Cdg to la defence

You can purchase 1 ticket and transfer

Thank you , that will make things pretty straight forward

Just remember to keep your ticket on you, you will need it to EXIT the system when you arrive at La Defense.

as you probably know you can use an ordinary metro ticket on the Metro line 1 to la Defense, but you need a more expensive ticket for using the RER A. (one ticket takes you anywhere the metro goes even when it is into zone 3 whereas the RER is metered for distance) So a 10 Euro CDG/Paris ticket would take you to la Defense if you transferred at St. Michel to the metro line 1. The RER A is a better choice but you will need a single CDG/LaDefense ticket at the airport which will allow the transfer to the RER A; it costs more like 12 Euro.

FWIW any route in the Ile de France can be achieved on one ticket e.g. if you are going from somewhere in Paris to Versailles or to Fontainebleau or wherever, you can take the metro to wherever you need to transfer to the other train on the same ticket.

Thanks Janet .. I think taking the rer with the transfer is the way to go from the airport . Once we get to the hotel , we will be buying the garnet of tickets for the subway and get around Paris !!!

dave, FYI you need euro coins (not bills) to buy RER tickets from the machines at CDG. Or stand in a long slow line for the ticket agent. Lots of cursing Americans turned back from trying the machines w/o a chip/pin c-card or with euro bills.

We could not get our cards to work at CDG and yes the machines only take coins. Here they have people arriving at an international airport most with bills but few with coins and they don't have a single machine that takes bills (although virtually every metro station has them) Very irritating. It took us over an hour in line to get our NDs charged since the machines would not take our cards.

You can buy your carnets of local tickets when you buy your ticket from CDG to laDefense.

Do the machines have an option for a transfer ticket to get me on the other line or do I have to wait in line at a ticket counter

Dave, however you buy your ticket, it will take you from CdG to La Defense. If there is a transfer with a gate, it will open the gate. Many transfer points have connecting platforms. Always keep your ticket until you have exited to the street.
I wonder why people choose La Defense, well away from the city centre and bleakly modernist, charming only those who are interested in modern financial/commercial skyscapers. That's me, but one afternoon was enough. Business appointments, or hotel points rewards, may be two answers. And many of the shopping centre stores are open Sunday. Anyhow, enjoy it for what it is. And greetings from a former resident of Freelton's neighbouring town of Waterdown.
PS: if you don't already know of it, this site http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21879/visiting-paris/ is full of help for using rapid transit. Also useful is a Canadian blogger's site www.parisbytrain.com

There is no "transfer". It is a single ticket with a magnetic strip and will cost 12.20 euro. You stick the ticket in the turnstile, and it will suck it in and spit it out on top of the turnstile. You pull the ticket out and the turnstile opens. Hold on to the ticket. Proceed with your journey making the transfer to the RER A at Les Halles. When you exit the station at La Defense, you will need the ticket to operate the exit turnstile. The information on the magnetic strip knows you entered at the system at CDG and you are exiting the system at La Defense and you have paid the correct fare.

You will need one ticket for you and one for your wife.
http://www.ratp.fr/tarifs/en/ratp/resultat?depart=A%C3%A9roports+CDG+par+RER+B&arrivee=La+D%C3%A9fense+Grande+Arche+RER&depart_id=357&arrivee_id=734

Ticket machine tutorials: http://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-ticket-machine/
http://parisbytrain.com/paris-metro-ticket-machine/

Recent Youtube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2jqJ9zDf20

Transfers use the same ticket. If you were transferring to the metro line 1 then you would exit the RER through a turnstile at St. Michel and then re-insert the same ticket into the metro stile. Same with buses, you use the same ticket.

I agree that if you took a dart and threw it at a map of Paris any place you hit would be a better location than la Defense for a tourist visit to Paris. It is charmless, dead at night and your hotel is a long commute away so after a tiring day of touring, you may not want to commute back to the city for the evening. It is nice to be in a neighborhood where an evening stroll along the Seine or a nice cafe are outside your door and where you are close enough to the hotel during the day to change clothes, drop packages or take a brief rest. But I assume the OP has already booked the hotel, is using points or has some other reason for staying outside Paris in an office park. Maybe he has business there.

Yes we are using Hilton points which is one reason we are staying out in the la defence district . Its a bit of an inconvience but I think the subway ride is about 10-15 minutes and we stayed in Paris a few years ago so hopefully it will work out ok . Will let you know once we get back

I don't know why people get their knickers in a knot about those staying at la Defense. To save money we always stay at (almost) crappy 2 star hotels in the 2 digit arrondissements. If I could stay at no cost at a pretty nice hotel at la Defense, I wouldn't mind at all. There are bus and/or metro connections to central Paris even in the evenings, so you are not exactly trapped at la Defense. It goes without saying, central Paris would be more desirable, but a Hilton is a Hilton is a Hilton.

I, too, wonder why people get so defensive against staying in La Defense (see what I did there!? ;). )

I've stayed there a few times because I am an Accor Hotel Rewards member, and their Softitel and Pullman in that area are nothing to shake a stick at... they are steps away from the metro and a ten minute (if that!) ride to Les Champs-Elysees.

