Looking for info on a private driver service between the Marne-la-Vallee TGV rail station and our hotel near the Reims city center-since our travel date is a Sunday, a rental car doesn't work, and dropping off the next day is not possible since we will be with our tour group (RS Eastern France tour). We have refundable tickets for this journey (which is part of a 2 segment train trip from Lyon) but are considering switching to a driver in order to stop at the Chateau-Thierry WWI memorial site enroute to Reims. Any info is most appreciated.
The next stop on your train from Lyon is going to be CDG Airport. It might be easier to arrange a transfer from there. The airport website site will have pointers...
WengenK, good thought-our tickets can be modified for the TGV station at CDG, so I will take a look at transfer options from there, which will likely be greater in number than at the Marne-la-Vallee station. I got a quote of €210 for a transfer from the Disneyland station to Reims, with an additional €50 per hour for stops enroute for lunch and/or to visit the WWI memorials. I don't know if that is high, low or average, so I would like to get a few more quotes so I know the range of prices.
I don't see much in the way of private driver options on the airport site (parisaeroport.fr)-the only options that are not public transportation are for taxi services into the city. The G7 taxi service web site does not provide a quote to Reims, but it did give me a quote to the Disneyland TGV station of €105 for a 48 minute journey. Drive time from the CDG TGV station to the Reims city center (where my hotel is located) is about 30 minutes longer than from the Disneyland TGV station, so the taxi rate might be lower than the quote I got; however, with stops, it seems easier to deal with a private driver service and negotiate a flat rate than a taxi with a meter.
I also noticed that the direct train from the CDG TGV station to Reims is already fully booked, so I will definitely hang on to our current ticketing and the quote I received for a private driver until I find a better alternative.
210 EUR sounds reasonable. It is about a 1 1/2 drive from Disneyland to Reims, and the driver will have to return to his start point after dropping you, so is at least 3 hours, and probably close to 4 hours when all is said and done. So 50 EUR per hour for a car and driver is not too bad, I pay my plumber $140 per hour.
I found a few limo services that gave me online quotes for significantly higher cost, some 2X the quote I already received, so I agree that the quote seems reasonable. The fact that the service also offered to stop enroute allows us to tailor the trip and include some DIY sightseeing enroute, so I will be booking with them. I am figuring another 2 hours max for sightseeing and lunch on top of the time for the transfer itself, so that will get us to our hotel in time to check in before our meetup with the tour group and will cost around €300, not including our lunch. Sam, my plumber charges me about the same, but I never think about the cost while he is rescuing me from a water leak or an overflowing drain!
FWIW, my Uber app is giving me rates from $163 (UberX) to $245 (UberXL), so this quote is basically the same as that service when compared to the UberXL service.