My husband and I will finish a river cruise in Paris Sunday AM May 20th. We plan to fly from Paris (CDG) to Venice (VCE) airport that Sunday, May 20 so we can begin our RS Village Italy Tour on Monday in Padua.
I am thinking about making a flight reservation between 11 and 1pm on a budget European airline. How early do I need to arrive at the airport in order to allow enough time to check in and get through security. That will determine what time I book the flight for.
Thanks for your advice.
My question is where and at what time will they let you off the boat?
Doesn't your airline's website tell you how early they want you to check in?
This might help: http://easycdg.com/passenger-information/deadlines-check-in-boarding/
But if you aren't already familiar with CDG, I'd generously pad the minimum times. And if course, you need to know how long it will take you to get to the airport from your cruise dock.
We dock near the Eiffel Tower.
We don't need to get off the boat at an early time - I would rather have breakfast on the boat.
I have not made a plane reservation yet.
I have heard stories of having to get to the airport 3 hours ahead of time so I don't want to have to leave the boat at the crack of dawn.
So is it really necessary to get to the airport 3 hours early?
yes, three hours is required.
Generally a domestic flight like yours should involve getting there 2 hours ahead; a flight to the US would be 3 hours (although some airlines have been suggesting people arrive 4 hours ahead. ) Security is increasingly time consuming so it is important to check with the airlines, but 2 hours has been the usual suggested time for a domestic flight like Paris to Venice.
You might also check flights from Orly. Might be less crowded than CDG. Either way, two hours should be enough time since you're flying between to Schengen countries.
Elizabeth,
According to the CDG web site, 90 minutes is ok for European flights - http://easycdg.com/passenger-information/check-in-departures-cdg-airport/
And, since you are near the Eiffel Tower you can take the 45 minute train from Champ de Mars to CDG. Note that the train makes two stops at CDG so you need to know which terminal your flight departs from. The train from Paris first stops at Terminal 3 then stops at Terminal 2.
To determine which stop you'll want, see this page which lists the terminal each airline operates from.
http://easycdg.com/airport-guide/which-terminal-paris-cdg-airport-charlesdegaulle/
There is a shuttle rail service called CDGVAL that runs in the airport between all the terminals so you can recover if you get off at the wrong terminal.
Trains from Paris to CDG run every 6 to 15 minutes. Tickets are 10 euros and they can be bought from the machine with coins or credit card.
In April I took the RER from Champ de Mars to Notre Dame station and there switched trains to go to CDG. My only problem was getting to the right track at Champ de Mars. At Champ de Mars, there are two sets of stairs leading from the sidewalk down to the tracks. The stairs you need are closer to the river, not those closer to the road. Easy peasy.
I think they will want you at the airport two hours ahead of your flight, for all practical purposes it's a domestic flight. If you have luggage, a taxi should take an hour. If not, connecting with Metro and RER will also be about an hour. If you fly out of Orly, it's a little closer.
Orly is the easier airport to negotiate. As of today, EasyJet has a 1:30 direct flight from Orly. No one knows what your options will be 9 months from now. There may be more.
Line 1 of Le Bus Direct goes to Orly, whereas Line 2 goes to CDG, both from the Eiffel Tower stop.
Do allow 2 hours due to the increased intra-Schengen security measures. However, more than two hours, the airline won't be open for your domestic flight, so try to hit it on the nose.
Thanks for all your advice - it helps me make my decision.
