Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is with 65 million passengers a year the largest international airport in France and second-largest in Europe (after Heathrow). The airport is located about 25 km northeast of Paris and was named after the French President and French General in WW II, Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970). This is one of two airports serving Paris, the other one is Orly Airport (ORY), located 15 km south of Paris. The CDG airport was built in the late 1960's as the Paris North Airport but was renamed to Charles de Gaulle on opening in 1974.
Most flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport are to Amsterdam and to New York but there are many more flights to other destinations as well, most of them by Air France. Every day there are flights to 20 destinations from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Here are the most popular destinations:
The airport has four runways and three terminals. Terminal 1 has a unique design: it is built as an octopus with a circular terminal building and 7 satellite buildings with boarding gates which can be reach by underground walkways. Terminal 2 is the largest and most confusing one with interconnected sections 2A till 2G, though Terminal 2G is not part of the Terminal but is actually a separate building a ten minute bus ride away. Terminal 3 is the new low-cost carrier terminal where all the low-cost airlines depart from, except easyJet which departs from 2D. Charles de Gaulle is a huge airport and can be confusing. If you have a transfer here or you depart from here, you need to plan enough time to find and get to your gate.
For transport between terminals you can use the free CDGVAL train, which connects all terminals.
The Charles de Gaulle airport is located about 25 km northeast of Paris.
The easiest and fastest way from Charles de Gaulle to central Paris is by the B line of the RER train system. There are two train stations at the airport, at T2 and T3. Trains depart every 8 minutes, the ride takes 35 minutes and a one-way ticket costs € 10.
Alternatively you can take the Roissybus service which connects all terminals to the Opera Garnier in Paris. One-way ticket costs € 11.50 and it takes at least an hour.
A taxi to central Paris from CDG takes 45 minutes and costs at least € 50, but can be significantly more during rush hour.
All prices quoted here were found in June 2017
