 kph. National roads are marked with an ''N'' and minor roads with the letter ''D''.
Driving in central Paris as a tourist is not advisable. Most hotels don’t have garages and finding a place to park is very difficult. There are also frequent traffic jams, and Parisian drivers tend to be impatient if you have slow responses behind the wheel. If you do decide to drive, make sure you park legally to avoid being towed. Most official street-side parking spaces are clearly marked ''payant'', so you can pay by the minute. Paris also has numerous underground and covered car parks in the city centre, including the Arc de Triomphe, place de Concorde and near Forum des Halles. But be aware that many municipal garages close at about 11 pm and some are also closed on Sundays. Parking is usually free at weekends and on weekdays before 9 am and after 7 pm.
There are many locations where you can rent a car in Paris, with the main companies being Hertz, Avis and Europcar. The rental car offices in the airports are useful for recently arrived passengers.
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