Arrival brief · Paris CDG
CDG Arrival Guide: Charles de Gaulle to Paris, Without the Traps
CDG is a sprawling, confusing airport with one famous nuisance: illegal taxi solicitors working the arrivals halls. The official rank has fixed flat fares and the train is fast — the whole game is reaching them without stopping.
Updated August 2026
What to expect after landing
CDG is big, brutalist, and badly signed by major-hub standards: three terminal complexes (T1, the sprawling 2A–2G, and T3) linked by the free CDGVAL shuttle and walkways that take longer than they look. Budget real time for passport control at peak — an hour is not rare at T2E — and don’t let the fatigue set your guard down, because the arrivals halls hold CDG’s one famous nuisance:
Illegal taxi solicitors work every terminal, well-dressed and persistent: “Taxi, madame? Taxi to Paris?” — sometimes with laminated “official rate” cards. They are the fake-taxi script in its most polished European form, charging double or triple the legal flat fare in unmarked cars. The rule is absolute and simple: legitimate CDG taxis never solicit. Walk past everyone who speaks first, follow the Taxi signs, and join the marked rank.
Option 1 — Official taxi (best door-to-door)
The rank outside each terminal dispatches licensed taxis at official flat fares — one rate for the Right Bank, a slightly higher one for the Left Bank, posted at the rank and in the cab. Fixed regardless of traffic, luggage included, card accepted (readers are mandatory). Expect 45–60 minutes to the center depending on the périphérique. Confirm your destination’s bank, glance at the posted figure, and that’s the whole transaction.
What it looks like
Inside the terminal: anyone offering a taxi, a “limo,” or holding an unofficial rate card. At the rank: a driver claiming the flat fare “doesn’t apply today” or that your address needs a supplement beyond the posted ones. Both are inventions — the posted rates are the law.
Option 2 — RER B (fastest and cheapest to the center)
Both airport RER stations (T3/Roissypôle and T2) put you on the RER B to Gare du Nord, Châtelet–Les Halles, and Saint-Michel in roughly 35 minutes. Buy from the machines or staffed windows only — the ticket-machine “helpers” here run the used-ticket and PIN-reading hustles described in the Paris brief. The ride itself is the city’s densest pickpocket corridor for luggage-laden arrivals: bags between your feet, zips facing you, phone away until street level.
Option 3 — Roissybus (calm middle option)
The Roissybus runs direct from all terminals to Opéra in 60–75 minutes depending on traffic. Slower but simple: one seat, luggage racks, no transfers — the right call jet-lagged at rush hour with big bags. Buy at machines or by card onboard, not from anyone circulating.
Ride apps
Uber, Bolt, and FREENOW all serve CDG with marked pickup points — follow the app’s walking directions to the exact door, match the plate, and ignore anyone claiming to be “your Uber” unprompted. Note that app prices to central Paris often land near the taxi flat fare; the rank is frequently the faster queue.
Late-night arrivals
After the RER B stops (~11 p.m.), the realistic options are the all-night official rank at the same flat fares or the Noctilien night buses (N140/N143 toward Gare de l’Est) — cheap, slow, fine without much luggage. Late night is when the terminal solicitors are boldest and most convincing; the walk-past-everyone rule is never more valuable than at 1 a.m. in Terminal 2.
Quick answers
How much is a taxi from CDG to central Paris?
Paris runs official flat fares from CDG — one rate to the Right Bank and a slightly higher one to the Left Bank, posted on signs at the rank and inside every licensed taxi. The fare is fixed regardless of traffic, covers luggage, and there's no legitimate negotiation. Any driver quoting a different number, or any 'taxi' that found you inside the terminal, is the scam.
Is the RER B from CDG safe?
It's safe in the physical sense and heavily used — and it's also a known pickpocket run, worked hardest between the airport and Gare du Nord where luggage-laden arrivals are densest. Ride it with bags between your feet, zips toward you, phone away, and it's the fastest cheap route into the city.
Should I take the taxi or the RER B into Paris?
Two or more people with luggage: the flat-fare taxi usually wins on price-per-person and lands you at the door. Solo, light, and headed near an RER stop: the train wins on speed and cost. Jet-lagged at rush hour with big bags, the Roissybus to Opéra is the calm middle option.
What if I land at CDG late at night?
The official rank runs all night at the same flat fares — late night changes nothing except the touts get bolder, so the walk-past-everyone rule matters most then. The RER B stops around 11 p.m.; the N140/N143 Noctilien night buses cover the small hours cheaply but slowly. After midnight with luggage, the rank or a pre-booked ride is the answer.