Travel Plans October 2011

Airport transfer Paris

Charles de Gaulle to Orly
Air France operates a bus transfer service between Charles de Gaulle airport and Orly airport. The bus departs from Terminal 1 and Terminals 2A -2F (the same points as the Air France bus to Paris) and it runs every 30 minutes from 5:55am to 10:30pm. The price is 19.00€ one-way.

Orly to Paris
Both the Air France bus and the RATP bus leave from both terminals of Orly for travel into Paris. The Air France bus stops in Paris are adjacent to Metro stations Montparnasse and Invalides. The RATP bus stop (Orlybus)is adjacent to Metro station Denfert Rochereau. The Noctilien Night Bus line 131 runs hourly between 00:00 and 04:00am from Orly Ouest and Orly Sud terminals to four stops in Paris, including Gare d'Austerlitz and Gare de Lyon. The fare is 5.40€ (Navigo Pass zones 1-4 is also accepted).

Charles de Gaulle to Paris
Air France has two bus lines running from Charles de Gaulle airport into Paris. The first line runs every 15 minutes and has two stops in Paris: Place de l'Etoile and Porte Maillot. The Air France bus departs from Charles de Gaulle terminal 1 & 2 between 5.45am and 11pm. The second Air France bus line runs every 30 minutes (between 7am and 9pm) and stops in Paris at Gare de Lyon and Montparnasse.
The RATP bus departs from all three terminals every 15 minutes. It arrives in Paris and stops at Place de l'Opéra alongside the American Express office. Service is from 6am to 10.30pm.
The Noctilien Night Bus runs hourly from approximately 00:00 - 5:00am between Charles de Gaulle airport and Paris. The line 140 stops at airport Terminals 1, 2F and 3 and arrives in Paris at the Gare du Nord and Gare de L'Est train stations, two other lines serve the Paris suburbs.
Travel time from the airport to Paris is approximately 50 minutes and the fare is 7.20€ (Navigo Pass zones 1-5 is also accepted).

Metro
Going to Charles de Gaulle airport, you must take the Metro to station Gare du Nord and then board the RER line B, direction Roissy/CDG. You will exit at one of the stations: Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 1 or Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 - TGV. Sometimes it is not easy to recognize which RER trains go to the airport and which turn off towards another destination once outside the city limits. You must be careful to get on the right train and it is usually prudent to ask somebody at the station which train is the correct one. Once you exit the RER you can use the free CDGVAL shuttle to go to the appropriate terminal. CDG airport is huge, so you'll need to allow sufficient time for this stage of the trip. The first RER train departs the Gare du Nord station for CDG airport at 05:25 and the last train leaves at 23:15. 8.70€/person

Going to Orly airport is a little bit easier, you simply take the "Orlyval", which connects to the RER at the Chatelet Metro station (duration 32 minutes) and makes two stops directly adjacent to the terminals: Orly Ouest (Orly West) and Orly Sud (Orly South). You'll need to look at your flight itinerary to see which terminal you are leaving from. Trains run from 06:00 - 23:00. 10.25€/person

English sites with good information

Micheline Train

The train leaves Tana every Saturday and returns from Andasibe every Sunday.
Tana - Andasibe: 22nd October, 8am till noon
Andasibe - Tana: 23rd October, 2pm till 6pm

East of Tana along the RN2 direction Tamatave

Manjakandriana

located 48km from Tana
Manja Hotel with basic rooms
bank, hospital
road splits to Mantasoa and Lake Mantasoa

Mantasoa

means “is pleasant even raw”
located 65km from Tana (about 3 hours, 1,5 hours from the road to Tana)
on the shore of the artificial Lake Mantasoa (suitable for swimming, water sports, fishing)
Jean Laborde
very nice walking area
various hotels
www.mantasoa.com in French
www.travel2mada.com

Mandraka Park

located 61km from Tana
Malagasy-run wooden bungalows
popular amongst locals from Tana
hiking
22 431 27 mandrakapark@moov.mg

Madagascar Exotic

also called Mandraka Reptile Farm
located 72km from Tana
small zoo with reptiles, crocodiles, butterflies, mammals
pets live in not so good conditions
restaurant, mid-range en-suite rooms
opening times: 7am - 5pm, entrance fee 10,000 Ariary, guide 2,000 Ariary for zoo, guide 6,000 Airary zoo and lemurs
22 321 01 or 032 04 108 87

Moramanga

means "cheap mangoes"
taxi-brousse from Tana (5,000 Ariary) takes about 3 hours
train leaves on Monday and Thursday direction Tamatave and returns on Wednesday and Saturday
several hotels and restaurants, bank, post-office, internet-cafes
attractions include a mausoleum and police museum (police history, guns, cannons, murder weapons)
roads split to the north direction Lake Alaotra (RN44)

Andasibe

about 3,5 hours from Tana and 2km from RN2
recommended to take the taxi-brousse from Tana to Moramanga (5,000 Ariary) and from there to Andasibe
train from Moramanga takes 45 minutes (1,800 Ariary)
small village, except a post office is nothing there (no bank, no internet)
several hotels from low to high end

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

Analamazaotra Forest and Mantadia form the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park
believed to be Madagascar's most popular reserve
open from 6am to 4pm
entrance fee 10,000 Ariary, guides start at 15,000 Ariary (hours)
Association Mitsinjo (NGO) takes care of some of the Analamazaotra Forest - visits at a lower price than national park
offer canopy tour via sliding between platforms constructed high in tree
open from 7am to 5pm and 6.30pm to 9pm
entrance fee including guide starting at 30,000 Ariary (2 hours)
56 832 33 or 033 14 474 89 and mitsinjo@hotmail.com
http://sites.google.com/site/mitsinjo/home
Mitsinjo office on the left, thereafter park entrance to the right