Paris CDG Airport

The place is an homage to aesthetic design but does not work in practice. Everywhere takes an age to get to. Getting from outlying lounges to the railway station is a nightmare. The food range is terrible and pokey subterranean cafes close by the departure gates are laughable serving a poor range and poor standard of food at ridiculous prices. French cuisine - you should hang your head in shame. Customer friendly - no. The place is too warm especially in the summer months. If you have less than 1hour 30 minutes to get from one plane to another you have no chance with immigration / security. Even if you make your plane chances are your luggage will not.

I flew from Chicago to Tel Aviv via Paris. Since Air France was having problems at O'hare the flight was delayed and I missed the connecting flight to Tel Aviv. I had to pass seven hours at CDG Airport but found it to be clean and employees very friendly. I was given a free card to call my family in Israel to tell them I was coming on the next flight as well as a voucher for food. I wasn't happy about having missed my connection but this wasn't the airport's fault. On my way back to Chicago I had very little time to make my connection and the line at the security checkpoint was long but it went pretty fast. What irked me a little bit was that just before entering the plane my bags were turned inside out and checked again - this after I had just gone through security. What could I have possibly accrued during the several minutes between here and there?

Definitely the worst European airport I have come through. Signposting is fine everything else is terrible. It's incredible that they board a number of intercontinental flights out of 2A-D which is the worst part of terminal two - no A/C not enough seats hundreds of people have to queue where all other pax need to pass to find their gates etc. 2E+F are a little cleaner more modern and slightly more comfortable. 2G is a joke they should call it terminal 4 since it has nothing to do with the terminal 2 building. Security procedures are slow. It's a kind of lottery how much time it will cost and if the airport staff is able to communicate in English. Meanwhile it's guaranteed that nobody will assist you in a friendly manner - except for some airline staff if you're lucky. Shopping and food is very poor in any concourse.

Terminal 2D is obsolete flows are confused (arrival and departure passengers flows mix in the terminal) no air conditioning and it was very hot on the end of May pity the poor passengers that will fly in July. Not enough room not enough toilets safety check is long very few eating possibilities in the terminal and the waiting rooms (after safety) are crowded with no shops not enough seating. The ceilings are low building is not clean at all. Boarding bone by Bus. When we came in we had to wait for more than 30 minutes to get our baggage. Flew from 2E also it is slightly better.

The worst airport I've seen. We used Terminal I. Never ending queues. It took us more than two hours to check-in. Afterwards we were such in a hurry that my daughter left her shoulder bag and a mobile phone before the passport control. We were asking for help of the airport staff to get it back. Nobody did anything to help us. Neither we were allowed to leave the security- check area and go and pick up the bag. Although we finally spent a while at the security check (another experience I just don't want to remember). One of the CDG emploees told us to forget about the bag and there was no chance we get it back. Have never seen such unfriendly attitude. It's a pity this is the only way for us to get to Paris.

Transfer from 2E (arrival from JFK) to gate 2F (departure to AMS) lasted more than 45 minutes only walking & doing safety & customs procedures (20 minutes) excluded! How can both Air France as KLM give me only 60 minutes within their schedules to transfer?

Transfering from 2D to 2F on a Sunday mid-morning - fine. Inbound and outbound were both Air France flights. Walked between the two - signposting worked OK for me. Didn't look for transfer bus. Passport queue when going into 2F but I was in "business" line so was quicker than would have been otherwise. Only one immigration booth open though! Business lounge in 2F was full - no seats available. Gloomy place. Flew back into 2E on a Saturday afternoon no queue for immigration - several officials on duty. Walked to 2D - signposting OK. Business lounge far better located at level above main concourse - lighter more relaxing than that in 2F. No shower facilities - having just flown in from Brazil I felt as though I needed one! Lady at desk said that shower facilities only available in 2C lounge. Security through to boarding gate areas - slow could definitely be more efficient/effective. Boarding area concourse crowded - insufficient space for all passengers.

Arrival in CDG terminal 1 (star alliance) was okay as we arrived within Schengen area and had no passport control to go through and travelling only with hand luggage. The real problems started on departure. Swissport as the handling agent for Swiss was extremely unfriendly staff a mixture of rudeness and total incompetence. Security executed by another company also could have done a better job with processes that are definitely 3 years behind up-to-date standards. Shops are overpriced and facilities could have been cleaner. All this combined with an outdated airport layout of terminal 1 (nobody's fault) and with recent renovation work done that shows no real positive effect makes this wonderful city of Paris a place to visit rather by train than air especially when you travel within Europe.

Arrived at 2C and departed 2B the next day. Immigration was OK but had to wait 45 minutes for bags at 8pm. Shuttle to an extremely expensive Airport Hotel was OK as was the return. 2B is a dreadful terminal with uncomfortable seating an incomprehensible sound system and toilets your couldn't get your luggage trolley into. In Departures Duty Free seemed OK on selection and price but the restaurants/bars were very basic and quite expensive. The Gate Areas weren't air conditioned (or it wasn't working) and although it wasn't a particularly warm day the atmosphere was stifling and very uncomfortable. Not a good experience - it's been a few years since I've been through CDG and hopefully it'll be at least that long again before I have to use the place.

Arrived at terminal 2F departing from the same terminal. We unloaded and had to go through security again to get to the departures concourse - strange. Security was very slow. Terminal airside with lots of room but not enough bathrooms were available. Food limited and was very expensive. On the return we had to change terminals from 2C to 2F. Our bags were checked through and bus transfer was quick and easy. Security this time was much faster at terminal 2F. This time the Friday morning was busy and huge lines of people at gates took up all the walking space in the terminal which I thought would burst with all the people! Staff were fine but didn't go out of their way to make anyone feel welcome. I think if you're connecting on Air France the key airline at CDG you are fine as they seem to rule this airport!