<p>D is leaving soon for a study aboard in Paris. We are trying to determine how much her taxi fare will be from Charles de Gaulle airport to the host familys residence. According to mapquest it should take 25 minutes (15miles, 24 kilometers). Anyone know how much the fare should be? TIA</p>
<p>You can google or go to the airport website and see the standard fares by district from airport to Paris. IT IS EXPENSIVE. We went, suitcases and all, by train. It was not hard at all. We got tickets at the airport. Many Parisians travel by train to the airport with bags in tow. I want to say last summer we estimated an avg of $40-45 for cab fare–but it might have been $40-45 euro. </p>
<p>Be warned that the taxi fare is based on distance and TIME, and if caught in rush hour traffic the fare can double. And if you call a taxi to get back to the airport, the meet starts running when the call arrives, and you pay for time and distance for the cab to get to you. You can have a bill of 7-10 euro by the time the cab pulls up to the door.</p>
<p>Be sure she gets a metro pass when she gets there. It is the best deal ever for traveling in Paris.</p>
<p>Tutu taxi… is that “you you taxi” in French?</p>
<p>Where is the host family? If in Paris, take the train. It’s one hour from central Paris and has extra-wide spaces to accommodate luggage. Driving is a nightmare and will result in monster taxi fares. Even if it’s not in central Paris, your D can take another RER (commuter train) and/or the metro to reach her destination.</p>
<p>To update my note above, I looked at my notes and you need to allow 39-40 euro average for taxi to mid-Paris, assuming it is NOT rush hour. As I said, the train is the best way. It was 5 euro. You can then take a metro or bus (or taxi) from the train station stop in Paris to the host home. You can get within 2-3 blocks of anywhere by metro or bus. If you take the train for 5 euro, then a cab from the station to the home, probably 5 euro more.</p>
<p>I would get a car service for her, it could be shared, which would cut down on the cost. I just went online and one person airport shuttle to Paris City is 27 Euros. I would strongly advise against her getting a taxi by herself at the airport. I had a very bad experience one time. I got in a taxi from a taxi line and I was dropped off in a middle of no where. It was long story and a bit scary. Later in speaking with some locals, they told me that they’ve had some problems with yellow cabs. It was a few years back, maybe they have cleaned it up. But since then, I have always taken a car service from the airport.</p>
<p>The train is wonderful, quick, comfortable, but she needs to make sure she keeps a sharp eye on her luggage so as not to become a victim of thieves who know that there are many jet lagged passengers with lots of expensive things on the train. I always get horrendously jet lagged, so unless I’m with my H – who’s unaffected by jet lag, I pay extra to get a taxi.</p>
<p>My vote is to splurge on a taxi if she is going to central Paris and she has a lot of luggage. We foolishly did NOT take a taxi from CDG last month, using the AirFrance shuttle bus instead at guidebooks’ suggestion–it was slow and tiring and we still had to get from Gare Montparnasse to our hotel. (Dealing with trains and transfers to RER or Metro stations after a transatlantic plane ride is not fun either, which is why we took the bus.) We did take a taxi when it was time to go home and it was way more convenient–of course for two people the public transportation costs comes closer to being what a taxi would cost, a point that isn’t applicable for a solo traveler. But still…sometimes time and convenience are worth the money. Even if it is 50 euros it could be worth it. (There is a surcharge for luggage in taxis, but it is a small one.)</p>
<p>Why not check with the host family and see what they recommend? </p>
<p>As far as taking a taxi alone, I suppose in any city and at any international airport there could be issues, but there are official taxi queues and the cabs are metered so odds would seem to be in her favor. And I think you are just as much at the mercy of a car service unless it is one you know beforehand.</p>
<p>Yes, tell her to make sure she’s taking a metered cab. There are nonmetered cabs operated by very friendly men who’ll greet one warmly at the outside door of the airport, and walk you to their nice looking cab. I almost took one of those until I noticed there wasn’t a meter.</p>
<p>I took a metered cab at a taxi line and I was still almost kidnapped. Maybe a car service is no better, but I feel at least there is a company name, a driver name, telephone number you could call if your daughter should not get to her destination on time. I travel quite a bit for work and personal, and it doesn’t bother me to travel by myself. Those flights into Europe are very early, and there are fewer people on the streets, especially on weekends. A girl traveling alone needs to be a bit more careful.</p>
<p>Thanks All I am really worried now about D getting into the wrong type of taxi. She arrives on a Saturday morning. I dont know how much traffic there will be at that time of day (9am). Is a car service like an airport limo car in the US? How do you go about arranging for one? Unfortunately, Ds host family will be away from home at a family event the day she arrives. We just found out today. She is asking (via email) them for the names of hotels near their house. We dont want to change her tickets at this late date.</p>
<p>I don’t think there will be all that much traffic going in to the city on Saturday morning. There may some information on the Air France Web site about car services. You might also look at TripAdvisor and the online versions of Frommer and Fodor for names of reliable car or van services. I know when I was planning our trip I came across that kind of info somewhere but disregarded it becaue I was convinced the Air France shuttle was easy to find (not, which it was not, at least for us). I think there were online ways to make a reservation for some of the car services.</p>
