Me and my wife will be flying in to Paris at 8:30am on a Monday (if that matters), and then we are catching a flight out to Greece at 9:50pm. This is not a connecting flight and we will have 1 or 2 checked bags that need to be re-checked. How and when should I do this if I plan to make a trip into Paris? My game plan is... Arrive at CDG, get our checked bags and take the RER to Gare du Nord and store it the lockers there, get back on the RER into Paris and walk around/get lunch, then take a taxi back to Nord, get the luggage, back on the RER to CDG. Unless someone knows if will we be able to check our luggage back in for our flight to Greece upon arriving? Or will that be too soon? Insight from any guru's out there would be great! Thanks, Joe
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10609 posts
Have you checked with the airline you are using to get to Greece? Maybe they would allow you to check your bags early. Also, check to see if there is luggage storage at CDG. I would rather have my bags at the airport rather than Gare du Nord. That way, if something happens you can quickly get back to the airport rather than being forced to return Nord first.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
The Paris Visite pass covers all modes of transportation (Metro, RER, buses, and trams) in the zones for which the pass is valid. Since CDG is in zone 5, you'll need zone 1-5 passes. Buy them at either the CDG 1 RER station which is next to Terminal 3 or the CDG 2 TGV RER station which is below the Sheraton Hotel at Terminal 2. Be aware that the RER B line divides northeast of Paris. When you return to CDG, be sure to get on a train that is going there. For a zoomable map of the Metro and RER system, go here: http://tinyurl.com/6xmvms4.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
First, follow Andrea's suggestion and see if the airline you will be flying to Greece will allow you to check your bags when you arrive at CDG. If that won't work, then store your bags at Bagages du Monde at Terminal 2. Buy one-day, zone 1-5 Paris Visite passes (€20.50) at CDG. They will cover your rides from CDG to Paris and back again plus any rides you take in Paris. No need to take a taxi to Gare du Nord when you are ready to return to the airport.
Posted by
OP
Jacksonville, FL, USA
7 posts
Thanks Andrea and Tim! I was under the impression no luggage storage was available at CDG but it seems thats not the case...awesome. Tim, will you expand on this 20 Euro pass you're talking about? Never heard of it...seems interesting. Is it a bus or something? How/where would I purchase it? joe
Posted by
dallas, TX, USA
227 posts
We stored our baggage at Gare du Nord last October - it was pure dee hell!!! We figured no problem since it was not the height of travel season - well, there was some sort of train issue with a bunch of trains and the baggage claim was completely full with tons of people standing in line. We finally worked our way to the front of the line - it took 1 3/4 hours!!!! Then we had to wait for someone to come in that had a larger enough locker. The only good news was that the girls were Americans and when we followed them into their locker they gave us a huge handfull of metro tickets they had not used along with a wonderful map.....we had the better part of the day there and were returning later on in the week for a 7 day stay - I STILL have a stack of those metro tickets left! I would, certainly, check out the CDG baggage check!