Letters: Getting into Paris from the airport

In regard to the Sept. 4 On the Spot column by Catharine Hamm [“Paris by… What?”] about getting into the city inexpensively: This is not the time to cut corners. If you can afford to go to Paris, you can afford to budget in transportation. It’s one thing to use public rail transportation when you are rested, when the weather is nice and your handbag is the heaviest item you have. Travelers may not realize that the train into Paris lets you off underground and with rarely an elevator in sight, you must lug your luggage up one to two flights of stone stairs.

You can often arrange with your hotel to pick you up and add the cost to your hotel bill. The driver knows exactly where you are going. Your luggage will be taken from your weary hands at the airport and delivered to your room, allowing you to catch your breath and begin to enjoy the wonders of Paris.

Bertie Riphagen

Long Beach

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Here are some more tips on using the train from the airport into downtown Paris.

You must keep the ticket you buy to exit the station when you get off the train.

Do not plan to use the human ticket sellers, particularly at peak travel hours. You can wait up to an hour in a long line, even though every ticket counter is open. Instead, before you leave home, buy $50 to $100 worth of euros and use the machines. Get the smallest bills possible. The ticket machines don’t give change for large bills.

Don’t put your ticket near anything (like a credit card) that will demagnetize it.

How do I know so much? My sister lives in the 14th arrondissement and has always made me take the train. I learned the hard way.

Janet Cupples

Sherman Oaks

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There’s only one excellent way to get in from the airport: Take the plush Disneyland Paris free bus from the airport to the park. The train comes right to the front gate of the park and will take you anywhere in Paris affordably. Our family now starts everyEuropean vacation at Disneyland Paris, where we can quickly link to trains heading all over Europe.

Tamara Smith

Bonita, Calif.

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My husband and I always use the Yellow Van Shuttle. You can reserve online at https://www.yellowvanshuttle.com/book-shuttle-paris-online.php.

When you arrive at the airport, just go to a phone and call the number they have emailed you and wait for the pickup outside the terminal. It runs about $25 a person for two people. We have never had to make more than two stops for other travelers.

Upon departure from Paris, have your hotel call Yellow Van Shuttle for you the day before departure and they will pick you up at your hotel.

Linda Karber

Bakersfield