As the most popular tourist destination in the world France is obviously well served by flights from every part of the globe with Air France alone flying from 140+ destinations in over 80 countries. What this means is that Paris airports are amongst the busiest in the world so it can be a bit daunting arriving here after a long-haul flight and having to either get into the city or to continue on to your final destination in the Loire Valley.

You will most probably have arrived at  Paris - Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport, tired, disoriented and wondering how to get to the next stage of your trip.

We have put together some information to hopefully help make your arrival slightly less stressful:

Just landed:

You have just touched down and are about to enter France different language, different culture, a country where you will find many sources of misinformation (however well intentioned), here you will find the official way, the right way and the French way (last two being the same if you are French!) - but don't worry we are here to help and we know you'll enjoy the experience.

You have arrived at 'Aéroport Charles de Gaulle' (CDG), or is that 'Paris-Charles de Gaulle', Roissy Charles de Gaulle? l’Aéroport de Roissy or just plain old Roissy? no matter, you are where you should be! Many people find the airport difficult to negotiate but although it is huge (see map) it is all well signposted in French and English. You'll pass through passport control and customs. If you leave the aircraft in the first group of passengers you should expect to get through immigration fairly quickly but allow yourself anything from 10 mins to 1hour.

Then its on to baggage reclamation - you can expect to wait around half an hour at the carousel  - there's a lot of bags going through here!  After collecting your bags you head through customs  - normally only random checks are done here so stroll confidently through! After customs you’ll exit into the general area of Charles de Gaulle Airport where you can  make your way to Paris or another destination.

For onward travel to the Loire Valley

Where to next?

If you are catching a train to the Loire Valley:

There are two train stations (Gare) at the airport, 'Aeroport Charles de Gaulle1at Terminal 3/ Roissypole for the RER regional train into Paris and 'Aeroport Charles de Gaulle 2 - TGV' within terminal 2 for both regional (RER) trains and TGV.

If you are travelling directly to one of the cities/towns of the Loire Valley* and have chosen the TGV as your choice of transport what you need to do is to make your way to the train station (Gare) 'Aeroport Charles de Gaulle 2 - TGV' within terminal 2. This is for both regional trains (RER) and TGV trains.

*We would suggest the train option then pick up your hire car at your Loire Valley destination rather than picking up a hire car from CDG and driving around Paris unless you really want the experience!