Luggage and a long lay-over at CDG
 

In June, I will be flying from Barcelona back to the states. Intentionally, I selected a flight with a 23 hr lay-over in Paris. I wanted to be able to at least get a taste of Paris while I was that close. My question is this...if you are on a long lay-over, do you have to get your checked luggage or will they hold it and put it on my next leg? I am getting a hotel room since I will be there over night so it's no problem to stow the lugguage there if I need to. Has anyone had this experience?

Thanks.

Why not get hotel at airport, hotel shuttle, store lugggage there, and RER into city?

That is what I plan to do. I am just wondering if I have to take the time to wait for the luggage to show up. It's not a problem if I do...I just didn't know if it was necessary or not.

By the way, I plan to take the RER into the city and stay there until that night. Is it safe for a single female to take the RER back to the airport area late at night or is a taxi my best option?

I sould think that if you are ticked through your luggage will be held. Tat said, we are not the ones in charge of your luggage. You should be asking your airline.

If it were me (unless you have a horribly early flight the next day) I would pick up the luggage and then take it into town - - and book a hotel within a block or so from the Roissybus:
http://www.parisescapes.com/paris_cdg_to_paris_bus.html

The time it would take to get to an airport hotel, and then double back into town, is not only wasted time, it sounds like a big hassle.

The Roissybus (which stops right in front of the terminals) can be a bunch better than the RER because there is often a lot of schlepping and disorientation involved arriving in Paris at the train stations. With the Roissybus you can use something like the maps on www.venere.com to find a place within a block or two from where you get off the bus - - a short stroll on flat pavement. You get off the bus, walk a block or two in good neighborhoods, check in at the hotel, and then you are either at the Arc de Triomphe or at Opera ready to explore.

P.S. Do check with your airline as to whether they will check the luggage through with a 23 hour delay. I know that with DL in AMS it used to be you couldn't, and now you can. Check with your carrier for the up-to-date policy (which CAN be hard to get definitively - - you might even want to write to a specific airline's forum at www.flyertalk.com and ask the question, to get people's latest experiences).

Search for hotels on google maps using Opera Garnier and Gare du Nord [access via the RER], and you will find that hotels near the latter will be much cheaper.

Reference in an earlier post to the Arc de Triomphe must be to the Air France bus, which stops right across the street.

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I have to be at the airport fairly early the next morning so I am leaning toward staying at the airport to avoid the early morning rush. I will certainly be looking into the buses or RER to get into the city as quickly as possible once I get there.

Thanks again and any further suggestions are welcome.