ATM at Charles de Gaulle

Check the official website for financial information http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-GB/Passagers/Home/
Last time I went through I used a machine in the general arrivals area, outside the secure area. Most are run by the enormous bank HSBC and have a relatively low maximum withdrawal limit. I don't think any machines there are a particular security risk if you use the normal caution.

They have ATMs throughout CDG. However, when you land you are ushered towards customs. I normally only have layovers in CDG, so I can't tell you if they have one before or after customs. But it is a fair bet that you could find one if you searched. I would bring cash, just in case, to change some Euros to get you through in case you can't find an ATM in the airport.

A couple of years ago, I had a layover at CDG and withdrew cash from an ATM. I don't remember which terminal.

There are 25 HSBC ATM machines at CDG. HSBC has the exclusive contract to provide ATMs at CDG. It also has 2 branches at the airport. If you are looking for ATMs, you can't miss them as you walk around after passing through passport control.

You have a misimpression of an international arrival gate. It's not like a domestic gate -- you come off the jetway into a sterile corridor, bypassing the people waiting to leave. Not until you're past C&I with your luggage do you exit the arrivals hall and enter the area of the terminal with commercial services.

Don't get paranoid about ATMs (or anything else). I live out of foreign ATMs six months of the year. Figure maybe a withdrawal every three days, that's at least fifty a year. Extend it for just the last twenty years and it's a thousand shots, some in kind of buggery areas. Add an unknown number for my wife's independent travel. I'm guessing that's a pretty high exposure potential. Other than a card not working once in a while, nothing's ever happened.

To add on to what Ed said . . . It is possible to get overly paranoid about several aspects of foreign travel. A few years ago, we were connecting through CDG to Genoa. It was one of the few times we did not have many euros with us, left from the previous trip. I thought I'd just get some from an ATM. All the machines in our terminal were from the same bank (thanks, previous poster for explaining that); and they were down. As we sat, I became more and more worried. What was the fare to get from the Genoa airport to our hotel? What if, Italy being Italy, the only ATM in the Genoa airport was down? What if . . . I changed my $100 emergency stash, at an AMEX desk, to euros at a really bad rate. As it turned out, There were five ATMs at the Genoa airport, from five different banks, all working. To top it off, the bus fare was just one euro. All that worry for naught. We do, however, now make sure to always retain around 100 euros for the next trip.

The only place I've heard of there being issues with airport ATMs has been Brazil (electronic skimming problems) and I'd consider a good exchange rate to be the biggest concern at a European airport ATM, not safety.

Away from the airport, it is wise to use an ATM that is actually attached to a bank branch. Then if something goes wrong, you can find someone to talk to, even if you have to wait for the bank's opening hours. Unlike Ed, I had a card swallowed by a machine in Mexico. The next morning the clerk knew exactly what I wanted because the machine was new and hungry. I had my card back by mid-afternoon. Taking a colour photocopy of your card can also help in areas where you don't speak the language.