What janisj is saying is, don't expect to have your plane pull up to a jetway at the terminal. What you can expect is to descend some portable stairs and be loaded on a bus, jammed in with no air, and drive almost into Paris proper before being left off at a terminal. The only good thing is by the time you finally get indoors and go thru immagration, your baggage will be coming off the chutes.

Anna - not sure what airlie you are flying, but we are usually through immigration, retrieved lugage and through customs (such as it is - you basically just walk through a door, the "green lane" for nothing to declare) in 30-40 minutes. If your flight lands and you are bussed into the main terminal it does not add that much time - and you would be spending the tme waiting for bags, anyway.

The one thing I do want to reinforce is to NOT take any of the unlicensed gypsy cabs (sorry, Christina). There are lots of tales of people being ripped off - even things like the driver refusing to hand over your bags unless paid an inflated price. Don't do it.
So at risk of repeating myself and most of the other respondents here, save yourself time and trouble and just take a taxi. The equivalent of car services will actually cost you more than a taxi, and a shared shuttle probably would as well. As I mentioned above, taking the air France bus to Gare de Lyon and a cab from there might save you a couple euros, but not much.

Seamus and Jody,

I never heard of being put into a bus at CDG before you arrive at a terminal - is this new? We we were last there in 2002, this never happened. We will probably be going with the Air France flight, which I believe arrives into Terminal 2.

So, it seems like everyone thinks it's better to take a taxi - I'm just concerned that during rush hour it might cost 90-100 euros.

Yes, Anna, it might and if it DOES is it worth the extra money to avoid being on a shuttle with other folks and is it worth it to avoid the RER-Metro transfers, possible stairs, etc.?

This is NOT a new "problem" since I suspect a lot of people here have already been through it (I, for one, have used all three modes and as you know there are up and downsides to each one).

Yes, bus to the terminal is new since 2002. A couple of years ago the roof of a terminal collapsed. I presume it has to do with that terminal being offline. We waited on the tarmac for our bus to arrive, so it can delay you.

There is no "right" answer to this common dilemma. RER is cheap and the only way to avoid traffic, though it may involve more walking. (It's also a lot easier than some imagine). Taxi is most convenient, but you have no control over traffic/cost. Shuttle is a little cheaper but you don't know how many other dropoffs there will be before yours or you have to take a cab from the city drop point. In the end, other than the RER, you're probably talking a difference of no more than 10 or 15 euros.

I've done taxi, AF shuttle + taxi, and RER. The train wins hands down for me, mainly because it's cheap and arrival time is predictable---whether I'm coming or going.

Anna, as one who has often used car services in London, I know where you're coming from. But Paris is nothing like London where you can save about 50% by taking a private car service instead of a taxi, in fact with three people the car service is likely to be more than a taxi as people have made clear.
No one has mentioned (unless I missed it) that you also need to phone the car shuttles in Paris upon your arrival. That may or may not involve a wait, and certainly involves getting a local phone card and making the call. On the other hand, access to the taxi rank is easy and seldom more than a couple minutes wait. With three people and your various comments, this is now a no-brainer. TAKE A TAXI.

With three people there won't be room for many more passengers in a shuttle, maybe two or three, so you won't have to endure many stops and will have a fixed rate. Why don't you check the shuttle rates for three people and compare to the 50 plus a taxi will cost.

If you're set on not taking a train or the RER taxi or shuttle are your only options.

Traffic will be awful. It is a shame that the RER is undesired, because it would put you directly in front of Notre Dame (back exit of the Saint Michel-Notre Dame station) on Ile de la Cité, just about 300 meters from Ile Saint Louis, in 30 minutes. That is my own version of a no-brainer.

I totally agree w/ kerouac. Unless you are schlepping just a ton of luggage, the RER would by far be the fastest and cheapest. If you were staying farther from an RER station I might opt for something else. But for the islands or the 5th I would take the RER.

My last trip was in March and had planned on using the RER (we were staying near St Michel station in the 5th). Unfortunately, just as we got in the queue for RER tix there was a security alert and the RER was shut down. so we dashed out to the taxi rank to be in front of the mob that would be heading that way as soon as they discovered the train was down.

but otherwise I would have taken the RER and been in the flat 45 mins sooner . . . .

