Paris Travel Forum

I will go through CDG airport twice in July, arrival and departure. All the reviews I have read about the airport seem to paint a very grim picture. For example: bad signage, airport officers arrogant, disgusting toilets, bad & expensive food, long queues & delays, no seats, worse airport, not clean etc, can all that be true?

Although CDG is pretty grim (mainly bare concrete) it is clean, the toilets are not a problem and there are seats to be had.It certainly doesn't warrant "the worst airport" tag. People that say that haven't travelled in some parts of Africa....

Yes this airport is confusing and takes a while to understand it.
But as long as you are not in a hurry, it's ok.
If you tell me your flight itinerary I could be more specific.
The lines at security checks are long, but strangely I never missed a connecting flight. Somehow it always worked out well.

I haven't had any problems with CDG whether with signs pointing to terminals, RER, exits, etc. or with arrogant personnel or dirty toilets. There's expensive food, yes, but there's also affordable food. I usually grab a baguette or a croissant with a pastry and a drink at La Brioche Dorée. If that place is not of your liking, there's other restaurants in the vicinity and worst case scenario there's McDonald's.

There are delays and long lines, but which airport doesn't have it? If you're out there on time to check in and go through security check then you'll be OK.

Hi W.E.L
Thankfully, I will not be in transit. I will be on Singapore airlines, arriving on the 4th of July at 21h00 and leaving on the 17 at 12h25.

I think that this bad rep stems from the old stigma that Paris and Parisians used to be rude to visitors and wouldn't accommodate English speaking tourists...
I have too read many negative comments about CDG and simply can't agree with them as I find it very easy to navigate.
It is one of the easiest airport to to go to and from with the RER. You even have direct TGV connections
The food is no more or no less expensive than any other aiport and the options are quite varied as mentioned above. Try to get a beer in Heathrow...
Long queues and delays are everywhere (try JFK or Miami) and are not the responsibility of the airport as much as that of the individual carriers
I have seen rude airport officers everywhere and very nice ones in CDG
Here is a nice link to familiarize yourself with the airport prior to your arrival :http://bonjourlafrance.net/air-france/paris_charles_de_gaulle_airport/cdg-airport.htm

The one time I had a close encounter with a rude airport personnel was in Madrid Barajas.

There is more than one terminal at CDG. If it's terminal One or Two, you're in the modern bit - and we've never had problems, leaving or arriving.

If it's terminal three, prepare for the worst! This terminal is dedicated to "low-cost" carriers, and it shows. First, it's in the back of beyond: you need to ask the bus driver (if you're arriving by bus) or find a friendly member of staff (and they are friendly - and helpful).They will direct you throught the corridors of T1 or T2 to the CDG-train, which links the terminals (this walk made me think I was on a set from "2001 A Space Odyssey"!). When you arrive at what's called T3 you then have a not-short outdoor walk to the terminal itself.

When you arrive at the terminal, the check-in queues are lengthy, the few food outlets do awful take-away stuff that you can eat at one of the scarce (dirty) tables. Forget shops and go to the toilet once you have passed security check!

On arrival back at T3 we looked for the taxi-rank but couldn't find it, so it was the long walk, CDG-train, etc in reverse.

If we now travel cheapie from/via Paris, we omit CDG and go via Orly - a much more pleasant experience!

I agree that T3 is a disgrace, but the rest is fine. Watch out for falling roofs though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3739715.stm

Coming in with SQ you might come into Terminal 1. 2 is dominated by AF and North American Airlines.
I use CDG a fair bit (about twice a month) and have learned to navigate. initially it was a bit difficult because of the long lines at passenger check in, especially for north american, asian and african flights. but later found out that AF has a dedicated counter for FFliers... no more problems with lines and the AF lounge is excellent.. no more problem with food.. champagne is included..
you wont hve a problem, easy to get to the city from the airport via train, bus or otherwise. French are not as rude as people are led to believe! SQ is a great
airline and you would be coming in from Changi which is a great airport..

I have flown through CDG many times and it is not one of my faviorite airports. The buses that take passengers from terminal-to-terminal are often very crowded with long queues. On my last trip through CDG, I found myself running (and my layover was 1 hour 40 minutes) mostly due to these buses and the long lines at the metal detectors. I have nver had problems with the staff at the airport or the facilities, just the dificulty in making connections involving the shuttle buses.

Terminal 1 is old, run-down and not practical but I find Terminal 2 acceptable. I've never been to Terminal 3.

What really irritates me at CDG is that Air France does not board their planes by row numbers. So passengers get up at the same time and form some type of a queue, often in the shape of a funnel and you end up waiting in line for a long time, especially if you're boarding a 747.
Why don't they use the more efficient way of boarding by calling row numbers ?
Jeannette

I have never had a problem at Terminal 2. Getting a map of the airport off the internet is easy. We never had a problem find a place to sit down. Much better than NYC main airport.

CDG is not my favorite airport but it's no worse than most and certainly far better than LAX (my least favorite airport).

