Can anyone recommend t he best way to travel from CDG airport in Paris to the heart of the city? We are staying at the Academie Hotel. There are five people (two adults and three teenagers) in our group. Is it cheaper to take two taxis or secure a bus? Any ideas would be helpful.

I would take the train which you catch at the airport and take directly into the Paris metro. Walk out of metro and voila -- you are on the streets of Paris.

RER to the center. Watch out for pickpockets. Don't know your hotel. Get a map.

I usually take the RER - but by the time you pay for five tickets plus a taxi/metro in town - you could have paid for a shuttle/car service.

To save on the cost of a cab [and there are van-types in the taxi line], take the Roissy bus.

From the stop on r. Scribe, walk the same direction onto r. Auber and take the 95 city bus. Get off at Jacob. The hotel is a few steps away.

In case you just want to go door to door and not deal with RER, buses, and such - especially if you're jetlagged or not familiar with Paris - I would say to take a taxi van or arrange ahead with a shuttle service. I've used Paris Shuttle before:
http://www.parishuttle.com/index.php

Just so you know what <u>all</u> of your options are, rather than only the prejudices of a few, go here: tinyurl.com/mpjhn

And here are the transit maps for Paris: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34939289

Here's how to manage the buses: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?tid=34987572

I absolutely agree with the last post. I travel from the west coast of the U.S. and I usually have a 2 - 5 hour layover somewhere in Europe before getting to Paris. Bottom line is I am wiped out by the time I'm ready to get into town. Taxis are easy, and for me well worth the expense and time saved after a long trip. Just be sure to only get a cab at the designated taxi stands. There will be people that approach you telling you they're taxi's when they are not.Their cars will have Taxi signs on them too! The taxi stands are official and you'll get the fairest price. Shuttles are good. Paris Shuttle is good and can be arranged via the web in advance. Unless your budget is extremely tight, I'd go with the taxi.

Shuttles charge by the person, so forget that for a group of five!

A group of five can fit in minivan type taxi - there are usually some around the airport- and door to door will not cost much more (if at all) than any other option, and will be a whole lot easier/more comfortable and less stressful. Unless you are on an extremely tight budget I highly recommend this option.
Of course it is theoretically possible that there would be no minivan taxi at CDG when you need it and you would have to wait or call for one. An alternative would be to book a private car service - we used www.airport-connection.com and were quite pleased. The cost is higher than a taxi but less than two taxis, and the rate is fixed even if you are delayed in congested traffic.
The shared shuttles are a PIA, and not worth it IMHO.

depending on the time you arrive at the airport - if you take any type of taxi, shuttle, private car, etc. you may end up in traffic and it could take a long time to get into Paris. But, if it is late at night or early in the morning you probably won't have traffic jams to deal with. That is why I like the RER - it is pretty fast. And I usually can't wait to get into Paris!
The private car does sounds cool - but it could be a little pricey - but hey, who said Paris was low budget?

I took the RER both ways last week. Just felt adventurous. It was pretty sane. Met a Frenchman living in the US on the way to Paris who gave me a tip for getting to my hotel faster. Got a bit turned around a couple of times, but when you're solo, a bit desperate and using all the broken French you can , the English-speaking French come out to help you.

One woman called across the turnstyle and got another to get me a Metro map and gave me full instructions mostly in French (?). Lovely woman.