• Airport Train:  economical, reliable, and flexible, but a challenge with luggage.
  Follow these jump links down the page for discussion, or for prices & ordering information.
  
  
• Shared Shuttle:  relatively economical, door-to-door, luggage-friendly.  Bicycles not carried on shared shuttles.
  Follow these jump links down the page for discussion, prices, or how to reserve.
  
  
• Private Shuttle:  door-to-door.  Often as fast as the train, though not reliably so.  Easiest with luggage, children, or bicycles.  Comparable in price to a shared shuttle for groups / families of 4, only slightly more expensive for 3.
  Follow these jump links down the page for discussion, prices, or how to reserve.
  
  
• Taxi:  the comfort — and rough cost — of the private shuttle.  Less reliable than the shuttle or especially the train, but more flexible (no need to reserve in advance).  Cannot generally accommodate a bicycle. 
   
  - Taxi lines at the airport can easily reach 30 minutes, and we have waited up to an hour on busy days. 
  - Hailing a taxi in the city can take longer still, depending on the weather and the time of day.
  - Calling one usually works...  but it has a cost, and there is always a risk that the dispatcher simply tell you “none available, call back.”  Taxis can be pre-reserved, but there is an additional cost to do so (5€).  And, if the car doesn’t show up, who do you argue with?  How’s your French?  And do you really have time?
  - Traffic can make the journey 25 minutes...  or 90. 
  Meter charge for a trip between the city center and the airport will be between 50€ and 80€, depending on traffic, time of day, and day of the week.  To this should be added a baggage charge of 1€ per case.  A tip of approximately 10% is customary.

Paris Airport Train, Discussion. 
See below for purchase information.

The airport train is best for economy and reliability.  It is also the most flexible.

• Service every 15 minutes or better, 5a - 12 midnight (every 20 minutes in July and August).
• Trip time is 32 minutes from the city center, and varies little:  a badly delayed train might take 45.
• It serves several stations across Paris
  - Gare du Nord (trains to northern France, England, Belgium, Holland, and northern Germany),
  - Châtelet - Les Halles (our office and guest apartments, and also the largest subway interchange point in the city, with 9 connecting lines),
  - St.-Michel and Luxembourg (which roughly bracket the Latin Quarter & St.-Germain)
  - Port-Royal, Denfert-Rochereau (connect for Montparnasse station) and Cité Universitaire, all on the left bank
• Walk-up-and-go service.  No advance reservations or planning required.
  
  Its negatives are, or at least can be: 
• Crowding. 
  The airport line is a funtioning urban railway, and rush hour services are crowded as they arrive and leave Paris. 
• Crime. 
  With crowding comes the attendant scourge of pick-pocketing.  Tourists are particularly targeted by pick-pockets and property thieves of all sorts, and the airport train is a good place to find them (both the tourists, and the thieves).  There is virtually no violent crime, but you must keep an eye on your belongings, including your luggage.
• Baggage. 
  While escalators, elevators, and extra wide entrances and exits are available, they are hard to find, and occasionally out of service.  Carrying baggage through the system, and storing it on board crowded trains, can be a challenge.  There are theoretical limits to the size of parcels that you can take aboard, but no one ever enforces them, so it’s really just a matter of how much stuff you can carry on stairs.

It is not absolutely necessary to pre-purchase tickets for the airport train:  they can be purchased at the station where you board.  But pre-purchase has advantages.

• It lets you avoid long lines at the airport rail station, and catch the next departing train.
  Since most foreign credit cards are bizarrely unable to operate the ticket machines, you generally have to fight your way to the ticket windows.  Skipping this step can save up to an hour in any sort of peak travel season.
• With your tickets, we send a step-by-step sheet that explains how to find and ride the train.
  This should be a simple matter, n’est-ce pas?  Well, the train works fine once you figure it out.  But it is so much not a simple matter that a new, more user-friendly airport train is being built at a cost of a few billion euros.  You’d think that we could just re-do the signage, but apparently not.  Our instruction sheet takes you in either direction, to or from a variety of Paris locations:  rail stations, our office, hotels we commonly use... and our tickets include a connecting metro trip if one must be made to complete your journey.
• Pre-purchase eliminates the need to exchange currency at userous airport rates prior to your arrival in the city center.
• You avoid risks inherent in post-flight-stupor airport transactions (pickpockets, sleep-induced abandonment of personal belongings at ticket windows...).

