Getting to the Paris City Center from Charles de Gaulle

For public transport enquiries there is an SNCF desk on the fourth floor of Terminal 2. There are numerous public transport options from CDG to Paris City. The same connects from Paris City to CDG.

RAIL :

This entire region is well connected by rail – the TGV, RER B, etc. The airport is accessible through all of these.
At Charles de Gaulle, the SNCF French Railways station is located in Terminal 2. SNCF is the National Railway of France and it manages the high speed TGV, Eurostar, Corail Téoz, Corail Lunéa etc. (Click to enlarge Map)
To get to the station at terminal 2 from terminal 1 and 3, take the CDGVAL. The time table of these trains are given on screen opposite the exits from the baggage claim areas in terminal 2 (A,B,C,D,E,F). In terminal 2 follow the signs for “Paris par train”. There are moving walkways here. Once the station is reached the trains are available to the city and also other places in France and into the neighboring countries directly from the airport.
At level 1 – Platforms for RER B, TGV, Thalys, Mainline.
At level 2 – the SNCF station
At level 4 – moving walkways for accessing terminals 2 (C,D,E,F)
At level 5 – Departure of  Taxis and hotel shuttles.

The TGV –
From the CDG airport the TGV trains depart to the following main directions –
1) To Lille (Northwards)
2) To Lyon (Center)
3) To the Mediterranean (Southwards)
4) To the Alps (South-East)
5) To Bordeaux (South-West)
6) To Brittany (Westwards)

With speeds of 200mph, the TGV is the fastest land travel around France and also into Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Its network covers over 60 destinations across France. (Click to enlarge Map; Maps courtesy SNCF)

1) CDG To Lille (Northwards) – In this route the TGV covers the following stops : Massy-TGV, Marne-La Vallee-Chessy-TGV-Disney, Airport-Charles-de-Gaulle-TGV, TGV-haute-Picardie, Arras, Douai, Lille Europe, Lille Flanders and onto Brussels.
2) CDG To Lyon (Center) – In this route the stops covered are Massy-TGV, massy- Palaiseau, Airport-Charles-de-Gaulle-TGV, Marne-La Vallee-Chessy-TGV-Disney, Lyon –Part-Dieu, Lyon-Perrache, Grenoble.
3) CDG To the Mediterranean (Southwards) – Here it covers Airport-Charles-de-Gaulle-TGV, Marne-La Vallee-Chessy-TGV-Disney, Massy-TGV, massy- Palaiseau, Lyon –Part-Dieu, Valence-TGV, Valence-Ville, Avignon-TGV, Avignon-Center, Aix-en-Provence-TGV, Marseille, Toulon, St-Raphael, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Nimes, Montpellier, Sete, Agde, Beziers, Narbonne, Toulouse, Perpignan.
4) CDG To the Alps (South-East) – The TGV stops are at Airport-Charles-de-Gaulle-TGV, Marne-La Vallee-Chessy-TGV-Disney, Massy-TGV, Montbard, Dijon, Dole, Besancon, Chambery, Moutiers,Bourg-St-Maurice, St-Gervais.
5) CDG To Bordeaux (South-West) – The TGV stops are at Airport-Charles-de-Gaulle-TGV, Marne-La Vallee-Chessy-TGV-Disney, Massy-TGV, St-Pierre-des-Corps, Futuroscope, Poitiers, Angouleme, Libourne, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Hendaye.
6) CDG To Brittany (Westwards) – The TGV stops are at Airport-Charles-de-Gaulle-TGV, Marne-La Vallee-Chessy-TGV-Disney, Massy-TGV, Le Mans, Angers, nantes, Le Croisic, Laval, Rennes, Quimper.

RER B & METRO

The RER (Regional Express Network or Réseau Express Régional) is a rapid transit system which combines the regional rail with the metro. It is hence managed by both the RATP (which manages the metro) and the SNCF.  The RER has several lines viz. A,B,C,D and E.
The RER B runs between Robinson and St.-Remy-les-Chevreuse to Aeroport Charles de Gaulle and Mitry-Claye. The B line has four branches. In the north the Airport-CDG line (B3) and the Mitry-Claye line (B5) meet the city branch at Aulnay-Sous-Bois. The Robinson (B2) and Remy-les-Chevreuse (B4) meet at Bourg-la-Reine. (Click to enlarge map. Courtesy RATP)
This is a good option for transit from the airport into the city. It goes to Gare du Nord. Gare du Nord (or North station – Gare means ‘station’) is one of the main stations of SCNF network. It provides connection to several lines – Eurostar, Thalys, TGV, TER, RER D, RER E, Metro lines 2, 4 and 5. It is really convenient to travel from Gare du Nord because of the excellent connectivity. But this is a very crowded station. One needs to be careful with their belongings.
From the airport taking the RER one can get to Paris and within the city the following connections are available (apart from Gare du Nord given above) –
Chatelet les Halles  –  RER A, RER D, Metro lines 1,4,7,11,14
St-Michel Notre-Dame – RER C, metro lines 4, 10.
Denfert-Rochereau – Metro lines 4,6.

