How to Get to Paris

By air

Charles de Gaulle (CDG) handles most international flights, with a direct RER train to central Paris typically taking 45 minutes to an hour depending on your final stop and time of day. Orly (ORY) serves shorter European and domestic routes.

By train

The Eurostar connects London to Paris in about 2 hours 15 minutes, and high-speed rail links Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam, and cities across France.

Getting around once you're there

The Paris metro is extensive and generally the fastest way to cover longer distances, with buses filling in gaps and covering more scenic routes.

Can you visit Paris without a car?

Easily — a car is a genuine liability in central Paris given traffic and parking, and public transport plus walking covers the city well.

Visa requirements

Visitors from the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia can typically enter France visa-free for short tourist stays under Schengen rules — worth confirming current requirements before booking given periodic changes.

Getting from Orly

Orlyval, an automated shuttle train, connects Orly to the RER B line at Antony, with onward service into central Paris.

Comparing Eurostar to flying from London

City-center to city-center, the train is often faster than flying once airport transfer time on both ends is factored in.

Visa requirements

As part of the Schengen Area, France applies the same 90-day visa-free rules for many nationalities as the rest of Schengen, alongside the EU's Entry/Exit System now in place at borders.

Arriving from elsewhere in Europe

Paris sits at the center of Europe's high-speed rail network, with direct connections to Brussels, Amsterdam, and several German cities beyond just London.

Currency exchange

ATMs are widely available and generally offer better rates than airport exchange counters — withdrawing euros directly tends to work out better than exchanging cash from home.

Whichever route brings you into the city, download an offline map or transit app before arrival — navigating the metro without connectivity is far easier with one ready to go.

Baggage and customs

Standard EU customs rules apply on arrival — duty-free allowances and any items requiring declaration follow the same framework as elsewhere in the Schengen Area.

Whichever airport you arrive through, keep some cash on hand for the RER or bus in case card readers are temporarily down, which does happen occasionally.

Night arrivals

Metro service stops around 1am on weekdays (slightly later on weekends), so a late-night flight arrival may require a taxi or night bus rather than the metro.

Whichever way you travel in, arriving with a rough sense of your metro route to the hotel saves real confusion after a long flight.