Airport Train, Price and Purchase Information

We offer tickets between Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports, on the one hand, and the city center on the other. 
Our tickets include a métro ride within Paris, so you can reach (or depart from) any point in the city without buying any further ticket.
We do not offer tickets from Beauvais Airport, a “low cost” hub an hour from the city.  

Cost is 11€ per ticket from either airport (or the equivalent in $), 7€ for children 11 and under. 

To order tickets, e.mail us (info@bluemarble.org from outside Europe, or paris@bluemarble.org from within Europe), or call.  If you are on one of our organized cycle trips, you may mark your request on your “Access Package” order sheet.
Be sure to tell us...

• ...the number of tickets you would like,
• ...from which airport, Orly or Charles de Gaulle, you would like tickets (most intercontinental flights arrive at Charles de Gaulle, but if you are coming from elsewhere, or if you change planes within Europe, your connection could bring you to either), and...
• ...whether any travellers are children 5 - 11 years old.
• ...the postal address to which you would like your tickets sent.

Tickets will be sent to you by regular post, at no additional cost.  The cost of the tickets themselves will be added to your account.  Unused tickets can be returned to us for a refund, less a 2€ service charge.

Road Shuttle Transfers, Discussion
See below for price and reservation information.

Road shuttles offer door-to-door convenience, and baggage carrying ability. 

• If you are arriving in Paris, our shuttle driver will meet your flight (or train — private shuttles only), help you with your luggage as soon as you exit customs (private shuttles only), and take you to the Paris location of your choice.
• If you are leaving Paris, we make the Paris pick-up at your requested location, and deliver you to your airport (or station) at the time you request.
• Waiting time is zero (private shuttles only).
  
  But... 
• ... you must reserve in advance, and cancellation penalties apply. 
• If your flight is significantly delayed, the operator will try to re-schedule.  But if he cannot, you still pay for the missed transfer.
  This seems unfair to many travelers, but holding shuttle operators responsible for late planes is not possible.  The driver is paid by the hour.  If he waits 2 hours for you, someone must cover his salary, and it is unlikely that you will be able to get your airline to step up....
  
• Travel time varies significantly with traffic conditions. 
  If you are taking a shared shuttle, it also varies with the pick-up and drop-off points of your fellow travellers.  Our operator makes a maximum of 4 stops, and usually only 3...  but if you are the last one, this will seem long.

Service is subject to availability at the time of the reservation (transfers are usually available with 48 hours’ notice).

Jump directly to reservation information.

Road Shuttle Transfers, Prices

Prices are for the transport of passengers with their luggage and / or cycles (private shuttles only). 
For transport of luggage or cycles without accompanying passengers, see here.

Private Shuttle.
Includes up to 4 passengers, and two pieces of luggage per passenger.  Lap luggage can additionally be carried, without additional charge.

• From or to either major Paris airport (Orly or Charles de Gaulle):  98€
• From or to Chessy / Marne-la-Vallée / Disneyland):  110€
• From or to Beauvais airport:  158€
• From or to central Paris rail stations or hotels, to another central Paris location:  78€
  Paris rail stations are Austerlitz, Montparnasse, St.-Lazare, Nord, Est, Lyon and Bercy.
  

- Add 10€ for a boxed or unboxed bicycle (maximum 4 cycles per transfer).
- Add 10€ for additional passengers, up to two.
- Add 25% for pick-up times between 10p and 5a.

Shared Shuttle, Base Cost 
35€ first passenger, 10€ per additional passenger. 
Shared service is only available to / from Paris airports (except Beauvais), and only between 5a and 10p.
Includes one piece of luggage per passenger (additional pieces cost 10€ / piece, and must be reserved in advance).  Lap luggage can additionally be carried, without additional charge. 
Note that shared shuttles can take substantially longer than private shuttles to make their transfers, as they must pick up / distribute other passengers in downtown Paris, and / or wait at the airport for several incoming flights.

