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Transportation FROM Orly Airport TO Paris

Hi all,

I'm sure this question has been asked a million times but...

Am wondering what the safest/most efficient way to get from ORLY to our hotel (Motte Picquette in the 7th) on 8/18?

We are a family of four and this is our first trip to Paris. I've heard a cab might be the best way to go; are the prices set or might we be taken advantage of depending on the driver?...what about a shuttle? I don't think we want to be too adventuous with trains of public transportation right upon arrival, especialy lugging our bags...

Thanks!

Posted by
64 posts

I recommend taking a taxi. It's the easiest way to get to Paris from the airport for four people. Make sure you go follow the signs for the taxi rank. Do not go in a cab that you do not get at the rank. The price from Orly to Paris is 35 euros to the right bank and 30 euros to the left bank.

Posted by
3119 posts

The RS guidebook we used (a few years ago now) listed the car service of Paris Webservices and we found it excellent. They charge a flat fee, there's a way for you to notify them if your flight is delayed, and you get a discount by showing your RS guidebook. (When you book your ride online they also sell the Museum Pass and some other tourist-friendly tickets.) Our driver spoke excellent English as he had attended college in the US, and the car was nice and clean and new.

Posted by
7981 posts

It is cheaper and more convenient to take a taxi from the Orly to Paris and even more so with the fixed fares. For the 4 of you and your luggage the cost will be 30 Euro to your hotel. go to the official taxi queue, get in line and take the car at the head when you get there; the dispatcher may match you with a larger cab. Do not accept a ride with anyone who approaches you or tries to direct you away from the line. Give the cabbie a written address to your hotel and have 30E written on the paper. Make sure 30 shows on the meter as you leave. No tip is needed, but if the cabbie is very helpful with luggage etc then a couple of Euro is not amiss.

Public transport would cost about 50 Euro for the 4 of you and is complicated and involves stairs with luggage and at least 3 changes to get to where you are going. Shuttles are notoriously unreliable and would be more expensive than a cab for 4 people.

Posted by
9462 posts

Shuttle services are irrelevant now that the taxis have fixed prices. 30 euros for the four of you to get to your hotel at La Motte-Picquet. Easy!

Posted by
7981 posts

Even before fixed prices, taxi was always the way to go from Orly. I remember 25 years ago taking a taxi from Orly to a left bank address with my husband and daughter and paying less on the meter than a couple we were meeting in Paris paid, using public transportation and then having to walk the last half mile to the hotel with their luggage. they also had to use a combination of bus and metro -- now it would be Orlyval, RER and metro and then walk. We pay on average about 5 Euros more with the fixed prices for both Orly and CDG now except when we have a particularly long ride. We do pay less when we are staying in the 13th at a friend's apartment and coming from CDG. But the fixed price means you don't have to worry about traffic or a long ride.

Note also that when you use Paris public transport (which is just wonderful and efficient) that you must be pickpocket proof. No wallets in pockets, backpacks or purses carried carelessly behind you. It isn't hard to be secure but this is organized crime in European cities with very skilled practitioners and we know people who had had 20K on their cards within an hour or two or having them picked. Museum lines, cafe lines in museums, crowds anywhere, and the metro are particularly good places to have things go missing. Women use a cross body purse or inside hidden pockets in clothing in cooler weather and men can use those wallets that hang around the neck and go underneath the shirt if they don't carry a bag. If a backpack, only a deeply buried hidden pocket -- never an outside pocket or top of the bag.