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Getting from CDG to Paris

Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport can be confusing. Research to find out which terminal you'll be arriving in. We took XL Airways France which arrives in Terminal 2A. After you get your bags, you'll exit out into the lobby areas.

We planned to get to Paris using the train system which seemed to be the most convenient and cost effective method. A ticket from CDG to Paris using the RER only costed us 9.50 euros per person. 

The RER B line is what will get you into Paris. In the airport, look for signs that say "Paris by Train". This will lead you to the ticket machines and ticket offices. The ticket machines in DO NOT take American credit cards so make sure to have some coins on hand. We used the HSBC ATMs in the airport to get some money for the tickets.(HSBC is the only bank allowed in the airport so you might have to pay a fee)

If you don't want to deal with the machines, you can just buy from the ticket offices. Most of people in the ticket offices speak English but don't assume they do. Learn the phrase "Parlez vous Anglais?" to ask them if they know English. We were able to buy our RER B tickets from the ticket booths without any trouble.

If you plan on using the Metro a lot in Paris, you can also buy Metro tickets from the ticket booths in the airport. If you're not planning on buy the Paris Visite or any other similar type of pass, the best and most cost effective way of buying Metro tickets is the Carnet. The Carnet comes in sets of 10 tickets and will save you some money since they discount it a little when buying 10. We bought 2 sets of Carnets when we also bought our RER B tickets.

The RER train to Paris took us about 30 minutes to Chatelet Les-Halles station. We stayed at the Westin - Place Vendome, so we had to switch to a regular Metro line from that station. Note: The RER is a suburban line and doesn't run everywhere in Paris. The Metro is what you will want to take around Paris.

We took the Metro to Pyramides and just walked the rest of the way to our hotel. Make sure to grab maps from the airport Tourist Information stands! Walking around Paris can be very confusing unless you've been before and are well oriented with the city. We were a little disoriented and ended up taking a longer walking route to our hotel. 

Prior to the trip, I downloaded a multitude of apps for my Android phone to help us navigate around Paris.We didn't want to pay for cell service so we just used off-line maps that you can download for both iOS and Android. The apps that I recommend the most for Paris are:

TripAdvisor City Guide: Paris - has a great map and lots of useful tools. I used this app ALL THE TIME while in Paris.

Visit Paris by Metro

These two apps were all I needed to get around Paris.

ProTips:

Buy a Carnet if you plan on using the Metro in Paris.

Download apps for your phone to help you get around.

Buy extra batteries for your phone if you can. This was a lifesaver since I used my phone for maps.

Use ATMs to get the best exchange rates. I have Bank of America and was able to use BNP Parribas in Paris without any fee.