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Best way to get from Charles de Gaulle to Paris hotel?
in Travel
We are staying in the 6th arrondissement (near Luxemborg Gardens) and I'm trying to figure out the best way to get from the airport (CDG) to the hotel. Should I bother with the metro/rail system or try and get a cab? Has anyone used a car service? Thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
Re: Best way to get from Charles de Gaulle to Paris hotel?
I have always taken a cab from the CDG airport. But I don't like to be lugging my luggage all over the place from bus to metro etc and I do speak french. It is about 45 minutes to get to where you are going give or take with traffic.
Just a note that many cab drivers only speak french or will pretend to only speak french although you can just hand them an address on a piece of paper which will work just as easily.
If you can find a decently priced car service, that would seem the least stressful option and they will wait for you at baggage claim with a sign.
DH and I took the train/metro we each had two carry-on's (small). Due to the time our flight arrived at CDG, we entered the Metro system JUST as morning work rush hour was happening. It was an ant hill.
We had never been there before, we were in the way, (I even got stuck in one of the automatic gates), it was ackward, and we arrived at our hotel beraggled and exhausted. We are pretty seasoned travelers, but we got our behinds handed to us that day...
If your flight arrives in the early am and you will be getting into the city during rush hour, I'd opt for a cab.
I always take the RER because I hate traffic around Paris. The only times I took a taxi were when I was moving and had a 70-lb suitcase and a 30-lb duffle bag to drag around.
I find that the RER is efficient and easy to manage, and there are usually plenty of people coming from the airport, so I don't feel so bad about having luggage with me. Also, if you're staying near Luxembourg, you don't even have to switch lines, since the RER B runs straight to Luxembourg.
GP buddy to blenderdance
This happened to us too. We used the RER and arrived into the city during rush hour. We each had a rollerboard and a carryon. I don't know what are our hotel was, but the name of the stop was "Pyramides." DH swiped his ticket and the automatic doors opened for him to go through. As he went through, he pulled his rollerboard behind him but the door shut! Only he made it out and his rollerboard, me, and my rollerboard were left on the other side with only 1 fare on my card to swipe. There were no handicapped or luggage exits that we could see like we have in NYC. We were trying to think fast about how to solve this problem with the gates full of morning commuters trying to get around us, but luckily a nice commuter gave us an extra swipe.
Last summer when we returned to Paris, we discussed ahead of time what we should do so we didn't end up with this problem again. We almost never take cabs from the airports when we travel if there is a public transport option that gets us reasonably close to our hotel. We talked about looking for the handicapped or alternate exits ahead of time, buying an extra card swipe ahead of time for our luggage if we encountered the fast moving gates, etc. Once again, I don't remember the name of the area where we stayed, but this time the subway exit had many more options besides the fast moving doors so we didn't have an issue exiting with our luggage
I stayed near the Place Vend?me a few years ago and took the metro to get there. H and I each had a large suitcase. By the second stop on the metro, a thief got on the train and ran off with a German passenger's purse, which included her passport and all her money. This was our introduction to Paris.
Despite that colorful incident and the snarky comments from passengers re: the size of our suitcases, I would still take the metro for airport travel.