Paris Travel Forum

Silly question probably... but what is the difference between the Metro and the RER?

I was researching on Google Maps the nearest station to my hotel (Prince Hotel Forum on Rue Rambuteau) and noted Les Halles (M) and Rambuteau (M) but when I zoomed in closer the Chatelet Les Halles (RER) appeared, which seems to be closer than the other two (thinking about walking with my luggage when I arrive).

If I searched through a lot of the old postings, I would probably find the answer - forgive me for being lazy :-)

Metro runs in city centre; mostly underground

RER passes through center and interchanges with metro, but is more suburban railway

Your hotel is perfectly located as Chatelet les halles is one of the biggest
station in Paris.
You can get the RER lines A, B and D, which travel for instance to Disneyland or both airpotrs Orly anr Roissy.
But you also have plenty of metro lines that enable you to reach most of the city parts: line 1, travelling from the east to the west, with all main stations (LA Défens, Champs Elysées, Hotel de Ville and so on), the line 4, (north/south, with many stations in the "Quartier Latin", Saint Germain, Saint Michel-Notre Dame, Montparnasse). You'll also find the metro lines 7, 11 and 14 ("Meteor", without driver, the faster metro line)

The metro is the underground, travels inside Paris and in the closest suburbs.
The RER travels much further in thr suburban areas, is faster and more expansive if you want to go out of the city.
But if you stay in Paris, it's the same price as the metro.

Metro is the urban subway system. RER is akin to a suburban commuter rail network that connects the outlying areas to Paris.

Chatelet Les Halles is a huge metro/RER connection point. It may take you longer to walk through the station just to get outside. r Rambuteau is an interesting street, with lots of ethnic food places and crepe and waffle vendors. The smells were so good. You can use mappy.com to see pedestrian walking distances between the station and your hotel. Karl

Roadquill is completely right when talking about Chatelet station It is probably the most awkward and tentacular-like station in Paris. If you come out of the wrong exit you could find yourself a fair distance from where you want to be. As he suggests much better to come out of a simpler station like Rambuteau.