Leaving the airport on layovers

I know this is crazy but I have never left an airport during a layover. Mostly because I avoid long layovers like the plague.

I might have a 8 hour layover in CDG. Any pitfalls or things to think about if I want to go into Paris and have lunch?

Where would be your luggage?

You can get to Bordeaux and back in 8 hours.




:wink:

I did this at CDG about two years ago, also an 8 hour layover, coming from San Francisco and continuing on to Johannesburg, flying Air France business. If you are on the same airline you should be able to check your luggage through and will not have to deal with it at all.

We had fairly large carry-ons in addition to our checked bags. We wasted half an hour trying to find luggage lockers in CDG to store the carry-ons (I forget if they were out of order or inaccessible, but I wouldn’t count on being able to use them). The biggest inconvenience was having the carry-ons with us to walk around in Paris and take to dinner, so I’d travel with as little carry-on luggage as possible.

Otherwise it worked well and we were very happy to get a great dinner at Le Châteaubriand. We deliberately chose a restaurant closer to CDG in the 11th and checked on the traffic back to the airport an hour before we planned to call an Uber; we also took comfort in having the fast passes (I think called Acces No 1?) that Air France gives you in business to skip airport lines. But overall we had more than enough time and, even after the delay looking for luggage lockers, had over an hour to kill in Paris before dinner and some time in the lounge in CDG before the second flight. Obvious caveat is that this was pre-COVID.

I’ve done it in Paris once and in London and LA several times. If you know your way around, which you do, and are focused in your plans, then it’s easy. I recommend having a backup travel plan (taxi vs train vs bus, whatever) in case one turns out not to be functioning or there’s terrible traffic. I usually err on the side of public trans because, though that might be longer, it’s more reliable.

All that said, it’s not for the easily stressed.

Ah yes…now that you mention it I did sorta do it in LA once but it was due to a flight to Australia being postponed until the morning. I will not have any luggage so that is easy.

So, having been in Paris during a gas strike, an air traffic controller strike and…a public transportation strike, don’t cut it too close. Strikes happen in Paris all the time. Sometimes for an hour or two, sometimes longer.

Sometimes just eight hours. :wink:

We did in Hawaii, went for lunch. When we flew in we were stuck in the commuter terminal for 6 hours waiting for a connection. No way we were repeating that.

In most situations, I’d suggest getting a room, freshening up, having a snooze and enjoying feeling a lot better on the next leg.

The alternative often sounds better than it is:

  • You can’t be certain the plane will land on time and how long it will take to clear immigration / customs etc.
  • You’ll be tired after the flight (and the associated grind through two airports)
  • You’ve then got to get from airport to city. A taxi the best option, but can be pricey.
  • If you don’t know the stopover city, then you’ll barely get your bearings before having to return
  • You’ll be watching the clock, wondering what time you have to go to be able to clear passport control etc.

All of this means it’s one of the worst ways to experience a city. If that’s your first visit there, you risk doing the city a dis-service and coming away unimpressed. Best to have a very limited and precise agenda/expectation and be very clear on how you’ll achieve this.

The closest I’ve got to this, was flying into Bologna in the morning, on the way to Ferrara (by train). Rather than heading straight there, we pitched up near the criss-cross of little foodie streets between Piazza Nettuno and le due torri. My partner sat down with a coffee and something to eat (and the bags) whilst I picked up some nice food for the train trip, plus some ground and a few other things to eat when we were there. The positive for this was I knew this part of the city reasonably well, we had a little time to kill, and I had modest expectations. It worked well because I didn’t try to overstretch.

I trick I learned is nearly no hotel concierge actually knows if you are staying there. Just check your bags at any random nice hotel and give them a tip.

Also for airports with carrier lounges, you can buy day passes.

Did it in London a while back coming home from J’Berg. Had 12 hours to play with. As it was a return flight I had nearly everything checked and only valuables in a carry on knapsack… checked luggage was checked through… carry on was easily carried.

Showered at the airport on landing, took Heathrow Express into the city, had a pub lunch, went a museum and got back to Heathrow in time for a few drinks before a red eye home.

Some good ideas in this thread! Thank you all.

Done it in LHR and in BCN (last year), each with 7 to 8 hour layover.

For CDG, if I were to do it and would do it with 8 hours to kill, the less stressful way is RER rather than a cab/Uber. Only because I feel that the published transfer time is more reliable than anything by roadways. The RER is at T-2B in CDG. Gare du Nord, Chatelet and Saint Michel are the first 3 stops in Paris. 30 minutes take you to Chatelet. From there, you know your way around to wherever you want to go and then catch the airport-bound RER at designated stations.

If you still want to try RER, here are the schedules/stops: Charles de Gaulle airport to & from Paris by train RER B - Paris Aéroport

We’ve done this. 8-10 hour layover from DFW to London Heathrow to Cape Town, South Africa. Worked great. Checked our bags all the way through to SA so we nothing to carry around London. Took the Heathrow Express into Paddington and switch to the Tube so we could get anywhere we wanted. Walked St James park. Saw Buckingham Palace (outside only), Toured Westminster Abbey. Saw the Eye of London. Had a nice lunch of fish and chips instead of airport food. Definitely worth the minor effort.

So this ended up being super easy. We landed at 8:20 a.m. Sunday in Paris from Copenhagen. The airport was dead and there was no traffic. We were in Paris by 9:00. We had coffee, walked around the Marais and waited for Les Enfants du Marche to open at 12:00. I figured we would have to leave by 12:30 for a 3:20 but then we found out that there was a Marathon and traffic was heavy in certain parts of Paris. I texted the chef while we were relaxing in the the nearby park and he said come right over and he started cooking for us around 10:30 a.m. We had a wonderful meal and were in an Uber by 12:10 and had zero trouble getting to the airport for a 3:20 flight! It was actually the slowest I have ever seen CDG. Needless to say we were very happy on the flight to NYC!

Sounds awesome!

I don’t bother texting chef’s anymore. I just go to their house and ring their doorbell. They usually call the cops, but occasionally they will invite me in and cook for me. champagne.gif

Before anyone takes offense, I’m teasing.

:grin:

We did this on a long layover at CDG - four of us went to Guy Savoy for lunch. 100% worth it to share that experience with my aunt and uncle. Carryons went with us to the restaurant - everything else was checked through to our final destination. No issues.