How would YOU do it?

[Loner4hire]

I will be traveling to DLRP from 12/27 through 12/29/2008. I am staying at a hotel near CDG airport. What is the best way to travel each day to DLP and back to CDG? Train? Bus? Rental Car? TGV? Taxi?

I'm sure someone on this board has stayed near CDG and had to travel to DLP and back. What did you do and how do you reccommend I do it?

Any and all information, as detailed as possible, is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Cyrano]

Hi Loner4hire and welcome to DLP DIS board
We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here, DIS posting guidelines can be found here.

Are you fixed to a CDG hotel rather than getting something closer ?

 

[Ware Bears]

Hi Loner4hire, welcome to the DIS!

I guess it depends how close your hotel is to CDG airport. If it's really close then the quickest way would be to use the TGV train which only takes 10 minutes to get to DLRP.

However, I'm not sure how often, or how late, it runs. There are links to the timetable in The Very Useful Info sticky. The easiest way to get from CDG to DLRP is by private shuttle but that would prove expensive. I'd echo Reid's words in asking is there any chance of you spending those nights at a hotel nearer to DLRP?

 

[Loner4hire]

Thanks, Cyrano and Ware Bears! Sorry if I wasn't suppose to start a new thread; however, I am not well versed in blogging and such.

Unfortunately, my plans are "fixed" and non-refundable. In short, I'm stuck. I'm really now leaning on renting a car for the days I will be spending at DLRP. Thanks to Google Earth, I was able to determine that: 1, the distance from my hotel is approximately the same as it is from my home in the U.S. to Disneyland and, 2, they (the French) appear to drive on the "right" side of the road. If the routes are well signed, I don't think I'll have too much of a problem finding my way each day.

Yes, it will take me approximately 40 minutes instead of 10; however, I will not be dependent upon train schedules and worry about missing a train back to CDG. If I can navigate L.A. freeways, I'm hoping I can handle the roads in France. I can't imagine any other place on the planet where driving can be as much of a challenge as the L.A. freeway system.

For the remainder of my trip to Paris, I will take the train from CDG to the city center considereing it is only one train line from CDG to Paris and is only a 30 minute ride each way.

If you have any further suggestions or advice, PLEASE, PLEASE, tell me what you think I should know. I very much appreciate any information you can share. This is only my second trip to Europe (went to Italy for 3 weeks back in 1990) and I did not have to drive.

Thanks!

 

[Ware Bears]

Sorry, I don't even drive in the UK any more, let alone another country but I'll bump this up for you.

 

[bavaria]

Please remember that driving in France is not like driving in America, nor is it like driving in much of the rest of Europe. Take the time to educate yourself on some of the key differences, such as those on the right always have priority unless indicated (la priorité à droite). This means that even someone pulling from a small side lane onto a major road has right of way. Road signs are also very different.

I would not consider driving in France anything like driving in America, and I have spent almost as much time driving around LA as I have driving around France.

While it may be more complex to take the hotel shuttle to CDG and then the train, I would suggest that you consider it.

 

[bavaria]

Some more things to consider:

• road signs will be in French; ensure that you understand what things like 'cédez le passage' or 'Le sens unique' or 'Priorité Pieton' mean
• speed limits and distances are marked in kilometres
• sometimes one is required to stop in a roundabout to allow incoming traffic to enter
• 'highway' signage is not like in America ie they do not list all the upcoming towns/cities
• gas is about $10/gallon at the moment in France
• I don't street park in France if I can avoid it; 'parking' means shoving the car into any free space even it it sticks out a metre, or crosses a line, or leaves other cars unable to pull out again
• rental rates can be high; the cost of a few days rental, plus parking, plus gas can easily exceed the cost of a taxi from the hotel to CDG and a train ticket (depending of course on how many people are travelling)
• the roads could be slick in winter or worse; often with bad fog
• it will be dark early so you will need to be prepared to return in the dark (and possibly leave in the dark in the morning as well)

Please don't take my comments as harsh, but I do think that you are overconfident in your statement. I have driven many places in the world worse than the LA freeway system, and many places in the world I simply do not drive.

If I can navigate L.A. freeways, I'm hoping I can handle the roads in France. I can't imagine any other place on the planet where driving can be as much of a challenge as the L.A. freeway system.

I have driven a Citroën 2CV in France and on the German Autobahn, have for decades driven the mountain roads of Germany/Austria/Italy, I have lived by the most dangerous stretch of the Autobahn, driven on 'highways' all around western Europe, and still find France the most difficult challenge for driving.

I recently had an American with me, and she could not make sense of the road signs and rules of the road as she found them so different. Yes, we drive on the right, but that doesn't mean that you will find it easy.

I just want you to understand what you will be facing, as you sound a little confident for someone who has never driven in Europe and who has only been there once. As you don't 'know' me, I travel all over the world, about 300 days/year and rent cars almost weekly, unless I am in places I know are not the best for driving. And in France that means that I don't ever rent a car in the Île-de-France.

Ultimately it is your decision, but one that you should weigh carefully. The worst thing would be to find yourself with damage to the vehicle, or worse, while on holiday.

 

[Loner4hire]

Thanks, Bavaria.

This is the nightmare I am going through. It seems each time I propose one mode of travel from CDG to DLRP I get complete and opposite opinions about the experience. This is why I am considering dumping the train option altogether and opting to drive. Now I am getting completely opposite opinions about driving, too. At first, I would read, and one person told me, that driving would be "no problem" and that I'd figure it out alright. Now I am getting dire warnings of how difficult it is and not to do it.

All I want is to know what is the easiest and most efficient way to get from my hotel near CDG to DLRP each day for three days. Once I can decide, I can commit and start making those preparations.

I never realized this was going to be so frustrating. I've got some thinking to do.

Thanks!

 

[bavaria]

Hotel shuttle to CDG TGV terminal, TGV to DLRP. Simple.

Or if you don't want to take the train, then hotel shuttle to CDG and take the VEA Navette.

The information on the TGV and VEA are in the links noted above. Many of us have contributed detail over the years which should make it easy to understand. TGV is more expensive than VEA but there is a potential time savings and a guaranteed place on the TGV, whereas VEA can be full and you may need to wait for the next one during peak periods.

That is the easiest way to go. TGV takes 10 minutes for the trip and VEA about 45 minutes; don't know how long the hotel shuttle would take, but many in the CDG area have a fee as well.

Remember, in Europe we are used to taking public transport. I know that driving is 'easy' from an American perspective, but for us 'easy' is the public transport. Usually quicker and cheaper.

I would add that any cost savings on the hotel by staying at CDG are pretty much negated by the cost of the transportation to/from DLRP daily. If you truly cannot get out of the booking ie if it is Priceline.com or similar, you will need to pay in time and money.

 

[bavaria]

Also read here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1511273&page=0&highlight=TGV+vs+VEA

Note that 2008 prices may not be updated; I recently rode VEA and noticed a price increase. Also changed is that the internal bus at CDG has been replaced with an internal train system between terminals.