Additional Charges Which May Apply, for both private and shared shuttles:

Waiting time / no-show charges.

• Regarding airport or rail station pick-ups:  if your incoming flight or train is delayed, your private shuttle automatically adjusts to meet its arrival, if possible.  But that is an important caveat:  it may not be.  If the shuttle operator cannot reprogram his schedule to adjust to the delayed plane, you will still owe for the transfer, and will have to make alternate arrangements upon arrival.  This has happened twice in our history, in perhaps 250 inbound transfers.  So, the case is rare, but not unheard of.  To be clear:  a delayed plane is the fault of the airline, not of the shuttle operator, nor of Blue Marble.  If you wish to get mad at someone, that is who to get mad at. 
• No refund is due if you fail to meet your shuttle.

Oversized luggage can be transported by prior arrangement only, and at the following prices:

• Pieces with one or more dimensions greater than 110 cm are subject to a 10€ surcharge.
  Write to our Paris office, paris@bluemarble.org, to tell us your needs.

Responsability

Blue Marble sub-contracts our shuttle transfers to licensed, insured, professional operators, chosen for proven reliability (not a small matter in this domain).  However, we act only as your agent in doing so.  We accept no responsibility for any aspect of the service provided.  Nor for any delay, loss, or accident to travellers or baggage occasioned by such services, from whatsoever cause.  In the event of unsatisfactory service, whether through our fault or the fault of our operator, we will nonetheless refund the charge paid in whole or in part, as appropriate.

Road Shuttle Transfers, Booking (Reservations)
Please tell us the following.  See above for discussion or prices.

• Whether you wish a private shuttle, or a shared shuttle.
• The name by which you wish to be known to the driver (not necessary if pick-up is at our office).
  This name will be on the driver’s sign when he meets you.
• Your flight or train information, including carrier code (flight only) and flight or train number (ex:  AF462 for Air France flight 462).
• The vehicle’s exact arrival or departure schedule. 
• The time for which you would like to reserve your (shared) shuttle.  We recommend allowing an hour to deplane, 45 minutes if you have no checked baggage.
  You may of course allow more time, or less.  Private shuttles will attempt to adjust to late planes, but there is no guarantee that they be able to do so.  Shared shuttles will wait 10 minutes from the time you give, and then depart, regardless of flight delays.  Your voucher will offer an emergency phone number, by which you may inform your shuttle operator of an unexpected delay within the airport (gate delays, baggage or customs concerns...).
  
• If you are being picked up at a city location other than our office, the complete address of the location.
  Common landmarks, such as “Eiffel Tower” or “Gare de Lyon” are sufficient for drop-off, but not for pick-up.
• Any special needs:  baby seats, booster seats, cycle transport, oversized luggage transport.
• If you will be carrying a mobile phone during this trip, please give us its number.
  If you do not plan to carry a phone, we will give the shuttle driver our office number.  But this is obviously an unsatisfactory option if he wishes to tell you that he is stuck in traffic, or that he can’t find you at the airport.  The most common cause of dissatisfaction with shuttle services is the inability of client and driver to find each other at the airport.  If you have a phone, you call the number on your confirmation (or the driver calls you), and the problem is solved. 

Payment
If you are travelling to our Paris location, you may pay for your shuttle when you arrive.  If you are on one of our organized trips, or have an open account with us, the cost of the shuttle transfer can be added to your statement.  Otherwise, please send payment with your reservation, by any of our usual means.  Here is a credit card authorization form.

To Cancel a Shuttle Transfer...

... please inform both your designated shuttle operator (whose contact information you will have) and us, in writing, as soon as possible.  Be sure to supply your confirmation code, so that your booking can be correctly identified.

A refund less 10€ (shared shuttle), 20€ (private shuttle) is available until our close of business on the business day prior to your transfer.  After that point, the shuttle operator may still refund the bulk of your payment if he is able to re-schedule his driver in a timely manner, however no refund is contractually due.  It is for this reason that it is particularly important to inform the operator directly, in real time, and not to rely on us to relay your message.









































The following internet search terms refer to passenger transport between the city and Paris’ airports, discussed above.
Paris Airport Train Tickets
Buy Paris Airport Train Tickets
Paris Airport Train