left luggage, Charles de Gaulle, Paris
 

Hi all,
I'm travelling from Kerala, India to Copenhagen in the beginning of April, 2005. On the way back, I have a 12 hour stopover in CDG, Paris from 9:30 am to 9:30 pm. Since my flights are thru separate carriers, I'll not be provided any accommodation. I haven't been to Paris before and plan to go around with the 'Paris Open Tour'. Is there any place near the CDG where I can leave my luggage? Any idea what the charges might be? I've also read somewhere that I can leave my luggage at the Louvre for free during the times that it is open? Is this true? Thanks in advance.

Don't believe CDG has left luggage, but the Paris train stations do (does the TGV station at CDG have left luggage?)

The Louvre stores backpacks, totes, coats and the like..not sure about luggage. And it's in the lobby, after you've entered with your entrance fee/pass.

CHECK WITH YOUR second carrier to see if you can check in your bags and you well before the flight or else there is currently no left luggage open at CDG, or at least wasn't in Sep, closed due to terrorists threats. There is left luggage in Gare du Nord, where the train from the airport takes you - they have lockers in the basement, west end of building under the Eurostar check-in. Big lockers. Dragging such huge luggage into the Louvre would arouse my concern if i was a Louvre security guard and the left luggage there is for small items whilst people see the Mona Lisa.

You should be able to check your luggage all the way through from Kerala to your final destination, and hopefully get a boarding pass in Kerala for the onward part of your journey. The fact that you are flying different airlines has nothing to do with being able to check baggage all the way through. All airline transfer baggage to each other.

You may not be able to get a boarding pass in Kerala for the onward portion, if so, go to the transit desk when you land at CDG and get it before you head out to see Paris.

If for some reason you can't check luggage all the way through from Kerala, then as soon as you land at CDG, to and check-in for your onward flight. Most airlines in Europe allow early check-in up to 18 hours prior to departure. Check the website for CDG at http://www.adp.fr or call your airline to confirm.

Hi,
Thanks a bundle for all those quick responses. My flight into Paris is by Air France and the flight out is with Srilankan airlines. WHen I called up the office of SriLankan Airlines regarding check-in 18 hours before the flight, they gave me a very confusing reply of "it will be provided only if the airport has a luggage room". Now, I'm not too sure what exactly that means. Does that mean that I can check in 18 hours before or not? Can anybody decipher the message? Also once I check in the luggage can I still walk out of the airport and walk back in time for my check-in for the flight? And any ideas on how long it takes from CDG to Gare du Nord? I've seen a couple of mesages which say that getting a locker there might be difficult. Anybdy out there with the answers?

Hi ay,

>..."it will be provided only if the airport has a luggage room".

Translation: "I don't know and I don't care" Call Air France t see if your luggage is checked through to India.

>Also once I check in the luggage can I still walk out of the airport and walk back in time for my check-in for the flight? <

Yes. Leave time to go through Immigration on the way out and Security on the way back in. (2:30 - 3 hr)

>And any ideas on how long it takes from CDG to Gare du Nord? <

It's 40 min on the RER B from the station at CDG 1 or 2.



I've seen a couple of mesages which say that getting a locker there might be difficult. Anybdy out there with the answers?

Gare du Nord has both an attended left luggage area and coin-operated lockers. While it's more expensive to use the attended area, I would think that you're less likely to run out of room there. (Someone with experience, please either confirm or refute this.)

I've been to the lockers several times in past few years and never saw them full but many in some peak periods. Keep in mind that next day to Gare du Nord is Gare de l'Est with similar lockers and these should be less full - a hassle but with luggage go next door - folks who need longer than the 48 hours max in Gare du Nord lockers will find those at Est you can leave for up to 72 hours.

Does anyone know how much the approximate charges for the left luggage at Gare du Nord for 12 hours is? Is the facility open 24 hours? Another bright spark of an idea that I had was to rent a cheap hotel room somewhere near enough to CDG to allow easy access to my luggage on the way back from sight seeing. Anybody knows any cheap [and that means as cheap as it gets] hotels/hostels near the CDG?While it seems like a shot in the dark, does anybody know if any of the airport hotels will allow me to just keep my luggage in their luggage room for a fee for 12 hours?

That airline's response was worthless. It sounds like they mean if their own airline has a luggage room, but they are supposed to know things like that.

I think the 2* Ibis hotel right in the airport is probably the cheapest hotel there. If you have a lot of luggage, that could be worth the cost, I guess. It would certainly save you some time over taking it to some train station. The train station fees for luggage consignment are not very high for a day -- I don't remember exactly, but I think 10 euro or less.

I cannot speak for all the hotels at the aiport, but in January this year the Ibis Hotel beside the RER station at Charles de Gaulle refused to hold our luggage for a period of three hours until our room was ready (we arrived at 9am) so that we could go into Paris and explore. We were told that we would have to sit in the foyer with the luggage until our room was ready. The said this was for security reasons. Therefore I doubt very much they would hold luggage for someone not even taking a room. On that occasion we went next door and booked into Novotel as they had rooms that were immediately available. However, I do not know if Novotel would have had the same policy if there were not immediately available rooms.

>...Ibis Hotel beside the RER station at Charles de Gaulle refused to hold our luggage for a period of three hours until our room was ready ...<

That's a good reason for not staying there.

((I))

wow, that is pretty harsh from a hotel, never heard of that. I didn't think they would hold anyone's luggage who wasn't staying there, but ayakkadan seems to be willing to pay for a room for the luggage. Of course, Ibis is really budget, so maybe that is part of the low rates -- less service.

Here's what is posted in the Passenger Guide on the SNCF site. (Prices haven't been updated since 2002.)

Coin-operated lockers fitted with electronic locks issue a printed ticket with a code number. This ticket must be conserved and used when recovering items. Lockers should not be used to store valuables. All items and suitcases are stored under their owners' responsibility.

Left luggage charges (per 24 hours):

4.5 € per item for luggage and parcels.

5.3 € for bicycles, wheelchairs and baby strollers.

Coin-operated locker charges:

Key locker: 0.7 € or 3 € according to volume (for 24 hours).

Electronic locker: 3 €, 4.5 € or 6.1 € for 72 hours).

Passengers should note that manual storage services and lockers may be temporarily unavailable for security reasons in certain stations.

how do you get from the rer-b stop at gare du nord to the luggage lockers? i hear this train station is difficult to navigate and has many levels.

I have been in this situation before but my flight was the next day. If your airline checks your baggage straight, no hassles and its probably likely to happen.

Else, you will have to get to Gare du Nord or some such railway station. You can get to the station by metro and its a pain finding out exactly where the left luggage place is - its also a good 10 min walk from the metro if I remember right.