eurostar arrival question
 

Will be ariving from london to paris on a monday late morning. 6 of us total. Our hotel is near StMichel RER stop. How difficult is it to go from eurostar arrival to rer train? Any stairs involved? Are there taxis for 6 with luggage available or will two taxis be needed? What would approximate taxi fare be? Thanks.

I can only answer the taxi question but you will definitely need 2 taxis. You can sometimes find "mini-van" taxis at the airport but don't count on them at the train station.

Hi es,

I think that I would spring for the cabs.

YOu can get directions for public transportation at www.ratp.fr.

((I))

From Gare du Nord main level, where Eurostar lets you off, follow signs for RER B - a bit of a walk thru passageways but probably no stairs (but not sure) and hop any RER B train going south to Saint-Michel-Notre Dame RER stop, where presumably your hotel is (in the heart of the latin quater)

easy but not sure about stairs.

For six folks buy a carnet of ten tickets at ticket machines or windows as these can be shared by all and will give you ten metro tickets to be used anytime at the price of about six if you bought them individually.

just returned from paris and there were numerous stairs at almost all metro (stations)--don't know about rer--i would take taxi(s) if travelling with luggage b/c you might be in for some real hassles with stairs etc

I would advise 2 taxis unless you can find a van that you can prebook for a reasonable price.

On our recent trip, I couldn't find a van for a reasonable price, and the vans in the taxi line cost much more than the cost of two taxis. Hence, we went the two taxi route, which worked out fine.

There are escalators at Gare du Nord, but I don't remember if there are any at St-Michel Notre-Dame. If kerouac reads this thread, he'll give you a definitive answer.

When you get ready to go home, you should pre-book a van taxi to take you to the staion (or airport). It cost us less to do this for 5 people plus luggage than to take 2 taxis.