The Nearest Airports to Paris

The Nearest Airports to Paris

Paris is a huge city, so it makes sense that there would be a range of airport options to get travelers from around the world into the city center as quickly as possible. The varied airports offer a range of budget options, as not everyone can afford to expense tickets arriving to the main hub. 

Paris Airports Overview

Here are the airports you need to know about when planning your Parisian adventure: 

Charles de Gaulle in Paris

Parisians call is Roissy Airport, but its formal name is Charles de Gaulle. It’s the largest international airport in all of France, handling an average of 70 million passengers a year. 

This is generally a traveler’s first encounter with the city of love, though there’s not much to it other than some pretty progressive infrastructure. This makes Charles de Gaulle the second busiest airport in all of Europe, following close behind the renowned Heathrow terminals. Globally, Charles de Gaulle would be the 10th busiest airport on the planet. 

CDG – by Wilfredor – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Facts About Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris

The airport takes up a whopping 3,260 acres of French countryside. It’s necessary, considering this single airport boasts an impressive 4 runways, offering movement to 1,350 aircraft per day. 

Within the grounds, there is an airport hotel, shopping mall, food court and more. It has its own metro and train systems, connecting travelers to the city center. Because getting into the city center is so easy, a lot of travelers do so during long layovers. Charles de Gaulle offers comprehensive luggage storage for all who wish to do so.

Paris Orly Airport

Over in the south of the city, one comes to meet the famous Orly airport, an alternative portal for travelers both in and out of Paris. Orly is the second biggest airport in France, and holds flight paths to extensive parts of Europe, the Middle East and overseas French territories (such as Reunion Island). 

Paris Orly Airport – by Habib M’henni – Wikimedia Commons

Interestingly, in terms of domestic traffic, Orly is actually much busier than CDG! Efforts have been made to divert travelers to the alternate airports, but the carriers operating out of Orly seem to have such devoted passengers that flights are almost always filled to the brim. 

Best Airport Transfer in Paris

Getting from central Paris to Orly Airport takes roughly the same time as it does to get to CDG; only the direction is different. 

Paris Airport-Le Bourget

The city of Paris didn’t forget about the folks in the north. Paris Airport-Le Bourget caters to this region, and was actually at one time the primary airport for the entire city. 

Paris Airport-Le Bourget – by Matti Blume – Wikimedia Commons

Today, Paris Airport-Le Bourget operates more so for commercial and private charter planes as opposed to regular passenger crafts. This is where the rich and famous enter Paris, essentially. If you want to enter via Airport-Le Bourget, you’ll need to call up your friend with a jet…

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Paris Beauvais Airport

Last but not least, we have one more northern portal situated about 80km outside of Paris’ city center. This is the Beauvais Airport, and it’s known for being the hub for budget and low-cost airlines. 

You’ll save many euros by opting for a flight into Beauvais, but you’ll also have to endure the 80 minute train ride from the airport to the city center, which isn’t a lot of fun if you’re a) arriving late, b) exhausted from traveling in general, or c) visiting in the winter when the weather is less kind. 

Paris Beauvais Airport – by Rastrojo – Wikimedia Commons

Another downside about this airport is that it actually closes. Thats right, an airport that isn’t open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means that between the house of 11:30pm and 6am this is a locked and sealed premises, so sleeping in the airport, arriving earlier than you expected, or lingering during a delay/layover is not an option.