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Travel to Paris

Flying to Paris

There are very few airlines that don’t fly to Paris from London. There are dozens of flights a day from Gatwick, Heathrow, London City and the provincial international airports. The main airlines offering flights to Paris are Air France and British Airways. The principal airport is Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), but there’s the smaller Orly (ORY) airport too. Given the competition, cheap flights to Paris can easily be found. Peak season is May to September, with July and August being the busiest. Flights to Paris from London take just over one hour.

Flight times: 

From London - 1 hour 10 minutes; New York - 7 hours; Los Angeles - 10 hours 30 minutes; Toronto - 7 hours and 20 minutes; Sydney - 23 hours 30 minutes.

Travel by road

Summary:

Traffic in Paris drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years. Speed limits are 130kph (80mph) on motorways, 110kph (68mph) on dual carriageways, 90kph (56mph) outside built-up areas and 50kph (30mph) in built-up areas. A national driving licence, the car's registration document and a red warning triangle must be carried at all times, or the driver is liable for a fine.

EU nationals taking their own cars to France are strongly advised to obtain a Green Card, without which insurance cover is limited to the legal minimum. All headlamp beams must be adjusted for right-side driving by use of beam deflectors or by tilting the headlamp bulb-holder.

The Automobile Club de France (tel: 01 4055 4300; www.automobile-club.org) can provide information and might offer reciprocal benefits to members of automobile clubs in other countries.

Emergency breakdown service:

Auto Charonne Dépannage (tel: 01 4024 0329) - on motorways, dial 112.

Routes:

The Anglo-French Eurotunnel shuttle services allow drivers and passengers of cars and coaches to cross the Channel Tunnel (journey time - 35 minutes) from Kent in Southern England to Nord-Pas-de-Calais in Northern France. Tickets are available for purchase at check-in on the day of travel or pre-booked with Eurotunnel (tel: 0844 879 7379, in the UK; www.eurotunnel.com). Alternatively, there are numerous daily sea crossings to France.

From Boulogne (near Calais), the A16 leads directly into Paris. The E19 motorway leads from Brussels into Paris (via the A2 and A1). Lille is linked to Paris via the A1. The N10 leads from Bordeaux to Paris, while from Marseille, drivers should take the A7 to Lyon, after which the A6 leads north to Paris.

Driving times:

From Lille - 2 hours 30 minutes; Brussels - 3 hours 30 minutes; London - 5 hours (excluding the Channel crossing); Bordeaux - 6 hours; Marseille - 7 hours 30 minutes.

Coaches:

The majority of international coaches arrive and depart from the main coach station, Gare Routière Internationale Paris-Gallieni, at Bagnolet, 20th. Reservations can be made with Eurolines (tel: 0892 899 091; www.eurolines.fr), with links to Paris from Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London, Rome and many other European destinations.

Travel by rail

Services:

Paris is served by six major stations - Gare du Nord, rue Dunkerque, 10th, Gare de l'Est, Place du 8 Mai 1945, 10th, Gare St-Lazare, place du Havre, 8th, Gare de Lyon, place Louis-Armand, 12th, Gare Montparnasse, boulevard de Vaugirard, 15th, and Gare d'Austerlitz, boulevard de l'Hôpital, 13th.

Gare du Nord is the French terminus of the international Eurostar train that runs from London Saint Pancras. Thalys's services from Brussels Bruxelles-Midi also terminate here. Eurostar also runs from London Saint Pancras to Disneyland Paris.

Operators:

Eurostar (tel: 0843 218 6186, in the UK; www.eurostar.com) runs high-speed trains to Paris from London. Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer (SNCF) (tel: 0892 353 535; www.sncf.com) is the national railway service, which is fast, efficient and generally reliable. A state-of-the-art high speed railway network (the TGV) spreads out from Paris to most major French cities, including Lyon and Marseille.

Information on the French rail network is available directly from SNCF or from Rail Europe in the UK (tel: 0844 848 4064, in the UK; www.raileurope.co.uk).

Journey times:

From London - 2 hours 20 minutes; Brussels - 1 hour 30 minutes; Nice - 5 hours 30 minutes; Lille - 1 hour; Marseille - 3 hours.

Travel over water

Summary:

The most convenient ports to Paris from Britain all lie on France’s northern seaboard and include St-Malo, Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre and Dieppe.

Ferry services:

The following companies run regular cross-channel ferries. Brittany Ferries (tel: 0871 244 0744, in the UK; www.brittany-ferries.com) operate services from Plymouth to Roscoff, from Poole to Cherbourg and from Portsmouth to St-Malo and Caen.

Condor Ferries (tel: 0845 609 1024, in the UK; www.condorferries.co.uk) operate from Poole, Weymouth, Jersey and Guernsey to St-Malo, and from Portsmouth to Cherbourg. P&O Ferries (tel: 0871 664 2121, in the UK; www.poferries.com) sail from Dover to Calais and from Portsmouth to Cherbourg and Le Havre, while Hoverspeed (tel: 0844 847 5029, in the UK; www.hoverspeed.com) offers fast hovercraft services from Dover to Calais and from Newhaven to Dieppe.

Transport to the city:

The best way for travellers to reach Paris from the ferry ports is by car or by rail.

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