RER B
The default. Frequent, direct, and the reason a Paris layover is possible at all. It is not charming. It works.
CDG · Out and back · checked 29 October 2026
CDG to the city and back
The train is the plan. The terminal is the surprise. CDG is several stations and a bus ride between buildings pretending to be one airport, so read the departure terminal before you decide what 'three hours early' means.
Know whether you are entering Schengen
If you are connecting airside and never pass immigration, this page is not your day. The city guides assume you enter France.
EU citizens use a different lane from everyone else. Non-EU visa-exempt travellers should expect EES registration: travel document, facial image, fingerprints. It is fully in operation. It can be quick and it can be a queue.
Get onto RER B on purpose
Follow RER / Paris by train signs. Buy a ticket to Paris from the machines. Keep it. You may need it to exit.
Trains run to Gare du Nord and on through Châtelet–Les Halles and Saint-Michel. Allow 35–50 minutes once you are seated, and allow the walk to the platform as its own event.
Do one area
Get off at a station that matches the hotel. Do not ride to the furthest pretty stop and then taxi backwards.
Watch bags on the RER like any large city's airport train. The risk is ordinary theft, not drama. Keep the suitcase between your feet.
Return to the terminal named on the pass
RER B back to CDG, then the people-mover or walk to the right terminal. 2E in particular is a building with its own logic.
Be there three hours before a long-haul departure. Add time if you must clear an exit check as a non-EU national. Morning flights should start from an airport hotel.
Official taxi
Use the official rank. Paris publishes flat fares between CDG and the right bank and the left bank; pay the posted fare and ignore anyone who offers a different price in the hall.
A taxi is reasonable with a group, with a lot of luggage, or late at night when you do not want the RER. It is slower than the train at the wrong hour and faster at others. It is not cheaper.
What not to do
Do not rent a car. Do not go to Disneyland and call it Paris. Do not go to Orly; your flight is not there.
Do not buy a ticket from a person on the platform who is 'helping'.
Live detail lives on the operator's site: Paris Aéroport (opens in a new tab).
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