Airport Transfer from Charles de Gaulle to Paris: Private Car Door to Door

What is the best airport transfer from Charles de Gaulle to Paris?

Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), also called Roissy, is one of the busiest airports in Europe, spread over three terminals. It is a big site, and the walk from the gate to the kerb can be as long as the drive into town. That is the part a good transfer shortens: you leave arrivals with someone holding your name, your bags are taken, and the car is waiting in a place you do not have to hunt for.

This page works through the options as a route planner would: what the train and taxi cost and how long each takes, where the road slows down, and when a private car beats both. It sits in our Europe network under the global airport transfers hub.

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Charles de Gaulle at a glance

CDG has Terminal 1, Terminal 2 (split into halls 2A to 2G) and Terminal 3. A free automatic shuttle links Terminals 1 and 3 with the main RER B station, and Terminal 2 has its own station on the rail line. The terminal depends on your airline and the flight, so the pickup is set from your flight number.

• Distance to central Paris: about 25 km to the northern districts, up to 35 km to the south-west.
• Typical drive time: 40 to 60 minutes outside peaks, and 60 to 90 minutes in morning and evening rush hour or on a Friday afternoon. Sources vary from 30 to 90 minutes, and the lower end applies at night.
• Main roads: the A1 motorway into Paris, then the Peripherique ring road. An accident on the A1 or a closed lane on the Peripherique changes the picture.
• Rail: the RER B runs from the airport through the northern suburbs to Gare du Nord and Chatelet-Les Halles and on to the Left Bank.

Treat the lower drive times as best case.

How a private pickup works at CDG

Your flight is tracked, so an early landing or a delay moves the chauffeur with you. After an international landing the first 60 minutes of waiting cost nothing; after a domestic landing the allowance is 30. CDG's passport queues can be long for long-haul arrivals, so that hour is a real buffer.

The chauffeur meets you in arrivals with a name board on request, or with an alias on the board if you prefer privacy. The car is a short walk away. Most vehicles carry water and phone charging, and you can reserve child, toddler and booster seats in advance. Your itinerary can include a second stop, for example Gare du Nord for a Eurostar departure in the evening.

CDG to Paris: every option compared

Taxi flat fares are set by the French government and are published on service-public.gouv.fr; the RER fare is Ile-de-France Mobilites' airport ticket as listed for 2026. Both can change, so check before you travel. Ours is a single fixed figure, shown in the booker for your pickup, drop-off and vehicle before you commit.

When the RER B is the better choice

If you are travelling alone with one suitcase and staying near a Metro line, the RER B is a good, cheap way into Paris. The journey to Chatelet-Les Halles takes roughly 35 minutes, according to sources that publish the timetable, with trains every few minutes through most of the day. It does not touch the A1, so a motorway jam does not affect it.

The train is also the better choice when the road is bad. If there is a strike affecting taxis, a major event on the Peripherique, or a closure on the A1, the rail line is the more predictable choice.

There are limits. The RER B is crowded at rush hour, the stations have steps, and some stops are a walk from the hotel. On weekend nights the service can be reduced because of engineering work, so check the live timetable before a late landing.

The taxi flat fare

Paris taxis run from CDG on a flat fare set by the authorities. The French government's published tariff lists 56 euros between the airport and the Right Bank, and 65 euros between the airport and the Left Bank, for direct runs. A booking surcharge applies if you reserve the taxi in advance, and a supplement applies from the fifth passenger.

Flat fares remove the meter risk but do not remove the queue, and you cannot choose the vehicle. At busy times the rank can be long, and the quality of the car is whatever arrives. If you want a particular class of vehicle or a certain arrival time, you need to book ahead.

