ParisByTrain.com

[Guest]

Hello,
With my family (total two adults and two children (9 and 7) I will be arriving into GDG airport on a Saturday evening (20:00) in October. Is the RER B into Paris and the RER A out towards Disnelyland the best route? What is the best ticket to buy? For example is there a straight through ticket or do I need one into Paris and another one out towards Disney? What are the ticket costs?
Thank you for your help.
Mark

[ben]

Hi Mark,

Time wise the quickest way from CDG Airport to Parc Disney at Marne La Vallée station is by TGV train, taking only 10 minutes. Prices for this CDG-Disney train are around 15€/person, children included. That's the price right now for most October TGV trains. Prices vary with availability, so the earlier you purchase, the better the prices will be.

Taking the RER B into Paris, then an the RER A from Paris out to Disney (Marne La Vallée-Chessy) will take quite some time, at least 1 hour 20 minutes and the price will be nearly the same (for adults): 14,95€. For children it will be less: 9,10€.

Overall with the time savings on the TGV train, I'd overwhelmingly vote for that method of getting to Euro Disney.

Now, buying tickets, that depends on where you're coming from. If you're coming from USA, you'll need to go to RailEurope.com to buy the ticket. England: RailEurope.co.uk. Canada: RailEurope.ca. Elsewhere: TGV-Europe.com.

Search for prices and times for TGV trains out to Disney from CDG. If you find something that works with your schedule, you're golden. Be careful of the ticket delivery fees on the various official TGV sites I've listed above. They can be nasty, depending on your location.

Ben

[Guest]

Ben,
Cheers for the info and the quick response. We have now decided to come along to Paris and make use of the trains!
The TGV looks like it will work well for us, although on our return to CDG we may stop off in Paris by taking the RER in and then later getting the RER to CDG.

If we get a straight through Torcy to CDG RER ticket can we 'break' our journey and stop off in Paris for a few hours?

Which Paris stations have left luggage, and at what approximate cost (4 wheelie bags, for about 5 hours in the daytime)?

[ben]

Glad the information on the TGV trains was helpful.

For the RER tickets, simply buy two separate tickets, one from Torcy to Paris, one from Paris to CDG Airport. You'll be able to spend a few hours in Paris this way since a single RER ticket can only be used only for a single continuous journey.

The price will not be much (if at all) different simply because you purchased the journey in two parts. The RER tickets for your journeys will be Billets Ile-de-France which are priced from station to station. Same with the tickets to the Airports, which come with special prices regardless.

A billet Ile-de-France from Torcy to Paris (any station in zone 1) is 4,20€. Any station in Paris to CDG Airport is 8,40€.

If you want to avoid any confusion at a ticket window, buy just the billets for Torcy to Paris at first, then buy another set for Paris-CDG later when you're in Paris. Otherwise, the ticket seller may not understand what you're doing (unless she happens to speak English, which is a possibility)

Best regards,

Ben

[Guest]

Hello,

We are now arriving into CDG on 30/10 at 14:00 so we may take the more 'scenic' route Torcy via Paris with a stop off there.


Please can you confirm where we can leave luggage for a few hours in Paris and at what approx cost (4 trolley bags for approximately 4 hours).

Thank you

[ben]

Hi again,

Left luggage lockers are available at all the major train stations such as Gare du Nord and Gare de Lyon.

For four large suitcases you would need 2 large size lockers, each costing roughly 10€/each. Unfortunately the price is fixed to 48 hours for the big lockers and you don't get any discount for using it only for a few hours.

Look for signs for "Consignes"/"Left Luggage Lockers" at the stations to find the storage room. You'll have to pass through a security screening and bag x-ray to enter. There will be change machines inside for use with the lockers. Credit cards in general are not taken, but that may be changing slowly.

Best regards,

Ben

[Guest]

Hello

Back again.

I got the following times & prices (2 adults 2 children) from www.voyages-sncf.com for the TGV from CDG to Disney:

Départ à 13h54 15h42 15h53 16h52 16h52 17h51
Meilleur prix 45.40 € 45.40 € 70.60 € 70.60 € 70.60 € 70.60 €
Durée : 00h11 00h10 00h13 00h13 00h13 00h14

the 45.40 eur price is for Loisir (with a 66.40 euro for a PRO 2nde).

Our plane is due to arrive in Terminal 1 at 13:10 so the 13:54 is quite tight for time (picking up baggage and getting to the station). Yet the 15.42 is quite a wait and we might arrive quicker if we go RER into and then out of Paris.