<p>TutuTaxi - maybe your daughter could stay at an airport hotel(most likely free shuttle to the hotel), often that’s cheaper than a hotel in the city, and have the host family pick her up the next day. Yes, car service in Paris is very much like our airport limo, you could reserve online. But you could also ask the airport hotel to arrange for a car service if her host family can’t pick her up. Hotels usually work with a few car service companies they are familiar with.</p>
<p>We visited Paris last year and took a taxi from the train station to our hotel. I’m sorry, but I don’t remember how much the cab fare was. Be warned though, there are alot of gypsies around the train stations and other public tourist places. They will approach you asking for help. Many times, there are children with them and you may feel sorry for them. Many of them prey on tourists. It’s pickpocket galore in many crowded places. My neighbor had her purse slit from the bottom while on a crowded subway train, they grab whatever drops down and she wasn’t aware of it until she got off the train. </p>
<p>A good source of information on the web is Trip Advisor. You can research many destinations around the world, how to save money, hotel and air recommendations, and there is a forum for information sharing. I use it all the time!</p>
<p>If I recall correctly, it was about 65 euros to take a taxi to Paris when we went to visit our daughter who was studying in Paris. Is there a study abroad organization that she is traveling through? If so, call them and ask for their advice. </p>
<p>Remember that tipping is not the norm.</p>
<p>I went to paris in april, and I don’t know which airport it was… but all I know was it was A LOT.</p>
<p>If she is going to be in Paris on a flight that arrives in the morning as most US flights do, it seems like a waste of a day to spend it at an airport hotel waiting for her host family to pick her up the next day at their delayed convenience. I still think a metered taxi from the main terminal at CDG will probably be fine–remember it is quite a distance out of the city so not a place a cabbie will go casually as might be done at a railroad station. At least she will then be in Paris with a day to explore before her host family makes contact.</p>
<p>I agree about the rather sordid quality of the blocks immediately around train stations and the pickpocket issue is something to consider when you are taking public transportation alone with baggage after a long trip (and other times). A taxi or car service wlil get her where she is going door to door and with less effort. (She should ask ahead of time to leave her bags at the hotel even if her room is not ready for check in. It is standard and convenient.) Also I don’t see why it should necessarily be a hotel super near the host family’s home unless they live in an appealing neighborhood–if you are paying for a hotel might as well be someplace pleasant that will make a decent base of low-key sightseeing operations for that night or two (because who knows when the hosts will really be back).</p>
<p>I think I would be more concerned about the nature of the hosting than the taxi, to be honest. If I were hosting a foreign student and had some sort of family emergency that prevented my being there when he/she arrived, I would be proactive in arranging a greeter and accommodations for the student while I was unavailable–either a neighbor or provide specific advice about what to do (that is, I would suggest transportation and hotel info).</p>
<p>mattmom I agree with your assessment of the host family and their responsibilities to the visiting student. Ds school uses an agency that finds the host families and assigns them a student. D has emailed the agency making them aware of the situation and asking their help in locating a suitable hotel. I dont believe this is a family emergency but a planned family event. H and I feel if the host family knew they had a must attend family event scheduled the same day (date set by the school, months ago) their visiting student is arriving they should have declined being a host family this summer or made sure someone else was available to meet and greet the student. Since we cant change the situation ourselves we will just have to deal with it.</p>
<p>I think your suggestion about finding a nice hotel in the city versus one close to the host familys residence is something we will consider. I am quickly trying to figure out Paris geography. H and I are resigned to spending a lot more money than we had planned. We want this to be a fun experience for D.</p>
<p>oldfort I like the idea of having the hotel suggest a car service. Hopefully, I can get this arranged before D leaves. </p>
<p>Thanks ALL for the info .</p>
<p>The warning about gypsies and the descriptions on travel websites can be a bit overly dramatic. My D and I spent time in Paris last summer. We lived in an apartment, took trains and metro and buses everywhere. We never had a situation where we felt unsafe. We did wear moneybelts under our clothes. I had this great lightweight one around my waist. I kept my money, my metro pass, my ID and I never worried about it. I never carried a purse. If I needed to carry something I used a light backpack. Crowded buses and trains can be full of pickpockets. But if you don’t keep anything in your pocket it is not a problem. I would feel safe letting my D go to Paris.</p>
<p>Clarification:</p>
<p>The issue is not whether one is comfortable having one’s daughter go to Paris (the answer is a resounding yes)–just how to get to the city and how to bridge a gap after arrival. </p>
<p>But I would also say that a problem only seems overstated when it has not been experienced by you or someone you know–and there’s no point underplaying the problem of pickpocketing in large cities or the awkwardness of traveling alone with luggage on public transport.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck to the OP’s daughter and I hope her study abroad experience is wonderful–Paris certainly is.</p>