When the private car wins

• Three or more travellers. The cost per person falls, and luggage stays with you.
• Children and older relatives. No platform changes, and a booked child seat.
• Heavy luggage. Shopping trips and fashion trips are heavy on the return leg.
• Late arrivals. After the last trains, or after a delayed long-haul flight, a driver is still waiting.
• Business arrivals. A fixed pickup time and a quiet cabin to take a call.
• Connections to Gare du Nord or Gare de Lyon. A single booking can cover the airport pickup and a drop at the station.

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Reserve your car

Choosing the right vehicle

Paris trips often combine luggage and meetings. For two or three people, the Executive Sedan (Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Cadillac or similar) carries 2 large and 2 cabin bags, and the First Class Sedan (S-Class, BMW 7 Series or similar) gives extra rear legroom for the same number. A family or a team with shopping bags moves to the Luxury SUV (Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon Denali, Chevrolet Suburban or similar): up to 6 passengers with 5 to 6 large bags. Delegations take the Executive Sprinter (Mercedes-Benz Sprinter), up to 12 with 12 bags. Mini-coaches and coaches of 20 to 56 seats, plus Maybach, Rolls-Royce and stretch limousines, are available on request; the exact model is confirmed at booking.

See our fleet page for each class in detail.

Beyond central Paris: Disneyland, Beauvais, Versailles and stations

CDG sits close to a number of other common destinations.

• Disneyland Paris is east of Paris, about 50 km from CDG. Our CDG to Disneyland Paris page covers the route, timing and the park-opening rush.
• Paris Beauvais is the low-cost airport to the north. If you are connecting from there, see Paris Beauvais to Paris.
• Gare de Lyon is the departure point for the south-east and the Alps, and our Gare de Lyon rail transfer page explains the pickup points.
• Versailles and the Loire valley are day trips better handled as hourly limousine hire than as one-way drops.

Distances in this list are approximate and depend on your destination; the booker gives an exact fare once you enter the address.

Timing: when the roads are slowest

Paris traffic has a pattern, and it is predictable.

• Weekday mornings, 7:30 to 10:00: inbound traffic on the A1 and the Peripherique is heavy.
• Weekday evenings, 4:30 to 8:00: outbound traffic is heavy, which matters for departures.
• Friday afternoons and the start of school holidays: much slower than usual.
• Fashion weeks: usually in late February or early March and late September or early October, when the hotels in the central districts are full and the streets are closed for events.
• Night arrivals: the road is quick, though the airport can still be slow to clear.

Early departures need the opposite planning. A 7 am flight from CDG means leaving central Paris around 4:30 to 5 am, when the road is empty and the drive can take 30 to 35 minutes, but few public options are running, so a car is often the only practical way to reach check-in at a sensible hour. Evening departures are the reverse: leave earlier than the clock suggests, because the northbound A1 starts to fill from about 4 pm and the Peripherique can add 20 minutes by itself.

We quote conservative pickup times for departures. A chauffeur collects you earlier than a taxi would, because a missed flight costs more than an extra ten minutes in the lounge.

How the Paris transfer is delivered

A vetted, licensed and commercially insured Paris partner drives your car; the commercial relationship is with the Toronto desk at Onroutz.ca, which books, confirms, supports and invoices the transfer. The result is a single confirmation, a single invoice and a 24/7 contact. Partner vehicles are no more than 4 model years old, or 7 for Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Maybach. Onroutz.ca has no cars or offices of its own in France.

Entry rules for France

As part of the Schengen Area, France admits most US and Canadian visitors visa-free for short stays. The EU's Entry/Exit System for registering non-EU travellers at the border and its ETIAS authorisation are being phased in. Dates have moved before, so check the EU's official page at travel-europe.europa.eu and the airport operator's site, Paris Aeroport, before you fly.

More transfers in France and Europe

Planning a longer trip? See Nice Cote d'Azur for the Riviera, Rome Fiumicino for Italy, and the Amsterdam Schiphol page for the Netherlands. For meet and greet, see meet and greet, and for hotels, hotel transfers. The taxi tariff quoted above is published by the French government at service-public.gouv.fr.