First trip with Rick Steves

Usually, a few weeks after you sign up for a tour, you will receive a list of your first and last hotels. The Rick Steves office also includes directions on how to get to your hotel. If it involves a train, the instructions will give you details as to which station and how/when to buy tickets. And yes, the details will include approximate cost of train, public transportation and taxi. As you get closer to the start of the tour, about 3-4 weeks before, you will get a list of all hotels used on the tour with addresses, phone numbers, emails and websites.

Where does your tour start?

We call that email the "30-day letter," so the goal is to send it 30 days ahead of the tour start. It does have ALL the details.

If you're going to Chartres, note that the Air France bus #4 to Montparnasse station has been renamed to Le Bus Direct. Direct trains from Montparnasse to Chartres depart hourly, in normal circumstances. Buy the ticket in the station for about 16 euros.

If you're going to Reims, it's quite different from above.

seasamblue I can tell you the taxi fares.

Paris has recently ( well its been a few months now at least) instituted a SET taxi rate for taxis leaving from the official taxi rank at the airport.

The fare for a taxi to the right bank of paris is 50 euros. The fare for a taxi to the left bank is 55 euros.

To discover which rate you pay just look at the postal/area code on the address of your hotel.. the last two digits say what arrondissement you are in .. just let us know what the address is and we can tell you what fare you will pay.

Or.. you can take the RER in.. its 10 euros and depending on where you hotel is located it can be easy..( no need to transfer to metro and make transfers etc.. ) personally after a long international flight I take the RER if I can walk from the station to the hotel.. if not I splurge for a taxi.

Dear seasamblue,
I am a dedicated solo traveler and have, so far, done 4 RS tours, as well as others. My first to Italy in 2006 and most recent "My Way" tour in France just this spring. I can understand your apprehension; I've experienced the same feelings!
Do you plan to spend some time in Paris before joining the tour or at the end? If you plan to spend some time in Paris prior to your tour, I've used the Shuttle Express shared van service to my hotel, as well at to CDG for departure. I don't want to haul my suitcase or figure out transport or anything else after a long-haul flight. Their representatives will greet you outside the arrivals hall with your name. Works for me!
Our tour hotel was Lenox Montparnasse - great location - just 10 minutes walking from the train station to Chartres (which I visited); Great and helpful staff and a wonderful location.
I generally book a couple of nights prior to and after the tour at the tour hotels with a great discount.
Please, contact me directly if I can provide additional information.
Best wishes for your travels!
Marlene

sea,

It would be easier to provide more detailed information if you could provide a few more details....

• Which tour are you taking (ie: where does it start)?
• Do you plan to go directly to the tour location after your flight arrives, or stay in Paris for a day or so to get over jet lag?
• Have you travelled in Europe before?

As mentioned in previous replies, the RS tour department will forward a list of all hotels used on that particular tour about a month before the tour date, as well as the name of your Guide and fellow tour members. The tour dept. always provides good information on the best way to get to the first tour hotel.

DO NOT buy train tickets in advance to connect with your inbound flight. The tickets on the fast trains (TGV) are specific to train, date and departure time, and if you miss the train you booked because your flight was late (or whatever), your ticket is worthless and you'll have to buy another.

Depending on what time your departing flight leaves from Paris, you don't necessarily have to stay near the airport. If you do want to stay in the airport and have a "generous" travel budget, there's a Sheraton right inside Terminal 2, so you wouldn't need a Shuttle if you stayed there.

Thanks everyone for their input. Bottom line is that I have been reassured the directions the travel company will be sending will be thorough. To clarify I will be doing the Loire to South of France tour. I will arrive Sunday am around 0800 at CDG and I am assuming taking either cab or bus to the train station to Chartres for start of tour that night. At end of tour I will be leaving Nice Saturday morning, take train back to Paris where I just want to check into a hotel overnight not too far from the airport to rest before leaving around noon the following day.

I used to lay over at CDG going to and from Africa. There are several business type hotels in the little village of Roissy en France that service transit passengers and airline crew. They have regular, free shuttles to the airport. The village of Roissy is also a nice place to have a meal or shop for essentials.
Here is a hotel that I used several times. There are others that are all about the same.

http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-1245-mercure-paris-roissy-charles-de-gaulle-hotel/index.shtml

Thanks Richard! Just what I was looking for.

Hi Seasam, I did the South of France tour in May 2014. It's a wonderful tour and I'm sure you will have a great time.

If you haven't already made airline reservations, you might want to consider flying in to Paris and out of Nice. It's called flying "open jaw" and you can easily make these types of reservations on the airline website using the "multi city" option. If there's no particular reason that you need to fly home from Paris, I'd do that rather than taking a long train ride back through France at the end of the tour. It's your call. If you do decide to take the train, you should look at purchasing your ticket 90 days in advance to get the best price.

Have a great trip!

My husband and I have stayed at the Mercure hotel that Richard referenced. We have also stayed at the Novotel hotel at CDG.

I thought the Mercure at Roissy was a bit nicer. When we stayed there, a shuttle bus was available to take people to the airport. At the Novotel, you walk through the hotel and go into a train station to go to the airport. It was not difficult to do.

Have fun on your trip!

Donna, bought my ticket months ago but that is something I will definitely look into for next time. Looking forward to this tour.

Bev, thanks for the input. Mercure sounds great, I will definitely look into that hotel.