Orly Airport to Paris City Center: Every Transport Option, Compared

Orly Airport to Paris City Center: All Options at a Glance

Four rail options, one bus, and two door-to-door services — the choice from Orly is varied, and the 'best' one changes with your hotel, your luggage, and your arrival time. Start here, then dig into the detail below.

Fares and timetables move with each fare reform, so treat every number above as a range and confirm it on the day you travel. For terminal layouts, shuttle connections, and live transfer information, Paris Aéroport's official site is the source of truth.

Metro Line 14: The Direct Train Into the City (No Changes)

Since the automated Metro line 14 extension reached the airport, you can ride from the arrivals hall to central Paris with zero changes. The station sits in the main terminal complex, reached from Orly 4 via the covered walkway or the free inter-terminal shuttle, and the line serves Châtelet, Gare de Lyon, and Saint-Lazare before heading north to Saint-Denis–Pleyel.

Step by step: boarding Line 14

1. Follow the Aéroport d'Orly metro signs. From arrivals in Orly 1, 2, or 3 the station entrance is inside the terminal complex; from Orly 4, take the covered walkway or the free shuttle (about 5–10 minutes).
2. Buy an airport ticket or tap a Navigo pass. The machines in arrivals sell the origin–destination ticket for the airport leg, and a Navigo pass covering the right zones works too. The standard single metro ticket does not cover this airport station — check the posted fare before you tap.
3. Board toward Saint-Denis–Pleyel. Trains run roughly every 3–5 minutes in the day and take 30–35 minutes to Châtelet.
4. Exit at your stop. Châtelet suits the Marais and Les Halles, Gare de Lyon the east end and TGV connections, Saint-Lazare the Opéra quarter and northwestern hotels.

The line is fully step-free with platform screen doors, which makes it the easiest rail option with a big suitcase or a stroller. Journey planner and live status: RATP's official site.

Orlyval + RER B: The Classic Rail Combo, Still Worth Knowing

Before Line 14, this was the standard answer, and it's still the right call when you want a train that drops you at a string of central stations rather than one fixed route. Orlyval — a driverless shuttle — covers the airport-to-Antony leg in roughly 8 minutes, where you change onto the northbound RER B toward Paris.

Step by step: the Orlyval + RER B combo

1. Buy one combined ticket. A single airport ticket covers Orlyval plus the RER B into Paris. Monthly or annual Navigo passes also work on both legs — check the current terms before relying on one.
2. Take Orlyval from either terminal. The shuttle stops at Orly Ouest (terminals 1, 2, 3) and Orly Sud (terminal 4), so no terminal is left out.
3. Change at Antony. Cross over to the RER B platform headed toward Paris — trains toward Aéroport CDG 2 / Mitry all pass through the central stations below.
4. Ride to your station and exit. No extra validation needed; your ticket already covers the journey.

Where the combo is weakest: two changes, a slightly longer journey, and the Antony platforms get busy with commuters in the 8:00–9:00 AM and 6:00–7:00 PM peaks. If your hotel is within a short walk of any station in that table, the trade-off still beats dragging a suitcase through two metro changes.

Orlybus: The One-Seat Ride to Denfert-Rochereau

Orlybus is the no-transfers option: a dedicated coach that runs from the airport to Denfert-Rochereau, a major hub on the Left Bank where RER B and metro lines 4 and 6 meet. It stops at Orly 1, 2, 3 and at Orly 4, so both terminal groups are served.

• Schedule: roughly every 15–30 minutes from about 6:00 AM to 12:30 AM. Confirm the exact timetable on the official site before you travel.
• Cost: around €11–€13 one way, no transfer needed. Buy at the machines in arrivals or tap contactless on the coach.
• Luggage: the coach has a luggage bay under the floor — big bags go there, keep a day bag with you.
• Ride time: 30–40 minutes to Denfert-Rochereau in normal traffic, and that's the catch: the bus shares the road with everything else, so the same trip can stretch toward an hour in rush hour.
• Who it suits: travelers staying on the Left Bank or near Montparnasse, plus anyone who would rather not carry luggage through station corridors.

Timetables and stops are published by RATP; double-check them the day before you fly out.

Tram T7 and Other Budget Routes Into the Network

If you're counting pennies, the tram T7 is the cheapest way into the network: it runs from a stop a short covered walk from the terminal complex to Villejuif–Louis Aragon, where metro line 7 carries you onward into the city. A less obvious budget play is RER C from Pont de Rungis–Aéroport d'Orly, reached by the free shuttle.