Anna1013,

As you can see from the responses, everyone has a favorite transportation mode--and arguments as to why it's the best. I'm with JeanneB and kerouac. Unless you have so much luggage that it would be difficult to get on and off the train with it, take the RER to St-Michel Notre-Dame and a taxi from there to your apartment. The RER ticket costs E8.10. The maximum charge for a short distance taxi ride is E5.10. There is a charge of 90 eurocents for each piece of luggage weighing more than 5 kilos.

This would be both the cheapest and fastest way from CDG to your apartment.

So according to that last post if you took the RER and then a taxi it would be about 30 to 35 euro for the three of you instead of the 50 or so for a taxi the whole way?
Some people like to travel in style and comfort. Just as some people would gladly pay 200 euro a night instead of 100 for a much more luxurious hotel (while others consider that throwing money away since all you "need" is a bed and a roof over your head), certainly many people are willing to splurge an extra 5 or 6 euro each for the luxury of getting in a taxi and being taken directly to their hotel rather than schepping luggage through long corridors, up and down stairs, and transferring from a train to a taxi. Go figure.

I was thinking more of the travel time than the expense in this case.

(Oh and I did want to mention that both the CDG RER station and the Notre Dame RER exit have 100% escalators all the way to the surface.)

A poster here was stuck in traffic due to an accident and it cost her around 90 Euro to go from CDG-hotel.

Also, I was in line at Gare du Nord for a taxi last week and the three people in front of me had to pass up cabs because they couldn't all fit into a regular car-size cab (they had three suitcases and two carry-ons between all of them). I figure there might be more van-type shuttles at the airport?

Now, children, play nicely together - and note that the OP clearly stated that they do NOT want to take Metro/RER, and did not cite the availability of escaltors or any other reason for that, just as she did not ask whether they should take the Eurostar rather than fly to Paris from London. My inner Sister Maria Teresa Steeledgeruler is dying to scream "just answer the question!"

Anna, the bus to the terminal happens sometimes, not always. It is no big deal, though you may have to climb a set of stairs to enter the terminal when the bus drops you off. (If anyone in your party is mobility limited the staf can provide assistance.)

kerouac, just for the record there were NO working escalators at the Notre Dame stop for the entire 10 days we were in Paris this summer -- July 8 to July 18. I'm not sure how common that problem is, but they never got them fixed in that 10 days. What's more there are supposed to be elevators for the handicapped. We thought we'd see if we could go up in it with our luggage, but alas it was closed and marked out of service.

There are definitely no elevators on the Notre Dame side of the RER, so I don't know where you were. Not to worry.

Anyway, Anna1013 stated that she wanted "advice" and that is what she has been given. She also stated that cost is a significant concern, so it is always good to know that 3 adults can make the trip by RER for 24.30 euros. I don't think that any other simple method can beat that, and it is also by far the fastest way to travel at that time of day. Perhaps she will now discuss the options with the 2 other adults and come to a decision.

&quot;<i>OP clearly stated that they do NOT want to take Metro/RER, . . . </i>&quot;

True enough. However, her title is &quot;<b>Would you use Taxi or Shuttle from CDG to Paris during rush hour?</b>&quot; She is asking, and clearly for a lot of us the answer is &quot;no&quot;. Not because of money, and not because of escalators or lack there of, -- but because it will take a LOT more time.

So why jump on folks for telling the OP that the RER might actually be a better option considering their arrival time???

Check out www.parisairportservice.com . I used them in 2004 and found them to be reliable and inexpensive with a very friendly driver who even stopped at a debit machine for me to withdraw funds away from the airport. For our group of 6 it cost only 80euros from CDG to city center and the driver was waiting for us outside customs.

I just checkled their site and the prices are still the same. For your group of 3 it would cost only 65euros for a private car awaiting you upon arrival.
I think I may have gotten the name of this company from this site back then.

Thanks to everyone for their help, although I didn't mean to cause such a debate :)

I forgot to add that between the three of us, we will probably have 3 suitcases, along with 2-3 carryons, so...

1. One person in our party is really against the RER, but I don't think she(nor I) knew that we could get off at the RER station on Ile de Cite - is it a straight route from CDG, or will we have to transfer? Also, wouldn't 300 yards(from RER station to our apartment) be too short of a distance to our apartment for a taxi?

2. Someone mentioned that three people w/ three bags and two carryons could not fit into a regular taxi - this will probably be the amount of luggage we will have...will we have to wait for a minivan taxi at the airport instead of a regular one? Are they readily avaliable at the airport?

3.lemidi - that sounds like a good option...did you have to pay in advance? Did you need to call the shuttle service when you arrived, or were they already waiting for you?