CDG · One turn of the clock · checked 29 October 2026
24 hours in Paris from CDG
Paris on 24 hours is a walk, or a single museum with a ticket you already hold. It becomes a bad day when it turns into a checklist.
Take RER B toward the city, do the Marais and the islands, sleep near a station you can face in the morning, and come back early enough for your actual terminal.
The ride is the easy part
RER B from CDG to Gare du Nord, Châtelet–Les Halles or Saint-Michel is the backbone. Allow 35–50 minutes on the train and a surprising amount of walking before you reach the platform. Buy the ticket from a machine or a window, not from a stranger.
If you are not an EU citizen, the Entry/Exit System can add a queue at the border, with a photo and fingerprints. First entry after a long-haul is the slow version. Build that into the arrival, not into a fantasy of stepping off the plane and onto the train.
One walk, not the Louvre
The Marais, Île Saint-Louis and a stretch of the Seine are the 24 hour plan because they do not depend on a timed entry. You can eat well, sit down, and still make the train.
The Louvre on 24 hours only works with a timed ticket and three rooms you already care about. 'Doing the Louvre' is how the layover becomes a corridor.
Versailles is the mistake
It is a separate train, a security queue, and a palace that deserves half a day. On a 24 hour CDG layover it means you saw a suburb and a rope line.
The Eiffel Tower from a bridge is a five minute detour if you are already walking. Climbing it is a booking and a wait. Skip the climb.
Back to the right terminal
Check whether you depart from 2E, 2F, 1 or 3. They are not a single building you can cross on vibes. Be at that terminal three hours before a long-haul flight.
If the flight is before about 10:00, sleep at CDG or Roissypôle. The RER in the early morning exists and it is still a poor idea when you are guessing the terminal.
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