Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport [Archive]

insanity

Oct 26th, 2009, 10:26 PM

I've got a 5 hour transit at the Paris CDG airport (Terminal 2). Never been there before and wanted to find out how the airport is (shops) and if there is decent food to eat (inc. cost) and decent seating available?

HighFlyer

Oct 26th, 2009, 11:32 PM

I've only flown in and out of 2A (Air Canada) and it is a dump. Not much in terms of nice eateries.

alkaseltzer01

Oct 27th, 2009, 09:38 AM

Don't sleep there.

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/worst-airports.htm

Kranberry

Oct 27th, 2009, 01:26 PM

Get some pastries. I must say that the pastries at the little coffee stand I went to were amazing. Expensive, but well worth it imho.

insanity

Oct 29th, 2009, 09:25 AM

Wow I thought going through Amsterdam airport was bad, seem like CDG is even worse.

HighFlyer

Oct 29th, 2009, 09:43 AM

I actually liked AMS.

telman

Oct 29th, 2009, 01:03 PM

I couldn't believe CDG airport, its the worst I have ever been to, thank goodness it was in and out and no layover.

lazygoalie

Oct 29th, 2009, 02:12 PM

Wow I thought going through Amsterdam airport was bad, seem like CDG is even worse.

Are you teh fountain tire guy who mistakenly gets on the wrong flight? AMS has been ranked in the top 5 airports in the world several times in the last 10 years. (even #1 in europe as of last year)

porphyra

Oct 29th, 2009, 02:21 PM

Hate to be a downer before your trip but CDG is honestly one of the worst major airports that I have been to (considering it is the major airport of a G8 nation). Honestly, find a bar and drown away those 5 hours. If you are lucky, you hopefully won't remember that layover at all, in the years to come.

shaolinmonk

Oct 29th, 2009, 02:24 PM

Rehan

Oct 29th, 2009, 02:31 PM

I had a 7+ hour stopover at CDG a year ago when flying Air France. It was actually pretty decent...not nearly as bad as what's posted at that link.

I didn't see any homeless people. But our stopover was from morning to late afternoon, not at night.
Decent seating is around if you look for it.
Bathrooms weren't terrible.
The airport is too far from anything interesting in the city.
Food is pretty expensive and there isn't a lot of variety. Consider taking some snacks.

blainehamilton

Oct 29th, 2009, 02:39 PM

I was in and out of Paris in June.

It wasn't bad, no homeless people and the bathrooms were reasonably clean and functional.

However, as far as airports go, it was pretty dumpy. Some of the nicer ones I have been thru in north america in the last couple of years put it to shame.

Minneapolis/St Paul. Toronto Pearson. Vancouver. San Francisco. Las Vegas. Dallas. Atlanta. Salt Lake. Denver. Boston, etc.

It was an overall first and last impression of the city. Unique, but a bit rude, dull and dirty.

insanity

Oct 29th, 2009, 03:03 PM

I should retract my Amsterdam being bad comment. When I wrote bad, it was for reason of it being boring without many choices for food or shopping. I've been through AMS 4 times and each time was without any issues, I just found the place really boring, especially for a 8 hour stopover. Food was also expensive.

For such a 'hip and fashionable' city as Paris, very sad to hear the airport isn't great.

bilibulu

Oct 29th, 2009, 03:08 PM

I've been through AMS 4 times and each time was without any issues, I just found the place really boring, especially for a 8 hour stopover..
With an 8-hour stopover, you should have taken the train to visit the city...

insanity

Oct 29th, 2009, 03:10 PM

With an 8-hour stopover, you should have taken the train to visit the city...

I was afraid I'd miss my flight if I left the airport.

IceBlueShoes12

Oct 30th, 2009, 03:05 AM

AMS was nice imo.. i slept overnight in CDG it's quite the interesting place.. lots of weird people showed up throughout the night.. washrooms were usable.. overall i had no issue but it's definitely not a very nice airport..

+1.
Ran into a homeless dude speaking in tongues (I'd guess Latin) in the bathroom. I have never smelled anyone that reeked of well who knows what where I almost wanted to puke. Uhh!

The homeless people had taken all the places to sleep at. Grr...

Binden

Nov 1st, 2009, 05:11 PM

This airport is awful. Just spent a night there a few weeks ago. It took us awhile to find a decent spot to camp out. The terminals are full of homeless people, they smelled but all seemed harmless. The place was really cold and there is really no comfortable spots to hang around. I ended up sleeping on the tiles, freezing to death.

krazynuck

Nov 2nd, 2009, 02:11 PM

i spent 6 hours in CDG and it was the worst experience ever....none of the escaltors worked....long lines every where with no one to help the people...i flew into terminal 2A...which is dull and has nothing...all the good stores are in terminal 2F i think...

Fallen_One

Nov 13th, 2009, 06:14 PM

krazynuck

Nov 14th, 2009, 02:11 AM

I lived a couple of years in France and been in and out of CDG more times than I can count. I'd say the reviews are a tad unfair as to how "horrible" this airport is... it all depends on what airline you flew in on too, as to what gate and terminal you end up at.

Try flying with in/out with AirFrance and you'll see that the experience is a lot better.

Just my 2 cents...

i think most national airlines are like that in the home country....however compared to Athens, Portugal, Las Vegas, Munich, Amsterdam, YVR and few others i had been this year it does not compare....terminal 2F did have WAYYYY better stores though (which i think is AirFrance) and i flew 2B...

bodek

Nov 17th, 2009, 11:20 PM

Visited 50+ airports in my life. This one is in definite worst 3 of all times. Lazy and unfriendly staff, badly organized (you can really walk in between because of the line up to the counters), security check line is as bad as the one in Narita.
Advice: get your transfer ticket in Toronto otheriwse you might wait in the transfer desk line for godd 1-2 hours

fortunekitty500

Nov 20th, 2009, 11:21 PM

Make sure you get to the airport several hours early. Got there 3 hrs early and barely made my flight - the plane was basically waiting for me. How embarassing. Security lines are insanely long and even the "rush" line was ridiculously long. Waited over 2 hrs just to get through security.

Staff wasn't exactly rude but borderline.