Lay-over in Paris
 

I will be at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for a 6-7 hours. Are there any interesting places to visit close by or should I stay at the airport and not leave? This is my first visit to Paris and I am somewhat apprehensive. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The City of Light is 40 minutes away from CDG Terminal 2 by train. It would be a waste to just sit there and watch airplanes land.

Ride the RER to St-Michel Notre-Dame and walk around for a while. Maybe hop over and see the Eiffel Tower. You can really do a lot in a few hours. Here are some ideas:

http://tinyurl.com/c2tgo

Going in to Paris depends on really how long you have. When you land at CDG it takes a while to even get to the arrival terminal - you'll be bused from the plane (at least, I always have). My last two arrivals took in excess of 45 minutes. Then you'll make your way to the RER and on to Paris. Consider you'll have to be back 2 or more hours before departure. Is the 6-7 hours the amount of available time considering this informatuion? If so, you'd have the time for a quick visit. But if your 6-7 hours is from touchdown to takeoff, I'd hesitate.

Stay at the airport, or you risk missing your connection.

Yes, those are my thoughts exactly. For a better, more enriching visit return to Paris and stay at least a week.

Hi Honk,

Figure that you won't be in the terminal until 1 hr after scheduled landing.

It will take 1 hr to get to Paris and 1 hr back.

You have to return at least 2 hr in advance of take off.

You might have 1-2 to visit Paris.

Follow Robes's advice.

((I))

Read my response to your post on the U.S. board.

Anthony, really?

If honk can head back to the airport within 3 hours of departure, s/he will be no tighter for time than someone leaving town after a month there.

That leaves 3-4 hours on the front end to get through the landing formalities and into town to do a little sightseeing.

honk - if you buy a one-day <i>Paris Visite</i> pass for 16.75&euro;, you can travel into the city on the RER, all around it by M&eacute;tro and bus, and back. If you're coming through JFK on the way to Paris, you can buy one at the RATP boutique there so you can go directly to the RER station in Terminal 2.

What airlines are you flying with? What time are you scheduled to arrive at CDG? From where? Where are flying to from CDG? What airlines? What time are you scheduled to depart? Are you citizen of the EU? Are you flying on one ticket? Is your luggage going to be already checked in all the way to your destination? Do you have lots of carry-on luggage?

You can consider taking RER to Paris for a couple of hours but make certain nobody is on strike, otherwise you might not make it to the airport on time.

&quot;This is my first visit to Paris and I am somewhat apprehensive&quot;.

Frankly, my advice is don't go. You'll spend more time stressing. I have been to paris more than a dozen times, I know paris well and know the public transport system and if I was in your situation, i wouldn't go.

As other have noted, while 6 hours seems like a long time, once you factor everything in, you are left with - 1 to 2 hours in Paris(!). The fact that you are not familiar with the public transport system or paris - how much will you really get from this mad dash.

Save the anguish and make plans to visit Paris in the future.

Yes, Robespierre, really. Rule #1 is: Everything takes longer than you expect it to. Six hours is a dangerously short amount of time to try to see Paris. It will take one hour to get out of the airport. It takes an hour to get into town. You should allow at least 90 minutes to get back out to the airport, more for rush hours. Arrive 90 minutes in advance for check-in. That's five hours. You'll just have time to walk a mile or two, assuming you don't get lost. It just won't work. If you see anything at all, you'll see just enough to make you realize that you don't really have time to see anything.

You can do this if you are coming in on the Eurostar; you can't if you are flying.

So stay at the airport, or risk missing your connection. If you want to see Paris that badly, extend your stay in Europe so that you can see it properly.

That's the worst-case approximation. A best-case scenario is much more encouraging:

To terminal, through immigration and customs - 60 minutes
CDG to Gare du Nord - 30 minutes
Gare du Nord to CDG - 30 minutes
Check in &amp; security - 90 minutes

Time remaining from 7-hour layover for contingincies and sightseeing - <b>3½ hours</b>. I would say that if one isn't ready to get on the train <u>to</u> Paris within four hours of departure time, it probably isn't worth attempting.

As I am also apprehensive with schedules in airports but at the same time, I hate too long waiting times there..I would do the planning of how to arrive to Paris, as if I am sure I'm going to do it and take the decision of really doing it when I get to the arrivals hall (or almost). That way, if everything goes smoothly will know for sure the time I have to spend, and if everything went wrong..I can think on doing some shopping at the airport :)