Getting to CDG for early morning flight
 

We're renting a flat for our upcoming first-time trip to Paris. It's located at: 5 passage de l’Ancre which is apparently a pedestrian only passage which begins at 223 rue Saint-Martin and finishes at 30 rue Turbigo.

Our return flight leaves at 9 am on a Sunday morning. We're not sure how long it will take to get to the airport, assuming there would be little traffic early on Sunday morning or if we could take the RER. Also getting a hotel near the airport for Saturday night is another possibility.

What would you recommend? As always your advice is greatly appreciated!

Done it many times - taxi.

Hotel near CDG on a Sat night would be my very last choice.

Stu Dudley

At that time I would think a cab would take about 35 or 40 minutes. But you can't count on it....allow at least an hour.

I think you're pretty close to the RER line. If you don't have much luggage, that's the way I would go.

No need to stay at the airport.

I think you could easily get a taxi to the airport in the morning.

We had an apartment in the Montmartre last November, and a flight out at 6 a.m. --- we stayed at the Sheraton airport hotel, and it was so stupid. We paid a small fortune to be there, since it is located right in the terminal, and then in the morning they had the entrance from the hotel into the terminal locked, with no one available to open it, so fat lot of good it did us.

The taxi ride out to the airport the night before at about 11 p.m. on a weeknight took about a half hour to 40 minutes. I would imagine an early Sunday morning would be similar time-wise.

Thanks Stu -- Any idea of approximate cost of taxi?

JeanneB -- Yes I think we're close to the RER. The directions given by the owner of the flat said to take the RER to Chatelet les Halles and then metro line 4 to Reaumur-Sebastopol.

She also mentioned that there are shuttles which I'm going to check out now.

Call a taxi the night before. Expect to take up to an hour to get to CDG, though that early on a Sunday it will likely take less. Although generally speaking it's essential to get to CDG 3 hours before an int'l flight, you can get by with 2.5 hours at that time of day.

Absolutely no reason to spend the last night near the airport - blech.

We've returned home from Paris many Sundays and there has never been any traffic. Ride is typically 30 minutes, or just over.

Shuttles are notoriously unreliable, and that time of the morning you don't want to waste time picking up/dropping off others along the way.

Agree with the taxi and phoning the night before. Most flats have a list of taxi numbers by the phone. Ask how they will charge, as many will offer a flat rate - which is usually much higher than actual fare.

Or, just phone G7. They have a special number for english speaking customers 01-41-27-66-99. For us, they've always arrived a few minutes early, and started with only the base fare on the meter.

I think the Taxi is about 50 to 60 Es - which is about 1/6th of what a hotel at the airport would cost. Don't end your stay in Paris with transportation anxiety problems - get a taxi. It's very relaxing on a Sunday morning with no traffic. Like dkjbooks said - most flats will have a orientation brochure for you which has lots of taxi-to-the-airport suggestions.

Stu Dudley

Just did the same thing, from the north Marais district (doesn't sound like it's too far from your apartmwent). I used a G7 taxi, reserved it the day before, they were waiting outside our apartment at 8 A.M., English-speaking driver (although that's not necessary - every driver knows CDG). They take cash or credit card (but require a credit card number when you reserve). We paid cash. Total cost to airport was 46 euros (including the extra charge for an early cab, and for a "family" car to accommodate a wheelchair). There was also a 5 euro reservation charge on my credit card bill, which I just received. I disputed the charge, because the person I reserved with (also English-speaking) specifically said there would be no additional charges to those I mentioned above.
Driving time was about 30 minutes (can't remember exactly), with very light traffic (it was a "bridge" day between two holidays).

The RER is perfect for a Sunday morning. Fast and secure for 8.20€ per person.

Thank you for all your replies. I guess it's settled then -- we'll stay another night at the flat and head to CDG on Sunday morning.

Another vote for taking a taxi. Plan on leaving the apt. at around 5 :45 am.

I lived one block over on Rue de Turbigo for about six months. Assuming you aren't carrying too much you can walk to Châtelet - Les Halles and catch the RER.

Thanks for all your replies.

Mr. Nuke -- can you tell me a little about the neighbourhood? Any moderately priced restaurants that you can recommend or cafes or bistros?

Have another night in your Paris flat and leave for CDG early. And like others suggested take a taxi early morning (traffic will be light). You can also reserve one of those car service companies.

If you decide to take the RER, remember to check the schedule since it is a Sunday. But they are pretty regular from about 6AM onwards.

The neighborhood is pretty central with fairly vibrant night life. The immediate area is sort of the far edge of the garment district. With the metro you can get to any part of the city fairly quickly because Réaumur-Sébastopol is the intersection of line 3 (east to west) and line 4 (north to south). There is a monoprix at Réaumur-Sébastopol. If you head across Sébastopol you will run into a lot of nice little restaurants as well as the market street Rue Montorgueil.

My advice is stay at the airport. It would probably be less expensive and less stressful than worrying about getting a taxi at 6:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. We've stayed at nearby CDG airport hotels which are considerably less (not cheap, I say) than the Hilton or Sheraton, plus they offer convenient, free shuttles to CDG. But if you can afford the Hilton, maybe you should just rent a stretch limo and really go first class.

My advice, again, is to avoid the stress and worry and be at the airport for an early flight home.

Thanks everyone!

While we would have preferred to stay at the flat the last night of our vacation, unfortunately it's booked, so as it turns out we will be staying in a hotel near the airport.

I'm thinking that once we check in to our airport hotel, we're probably going to want to come back into the city for our final night and say 'au revoir' to Paris.

Are there hotels at the airport within walking distance to the RER?

The Sheraton is part of terminal 2 and is directly on top of the CDG-2 RER station.

There is an Ibis on top of the CDG-1 RER station, and the Hilton is only a block away.

Otherwise, the various chains have shuttles -- Accor has shuttles to the various Mercure/Novotel/Ibis/Etap/Suitehôtel/Formule 1 places -- and a separate one for its Pullman Hôtel. Louvre Hôtels runs a shuttle to its places -- Campanile, Kyriad, Kyriad Prestige and Première Classe. And naturally Holiday Inn and all of the other chains also run shuttles.