Means of transportation

TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) is a high-speed train that runs all over France and beyond. It is operated by SNCF. TGV offers attractive train journeys and connections, such as a three-hour train ride between Paris and Marseille. 

Eurostar connects Paris to London in just two hours. Thanks to Thalys, the rail journey between Paris and Amsterdam can be as short as 1 hour and 22 minutes and between Paris and Brussels only 3 hours and 18 minutes.

Long-distance trains depart from Gare d’Austerlitz, Gare de Bercy, Gare de l’Est, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse, Gare du Nord and Gare Saint-Lazare. To buy tickets, go to the SNCF website (the national French national railway company).

Some long-distance trains also depart from the Massy-Palaiseau train station or the Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport.

There are two international airports in Paris: Paris-Charles-De-Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport.

Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport (CDG)
This airport is located in the north-east of the city. It has three terminals (T1, T2, T3). To get from one terminal to another, you can take the free CDGVAL automatic metro.
To get to Paris, you can:
- Take RER B. One of the cheapest ways to travel between the airport and Paris and its suburbs. Travelling from Paris Gare du Nord to Roissy - GDG is approximately 35-40 minutes. A single ticket is about €10. The Navigo pass can be used on this route.

- Le Bus Direct - Shuttle lines 2 and 4: The Air France transportation service offers journeys between Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport and Paris. The bus stops at strategic locations in Paris (Porte Maillot, Etoile / Champs-Elysées, Trocadéro and Eiffel Tower). The line 4 serves Gare Montparnasse and Gare de Lyon. The buses arrive and depart from all terminals. The buses run in both directions between 5:15 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., 7 days a week. The full one-way journey takes approximately one hour and costs €17. You can purchase the tickets online. 
- Take the bus: Roissybus operates between Paris (Opéra) and Charles-de-Gaulle airport. All terminals are served. The ticket is €11.50 and the Navigo pass is  accepted. For further information and to buy tickets, go to the Paris aéroports website.

- Bus 350 and 351:  The RATP connects Charles de Gaulle airport to Paris with two bus routes: bus 350 serves Paris Gare de l'Est and bus 351 serves Place de la Nation. The journey takes between 60 and 80 minutes and costs €6.

- Taxi: You will find taxis located at the gates outside your arrival terminal. A journey to Paris costs around €50

Orly International Airport
This airport is located south of Paris and has four terminals, Orly 1, 2, 3 and 4. To get to Paris, you can:
- Take the Orlyval shuttle as far as Antony train station, then RER B
- Take the bus: Orlybus is an express bus route which links Orly to Denfert Rochereau (in Paris). There are buses approximately every 10 to 20 minutes for a journey time of approximately 35 minutes. A ticket costs €8 and the Navigo pass is accepted. For further information and to buy tickets, go to the Paris aéroports website.

- Le Bus Direct - Shuttle line 1: The Air France transportation service offers journeys between Orly airport and Paris. The bus stops at strategic locations in Paris (Etoile / Champs-Elysées, Trocadéro, Eiffel Tower and Gare Montparnasse). The bus arrives and departs from both terminals: Orly Sud and Orly Ouest. The buses run in both directions between 5:15 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., 7 days a week. The full one-way journey takes approximately 50 minutes and costs €12. You can purchase the tickets online. 

- Bus 183: The bus of the RATP runs between Paris Porte-de-Choisy and Paris-Orly airport from 5:00 a.m. until midnight. The journey takes 40 minutes and the ticket costs €2. 

- Tramway: The tram line 7 connects the Villejuif-Louis Aragon, terminus of the 7 Metro line, to Orly airport. The journey takes 45 minutes and the tram runs every 8 to 15 minutes approximately. The ticket costs €1,90.

- Taxi: You will find taxis located at the gates outside your arrival terminal. A journey to Paris costs around €35

From Paris – take the RER B towards Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse
Get off at the station « Orsay Ville »

Map of the RER B from Paris

The RER does not always stop at each station so be careful and check which stations it will stop at on the display panel.

