Does anyone have experience of travelling from Orly to the Montparnasse area. (Hotel close to Gare Montparnasse).

4 people - one adult, one senior (walks with a cane) and two girls (9 &12) with a suitcase each need to make the trip. Is the shuttle bus a better idea than orlyval/metro option? I'm thinking both practicality (steps etc) as well as cost.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I think the taxi would be your best bet. The three of us went from Orly via taxi to the 7th last September, and the cost was around 22 Euro. You may have to look for a larger taxi for the four of you and your luggage, but the convenience would far outweigh any negatives, IMO.

Have a wonderful stay in Paris!

I don't know how you could consider the shuttle bus or metro rather than a taxi or private shuttle van if you have someone who walks with a cane. What are you referring to as a "shuttle bus?" The Orly shuttlebus only goes to Denfert Rochereau metro stop and then you'd have to take the metro to Montparnasse and then walk to your hotel. I can't imagine you'd do that in your situation.

The Air France airport bus goes from Orly to Invalides, but has a stop near gare Montparnasse (right near the Meridien hotel on rue du commandant Mouchotte). So, that would clearly be preferable to the Orlybus and a good idea if you are staying at that hotel.

Info on the Air France bus routes ...

http://www.cars-airfrance.com/

I've taken it form Montparnasse to CDG. It is a coach bus. Very comfortable and prompt. They store luggage underneath.
Where is your hotel from the train station?

Thanks for the answers....
I thought a taxi would be way more expensive. That does seem like a good deal. And certainly the most efficient.

A friend mentioned the shuttle but I think they meant the AF bus as they said it stopped close to Gare Montparnasse.

I will investigate further!

BTW - Christina, I would certainly myself go for a taxi or private shuttle but this is for my father and other relatives who live and work in a "lesser developed" country with a bad exchange rate to the euro - everything will be expensive for them. Add to this the fact that my dad is an Englishman of the old type - "don't make a fuss and just get on with it, I can manage." he will likely try to convince my sister not to do anything as "extravagant" as take a taxi.

I myself will not be with them. I do hope that as the taxi sounds reasonable they will go for it. Especially with the cases etc. I may well be able to find a company I can pre-book for them and that will sort that out.

Orly Airport as opposed to CDG is not all that far from Paris' centre so taxis cheaper.

The Paris Convention & Visitors Bureau says: (From Orly) "fares to Paris run 30-35 euros depending on your destination in Paris and 40 euros at night"

AirFrance buses: www.cars-airfrance.com

Q - how many people do Paris taxis accommodate legally - 3 or 4?

The answer is : minimum 4.
Some taxi drivers will deny it. Report them.

You can easily wait at the taxi line for a larger "mini van" taxi which is the same price, but a little larger.

I can't imagine the price for the taxi being over about 20 to 25 euro tops even with the luggage. This is the only way to go in your situation!!
Gare Montparnasse is not that far from Orly, and it involves very little "city" traffic.

The time of day can be an important factor. There are sometimes horrendous traffic jams on the A6 coming into Porte d'Orléans.

bookmarking

<The answer is : minimum 4.
Some taxi drivers will deny it. Report them>
Jack:
you mean maximum of course is 4? And you mean that some drivers will say it's less.

How do we report them? To who? How easy is this for the average tourist?

Thanks

Taxi and complaint information for Paris here:
http://www.prefecture-police-paris.i...xis_tarifs.pdf

A taxi must accept as many passengers as the ownership certificate ("carte grise&quot says that the vehicle is designed for. Absolutely no official taxi in France can operate a vehicle designed for less than 5 persons, so driver + passengers = 4.

I don't think the avg. tourist is going to want to spend their vacation time trying to figure out out to report a taxi driver, or writing to do it. If you do want to, you have to get the car number and can write to this address:
Préfecture de Police
Direction de la Circulation, des Transports et du Commerce
Bureau de la Réglementation Générale des voitures publiques
36, rue des Morillons
75732 PARIS CEDEX 15

Since the Prefecture de Police regulates this, I suppose you could go in person into one of the Commissariats Central to report it, but I sure wouldn't bother myself. I think there is one in every arrondisement -- the one in the 5th is at the bottom of rue de la Montagne, and the one in the 6th is in the building with the mayor's office on rue Bonaparte.

I have read the regulations, and I believe they used to say it was optional for the driver. However, a taxi service I use frequently in Paris, and which is very wellknown, has their own website now (G7), and they answer this question this way:

<<3. Un chauffeur de taxi a refusé de nous prendre parce que nous étions 4. Est-ce légal ?

NON.
Il est interdit au conducteur de taxi de refuser de prendre en charge des passagers lorsque le nombre de voyageurs autorisés par la carte grise du véhicule le permet, sauf si les sièges correspondants ont été retirés du véhicule. La prise en charge de plus de 3 passagers donne lieu à l'application d'un supplément de 2,75 euros par personne adulte supplémentaire en sus du montant de la course.>>

So, that says it is illegal to refuse to take four passengers, but with some qualifications. One is that the "carte grise" of the car must say that the car is allowed to take four passengers, and the seats allocated to them have not been removed. I don't understand those details, as I don't know how they fill out the carte grise for taxis (that's the car ownership form, I believe, what is called the "pink slip" in the US sometimes). But if a regular car used for a taxi would always be authorized on the carte grise to have five persons in it (driver plus four passengers), I guess it would be against regulation. Of course, a real small car like a Smart car wouldn't be authorized that many on a carte grise, but they aren't used as taxis.