Paris is served by three airports of very different usefulness, and from the UK it is also served by a train that beats flying on both time and money once you count the whole journey.
The three airports
| Airport | Distance | To centre | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles de Gaulle | 25 km | 35 min RER B | €11.80 |
| Orly | 13 km | ~30 min (M14) | €10–11.50 |
| Beauvais | 85 km | 75–90 min coach | €17 each way |
Beauvais is not a Paris airport in any practical sense. A €25 fare into it is a €59 journey once the return coach is added, plus roughly three hours of transfer. The coach is also tied to flight times, so a delay leaves you waiting.
Compare that honestly against a €55 fare into CDG before deciding which is cheap.
The regulated taxi fare
Worth knowing because it removes a risk rather than saving money.
Official taxis from CDG charge a regulated flat fare — around €56 to the Right Bank, €65 to the Left — fixed regardless of traffic, time of day or number of passengers up to four. From Orly it is about €36 and €44.
This means a taxi cannot be inflated by a slow route, and it means anyone approaching you inside the terminal offering a metered or negotiated ride is not an official taxi. Use the marked rank.
With two people and luggage, the flat fare against two RER tickets plus a Métro change is a reasonable trade.
From the UK: the Eurostar arithmetic
| Eurostar | Budget flight | |
|---|---|---|
| Fare, booked ahead | £45–80 | £25–45 |
| Transfers both ends | None | £20–35 |
| Checked bag | Included, generous | £25–50 |
| Door-to-door time | ~3h | ~4h |
Booked three to eight weeks ahead, the train wins on total cost and reliably wins on total time. The flight only makes sense on a very cheap fare with hand luggage only.
Eurostar fares rise steeply close to departure, so the advantage disappears if you book late.
When to go
Cheapest: January to March excluding school holidays, and November. Paris in February is cold, quiet and functional, and the museums are at their best without queues.
Best value: late April to June, September to October.
Worst: mid-August, which combines high visitor prices with a city where many restaurants and small shops close for the French holiday. You get peak pricing and reduced city life simultaneously.
Once you are there
Paris is compact — walking across the centre takes about 45 minutes — and the Métro covers the rest at flat fares inside the city.
Buy a carnet of ten tickets or load a Navigo Easy card rather than singles. The weekly Navigo Découverte is better value for a Monday-to-Sunday stay with heavy use, but it runs on calendar weeks rather than from your arrival, so a midweek-to-midweek trip wastes half of it.
Two habits worth having: greet with bonjour before asking anything, and note that café prices differ between standing at the bar and sitting at a table, which is legal and posted. An espresso at €1.20 standing can be €6 seated on a square.