In June we will arrive in the CDG airport at 8:43am and have a little over 6 hour layover til we depart for Venice. How far is the city of Paris from the airport and do you think it would be worth while to go there for a few hours? Any suggestions on transportation from the airport to the city would be helpful. Also if you don't think this is a good idea please let me know.
Thanks for your help!
Sharon
Sharon, it's not a lot of time but if you can check your bags I would do it. Take the RER into the city and spend time walking about, if weather allows.
It should help beat jet lag and certainly beats the alternative!
Sharon , are you on a connecting flight( will bags be checked through) and you will already have boarding passes ? If flying on another airline on a seperately booked ticket I would not leave airport .
Pat,
We will be flying on Air France into CDG and then onto VCE. So our luggage will be checked through to VCE and we will have our boarding passes. Our departure to VCE will be at 3:25pm so will have to be back to CDG probably 45 minutes to 1 hour before take-off. Do you know how many minutes it will take to get into the heart of the city? Like near the Eifel Tower. Is it by train, taxi or bus that we should travel into Paris? Thanks for your help!
Sharon
Sharon
Sharon, once you leave the airport you will have to go through security again even if you have your boarding pass already. You will need to plan for more than 45 minutes to an hour before boarding (which usually begins about 20-25 minutes prior to flight) in order to make sure you get through security and get to your gate.
Buy one-day, zone 1-6 Paris Visite passes for €18.50. This will get you to Paris and back on the RER and cover all your Metro, RER, and bus rides in the city. Air France uses Terminal 2 so you will depart and arrive at the CDG 2 TGV RER station, (When you return to CDG, do not get off at CDG 1.) Be aware that the RER B line divides northeast of Paris. Be sure to get on a train that is going to CDG. It takes around 40 minutes to get to Gare du Nord. Allow a minimum of an hour to get back to CDG. For a zoomable map of the Metro and RER system, go here. For detailed instructions (with photos) on using the RER and Metro, see the Paris by Train site.
Sharon, pay close attention to what Nancy has told you about what time to get back to the airport. 45 minutes to an hour before your flight is not enough time. It just is not. I would be very uncomfortable with that, not to say extremely stressed.
Thank you all for your advise and suggestions. I am the type to be a little on the stressed side so maybe this isn't for me. I'd probably be watching the clock constantly and not really enjoying the adventure. Thanks to you also Tim for the very good directions. If I get very brave between now and then I will use your helpful directions.
Thanks again.
Sharon
You're welcome, Sharon.
If you want to cut back on your time "on the road," you could take a 20-minute bus ride to Senlis, a medieval walled town north of CDG.
Thanks for the suggestion Tim. That might be a little less stressful. Never have heard of this town, but it does sound interesting, and a good place to maybe get out and walk to rid ourselves of some jet lag. My husband and I will have our 15 year old grandson with us and this might be something he would enjoy also. Can you give me any specific information on how to get on the correct bus? Do we just ask in the airport which bus to take to Senli or is there a special stop outside the airport that we have to go to purchase a bus ticket?
Sharon
First, two disclaimers. I haven't taken the bus from CDG to Senlis myself. And the timetables I found doing a Google search are a couple of years old so the actual bus departure and arrival times may have changed a bit since they were issued.
However, those timetables show that the bus leaves from the Roissypole RER station. That's another name for the CDG 1 RER station. It is actually located next to Terminal 3, not Terminal 1. To get there from Terminal 2 you would take the free 24/7 CDGVAL driverless shuttle train that connects all the terminals.
Thanks for the info Tim. I will do some research also on this little town. Thanks again for your reply.
Sharon
