We are planning a trip to Italy for early October. Flying from Atlanta, ideally into Venice and out of Rome.
Would love direct flights from Atl, but having a hard time finding these at a reasonable price. Most flights have layovers either in CDG( Delta/AirFrance) or Frankfurt (Luftansa). Trying for relatively short layovers, couple of hours. Thoughts on which is preferable?

CDG is huge and hard to navigate.
Frankfurt is smaller, dull, but if you have a short time between the flights, might be better.

CDG is transfer Airport from Hell.

Definitely Frankfurt.

Tons of shopping at Frankfurt airport and lots of places to eat. If you have more than a couple of hours layover, you can pop into town very easily for a quick look around.

Besides its notoriety, I avoid CDG for transfers because landing there without being able to leave the airport would be torture.

Definitely FRA. While it's large and spread out, it's still very manageable and easy to navigate. CDG is not.

PS - even IF CDG and FRA were equal, I'd opt for LH. We've had some very good experiences with them the last several years.

Not only is the Frankfort airport more desirable for a layover, a Lufthansa flight is much better than a Delta flight.

I'll join the chorus - avoid CDG! We did a 1 hour 15 minute transfer in May, and quite literally, had to run most of the way in order to make the plane to CPH. That's with no line at Passport control and perhaps 10 minutes to get through another round of security.

Thanks for everyone's responses. Sounds like Frankfurt/Lufthansa is the better option. I just hate having to leave FF miles on the table...

It sounds like you might have a preference to fly delta/air france, so I'll put in a plug for CDG. First I would agree LH is the easier of the 2 airports to transfer in. But if you're fit and don't mind walking quickly you should be able to make your transfer in CDG in under an hour.

I find it easier and quicker to stay off the buses that you take from terminal 2E or F to 2D (which is probably what you'd be doing) and simply follow the signs and walk. It is a good 15 to 20 minute walk but I find it refreshing after having been on a plane for 8 hours.

The last time I was in CDG they had a special line at passport control for people who were running late.

I hated CDG and try to avoid it at all costs. For me Frankfurt would be a no brainer. We found FRA to be quite easy to navigate in comparison.

Tracy

I should have said FRA not LH is the easier of the 2 airports. It sure seems like lots of people hate CDG. Since I fly Air France a lot I often end up going through Paris. Maybe I'm just making the best of a bad situation. But it has never taken more than an hour to transfer.

I try to avoid CDG like a demon avoids the holy water. Too big, to fuzzy and too much choice for delay/mess up.



SV

Frankfurt. Definately.

Frankfurt, also. Even if your destination is Paris, try to avoid CDG.

I would choose Hell over CDG.