Paris is a city with six ( 6 ) major train stations in the city centre, each serving different regions of France & Europe. TGV trains also stop at three suburban stations: Marne la Vallée-Chessy (next to Disneyland Paris), the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport in Terminal 2 (station code:  AEROPORT CDG 2 TGV) and Massy (of little use for tourists).

Gare de l'Est  

Address:  place du 11 November 1918, 75010

  • serves Eastern France, Germany with TGV Est line
  • The Deutsche Bahn AG (or German Rail) high speed Inter-City Express  (ICE) runs from Frankfurt, Mannheim, Saarbrucken to Paris

    Gare du Nord 

    Address: 18 rue de Dunkerque, 75010 Paris

    • serves Northern France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands
    • EuroStar trains run to London St. Pancras normally once every hour, sometimes calling also at Lille and/or Calais. 
    • Thalys trains run to Brussels Midi/Zuid, Amsterdam Central, Cologne/Koln Hbf, on a variety of schedules - generally once or twice an hour to Brussels, less often beyond.
    • change at Cologne to GermanRail InterCityExpress_ICE for much of Northern and Eastern Germany 

    Gare Saint-Lazare   

    Address: 13, Rue d'Amsterdam, 75008 PARIS

    • serves North Western France, English Channel Coast (Normandy mainly)

    Gare d'Austerlitz   

    Address: 55 quai D'Austerlitz, 75013, Paris. 

    • serves Central and South Western France, Spain, Portugal. TGV to the Loire Valley also available

    Gare de Lyon

    Address: 20 boulevard Diderot, 75012 Paris.
    • serves Southern France - Riviera, Italy*, Switzerland; also local trains to Fontainebleau & Melun (Vaux Le Vicomte)
    • * note that for Italy some services run from Bercy (next to the country end of Gare de Lyon), allow about 15-20 minutes to find it.

    Gare Montparnasse

    Address: 17, Boulevard de Vaugirard, 14e and 15e arrondissements, Paris.

    • serves Western France (Atlantic Coast), Northwestern France, and TGV service to Southwestern France

    Non-central stations:

    • Marne la Vallée-Chessy - train station for Disneyland Paris
    • Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) - northeast of the city.  TGV station is in Terminal 2.
    • Massy
    • the three served by regional TGV services to most areas of France, less frequently than from the main Paris central stations

    Useful Info

    RATP - Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens. The RATP is the Paris public transport agency responsible for the Metro, RER B with SNCF and most of the bus network.

    Bus -  ID numbers in central Paris is 2digits. (20 - 96). Suburbs of Paris have 3digit ID numbers to identify route. This is a brief history of useful Paris RATP Bus info  

    Bus routes useful  for visitors are:  #20,  #24,  #63,  #69    

    Noctilien - Night bus network with 42 routes operating from 12:30am to 5:30am throughout Paris and the Île-de-France region.

    Main Bus Station in Paris is at:  Gare Routiere de Paris-Gallieni  (28 Avenue du General de Gaulle, Bagnolet, Mo: Gallieni, line 3). Eurolines's buses leave from here. 

    Grandes Lignes:  major rail lines within France and to other major European cities.

    Métro -  This is the subway / underground / tube system of Paris. It is a rapid transit network of 16 lines (1 - 14 and 3bis and 7bis). 

    RER  -  Réseau Express Régional. The RER lines are colour-coded for mapping identification purposes. This is the Métro express network of Five (5) lines that extend the Metro to the outer suburban areas. 

    • RER A - Red (useful for La Defense, Euro Disney and crossing Paris east-west quickly)
    • RER B - Blue (useful for Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports, Notre Dame, Jardin du Luxembourg, Gare de l'Est, Gare du Nord, and crossing Paris north-south quickly)
    • RER C - Yellow (useful for the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, tourist attractions by the Seine: Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Notre Dame, Musée d'Orsay, Musée de l'Armée at Invalides, Musée du Quai Branly, Tour Eiffel)
    • RER D - Green (useful for direct transfer between Nord and Lyon stations in around 15-20 minutes)
    • RER E - Purple (of little use for tourists, direct transfer between Saint-Lazare and Nord stations in around 10 minutes)

    Transilien -  The suburban railway services of the SNCF operates within the Île-de-France region from 5 of the Paris railway stations and from La Défense. 

    • Tansilien H and K, Paris Nord
    • Transilien J and L, Paris Saint-Lazare
    • Transilien N, Paris Montparnasse
    • Transilien P, Paris Est 
    • Transilien R, Paris Lyon
    • Transilien U, Paris La Défense

    SNCF - France's National Railway Network  (SNCF = Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français) 

    TGV  ( train à grande vitesse - pron: tay-zhay-vay)  is the name of the French high-speed train for long-distance travel. Railpasses are only valid when supplement/reservations are made. Reservation is obligatory for travel on TGV, but unless train is already full may be made until departure time. Advance purchase fares often available at substantial discounts. Some international services branded with other names also use basically the same technology trains with different colour schemes, layouts or technical bits (Lyria, Thalys, Eurostar). Many TGV services on the Paris-Lyon-South East route are double-deck equipment, and the deck can be specified when you book your seat.

    To purchase train tickets while in Paris, visit any of the major train stations or visit the SNCF on the web (French / English ).

    Tramway line T1 - Gare Saint-Denis RER D station – Noisy-le-Sec RER E station, in the north suburb of Paris.

    Tramway line T2 - La Défense – Porte de Versailles (Parc des Expositions).

    Tramway line T3 - (Tramway des Maréchaux) connects Boulevard Victor - Pont du Garigiliano RER C station (15th arrondissement) with Porte d'Ivry Metro station (13th arrondissement). 

    Tramway line T4 - Bondy – Aulnay-sous-Bois, in the north suburb of Paris.

    This is the link to another topic:  Tripadvisor - Paris - Public Transport