From Paris – take the RER B towards Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse
         Get off at the station « Le Guichet »
         Go right after getting out of the station, cross the street and walk under the bridge to get to the bus stop "Le Guichet"

Line 9 - Bus stop "Le Guichet"

Take the bus line 9 towards Campus HEC | Christ de Saclay | Gare de Jouy en Josas

For Orsay Technical Institute, get off at the bus stop « Université Paris-Saclay »
For Polytech, get off at the bus stop « Université Paris-Saclay »
For the Science Faculty, get off at the bus stop « Université Paris-Saclay »

For ENS Paris-Saclay, get off at the bus stop « Moulon »
For CentraleSupélec, get off at the bus stop « Moulon »

Bus stop « Moulon » ; to the left for CentraleSupelec ; to the right for ENS Paris-Saclay

From Paris – take the RER B towards Massy Palaiseau or Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse
OR
From Paris – take the RER C to Massy Palaiseau

Get off at the station « Massy Palaiseau »

Get out of the station using the walkway and go to the bus stops

Massy Palaiseau Station

Take the bus 91. 10 Massy- Palaiseau > St-Quentin en Yvelines
OR
91.06  Massy-Palaiseau > Joliot-Curie > Christ de Saclay

For IOGS, get off at Place Marguerite Perey or Fresnel

Bus stop Marguerite Perey and IOGS Building

For Orsay Technical Institute, get off at the bus stop « Université Paris-Saclay »
For Polytech, get off at the bus stop « Université Paris-Saclay »
For the Science Faculty, get off at the bus stop « Université Paris-Saclay »

For ENS Paris-Saclay, get off at the bus stop « Moulon »
For CentraleSupélec, get off at the bus stop « Moulon »

            Bus stop « Moulon »;to the left for CentraleSupelec; to the right for ENS Paris-Saclay

The Paris Metro and RER are the most practical means of transport to get around within Paris and its inner suburbs. The Régie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP) is the transport operator responsible for most public transport in Paris and its surrounding Île-de-France region. Should you wish to access the timetable of a specific line, find an itinerary to get to your destination or consult the metro map, you may visit the RATP website or download the smartphone app. 

Using the metro:

Each Metro line is labeled by a number and a colour. Metro stations have metro maps at the entrance and at the platform. On the platforms, the name of the terminal station will indicate the direction of the metro. Sorties (exits) and correspondances (connections) are marked by blue and white signs.

Using the RER:

The RER is a commuter train system serving Paris and its suburbs. It consists of five lines: A, B, C, D and E. Each line breaks into different directions and the train does not always serve all the stations. To avoid surprises, check your direction carefully and that it serves your station before boarding.

Please note:

• A line can have two branches with the same direction. In such cases, check for the next Metro’s terminal station on the panel just above your head, which will also indicate the waiting time.
• The doors close quickly and automatically. Make sure that you are not preventing them from closing.
• The stations have a lot of stairs and often don’t have elevators nor escalators, as it is one of the most historic metro systems in the world.

The metro and RER lines run from Monday to Thursday from 5:30 a.m. to 1:15 a.m and on Fridays, Saturdays and the eve of public holidays from 5:30 a.m. to 2:15 a.m. During special events, such as New Year’s Eve and Fête de la musique (the annual street music festival), the Metro, RER and bus services operate all night.

During rush hours (8:00-10:00 a.m.; 5:00-8:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday), the Metro is very congested.

Visit the RATP website for further information on schedules.

T+ tickets (single metro tickets) can be purchased individually or as a book of 10 (carnet) at the Metro or RER station’s ticket desk or vending machines. Local retailers authorised by RATP also sell them as a carnet of 10. One T+ ticket allows you to make connections for 2 hours on the RER and metro network but is only valid inside Paris (zone 1).

Île-de-France tickets (“Origine-destination”) allow you to travel within the Île-de-France region. The price is calculated based on the departing and arriving stations.  