While at night, there aren't restaurants abound (except at the hotels...But those aren't too exciting)--- as I said, "old" Paris isn't too far away. Plus, I love the eerie feeling if being near la Grande Arche at night time. There's something cool about it.

It depends on why you come to Paris. I travel to Paris often to be in Paris. Being a commuter destroys the value of the trip for me. I feel the same way about staying in Mestre and being a day tripper to Venice. Everyone has to make their own choices; it is a service to warn newbies however who are unaware that they have chosen a soulless office park because often they are unaware of that.

Thanks for all the help , I'm sure my wife and I will have a great time ,because Paris is Paris !!!

La Defense is in a separate district from Paris, metro-wise.

Day 2 in Paris , took the train from get gdc airport on the rer b line then transferred to the a line to the Hilton hotel . Bought a week passé navigo card . Depending on where you want to travel around to you can purchase a zone1-2 which will get you on all the subways , and trains around Paris or zones 1-5 which includes Versailles , fountainbleau and buses . It has been great so far . Taking the train and subways to the opera district and invalides and back , going back out tonight to the Eiffel Tower district . I think the passé will pay for itself in a few days

"FYI you need euro coins (not bills) to buy RER tickets from the machines at CDG. Or stand in a long slow line for the ticket agent. Lots of cursing Americans turned back from trying the machines w/o a chip/pin c-card or with euro bills."

The last time I was in CDG there was a change machine by the RER ticket kiosk that accepted 10 & 20 euro bill and gave change in 1 & 2 euro coins.

Kent - that's not correct. You can travel to La Defense using a normal central zone ticket by Metro Line 1. Only the faster RER service requires an out-of-centre ticket.

If you are staying a week or so in the la defence district , I think the passé navigo is the way to go , we are off to luxenbourgh gardens ,and will take the rer to get there , then the metro if we plan to go elsewhere , it has paid for itself already .

Spent the first 6 days in Paris , just arrived by train to Amsterdam , spending 3 days then back to Paris for 6 days , the navigo passé has worked great and will purchase it when we get back to Paris . As previous posts , there is not much to do in the la defence , but it's a short train ride to the opera district or to the Eiffel Tower and we spend the day seeing the sights , then go back for a few hours ,then back out for the night

Hang on to it so you will only need to recharge it when you go back to Paris. Keep in mind that it starts Monday morning and goes through Sunday night, so it doesn't pay to recharge it unless you arrive early in the week and are staying for several days.

Returned to Paris after 3 days in Amsterdam by train , recharged our navigo passé card , spending the next 6 days in Paris ,found a great pizza, pasta bar across the plaza from the Hilton . Open until 11 , good food , more of a younger crowd and more modern atmosphere .

So there you are! A successful stay by someone at la Defense, naysayers notwithstanding.

That's right Norma, we would stay here again , you get all the modern conviences ,then you can be in any part of Paris in less than an half hour enjoying strolling along the seine having a glass of wine in a little cafe , best of both !!!!!

Right, Philip, but I think it helps people here to know that if you're not careful, your ticket from Paris won't open the exit door at La Defense, if you inadvertently use the faster RER service. It blindsided us a few months ago.

As of sept 1st 2015 if you buy a navigo passé for 21.25 for a week,it gets you to all 5 zones in Paris so you will have no trouble getting around ,we have used it for the last week and a half and it works on the bus , rer, and subway , also for going to fountainbleau train and the bus to the chateau,. It has worked great and would definitely suggest one if you are going to be in Paris for a week

It's not a Navigo passé, it's a Navigo passe (no accent and you don't pronounce the final e). It's not terribly important but can save you the trouble of repeatedly inserting the unnecessary accent with your keyboard!

Anyway more importantly, glad your stay worked for you and you were happy with your ability to get around.

It's not a Navigo passé, it's a Passe Navigo (no accent and you don't pronounce the final e). It's not terribly important but can save you the trouble of repeatedly inserting the unnecessary accent with your keyboard!

Anyway more importantly, glad your stay worked for you and you were happy with your ability to get around.

Glad to hear the La Defense thing worked out. We're going to be in Amsterdam and Belgium for almost two weeks, but decided to do a quick overnight to Paris while in Brussels for my 69th birthday. We too are staying at the Hilton La Defense one night free for points. Fortunately, we've previously spent a week in Paris and seen a lot of the obligatory tourist attractions including the arch at La Defense. So we'll just take it as it comes. The week we were in Paris we stayed at a closer in hotel but there was a transit strike and we wound up having to walk 2 miles round trip every day from the hotel to the only Metro line that was running to the central downtown area with all the museums (too cheap to take taxis - we preferred to spend it on food/drink/souvenirs).

Sorry my French isn't the greatest lol, have had a great time in Paris this past 2weeks , today was fountainbleau chateau and saw an opera at the opera garnier tonight !!!

Which opera did they sing? Where were your seats? How did you manage to score tickets as the Paris Opera, both Garnier and Bastille, sell out fast. Most important, how was the performance? A big bravo to you for enjoying your wonderful trip.

We saw Plattee, it was a 3 part opera , ballet bouffon , it had English sub titles up on a screen above the stage . Not the greatest seats , in one of the upper balcony sections , but it was fine , we were able to purchase them 2 days before the show at the box office . Had a great time even though we aren't real opera buffs , but you don't get to many chances to watch an opera there !!!