Ah, yes. Still good idea--the taxi.

Come on...how can you compare the RER to the train at Gatwick.To get to the train at Gatwick is a hop skip and a jump. Just push your trolly with luggage to the very obvious end of the platform lift (elevator) and you are at the train station. Everything in one terminal and no stairs or anything to block your way at either end of you trip. The RER has problems of stairs and even location on either end of the trip and with luggage and kids seems to me a crazy option.

Just a comment on figuring taxi fares on the way back from the hotel (unless there is a stand right in front of the hotel) you will have to call for a taxi and where ever the taxi is when they receive the call their meter goes down and when it gets to you it could be 5€ or more already on the meter.

I've done all three of those mentioned (and several others) with a family of 5 and luggage. It isn't always <u>dead</u> simple, but on the other hand, none of them is the <i>Endurance</i> expedition, either. Getting on and off the train is no more difficult than getting to and from an airport gate.

I'm not saying <i>everyone</i> should use the train. I merely offer it as a low-cost alternative to surface modes. If you can't handle the RER, by all means pony up for a cab.

I agree, Robespierre. My cousin, her husband, toddler, huge backpacks, and rolling luggage plus car seat all made the RER trips to and from CDG fine. However, the elevator was not working and they had to lug everything up and down the stairs. But they were determined to not pay the 45 euro plus taxi fare to Montparnasse. The RER stop was just a short walk to their apartment rental. This mind you was their very first trip to Paris so I admire them for taking the RER especially with a toddler.

We don't have a toddler anymore, but we always choose to take a taxi over the shuttle and the RER. So whatever means of transportation makes one comfortable that's the one to choose.

Ask yourself this question: if I offered to pay you 30-40&euro; to carry a couple of suitcases up a one or two flights of stairs, would you do it?

If no, then the taxi or shuttle is your best choice.

Exactly...that's why I choose to take a taxi.

I would say it's silly (presumptuous) to pass judgement on what perfect strangers will be comfortable with on options offered. The options have been given,let's see if a trip report will give us the answer. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that most(or many) Americans will be taking this trip with chances that the trip will be in the early AM without a night's real sleep(or a minimum) into rush hour traffic conditions be it taxi,van or RER.

We are in complete agreement. Except how will one know from a trip report how the mode not taken would have turned out?

As far as the jet lag factor is concerned, consider this: suppose one were landing at CDG and immediately taking the train to Lyon? One would somehow manage, jet lag and all, to take a train from an airport to a city center, where one would (probably) hail a taxi to a hotel.

Now substitute &quot;Paris&quot; for &quot;Lyon&quot; and what changes?

OK Robespierre, you're making me reconsider. Tell me again how this works. We land at CDG and how far do we have to go with what amount of stairs to get the RER? (We need to buy a ticket before getting on the train, right?)

Then we end up at the closest RER station to our hotel (possibly more stairs) and have to get a taxi from there to our hotel. Is there always a taxi stand outside the RER station?

I do think it's a bit more complicated and more trouble than just getting a taxi. You have to buy a ticket, get your luggage on and off the train, and then get your luggage in and out of a taxi anyway at the Paris end. But the savings are undoubtedly worth it for many people.

Regrettably, I can't tell you how many steps there are, because their number doesn't concern me. Suffice it to say that thousands of people ride the RER from both airports to Paris every day with no ill effects. If anything, getting your circulation restarted after sitting in an airplane for eight or ten hours by walking and climbing for a while is healthier than finding the nearest vehicle in which to sit down again.

You can buy an RER ticket at the same time as your RATP and museum passes - which you will have to do sooner or later, so why not when you arrive?

Taxi stands are everywhere in Paris. Finding one has never been a problem.

taxi

It never ceases to amaze me how some people will rant for hours over being charged a pittance for currency conversion, then blithely leave $50 on the table every time they travel between an airport and city center.

Why should that amaze you? I think when people complain about the conversion charge it is because they feel they aren't getting anything for that charge, especially in relation to when the card companies didn't charge it or to the ones that still don't. Sure people get upset when they spend money for &quot;nothing&quot;. On the other hand it isn't surprising that some people feel traveling with ease, comfort, and &quot;luxury&quot; rather than on a potentially crowded and uncomfortable train or bus and needing to carry luggage up stairs is worth a bit of extra money. I fail to see why one thing relates to the other.

