slawecki

i'll bet you say the same thing about bur,fra, muc, lhr, iad, jfk, ord, newark, atl, mia, that other london airport, and most others. if not, you should. at least you can get good coffee and a good croissant at cdg.

to do:1. take a cab to "down town"roissy and have a decent breakfast
2.take the rer to the 6th, and go to the wine bar at buci and mazarine. the serve foie gras on toast for breakfast.

Cha-cha-cha

Of the ones I've been in: I'd say almost the same thing about lhr, and certainly not the same thing about fra (very good) muc (very good to excellent) lax (very good) sfo (very good) or ord (ok). jfk is a dump but seems to more or less work (though yes I know they are having hideous problems as I write this). atl is extremely uncomfortable, but also seems to work. Of others, msp, ath, and vie I find very good, gva very good to excellent, and mxp a dump but it more or less works if you'r lucky. So I'm not just an indiscriminant grouch.

Alsacienne

You could always have a look for DS's red backpack which was last seen leaning against the door of AF7762 just before departing for SXB, never to be seen again .... or so it seems.

HypnoticEyez

Like the OP, I have a 6h 35m layover on Jan 28th at CDG before a connecting flight to AMS then on to BGO. I was wondering if I had time to at least see the Eiffel Tower and have a bite to eat? I understand that it may take up to 1 hour to de-plane and clear Customs. My one saving grace is that I have a cousin I met only once on his visit to Seattle for a family reunion, who lives in Paris and can pick my daughter and I up at the airport. Since I have never been to Paris my question to those of you in the know, would you suggest venturing out for a few hours or stay put at the airport?

Mountain Man

A lot depends on what time you're arriving. If arriving early morning then you can hit the rush-hour and getting in to Paris can take more than an hour. If it's after the rush hour you can be in the centre of Paris in less than 30 minutes. Similarly, you need to factor in traffic for the return trip.

Having said that, if you don't need to pick up bags/ recheck them later, you probably have time for a whirlwind tour of Paris, especially if you have a "driver" in your cousin. Your cousin could drive you into Paris, taking the peripherique to Porte Maillot, and from there up to the Arc de Triomphe. Then drive down to Trocadero to admire the Eiffel Tower. While your cousin finds a parking spot (parking can be challenging in Paris) walk across the Pont d'Iena to the Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars. You probably won't have time to go up the Eiffel Tower (the queues can be an hour or more). Meet up with your cousin who has since parked his car, and grab a bite to eat (brunch/lunch/coffee?). After brunch/lunch/coffee take the Voie Rapide along the banks of the Seine, with small detours at the Place de la Concorde and the Ile de la Cit� (to see Notre Dame). From there take the peripherique and the A3 back to CDG. Approximate trip time: 4 hours!

iahphx

It looks like my family will have a 5:40 minute layover at CDG early next spring on our way from India back to the USA. We'll be coming off a 2 am redeye from Delhi, arriving at 7 am, so I don't think we'll be at our best. Worse, I think my Skyteam elite status will have just expired, so no lounge access.

I don't transit CDG very often, but I recall it as a large, sprawling, time-sucking airport. And I know public transport from CDG to Paris itself is time-consuming, uncomfortable and relatively expensive, such that a brief trip to the center of Paris would make little sense in this situation. Any suggestions? If I check our bags, does leaving the airport for a nearby town (Roissy?) make any sense? Is there anything to do at the airport? Thanks.

MarLim

Your layover is quite short and the time you would leave the airport is rush hour, so I would not recommend going to downtown Paris except you have the uncontrollable desire to spend around 2h in public transport to be about 2h in Paris. Nothing to see near the airport, IMO. If you want a rest, try the hotel Ibis at Roissypole, they rent day rooms by the hour (min of 2h I think) at reasonable prices.

Otherwise, just stay airside, no need to go through immigration hassles for your transfer. If you fly AF, you don't have to change terminal and 2E is very decent terminal where you can take a coffee and a croissant and just wait for your connection.

iahphx

Yeah, I know about the ride into Paris on public transport. It is neither fast, cheap or particularly pleasant. That's why I'm looking for an alternative.

If I can't get lounge access, booking a few hours at that Ibis seems like a good idea. I see that it's walking distance to Terminal 3: how much hassle would be involved in getting there (and back through security) from AF flights? And can one reserve an "hourly" room in advance?

MarLim

It's quite easy to get there, but you have to pass twice immigration (in and out of Schengen); security is not really the problem as I think you have to pass it anyway. Just go to immigration when you arrive and have a look at the queue, if you consider it reasonable, immigrate and go to the TGV station (about 5 min walk), where you take the CDGVAL automatic shuttle to Roissypole, where the Ibis is. I don't think you can reserve a room, as they rent rooms, if they have availability (you can maybe call before you pass immigration to make sure you don't go there for nothing).