Paris--getting around in December

I suggest a taxi to the hotel on arrival, from the official taxi line in front of the terminal (not from someone who approaches you offering a ride). Have the hotel name and address on a piece of paper to show the driver if necessary. It's a fixed fare, I don't know how much but someone else will. Tipping not necessary unless the driver gives extra-good service.

For travel in the city I suggest the Navigo Decouverte pass, costing 27.80 euros for a week's unlimited bus, RER, tram and Metro travel. This will probably pay for itself in a few days. You'll need to bring or get a photo (see the link). The week it covers starts Monday morning, perfect for your schedule. Hopefully you'll have some good weather when you'll want to walk, but the pass will make it easy to ride, even short distances or on-and-off along bus lines like you describe.

Also consider the Paris Museum Pass, admitting you to many museums and other sights (but not Eiffel Tower) for as many consecutive days as you buy. You can get this at any participating museum or elsewhere. This pass used to cover as many visits as you wanted to any covered museum, but now I understand it's just one visit per museum. Also the Louvre now requires a timed entry ticket, which isn't meshing well with the Museum Pass. But this may not be a problem in December.

Bring layers of clothing, a waterproof outer layer, a warm hat, sturdy shoes that will keep your feet as dry as possible, and wool or similar socks. Fleece and Gore-Tex are great, polypropylene underwear, wool is good, cotton not so useful.

Are you only going to be in Paris for 2 days ( not including your arrival day)? Trying to hit 8 museums in that short period doesn't seem practical if you also want to see some of the markets as well. You would certainly want the Museum Pass if that is your goal. But be aware that the Louvre, as of now, requires a timed admission ticket.

A regular Paris taxi (from the official taxi rank at the airport or ordered by phone from your hotel) to and from the airport is a fixed fee.

Paris traffic can be as bad as anywhere else. You may find the Metro is faster than buses in getting quickly from place to place on a jammed packed schedule like you propose. I'm not sure a Navigo Decouverte is the best option for only 2 days. Just buying a carnet of tickets, or Navigo Easy passes that you've loaded with a carnet or day passes may be better. Visit the ratp website for Paris transportation options and passes/ticket information: https://www.ratp.fr/index.php/en/visite-paris/english/visiting-paris-and-its-surrounding-areas

With a two day visit the ND doesn't make sense unless being used on the airport transport (doesn't cover Orlayval)

The cab from ORY should cost 30 Euro for up to 4 and luggage assuming 'near the ET' is on the left bank. The Visite might work for two days but if you will be just in Paris the Mobilis might be more cost effective for those two days. It is 7.50 for Paris a day somewhat less than the cost of the Visite.

If you would use the train to the airport then it would make sense to get the Navigo Decouverte and load it for a week Mon-Sun and use it Mon, Tues and to the airport on Weds. Since the ticket for CDG is 10.30 each, that goes a ways to pay for the 22.80 weekly pass on the ND and while you don't save money that way, it is a very convenient easy to use product with no danger of demagnetizing and it is hard to lose.

You don't have to 'imagine' how much a cab would set you back as it is a fixed fee 50 or 55 depending on the side of the river you travel from.

For the OP -- with only two days, I would plan to use the metro as the bus takes so long due to traffic and frequent stops. The Mobilis day pass for Paris would be my choice to make it 'hop on hop off'

I'm doing math in my head:
2 people, 30 Euros for the cab from Orly is definite, because we arrive after dark. If we do not purchase a pass where we can take the train to CDG, then we will take Le Bus from the Eiffel Tower to CDG for 18 euros per person.

Either Cab from Orly & Navigo for 84 euros OR Cab from Orly, Moblis 2 Zone, & Le Bus for 96 euros seems the best bet.

I've used the Tube in London and the Metro in NYC enough to feel confident I can take the train to CDG, but it will be at 11 a.m. so will I have to fight to get on a train with a carry-on? I did in London and it was uncomfortable to say the least.

Thank you all for the great information!

I'm 75 -- I am not carrying luggage up and down metro stairs to take the train. Cabs are reliable; they use bus lanes and so traffic is not a huge problem. We always leave an hour to get to the airport regardless of train or cab and it has never taken more time (it has taken more coming into Paris on occasion by cab). From Orly the cab is so cheap that it is frankly odd for 2 or more people to pay more for the fiddly awkward public transport. Two people would pay 25 Euro to take public transport including lugging bags up and down stairs to go to the OP's destination and then fine their hotel in the dark in a strange city X blocks from the metro stop --it will cost them 30 door to door by cab.

You save more going to CDG by train and the RER trip is more straightforward and covered by passes if you have 5 zone travel passes.

Unless you watch the France 2 news on a daily basis, you might not realize that the RER B is carrying twice as many passengers than was intended. Therefore, it breaks down and has delays several times a day. In fact, the FB ridership group led strikes because they are fed up with the RER B problems. Though I’ve never had a major delay, risks of long delays do exist.

The answer is to do as Janet does: leave four hours ahead of time whether by taxi, Le Bus Direct, Roissybus, or RER. Bonne route.

On a recent trip to CDG from the Left Bank, I wanted to take métro 4 to the RER B. Métro 4 was closed due to an accident and the RER service was reduced to only occasional trains. Having a flight to catch, I checked my apps for Uber and Kaptan - they wanted 100€ to CDG.

Finally, I hailed a taxi from the street paying 55€.

Relying on but one transportation option can get you into trouble, particularly in Paris. Know them all and be flexible.

while the trains (if they're not on strike) will go straight through.

Or if there is a mechanical problem, or a signaling problem, or a sick voyager, or planned works that you didn’t know about since you are a visitor, or any one of a million things that gums up the RER almost daily . . .

En raison d'un incident affectant la voie entre les gares de l'aéroport CDG1 et Parc des Expositions, le trafic est perturbé sur l'ensemble de la ligne. Un allègement du plan de transport est en cours. #RERB

And ... here we go this morning, a tweet from the RER B:

“Due to an incident affecting the tracks between the CDG airport Terminal 1 station and the Parc des Expositions [station], traffic is delayed on the entire line. We are working on revising the schedule to run fewer trains.”

Not a strike, just a morning.

@Kim, Exactly why I think twice about taking the RER B out to the airport. We usually catch one of the busses into town and a taxi back out. At least taxis have real time GPS and can detour around accidents.