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Paris RER A



RER A map

Paris RER A Map
Paris RER A Map

Beware of Pickpockets

Pickpockets are unfortunately very well implemented on the Parisian metro network. Around 100 new snatching cases are held by the police in Paris every day. That doesn’t mean that you should be worried nor avoid taking the metro, but you should be extremely careful, more than you usually are. Having a wallet or a phone stolen while traveling on a metro line in Paris without noticing it on the moment, is something that happens many times a day, so you should take your precautions to not be the next victim. The parisian police highly recommends to travel with anti-theft bags. Those bags are manufactured in a way that it makes it very different to open them quickly to take what is inside. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the pickpockets to deal with those bags. Different sizes are available, from the backpacks (available here), to the handbags (here is how it looks like) or shoulder bags (example here).


RER A Overview

RER A crosses Paris from the east to the west. It connects the cities of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Cergy and Poissy in the western suburbs, to Boissy-Saint-Léger and Marne-la-Vallée in the eastern suburbs, through the city center of Paris.
Inaugurated in 1969, the Paris RER A line was then slowly modified and enlarged over the next decades. The last important amendment on the line was the construction of Val D’Europe station, close to Disneyland Paris.
The total length of the RER A line is 109 kilometers, it serves 46 stations. With over 300 millions passengers every year, it is the most used transportation line in Europe, and one of the busiest in the world in terms of traffic.

Tourist attractions on RER A

RER A is the only line which is goes to Disneyland Paris park. It also serves the Arc de Triomphe and the top of the Champs-Élysées Avenue. If you need to go to the business center of La Défense, Paris RER A will bring you there faster than metro line 1.

  • The business center of La Défense is served by station La Défense. It is the only place around Paris where you can see skyscrapers. You can also visit there the Grande Arche de La Défense, and the shopping center Les Quatre Temps, one of the biggest in Europe.
  • The Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees Avenue are served by station Charles de Gaulle – Étoile. The station is located on the top of the avenue, close to the biggest shops there.
  • Disneyland Paris entertainment resort is served by station Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy. The entrance of the park is right next to the station.

RER A stations

RER A was mainly constructed to allow people from the eastern and western suburbs to reach quickly the centre of Paris. There are therefore a lot of stations serving different cities close to Paris, but only 5 inside the French capital. These 5 stations are some of the most important in terms of connections to other metro and RER lines.

  • La Défense station serves the huge business center of La Défense. It is one of the busiest stations of the network. You can reach it in 10 minutes from the city center of Paris and Châtelet – Les Halles station.
  • Charles-de-Gaulle – Étoile is located on the top of the Champs-Élysées avenue, the entrance of the station stands close to the Arc de Triomphe.
  • Auber station is standing between the Opéra of Paris and Gare Saint-Lazare train station. You can reach them both in a few minutes with a quick walk through the tunnel network located there.
  • Châtelet – Les Halles is the biggest metro station in the world. It is located in the exact centre of Paris, and offers connections to many other metro and RER lines.
  • Gare de Lyon is one of the major train stations in Paris. You can take there a train to the southeast of France, to Marseille or Lyon for example.
  • Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy station serves the recreation resort of Disneyland Paris, which is located right next to its entrance. You can reach it in 40 minutes from the centre of Paris.

Metro lines connected to RER A

RER A Ticket price

If you take the RER A within the borders of Paris, then the standard metro ticket price applies, €2.15. However, be careful, you will have to pay more if you travel outside of Paris. A ticket from Paris to the recreation park of Disneyland Paris will, for example, cost €5.

TIP : Use The 4 Day Paris All-Inclusive Pass and get FREE entrance to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, the Palace of Versailles, the Arc de Triomphe, 1 day hop-on, hop-off Paris bus tour, a Seine river cruise, a French wine tasting in the Louvre cellar and many other activities. You would pay much more if you would buy the tickets for those attractions separately.

RER A timetable

You can check the schedule of the Paris RER A line on the site of RATP.

In direction of Boissy-Saint-Léger / Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy (Disneyland Paris)

RER A timetable to Boissy-St-Léger/Disneyland Paris

In direction of Saint-Germain-en-Laye / Poissy / Cergy-le-Haut

RER A timetable to St-Germain/Poissy/Cergy