We've never had trouble with signs; bathrooms have been clean; food has been okay for an airport; we've always found a seat; the people we've interacted with have been very polite even at Security. Quite frankly, the people are the saving grace. They are very helpful.

I'd say avoid LAX. You'll be fine at CDG. Have a great trip.

Hi Roadquill

I have tried to get a map of the airport, but all I could get wss how to get to the airport and the location of the terminals. I wanted a map of the indoor facilites, do you know of any sites in that regard?
Thanks

Is something like this what you're looking for?

Terminal 1: http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/Adp/Resources/16c383c2-02a7-4e65-bfae-3a62a1bc0701-plaquette_phase2_def.pdf

Terminal 2A-D:
http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/Adp/Resources/91efcef1-be6b-42b8-828e-27aba0f17fba-plant2abcdgb.pdf

Terminal 2E-F:
http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/Adp/Resources/75a0868c-463d-460c-b18e-9904c3f6de31-plant2efgb.pdf

Thanks marielexoteria, that's exactly what I was after, it is going to be very helpful and avoid the anxiety of being lost and given the wrong directions.

Don't I know it? The first time I had to travel thru Copenhagen airport I got armed with as many detailed instructions on how to go to from T2 to T1, maps and the whole shabang....only to find out that I basically had to follow the signs LOL.

Enjoy your trip to Paris :)

You do not get good food at CDG Airport. The choice of food varities are very limited. The checkin "Q" for all flights are usually very long. This airport is too crowded because of large inflow of tourists from all over the world. There is nothing else adverse about CDG Airpor.

The only problem I've ever had there is that if something does go wrong (like after an hour and a half of waiting the luggage still hasn't come down the chute), no one explains anything and it's impossible to find anyone to ask. And I wholeheartedly agree about the food situation there.

Is the food really that bad? If so, which airport has good food? (Not trying to be a wise ass, just curious).

Well, my problem has always been the lack of food there! Maybe they hide it when I arrive, but I swear they always seem to be out of food, and what little there is looks like something that they unearthed in the catacombs or something. The last time I got food there it was the equivalent of $25 for two sandwiches that could have been used to hit baseballs with, the bread was so stale. There's no excuse for stale bread in Paris!!!

Amen to that. In their defense, we've always been there between 10am and 5pm and they've always had fresh stuff.

"Is the food really that bad? If so, which airport has good food? (Not trying to be a wise ass, just curious)".

I don't know if you've ever been through Singapore or KL airport, and as far as food is concerned OZ airports are not dissapointing.
Nevertheless, I can't comment on CDG until I have been through the place which will be very soon. Many thanks for your advice.

I haven't been outside Europe and Dominican Republic, but I want to!

Food is not THAT terrible, but the variety is a bit disaqppointing especially when you think you are in Paris. KL airport food court is good indeed, much better than Singapore Changi, eventhough after immigration at Changi the variety is better. MEL, BNE and CNS all have good choices but not that grand a variety. Havana so so. Miami okay but can get cuban food. Houston has a variety but mostly american fast food including Mexican. I usually spend time at the lounges at the airports and Paris is hard to beat, Virgin in Heathrow has cooked breakfast and salmon if you like plus champagne, Qantas Clubs in all airports are very good, Presidents Clubs at Houston and New York are good. If you are travelling a lot, membership in these clubs are a lifesaver. If you are an occasional traveller, you have to tolerate and PAY for all the food at the airport. The Air France Clubs are very good whether in Paris or New York. Malaysian Airlines Lounge at KL is very good, so is the Thai lounge at singapore airport. To each his own. AeroMexico lounges are fine, Delta Clubs are okay, Northwest lounges are fine and there are good lounges at Narita airport. sorry to go off a bit, but during travels you get the best and the worst

I think the San Francisco international terminal has good food and a nice variety of choices.
Jeannette

We have very good food here at the Seattle (Sea-Tac) airport in the central portion of the terminal -- seafood restaurants, nice pubs, and a Vino Volo for wine-tasters and "small plates" of delicious foods. My domestic flights to/from JFK are the worst for finding food in JFK's T2 and T3 -- a choice of a sports-type greasy bar or a Burgermaster! Atlanta and CDG are on this same low level for dining.

I have read most of the replies to your question. I guess when we flew in and out of CDG in March 07, we were blessed! We arrived from the US in the morning. The airport was very quiet and peaceful compared to what we have here. The trip through customs etc. went as expected. Our return flight was on Air France. The ticket agent was most gracious and helpful. We did not eat in the airport, but all I can say is that when we arrived back in the US, the Atlanta airport was quite a rude awakening back into US airports! The lovely chimes and quiet announcements , along with the interesting architecture, made for a very pleasant experience for us.

I was just in CDG last week on arrival and departure and found it to be fine.

The arrival was not as smooth as it could have been for a disabled person, but still not as bad as other places (JFK).

Food was not that great but not that bad either.