Help with a day layover in Paris :)

If arriving on time ??? at 9:30 - - after taxiing to gate, immigration, collecting your checked luggage, purchasing RER tickets... might get you on the RER to arrive at the Gare du Nord after noon - - just enough time for a quick lunch and then return to CDG for your 5:30 flight.

Much as I hate to be a negative voice here, I would personally feel very uncomfortable with the timetable required for leaving the airport and returning for your flight out.

My rule of thumb for foreign vacations is that the first day and last day are basically wasted because of travel. Accomplishing much in your timeframe will be a challenge and potentially tense due to deadlines.

My back of the napkin timetable on this is:
Arrive at 9:45 am
Complete luggage storage by 10:45 am
Reach taxi rank at 11 am
Reach an attraction by 11:30 am
"Lots of eating along the way", done correctly, is going to burn up 3 hours
Depart Paris for airport at 4:30 pm

While I absolutely agree that pretty much anybody can fine tune my off the cuff timetable and get a significantly rosier picture, it is my experience that if fine tuning a timetable in order to make stuff fit is a requirement then there's more significant issues with the planning.

5 hours on the ground sounds like a lot of time, and if you know exactly where you're going and how to get there I suppose it's possible to see something interesting, but you're going to be exhausted when you get on the train. In my personal opinion, and backed up with rather a lot of travel experience, I think your plan is overly ambitious.

'Course spending all of that time twiddling your thumbs in the airport isn't going to be a picnic either, so is guess pick your poison.

We flew into CDG a couple of days ago. Our flight from Chicago and a later one that same day both had the same experience. Our plane touched down at 9:00 am and we got out of the airport at noon. There were no gates available so we sat on the tarmac and then finally taxied to place where they took us off the plane and into ONE bus to the terminal. So you can imagine how long that look with a full plane! Then a kind of long wait through passport control. And are you aware that it's about 45 minutes to get into Paris in a taxi (we didn't try the Metro)?

Stacey,
I don't have much solid advice. I would suggest that you take taxis to and from the city so you can rest comfortably during the travel. If you can find a place for your luggage, and you get to the gate on time, I would be very tempted to do what you are proposing. I would also focus on getting a meal and sitting on a terrace to get some fresh air and sunshine. Then some walking depending on how much time you have left.

The reason I would be tempted is that is has to be better to get in a taxi and get some real food than sitting at the airport for all of that time. I am wondering if any locals would have an idea of someplace closer to the airport to visit?

Please come back and tell us what you decide and how it works.

9:30 am arrival (if plane on time)
10:30 normally out front door of airport (but can take longer)
15-20 minutes to find luggage storage, pay, put luggage in

10:45-11:45 taxi into town

Noon to 4:30 pm time in Paris

4:30-5:30 taxi back to airport
Go retrieve luggage
Check in for next flight

Keep in mind there is no guarantee at all that you will arrive on time, be through immigration, and have your bags in the one hour I have estimated, as you will have read from the experience of others who have posted above.

I also don't think you can count on being anywhere you want to go in a taxi in 30 minutes. Hopefully it's less than the hour I have allotted, but I wouldn't count on it with all the roads that are closed thanks to Olympics building. These closures are having impacts all the way to the périphérique (ring road around Paris).

I am leaving Paris tomorrow to head home with my family. I can attest that it is already crazy here and the Olympics are a month away. When visiting at this time flexibility is key! I'm not sure if getting into Paris to sightsee is within your timeframe however if it were me I would taxi into the city and just walk around, get some food, and people watch. There are a lot of road closures and other spontaneous closures. Today we walked over to the Arc De Triumphe and they had a posted sign that it was closed today due to a "social movement" which I assume a strike or protest of some sort. We should have double-checked online before we headed out for the day. Honestly, we've spent much of our time in Paris just exploring and walking around. There is always something interesting to see, so if nothing else, just walking around here would be great.

I'm unsure if I have any suggestions for where to go for a few hours . We are staying in the 1st arriondismont (in the area of The Louvre) and it has been convenient for walking to many attractions and no shortage of cafes!

So here’s my suggestion. After you store your luggage, walked to the RER and take the train to Denfert Rochereau. It’s in the 13th and just outside the train station there’s a very nice market street, Rue Daguerre. Find a café. Have a nice meal have a drink, if you want the liberation museum is right there on the Square. It’s free so you can spend just a little time if you’d like (we can spend a lot of time.) Then get back on the train

Thank you all so much for your well thought-out responses! I really appreciate it and you all had great suggestions!

I like Carole's suggestion. You could also take the RER to the Saint Michael stop. This neighborhood would be great for a 4hr. ramble, Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, the Cluny, Blvd Saint-Germain...lots of others to keep you busy.

I'd stick with Carol from Atlanta's idea but stick to Denfert where you can chill, or walk north two stops away to the Luxembourg Gardens, another RER B stop.

I just took the train home from Paris last night after spending a few days. Right now the central areas are a tourist-centra Disneyland. My own suggestion would have been to go to Montmartre, but walk the back side, the front side, have a meal, find a place to chill. The reason was geographic: it's on the north side of Paris, closer route for the cabs going to CDG. But the RER B to Denfert back and forth would be good too. Note that the RER B is an extremely heavily traveled line.

I had a similar layover at CDG from San Francisco this past February. I thought about taking the RER into central Paris for a quick meal and sight seeing. What I ended up doing was booking a hotel room at the Sheraton at CDG, which is connected to Terminal 2. I took a shower, had a nap and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was quite good. I found that I arrived at my final destination (Budapest) refreshed and a little more rested. I was afraid that a similar sightseeing timetable in central Paris would add stress and a layer of uncertainty. I also found that I was a little more tired after my transatlantic flight than I predicted. Just something to think about.

I don't usually advocate leaving the airport in a situation like this, but I think you could get away with it if you land on time, don't encounter too much delay getting out of the airport, and make good choices along the way. The RER "B" to St-Michel or Luxembourg or Denfert would put you in the heart of Paris with time for some strolling, a cafe lunch, and an orderly return to CDG the same way. St-Michel is close to where the Vedettes du Pont Neuf offer hour-long Seine cruises, which would be a good way to see more of the city if the weather cooperates. But if the city is as crowded as posters describe, don't waste time waiting in line for boat rides or anything else.

If your next flight is within the Schengen area of Europe, it's a "domestic" flight and you could get away with reaching the airport a little later than 5:30. Keep in mind that this will be rush hour.

Good grief, now that I look again at your post I realize you're probably there already -- hopefully having a good time whatever you're doing! ;-)