Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Worst Airport Winner
Lasting Impressions....
"the guy at the counter said that he would not speak to us because we had the wrong attitude and he would only speak with the passengers with the right attitude." - agatek
"The washrooms were dirty and had a really rank smell, like urine left in a toilet bowl for weeks on end." (Katman)
"Before my departure I found this web site and got an awful fright to read what lousy opinions people had of CDG. It nearly made me change my tickets and go via another city." (sebastian)
"all the terminals were full of homeless people who smelled bad, touched themselves in inappropriate places" (briggew)
"I was propositioned not once but twice by the same man asking me for casual sex, which was understandably a little frightening for a lone 20 year old woman wandering the airport at night"
"So many other review of CD'G were negative--but honestly, our experience was great!" (?)
"it was very hot, felt like we were in a greenhouse. " (Black Lark)
"Want to live dangerously? Travel via CDG! Want to live even more dangerously? Order a meal at the filthy food-court underground at the old terminal." (?)
"We moved several times because of homeless people bothering us and other travelers mocking us" (Michael)
"I didn't sleep in this airport (phewwwww) but i just had the urge to say that it's the ugliest, dirtiest, noisiest and messiest (if this word exists) airport in the world." (Sassenach)
"My luggage has gotten lost their several times, probably about 1 in 3 visits. " (Andrea)
"The airport looks like a throw back to the 70s with tiles and orange (stained) carpet. there is a stench of feces and b.o. so rank it nearly knocked me down." (?)
"Our wait was more than 5 hours and I could not believe the filth from hell, the bathrooms were worse than some I have seen in Africa! Smell of Urines all over the floor, feces on the walls, toilet papers all over the place, rude french workers. " (Baron Kodjo)
"I never imagined an airport in Europe could be so Crappy. Its the dirtiest airport I have ever set foot in. Airports in Third world countries are much better than this piece of crap." (Sarah B)
"The worst major airport in the developed world!!! Period. Bar none. The facility like the people are rude arrogant, indifferent and more than a little spiteful. Looking back on my experience though I've come to fully understand that CDG is an airport that Parisians actually deserve."
"I couldn't sit on the metal benches for too long because this caused a lot of pain. You get better treatment and a more hygienic facility in a Third World airport than in Paris. France's CDG displays the appearance of a Third World airport something you might find in Sudan or some other African nation."
"I'm just writing down to express all the shame and anger I feel, as a French citizen, towards all the foreigners who have to come across Roissy CDG." (Claude Bahout)
"So many so called employees are happily wandering with colleagues in this airport, doing nothing! I would love to kick their ass." (Claude Bahout)
"This is the worst airport I have ever been in (and I have been to the Bombay airport, so you can imagine)." (?)
"got booted by security from the one place that didn't suck. " (?)
"There are some homeless people but they were really peaceful!" (James)
Good times
by shiv666
I had a 7 hour stopover on my journey from toronto to delhi. I arrived in the 2a terminal and i took a shuttle bus over to 2b. The shuttle bus ride was kind of fun since it uses a little network of service roads between terminals and there's allot of activity there even at 5am. If you want to smoke you have to pretty much leave the transit area, canadians don't need visas to enter france so it was no big deal. Lots of shops to choose from on the airside and on the public side. The corner stores were open but other shops started opening around 6. Nice food at the cafe on the airside. The seating was comfy but they had arm rests so you could not really lie across them, later on our gate got crowded so we just walked towards the emptier end and found plenty of space. All the staff at the airport seemed friendly. I've heard horror stories from people who transited there before me but my transit was pretty smooth. I heard that the staff and security there are very rude but everybody i met was nice...-1 for the armrests on the seats...
Not a bad place, but not great either
by iq
I have had the dreadful horror of having to use Paris CDG a number of times - I always end up at Terminal 2, which is an ultramodern construction, but always overcrowded. Add Air France together with CDG and you have a disastrous experience. Paradoxically, while security is very friendly and helpful, every other airport staff and Air France representatives are unbelievably rude and unhelpful. To find your way in the terminal is hopeless. Some signs point in the wrong direction - not very helpful when two passport officers have to check hundreds of passports, and they are not very efficient. They talk and laugh amongst themselves while passenger reach the boiling point. It always takes me an hour or more to pass this passport control. By then of course your connecting flight has left, and you have to face uninterested Air France staff who show little sympathy and are only barely willing to help you. Rest assured you will stand in line here as well - I stood and waited for nearly 2 hours to get some help. What help did I get? ... a flight to a city I did not originate from, and to make my way from there to home, was according to Air France, "not their concern".
CDG is the worst airport I have ever been too. I avoid it like the plague. If you must use it and will connect to another flight, be sure to have at least 3 hours between especially if the flight is a European one. better still, avoid CDG.It is a marvel of confusion, crowdedness, hostility and stress.
Um, you may want to rethink sleeping in this place
by Yag
Seriously people, why would you even try and sleep in an airport in Paris? You know hospitality is not our strong point... why would you expect anything in a place where you're not even supposed to sleep in the first place? Of course, Paris' airport is uncomfortable and full of hostile ground staff and cleaning personel; not to mention the police, homeless and random thieves. Just take the subway to central Paris (45mn) and sleep in a park. It's not any cleaner or safer, but it's... well, green.
Airport Guide
Here is some information that we've picked out of from your reviews. Be sure to read the reviews on the next page for the most up-to-date info:
- terminal 2 is newer and suppose to be the better terminal (clean and no homeless people) - Go there!!!, reports of free Sony Playstations, semi reclining chairs and sleeping pods, free WiFi in terminal F.
- bucket seats with armrests
- cold metal benches
- no seats at some boarding gates
- hot and humid
- washrooms smell
- staff are rude and unpleasant
- frequent announcements
- filthy washrooms
- noisy
- homeless people
- frequent announcements
- a few couches in transit area
- WiFi