The RER runs daily from 4:45 A.M. to 1:30 A.M. The Metro runs daily from 5:20 A.M to1:20 A.M. On Saturday night it runs an extra hour.
The stations covered in the Metro lines are given separately – List of Paris metro stations

Thalys
Thalys connects Paris, Marseille, Bourg-St.-Maurice (the latter two in southern France), Amsterdam (in Netherlands), Cologne (in  Germany), Brussels, Ostend (in Belgium) and several stations in between. It also touches CDG before forking off to Marseille and Bourg-St-Maurice. Thus one can take the Thalys directly to Brussels from CDG airport. (Click to enlarge map)

BUS:

The double digit numbered buses serve the Paris City area and for the suburbs it is three digits. All buses run from Monday morning to Saturday evening. Many run on Sundays and public holidays but with lesser frequency. The buses run from 5.30 A.M. until 8.30 P.M. and many continue till a little after midnight. At night however it is the special “Noctilien lines” which do the rounds. Noctilien is the network of night buses in the Ile-de-France region and their line numbers start with the letter N. It operates at night between half past midnight  and 5.30 A.M., 7 days a week, when the metro, RER, buses and suburban trains are shut down. It connects the 5 major transfer stations – Gare Montparnasse, Châtelet, Gare St Lazare, Gare de Lyon and Gare de l’Est apart from serving other areas which are generally busy at night viz. Champs Elysees, Bastille, Place de Clichy etc. (N01, N02). (Click to enlarge map. Courtesy RATP)

Roissybus
The RATP runs a special “Roissybus” from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport to 9 Rue Scribe. This is near the Opera de Paris (Palais Garnier) in the center of Paris. The bus runs between 6 A.M. and 11 P.M. There is a bus every 15 minutes (after 7 P.M. its a 20 minute gap) It stops at all three terminals.

Bus line 350 – This connects Terminal 2A and 2C and Roissypole Gare RER to the Gare de l’Est. Other stations covered in this route are Pte de la Chapelle, Musee de l’Air, Garonor Porte Sud, Citroen Production, Parc des Expositions, Fret Center.

Bus line 351 connects Terminal 1, Terminal 2A, 2C Roissypole Gare RER to Paris Nation. The other stations covered in this route are Bagnolet Gallieni M, Auguste Polissard, Pierre Semard, Fret Center, Entretien Sud ADP.
It is not allowed to take these buses to travel between terminals.

The Noctilien (Night Buses of Paris)–
The Noctilien lines which serve the airport include –
Line N140, which connects the CDG airport to Gare de l’Est. At Gare de l’Est one can connect to N41, N42, N43, N44, N45, N141, N142.
Line N121 which has the airport at one end and Gare de La Verriere at the other end. In this route, apart from others, the main stops it touches are Gare de l’Est, Chatelet and Gare Montparnasse.
Line N120 connects the airport to the southern part to Corbell RER. This route covers Gare de l’Est, Chatelet, Gare de Lyon, Juvisy RER amongst others.

Taxis – CDG:

Taxis are available outside the airport. As in other major airports, one can follow the “Taxi” sign. But they would be comparatively expensive especially during the daytime when heavy traffic is common. In the evening there is a surcharge. Also they charge for each piece of luggage and extra charge applies for the fourth passenger. Customers are expected to tip about 10%. Also while going to the airport it would be better to call for a cab to pick you up. The meter will however start from where the taxi leaves to pick you up which could be from anywhere in the city. Child/infant seats are not available. English speaking drivers are rare. Better to have the destination address written down along with some major landmark or RER/Metro stations for added reference. But then this would be definitely be a very convenient form of transportation since it would be door to door without any transfers.

CDG Airport Shuttles

Another door to door service but reasonably priced is the airport shuttle. These are mini vans used on a shared basis – i.e. other passengers would also be picked up. However for this advance reservations are required. If there is a lot of luggage or children or seniors travelling where transfers would be cumbersome, this is the best option in terms for value for money. It would of course take more time than a taxi since it would pick up and drop other passengers as well.

Car Rental at CDG:

Car Rentals are available at all terminals. Some of the noted ones operating here are –
1) Hertz
2) Avis
3) Budget
4) Europcar
5) National Citer
6) Sixt Car Rental
7) TT car Transit
8) Aeroports Limousine Service

Limousines:
There might be chauffeurs outside the airport trying to solicit customers. These could be unduly expensive and it is advisable not to take these. If opted for, it is highly recommended that the exact fare be agreed upon before starting the journey.

References:
RATP ; Thalys ; SNCF ; SNCF-UK ; Aeroports de Paris