Planning a May 2017 trip - my head is swimming right now

[JoeATC]

I'm a student on study abroad in Rome, but I'm gonna be in Paris for Halloween with some friends, and we're trying to figure out the RER A situation. Is there somewhere we need to buy a ticket before hand, or is it more like public transit? Thanks!

Here is a map of the RER train line : http://parisbytrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rer.pdf

Think of the "Metro" as running in central Paris like a typical subway system. Think of the RER lines as being intertwined with the Metro but running to the distant outskirts of the city (making fewer stops in central Paris). As a point of reference, the RER-A stop "Charles de Gaulle Etoile" is the station underneath the the Arc de Triomphe.

A few considerations when you buy your tickets:
1) Make sure if you buy them to travel to the appropriate zones (DLP Marne-la-Vallee = Zone 5, Central Paris = Zone 1).
2) If traveling from Paris to DLP, make sure you board the train showing the final destination of Marne-la-Vallee Chessy and not Bossy-Saint-Leger as the RER-A route splits as indicated on the map.
3) Depending on how many trips you make, a Navigo Card might save you time and money. A zone-1 to zone-5 ticket is 10 euros one way as inidicated here: http://parisbytrain.com/rer-ticket/

A weekly Navigo Card is 22,15 euros and is active from Monday thru Sunday I believe. There is a small fee (5 euros) to setup the Navigo Card.
Information available here: http://parisbytrain.com/navigo-pass-prices/

We purchased the Navigo Cards in 2014 & 2015, they were 38 euros IIRC and you had to supply a small passport-like photo. I don't know if the rules have changed since then, hope this helps.

P.S. We will be traveling to Rome the fourth week of June 2017, will you still be studying abroad? I may have some travel questions for you, lol.

 

[jeanigor]

A weekly Navigo Card is 22,15 euros and is active from Monday thru Sunday I believe. There is a small fee (5 euros) to setup the Navigo Card.
Information available here: http://parisbytrain.com/navigo-pass-prices/

We purchased the Navigo Cards in 2014 & 2015, they were 38 euros IIRC and you had to supply a small passport-like photo. I don't know if the rules have changed since then, hope this helps.

We purchased Navigo cards last month for the Paris transport system.
The price sounds about right. I didn't pay that much attention. The amount we used the Metro and RER trains both with tickets and time to buy the tickets was worth it.
The visitor/traveler Navigo is a week long pass and is valid from Monday to Sunday.
You do need to provide the two passport sized photos when setting up your card. All those fun little photo booths do have a useful purpose.
It is re-loadable and reusable. (We added a second week for our trip after we found out how mush easier it makes life). I may end up reusing it in May as I am currently booked off site near the RER station in Val d'Europe.