Robespierre, I think you are by nature a frugal person and can't understand why someone would spend more for a taxi when the train is just as easy (for you) and much cheaper.

We travel relatively light and we are fortunately able-bodied and fit, but we are not in our twenties anymore. I'm a fairly small person, and lugging my 23&quot; suitcase up or down stairs has the potential to give me back problems.

In my twenties I made at least a half dozen trips to Europe on a shoestring, taking public transportation, dragging my backpack through the streets of every major city on the continent, and staying in youth hostels. I am profoundly grateful that at this point in my life I can decide to splurge on a taxi whenever I choose to. :-D

Well said, Patrick and Marilyn.

Even the taxi is less expensive than 100 Euros, and I think it's truly the easiest. When you arrange for a shuttle, you have to make a toll free call. However, there are lines of people at the phones, because many of them don't work. To take a taxi,you just need to walk out to the taxi stand.

Sandy

A couple of weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, we arrived in Paris at CDG. We waited about 10 minutes for the next cab which took us to our hotel in the 6th. The cost was 52 Euros for two people. There was little, if any, traffic to speak of.

The Bee Shuttle had quoted me a price of 29 Euros for two.

Only you can decide if it is worth waiting for the shuttle to arrive after you call them (I have a quad band phone which works in Europe and like most folks have long since stopped waiting in any lines for pay phones..whether they work or not) and whether or not it is worth the possibility of having to stop at other hotel(s) before you get to your own.

Patrick, I have never disputed the <i>perceived</i> value of taxi rides or currency conversion. I'm talking about the <i>amounts</i> involved. To whine about the few pennies spent here and there to get local currency seems incongruous when the same people won't walk a few yards for a hundred bucks. &quot;Penny wise and pound foolish&quot; sums it up pretty well.

And yes, Marilyn, I am frugal in that I never spend a dollar that I don't have to. I've never had a problem moving my luggage around (I'm 63), I never ride when I can walk, and never take an elevator for fewer than four floors. (There may be a causal relationship there, I don't know.) Some people say the RER is an ordeal. I say it's an exercise opportunity. We're both right.

Robespierre, you've given me a wonderful new idea! I'm going to distribute my things into two equal-sized, equal-weighted pieces of luggage. Then I will carry one in each hand and do lunges down the halls of CDG and the platforms of RER. It will be just like being at the gym!

Seriously, good for you for having such discipline. I'm about 80% on the walking and the stairs. I hope you posted that advice on the thread about tips for not gaining weight while travelling.

There are some positions that just don't make sense, and I think the people who have them can't always be unbiased in viewing the facts. Robespierre is just very very frugal, at least on public transportation. Presenting the choices is one thing, but the comparisons are gettting more and more exaggerated and just aren't true, as well as the clearly pejorative words towards those who choose to take a taxi.

I travel solo and I take a taxi, as I said way above. It's my money, and I get a lot more for that 25 euro than what a lot of other people might choose to spend it on, from my point of view. MOst people are spending thousands on their vacation, but sometimes to scrimp and worry about an extra 10-15 euro for a taxi ride just because they can't think of spending on a taxi if there is any kind of public transporation around regardless of how much trouble or time it takes. My mom was kind of the same way due to the Depression, even when she could well afford things like that.

The exaggerations are now up to it costing a few hundred bucks to avoid walking a few yards (previous versions were 30-40 euro versus carrying bags up a flight of stairs, and then 50 euro for something).

Another exaggeration is comparing this to people complaining about a few cents here and there (or a pittance) for currency conversation. It's not exactly a pittance if it's over your whole trip budget, but the difference is that there is no value added for that transaction and one receives nothing for it. Actually, though, I suspect that the people who do worry a lot about a few cents of currency transaction are not going to be the ones who take taxis.

The difference between a taxi and RER+taxi are not likely 40 euro per person. (I'd say an avg. cost around 20 euro per person for the former, maybe 25 euro for the taxi alone if you are a couple).

It's not just walking a few yards, and it does take a lot more time and trouble to do that than walk out the door and get in a cab. So, it is also a matter of time. Depending where you land at CDG, it can be a lot more than a few yards, and then a possible walk where you get off, not to mention if you have to transfer, you can walk a lot. YOu really don't save that much at all if the taxi cost is spread over several people.

I do think the RER makes a lot more sense if you were within walking distance of the RER stop and didn't have to transfer; even then, I would do it--but few people are.