What would be the different modes of transportation available from CDG airport to Residence des Arts hotel in the Latin Quarter for a family of 5? From what I've read, it seems that you cannot have more than 3 people max in a taxi and the shuttles sound unreliable.

Gosh, I've seen nothing but good comments about Parishuttle (www.parishuttle.com). You can write the manager Mark Harris at [email protected] for a quote (be sure to tell him you saw it here).

I know there are larger taxis, but I'm not sure if they handle 5 with all the luggage. Maybe someone with experience can tell you.

I've seen people mention that 4 people can fit into one taxi-but have not seen anything about 5. Maybe there are larger taxis to accomodate 5. If that's true, I would recommend doing so.

If not, then a shuttle will be cheaper than taking 2 taxis. I believe Parishuttle gives a slight discount per person so it's approximately 15 euro instead of 18 euro regularly.

In his Paris 2002 guidebook Rick Steves recommends the following shuttle services:
Airport Connection (tel. 01 44 18 36 02, www.airport-connection.com)
Paris Airport Services (tel. 01 49 62 78 78, www.magic.fr/pas)

We've used Paris Shuttle several times with great success. The last time in May of this year. Our instructions were to call them upon our arrival. We had a toll free number. They told us to go to Exit 8 and our shuttle was waiting for us. He took us directly to our hotel. On our return to CDG we forgot to contact them 24 hours ahead to confirm. Nevertheless, they called our hotel and advised us that thay would pick us up at a certain time. They were right on time and took us to CDG without delay. Our cost was $15US per person each way. All things considered it was excellent service at a very reasonable price.

PJ, right! I'm sure there are other decent shuttle services in Paris, but it is beyond me why anyone would not use PariShuttle since we seem to have a personal relationship with Mark. He even showed up for a couple of Fodors get-togethers. He knows how popular the forum is and has a vested interest in providing us good service.

travelmom-

Here are 2 more-

[email protected]

2.Airport Shuttle, which is at the top of the france-hotels page: [email protected]

The first was recommened and answered immediately-- but the 2nd also answered super fast and was a lot less expensive

Both of these shuttles I posted are for PRIVATE VANS- so they are for you alone- they wait just outside the Customs Halls and deliver you straight to your hotel without any other stops--

More of a private limo service without having a stretch limo--

We used the 2nd one--- and had no problems at all----they were prompt and the cheapest....


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Travelmom- forgot to tell you--

we were 5 people also with tons of luggage.......

We asked our hotel to arrange the shuttle for us to go to the airport, and it was no problem -- quite reasonable. There were only 2 of us and the shuttle made 3 more stops...but they plan it so you will get to the CDG without a problem. I think it was Paris shuttle, but I don't know for sure...and it was 15€ pp

oops...my husband just corrected me, it was 22€ for the two of us, so that was 11 each. If there are already 5 of you they may pick up another 2....or not!

Travelmom:

On two separate occasions in the past two years when I arrived at CD alone, I was ushsered into a Taxi Parisien (official taxi) that was a van that would hold 7 people plus the driver. I paid the same to get into Paris as I would have had I been in a smaller Taxi Parisien. My point - there are loads of vans now waiting to pick people up at CDG.

If you feel more comfortable with a shuttle, fine, but a party of five is no longer a problem for a taxi ride into Paris, which should cost you 40-50 € plus extra for baggage.

Five of us arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport, and told the taxi starter that we were traveling together. He put us in the next minivan taxi. There may have been a supplement for the fourth and fifth persons.

Large minivan Taxis Parisien are common at CDG. Get on line for a taxi and expect to pay 35-50E depending upon time of day, rush hour, baggage supplements (petty). When we took one to your area last year, it cost 5 of us something like 50E total during morning rush hour.