ParisByTrain.com

[CynthiaC]

Hi Ben,

I am planning a trip in October to France. We will be spending time in Provence, and then going north. On Saturday, October 17th we will need to get from Arles to Honfleur. My plans are to drive to Marseille, fly into CDG and then take the train from Gare St. Lazare to Le Havre to pick up a rental car. Couple questions for you:

1) I live in California, in a large city - so driving isn't a real problem, BUT signs are all in English where I am so it is easier. Can you tell me if a drive out of CDG to Le Havre is very easy, or is it in the hub of a city?

2) If we do take the train to Le Havre, we have to get from CDG to St Lazare - and I assume my family of four (with luggage) should take a taxi? Do you know how long of a ride this would be?

Do you have any suggestions on a better itinerary? Thank you so much for your assistance,

Cynthia

[ben]

Hi Cynthia,

Driving out of CDG is no big hassle, it's not in the middle of a city, rather 25 minutes North East of Paris.

The one difficult thing I find about driving on French freeways are the quantity of cities on each directional panel. You have to read quite quickly to pick out the name you're after to make sure you're heading on the correct route.

In addition, you'll need to know which cities are in between the city you're at and the city you're after; Far off cities won't be marked on directional signs until you get closer. This is due to the number of cities, small and large, that are peppered across the French countryside.

A taxi ride between CDG and Gare St. Lazare will be about 50 minutes and cost about 50€ (closer to 60€ at night, on weekends and on holidays). If you have a bunch of luggage with you, it would be more convenient than than taking the RER B from CDG to Paris, then transferring to the RER E from Gare du Nord to Gare St. Lazare, which requires about a ten minute walk underground between train platforms. The price for four from CDG to Gare St Lazare would be roughly 35€ (assuming you're party is all over 10 years of age) on RER trains.

Best regards,

Ben

[Cynthiac]

Ben,

Thank you so much for the information. I think to keep the stress down, we'll fly to CDG, take a taxi to St Lazare, train to Le Havre and then drive. Do you think it would be best to purchase the train tickets in advance, or can we just show up and buy them for Le Havre? From the research I've done - it would be on Corail, not the TGV. But it would be a Saturday afternoon. I appreciate your assistance on this, and I also appreciate the information you have posted on the airport. It is very informative and will help greatly. Thank you again, I'm sure I'll have other questions for you in the near future. Best regards, Cynthia

[ben]

Hi Cynthia,

I believe Corail tickets would be cheaper purchased ahead of time, rather than last minute. I just checked on Voyages-SNCF.fr: if you purchased at the last minute, each ticket is 28,80€. A month in advance, tickets are 15-23.30€, depending on the time of day (off hours vs. peak hours). Check out my article on buying TGV tickets without fees, which should work for non-TGV trains as well. (Do let me know if you have questions about that).

I'm glad Paris By Train is helping people figure out their train travel options. And thank you for mentioning so, it's inspiring to hear.

Ben