Not very good (Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG))

Member Name: liamb71

Product:	Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG)
Date:	20/08/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Much nearer to centre of Paris than Beauvais, only 8 euros by train

Disadvantages: Very confusing!!

Have just passed through this airport on my way back to the UK, and I am afraid that I can't offer anything positive to combat the general air of negativity surrounding it! I was at least fortunate in that a) I had checked in online, and only had hand luggage and b) I arrived on a train from Bordeaux, and thus had through no choice of my own over three hours to find my way to where I needed to be! I would hate to be arriving just before my flight was closing and be trying to find my way to the right departure gate!

I came up out of the station and my attention was immediately caught by an enormous departures board. It was the only one I saw in my time at the airport, and it would have been useful....if it hadn't been showing flight information for flights between 12pm and 4pm that afternoon (it was 7pm at this stage)

However there were signs for Terminal 2B, so I followed them and eventually got to the vague area where I knew my flight would be leaving. However the Easyjet section of the terminal really is pretty difficult to work out if you haven't checked in and been advised from which gate your flight might be leaving. I even queued up to go through security and was then told that it was over the other side of the terminal for Liverpool. I made my way over there and eventually managed to sit down in the vague area from where I thought my flight might be leaving. I guessed right!

None of this was impossible to overcome, but if one wishes to make a comparison with other large airports around the world (and I have been to quite a few, especially in Europe and the US), CDG does not fare at all well. My advice would be to arrive well before your flight's departure time, armed with a good book and no wish to do any shopping as there really is almost nothing to buy! At least it is possible to get there from the centre of Paris by train on one of the RER lines, one of the few experiences which does not cost an arm and a leg in the capital. However it is quite a way out of town, so don't take a taxi there unless you are feeling particularly wealthy!

Summary: Still worth using but don't take chances with your arrival time there!