Both are fine if you're on a tight budget with a light bag and no deadline. The catch: airport stops sit outside the standard flat-fare zone on some routes, so check the fare for the tram or RER stop before you ride rather than assuming the everyday ticket works. Since the 2025 fare reform the network is simpler and cheaper than it used to be — but airport pricing is still its own animal.

• Tram T7 in a sentence: cheapest, slowest, most local.
• RER C in a sentence: fewer stairs, but the shuttle adds a variable.

Taxi and Ride-Hailing: Fixed Fares and the Orly Rank

Paris sets fixed fares for taxi rides from Orly to the city center, posted on signs at the official rank — roughly €30–€35 to the Left Bank and €35–€40 to the Right Bank. Those bands shift with inflation, so read the sign at the rank, not this guide, when you arrive. Both terminal complexes have licensed ranks that run 24 hours.

• Only take the licensed rank. Drivers who approach you inside arrivals are not the official queue, and the fixed fare does not apply to them.
• Know your bank. The fixed fare covers the Left Bank (rive gauche) and Right Bank (rive droite) of the Seine; outside that zone, the meter runs instead.
• Ride-hailing pickup: follow the signposted pickup zones at the terminal — the apps show the correct spot.
• Group math: four people splitting a €35 cab often beats four metro tickets plus luggage gymnastics, so do that comparison before you default to rail.

Driving From Orly: Car Rental and the A6 Route

Driving from Orly means the A106 then the A6a/A6b into Paris — around 20–35 minutes in free-flowing traffic, longer at rush hour, and then you still have to park. It's rarely the right call for a city stay, but it matters if you're collecting a car here to leave Paris for the Loire or Normandy.

• Rental desks: the majors all have counters in Orly 1, 2, 3 and Orly 4, with pick-up lots minutes from the terminals.
• Crit'Air sticker: Paris operates a low-emission zone (ZFE), and a Crit'Air windscreen sticker is required to drive inside it. Order yours online before you leave home.
• Parking: central garages run roughly €25–€40 per day — often more than the taxi fare that got you there.
• Smarter play: if your trip needs a car only later, collect it from a city-center agency instead of the airport; you dodge the airport surcharge and the A6 traffic twice.

If you do drive, set the hotel's exact address before you leave the rental lot — typing it in at the first red light is how you end up circling the Périphérique.

First and Last Trains: Orly Transport Hours and Night Arrivals

Arrival time decides more about your route than budget does. This table reflects typical service windows — every operator can shift these, so confirm them on the official sites the day before you fly.

If you land after midnight

Rail is finished for the night — take a licensed taxi or order a ride-hailing car; the ranks stay staffed through the night. The fixed Orly–Paris rate doesn't carry a big nighttime premium, but meters on journeys outside the fixed-fare zone do climb after 7:00 PM.

If you fly out before 7:00 AM

First trains get you to Orly between roughly 5:30 and 6:00 — cutting it fine for an early check-in. For early departures, pre-book a taxi or ride-hailing car the night before rather than betting your flight on a first train. Live service status is on Île-de-France Mobilités.

Which Orly to Paris Option Should You Pick?

Still torn? Run your situation past these three questions and the answer usually snaps into place.

What time do you land?

Daytime, all options are open. After roughly 11:30 PM, rail is finished and it's taxi or ride-hailing. Before 6:00 AM, the same story in reverse.

Where's the hotel, and what are you carrying?

• Central Paris, light bag: Metro line 14 — one train, step-free, done.
• Left Bank or Montparnasse: Orlybus to Denfert-Rochereau beats two train changes.
• Near an RER B stop: Orlyval + RER B, especially if you also need Saint-Michel or Gare du Nord.
• Two big suitcases or a group of four: do the taxi math — it often wins.
• Tight budget, no deadline: tram T7, with time to spare.

How much is certainty worth to you?

Rail prices are fixed, timetables predictable, and strikes occasionally rearrange them. A taxi costs more and absorbs that risk for you. When a flight connection or a meeting is on the line, the fixed-fare rank is the rational splurge — and once you've decided, tuck the route, the hotel address in French, and your ticket confirmations into your AnchorTrip trip file so everything is on your phone, offline, the moment you land.