Using Ryanair

If you take a regional train from Gare du Nord to the town of Beauvais, you will need to take a taxi from the train station to the airport. There is an airport shuttle bus that runs between Porte-Maillot on the western side of Paris and the airport. Its schedule is coordinated with the arrival and departure of all Ryanair flights. For detailed information, see this page on the official Beauvais airport site. The good news is that it's easy to get to Porte Maillot on the Metro. The bad news is that you have to be there 3.15 hours before your flight's scheduled departure time. The further bad news is that Treviso also is an outlying airport so you'll have extra time and expense getting from there to Venice. While I've flown Ryanair on a different route and everything worked out fine, in your case I suggest that you fly easyJet from Orly to VCE. You won't pay much more and you'll have more departure time choices.

While you are waiting for the responses, Vanessa, you could put in a search expression into the search box (upper right corner of the page just under the social media buttons) like "Beauvais" and read all the previous (many many) answers. I'm sure folk will chime in with current answers but that should get you going...

Vanessa, My suggestion would also be to consider EasyJet on that route, as it uses more "mainstream" airports. You'll probably find that the cheap fare on RyanAir quickly increases once the fees are added (they're well known for "nickel & diming" passengers with extra fees). There will also be a few extra fees with EasyJet, including a €9 booking fee right at the start. Even so I prefer to fly with them whenever possible. A few points to note regarding the budget airlines. Be sure to read their "Terms & Conditions" carefully, especially with respect to luggage weight limits. If you feel your bags will be over the allowable limit, it's better to pay the overweight charges at the time of booking, as it's more expensive at check-in. Also note that many budget airlines allow only ONE carry-on item of the approved size (and they usually enforce that). Happy travels!

Are you sure that Ryanair is really the cheapest for your trip? Make sure you read the terms and factor in all the additional costs (e.g. buying ticket with credit card, extra costs to get to and from the farther airports, etc.).

In January, Frommers listed Beauvais as one of the 10 worst airport terminals in the world. Not sure I agree with that. A tent can hardly be called an airport terminal? OK, OK, OK, I know. DIA's roof is made to look like a tent (actually, it's supposed to look like the mountains), but inside it is a complete, modern facility.

RyanAir is cheap, but you have to add 2.5 hours to your trip, unless you fly into a few lucky airports that are actually near where they claim to be. They are fussy and the basic experience is waiting for them to pull a "gotcha!" move and charge you money. Read all of the restrictions and rules carefully and abide by them. If you are willing to add on the extra time to your trip (in my case, the trip to the airport in Skavsta was longer than the trip to Berlin in the air) and the hassle, they ARE cheap.

When pricing out Ryanair (or any mode of transportation), I always ignore the banner price and set to calculating my real time and money. For Ryanair: Ticket Cost Credit Card Usage Fee Additional Airport and Other Fees Any add-ons Cost to Check a Bag (Just plan on it, safest route and much less cost than paying a "fine") Cost and time to get to and from the airport Time for security and flight When totaled, compare to other airlines or modes of transportation calculated the same way. For me, many times, Ryanair can still be much cheaper, and if so, I go that way. For Paris-Venice, it will be faster, even with travel to/from the airports. Cost will likely be cheaper than the train, as other mentioned, check out a couple more airlines and see what happens.

Vanessa, look at Easyjet as other suggest, but also Vueling, they are good too. I would avoid Beauvais,, and who knows where the airport they use for Venice is ,, they choose the most out of the way ones, with more travel time and transport dollars spent getting to and from these remote airports,,don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

For a very funny song about what to expect with Ryanair, check out this link to Fascinating Aida's warning about the perils of Cheap Flights (warning: contains profanity) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAg0lUYHHFc

I've flown Ryan Air. Paul pretty much sums it up. The banner price is not likely to be the price you pay. They charge for checked bags, there is no assigned seating (although you can pay extra to stand in the "preboard" line). You may or may not end up seated next to your companions and you are likely to end up in a middle seat. Nothing on the flight is complimentary. There is a charge for softdrinks and the flight attendants hawk products (including lotto tickets) during the flight. The legroom make US economy flights seem luxurious.
Fortunately the flights tend to be short. I would not consider Ryan Air for anything longer than 2 hrs.

Thank you, all, so much!

...and Thank You, Harold, for Fascinating Aida ;-)