paris arrival
 

What is the best / easiest way to get from cdg airport in Paris to our hotel - Burgundy in Ile de la cite/ Ile St. Louis?

Easiest? No question. Walk out the airport door and get a taxi. Have your address written out for them and let them deliver you to your door.

Best? Depends on what you mean. In my opinion, still the taxi. Some will tell you that you can save a little bit of money for a little inconvenience and reserve a shuttle. (I say inconvenience because you have to contact them in advance, call them when you arrive, and possibly wait for them to come, then maybe detour while they deliver other people).

If you really want to save, there is the RER or Metro, or airbus and public transport combos, but nothing is very convenient to Ile St. Louis!

Mi ms,

The easiest and most expensive way is to get a cab at the cab stand.

For me, I enjoyed taking the AirFrance bus to I think the Galleries Lafayette...maybe 10E's...and a tip of maybe 2e's...THEN a cab for another 10e's, (which also enclosed the tip)

You tipped the bus driver?

I've taken the Air France bus too. I believe that it has two main stops in Paris. If you have more than one bag, I really wouldn't advise then getting on the metro from one of those destinations--some of the "moving walkways" in those stations can be a little tricky to negotiate if you're carrying alot of bags. Particularly the last step, when you step off of the moving tread--some of them almost spit you out! If I did take the Air France bus again, I would hail the nearest cab upon arrival at the Air France bus depot.

There are two separate Air France bus routes from CDG. One goes to the Le Meridien Etoile hotel (17th arrondisement, and in the northwest of Paris).

The other goes to the Le Meridien Montparnasse hotel (14th arrondisement, near Tour Montparnasse), with an intermediate stop at Gare de Lyon (12th arrondisement).

I'm not familiar with hotel Burgundy. Is it on Ile de la Cite or Ile St Louis. That would make a difference if you were considering the RER. If it's on Ile de la Cite then the RER to Place St Mich would be pretty easy and would be the least expensive method. If it's on Ile St Louis it would be more of a walk as there are no metro stops there.

How much luggage will you have and is money a consideration? Those facts will make a difference as to which method is "best". The RER is about €8 (per person) and a taxi about €40 (for up to four). So how many people in your party also makes a difference.

A taxi isn't the most expensive way, hiring a private car and driver would be.

I've never tipped the Air France bus driver, either. They don't go to the main Galeries Lafayette, but do go to gare Montparnasse which is near a small mall branch of it, so maybe that's what Suzie is remembering.

You could take Air France to Gare de Lyon and then a taxi. I used to do stuff like that until I got tired of doing all the stuff upon arrival (bus then walking to taxi queue, then taking taxi, etc.) and realized it wasn't worth it for the small savings in my overall budget. The next time I just walked out and got in a taxi and went right to my hotel and felt great. It was worth every penny.

I take the RER just because I prefer trains. What do people think about train vs. bus?

And, by the way, is there a secret to getting RER tickets in a quick way? This past Saturday, I arrived to see some long lines. The woman in front of me managed to crash the ticket machine (it rejected all her cards, including a BNP Paribas card). She was trying to go to Lille. So I had to switch machines, and of course, the machine I used wouldn't take my Visa or Amex (presumably because they can't be read by French machines). Finally I pleaded with the Frenchman behind me to get me a ticket on his card, which I repaid in cash.

The lines in the ticket office were long.

Why don't these machines take cash? I find that such a mystery.

I will be really curious to see what mstill is really looking for. All this talk has nothing to do with "Easiest" and nothing to do with "Best" unless best simply means cheapest to the poster.
And when quoting fares for busses or RER don't forget it doubles for two. mstill says "our hotel" so there are at least two of them.

Well Patrick, this forum would be boring like hell if everyone just answered the original poster's questions. :-)

The easiest way is to take a taxi.

I looked up "Hotel Burgundy" and found that it is at 8 Rue Duphot, near Metro: Madeleine, and not on either 'Ile'...
http://www.burgundyhotel.com/en/acces.htm

In that case maybe the RoissyBus which I think stops near the Opera Garnier would be a good choice (9 Euros I think).

How much is a taxi these days from the airport to say, St. Germaine, or wherever you are familiar with.

I'd say $40-55 depending on riders, bags, traffic, etc.

I always say that the easiest but not cheapest way to get from CDG to the city center is to take a taxi.

Be sure the taxi has a Taxi Parisien sign on it....lots of "fly by nights" hanging around the airport.