Can the TGV trains be bought on the day? If so what is the price (I guess at least 66.40)? If we do buy a Loisir ticket for 13:54 and don't get there on time can we get on the 15:42 or do we just lose our ticket?

Thank you

[ben]

Hi again,

Yes, you can purchase TGV tickets on the day of departure from either ticket windows or automated ticket machines (given you have smartchip credit cards).

Loisir tickets cannot be changed nor refunded for a later train after the departure of your scheduled train. Thus, if you're late and you're holding a Loisir ticket... you simply lose the ticket and the money spent.

Pro or 1st class tickets can be exchanged for the next train IF done so within the hour after departure of your scheduled train. There is no charge for this, if done within the hour. After one hour, you pay a penalty of 50% of the original ticket price in order to exchange your ticket for the next train.

I've take this information from this page at Voyages-SNCF.com (in French).

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Ben

[Guest]

Hello,

Thanks for your info.

Me and my family have just returned back from 5 days very enjoyable days in Paris. We made plenty of use of the RER and the Metro whilst we were there. We were pleasantly surprised by the frequency of the trains and metro, and the cleanliness of the metro.

A couple of points to note:
Gare de Lyon is very large and finding 'Left Luggage' proved time consuming (if only we had printed out the map of the station (follow link from this site))!

Getting in and out of Left Luggage was easy and we managed to fit 4 'reasonably sized 'wheely' type bags in one large locker at 9E50.

Given the size of Chatelet Les Halles we were worried about the transfer from RER B to RER A lines, we didn't need to have been because it was simply a matter of walking 5 metres to the other side of the platform (a great relieve when you have baggage).

The CDG 'Shuttle' was very frequent and clean and is actually a driver less tram rather than a bus - very easy to use.

We tried to use the automatic ticket machines at CDG and got most of the way through it (having selected english) but were then presented with two options (one being something like 'S Urbain') as we didn't know what this did we had to join the long queue at the ticket office.

Ticket offices often had queues and trying to use the machines is worth it.

When we bought Metro tickets from machines or over a counter the kids (age 7 & 9) were charged full price.

I guess in part because of the GBP to Euro exchange the price of individual tickets especially on the shorter journeys wasn't cheap.

Anyway thanks again for your help

[ben]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your report of your trip. It's excellent.

My comments will be in bold below.

Hello,

Thanks for your info.

Me and my family have just returned back from 5 days very enjoyable days in Paris. We made plenty of use of the RER and the Metro whilst we were there. We were pleasantly surprised by the frequency of the trains and metro, and the cleanliness of the metro.

A couple of points to note:
Gare de Lyon is very large and finding 'Left Luggage' proved time consuming (if only we had printed out the map of the station (follow link from this site))!
Agree completely. Gare de Lyon is amazingly confusing, even to locals who don't use it often. The layout of the underground part of the station simply defies understanding (in general). The easiest way to find the Left Luggage or Consignes is to first make it to the Yellow Platforms. Facing Gare de Lyon from the outside where you can see the clock tower on the right hand corner, the station is laid out like the letter "L". The very tip of the top of the "L" is the Yellow zone. The bottom hockey stick is the Blue Zone.

Getting in and out of Left Luggage was easy and we managed to fit 4 'reasonably sized 'wheely' type bags in one large locker at 9E50.
I'll update the Gare de Lyon tour page to note this. Thanks.

Given the size of Chatelet Les Halles we were worried about the transfer from RER B to RER A lines, we didn't need to have been because it was simply a matter of walking 5 metres to the other side of the platform (a great relieve when you have baggage).

The CDG 'Shuttle' was very frequent and clean and is actually a driver less tram rather than a bus - very easy to use.

We tried to use the automatic ticket machines at CDG and got most of the way through it (having selected english) but were then presented with two options (one being something like 'S Urbain') as we didn't know what this did we had to join the long queue at the ticket office.
The translations from French to English on the Ticket Vending Machines can be... difficult. I'll try to add more photos to the ticket machine guides.

Ticket offices often had queues and trying to use the machines is worth it.

When we bought Metro tickets from machines or over a counter the kids (age 7 & 9) were charged full price.
The odd thing is: discount Metro tickets (Ticket t+) for children can only be had when buying them in a carnet or booklet of 10 tickets. Single tickets are sold as full fare. Although, I will double check this the next time I'm at a ticket machine, which I thought gave a choice of full or reduced fares. I'll also send the RATP a question and see what their position on this is.

I guess in part because of the GBP to Euro exchange the price of individual tickets especially on the shorter journeys wasn't cheap.

Anyway thanks again for your help

Thanks a lot for taking the time to report on your travels. It's great feedback.