Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport: Maps, Prices, Transport
If the Parisian airport is on your way, read our article to get to know it better and figure out where the food court is, where Duty Free is, and where you can relax in an armchair and rest while waiting for your flight.
Charles de Gaulle is Paris’s main airport and home to Air France and low-cost carrier EasyJet, as well as a major hub for American carrier Delta Air Lines. And this airport is also a movie star! Scenes for the films "The Crew," "Love Actually," and "The Terminal" were shot within its walls.
Terminals
Now, the main thing is not to get confused. Charles de Gaulle Airport has three terminals, but the second one is divided into seven smaller ones. You can move between terminals on foot or by free CDGVal shuttles, which run every seven minutes.
The first terminal of the airport is circular, with seven satellites located around its perimeter. This design allows for parking the maximum number of aircraft around the building.
The second terminal has a linear structure: in other words, it’s a central corridor from which other sections branch off. The French chose this design to facilitate passenger departures and arrivals, and also with the prospect of expanding the building in the future. Inside the terminal are lounge areas with sofas and armchairs for passenger comfort, offering views of the runways.
The third terminal has been serving passengers since 1990 and, frankly, stands out from the others due to its simplicity: firstly, it’s the smallest airport terminal, and secondly, it’s a simple white hangar — no futuristic shapes or lounge areas with views. This is not surprising, as it mainly serves low-cost carriers, while the first and second terminals accommodate transatlantic liners of the world’s best airlines.
Charles de Gaulle Airport Map
The layout of the Parisian airport is quite complex: it consists of three main terminals and several sub-terminals, located over a large area. As we have already established, the main parts of the airport are:
T1 — serves international flights and domestic flights to the Schengen area. The terminal is one large building divided into sectors, each serving a specific airline.
T2: a popular terminal for domestic and transcontinental flights. Inside Terminal 2, there are sub-terminals: 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G. Each sub-terminal has its own entrance, check-in areas, security control, and boarding gates, as well as its own shops and cafes: for example, in 2A — Starbucks and McDonalds, while in 2C, 2E, and 2D — there are more refined Paul and the seafood restaurant Caviar House.
T3 — terminal for charter flights and low-cost carriers.
Services
The film “The Terminal”, where the main character practically lived in the airport, once again proves that there are all the conditions here to survive a long layover. Six hotels are at your disposal on the airport grounds! And besides shops (here you’ll find clothes, shoes, cosmetics, souvenirs, alcohol), restaurants, and a huge Duty Free, you can play video games for free in the boarding lounges or, for example, visit the Espace Musées art museum in Terminal 2.
Children’s rooms are available for kids, and lounge areas for adults, where passengers can relax and enjoy free drinks, snacks, and take a shower if needed. In short, Charles de Gaulle’s infrastructure will outperform any shopping and entertainment center in a small town. But there’s also the standard airport set: a medical center, ATMs and currency exchange points, a post office, and luggage storage.
Charles de Gaulle Airport is convenient for people with disabilities — the French have taken great care of this. There are separate telephones located lower than usual, special chairs provided for easy standing, and spacious restrooms for passengers in wheelchairs. Additionally, there are special lines on the floor and walls that lead to the desired terminal, and ATMs are equipped for people with limited mobility.
How to get to/from the airport
When you’ve just arrived, you’re still 25 km away from the city of love — that’s how far Charles de Gaulle is from the French capital. The fastest way to cover this distance is by train, but you can also go by taxi or bus.
By train
The most convenient and fastest way to get to Paris is by RER train. RER trains from Terminals 2 and 3 will take you to the city in half an hour. You need to take line B, don’t get it confused.
From the airport to Paris’s Gare du Nord, trains run from 4:50 AM to 11:50 PM. In the opposite direction, from 4:53 AM to 12:15 AM. But you can get off at any station and transfer to the metro, especially since the train and metro ticket is unified.
Cost: €11.45.
By bus
The popular RoissyBus shuttle departs from Terminal 2 and goes directly to the center of Paris.
Frequency — 15–20 minutes. From the airport to Opéra, the bus runs from 6:00 AM to 12:30 AM, and in the opposite direction — from 5:15 AM to 12:30 AM.
The trip costs €16.20, and in an hour you will be at the Opéra building.
You can also take public buses No. 350 and 351, which connect Charles de Gaulle Airport with the center of Paris and the Jean Jaurès district. It costs €6, but the journey takes more than an hour.
Transport map between the airport and the city
By taxi
Taxi is also a fairly convenient way to get to Paris from the airport, but this option will obviously be more expensive than public transport. The cost of a taxi ride depends on the time of day and the duration of the trip, but usually ranges from 50 to 70 euros.