Please note:

• Always keep your ticket in hand until you exit the station. You may be asked by a RATP agent to present your ticket at any time.
• It is not possible to make metro/bus, metro/tram, RER/bus and RER/tram connections using the same ticket.

There are several other types of travel passes. For daily trips between the center of Paris and its area, we recommend the following:

• The Navigo monthly and annual pass is an electronic pass that allows you to make unlimited journeys on the bus, metro, RER and transilien networks across the entire Ile-de-France. If you decide to subscribe to the Navigo pass you will be given a card with your name and photo on it.
• The Carte Imagine R is an annual pass for elementary, secondary and high school as well as university students under the age of 26 that offers exactly the same benefits as a Navigo pass, but at a reduced price. To subscribe, you must fill out an application form and send it with the required documents and a picture to the address provided on the application form. You can find an application form at any metro and RER station’s information desk.

For further information on travel passes and their prices, visit the RATP website.

In France, there are many carpooling services connecting drivers to people wishing to share car journeys. Carpooling divides travel expenses and reduces travel costs, traffic and air pollution. There are numerous websites on the Internet that are dedicated to connecting car owners and co-travellers, such as Blablacar. 

OuiHop' is an instant ride-hailing app for short distances allowing users to book a ride and get instantly served. This application was created with the Paris-Saclay Development Authority.

If you are planning on driving in France, you must have a driving licence that is valid in France and respect the common traffic laws.

If your driving license has been issued by a European Economic Area (E.E.A.) member state, you can use it in France, under certain conditions, for an unrestricted period of time or exchange it to obtain a French licence.

You must meet the following requirements:

• your license must be valid,
• you must meet the minimum age requirement for driving the vehicle category (e.g. 18 for cars),
• you must be in compliance with any legal medical restrictions (such as wearing prescription glasses),
• if your main license was issued by a state not belonging to the EEA with which France has not concluded a reciprocity agreement and you exchanged it in a EEA member state, it is recognised only up to one year following the date of establishment of normal residence in France and cannot be exchanged,
• your driving licence does not have any endorsements, restrictions, suspensions, etc.

If you are planning on driving in France, you must have a driving licence that is valid in France and respect the common traffic laws.

If your driving license was issued outside the EEA, its exchange in France is compulsory if you want to keep driving. The exchange measures that apply to you vary depending on your nationality.

The application process to exchange your driving licence to obtain a French licence requires you to:

• Hold a driving licence that has been issued by a country that has signed an agreement with France.
• Meet the requirements for the recognition of your foreign driving licence in France.
• Meet the compulsory deadline for the exchange process. Deadlines vary depending on your situation.

You must go to the Préfecture of your place of residence. The measures vary depending on the Préfecture, so get the information you need directly from the Préfecture or check their website.

You can also visit the Service Public website

Road rules apply to all public highway users, i.e. pedestrians, cyclists, powered two-wheeler riders and motorists. Each and every one has to comply with road rules. Should you fail in complying with them, you may be fined or prosecuted.

• Drive on the right-hand side of the road.
• Speed limit for private cars (km/h) are the following: 50 km/h on urban roads, 90 km/h on rural roads, 130 km/h on motorways (110 km/h if it is raining). Please note that some urban roads have 30 km/h speed limits (zones 30).
• Drink-drive limits are strict: 50mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. The limit was reduced in 2015 to 0.02 percent for novice drivers with less than three years of driving experience.
• Using a mobile phone while driving is strictly forbidden.
• Using a hands-free mobile phone while driving is allowed.
• It is mandatory to fasten your seat belt, in the front seat and in the back seat.
• Children under 10 years old are not allowed in the front seat.
• It is mandatory to wear a helmet on mopeds and motorcycles.
• Compulsory equipment required in all vehicles (including motorbikes) includes reflective jackets, a warning triangle, as well as two breathalyzers or alcohol-level tests