We have taken the train and metro from CDG into Paris in the past, but I am planning to take a taxi in this time. There are four of us, and although we are only going to have carry-ons, I am sure we will need the larger size taxi. Will we be able to simply get in the taxi line? Is there a separate line for the larger size taxi? Thanks.

I'm assuming it works the same coming into Nord on the Eurostar or any other station or airport. You get in the regular line and once you move up near the front you will be motioned ahead if a larger van or taxi comes, or once you get to the front of the line, you wait for the next oversized taxi.

Last September we arrived at CDG terminal 9. There was only one taxi line. There was an official uniformed person directing people/groups into smaller/larger taxis. I remember because there was a single woman ahead of us in the 'queue' with a suitcase that was more like a steamer trunk on wheels. She was held back because she needed a large taxi, while the two of us were directed forward because the next taxi was 'only' a Mercedes 220.

The cost of a licensed taxi from CDG to the centre of Paris is around Euro60. Most taxis can fit 3 passengers in the back and one in the front. However I just returned from Paris yesterday, and found that many drivers were reluctant to allow a passenger to sit in the front seat next to the driver. They simply refused to take four people. I am not sure why this is. It may be the case that you have to take two taxis. However there are also other "unofficial taxis" that charge Euro100 flat rate to Paris. We managed to take one of these, and negotiated a rate of Euro80 for the trip. These taxis comfortably fit 4 people and the drivers seemed fine with allowing a person to sit up front.

Patrick and Ron very accurately describe how you will get a larger taxi in the regular taxi queue. I'm not sure what Monica is on about, but would also like to say that the fare to "central Paris" should be somewhat less than 60 Euros even with a fair amount of luggage. (There are numerous add-ons to the meter such as number of people, luggage in trunk, time of day...)

60 euros is too high for a normal taxi ride into Paris except maybe at night when rates go up quite a bit. Should be about 35-45 euro, so negotiating an 80 euro rate for one van would probably be pretty easy -- the van did very very good on that one, and you end up paying about the same as two cabs. Unofficial taxis are obviously just private drivers trying to illegally make money at the airport. I would not want to take an illegal driver because I would not trust them to play by the rules, obviously, but if I were going to, I'd negotiate a lot lower rate. Luggage only adds on about 1 euro per piece, the fourth person adds on 2,45 euro. Night/Sunday/holiday rates (7pm-7am) are a lot higher than daytime, about 1/3 higher. Cab drivers aren't required to let someone sit in front so if there are four big people plus bags, I imagine they just don't want to, they like their space and perhaps find it a distraction or uncomfortable (plus they often have some of their own stuff on the front seat) -- they don't get much more for that one extra person, so I don't really blame them.

I, too, returned from Paris yesterday and paid 42 euros for the ride from the 7me arrondissement to CDG, which is about what I always pay, unless there's a terrible traffic jam.<BR><BR>Monica is quite right, though, that many Taxis Parisiens will not take more than three people, nor allow you to sit in the front seat. Reason: it's illegal for taxis of certain sizes to do so, and they risk a fine. In recent years more and more station wagon and van taxis have arrived on the scene, and these do not have the same restrictions as the smaller taxis. If you have more than three people, and sometimes if you have lots of luggage, you will be directed to one of these larger vehicles.