Help with Flights & Accommodation in Paris!

clumsyklutz

Hi all,
Boyfriend has told me that Paris is on the agenda for my birthday pressie (feel so lucky!), however I have to do all the legwork :P.

I have located flights with Ryanair (Beauvais - not really Paris, I know!) from November 29 - December 3, for €37.00 a head return, with our €13.00 each way tickets which adds up to €63.00 per person return, so if there are better deals out there with less travelling, I'd be really delighted to hear it! I really don't fancy getting off a plane and onto a bus for an hour and a half!

Also, if anybody could recommend accomodation for reasonable prices, I'd love to know, (not hostels though, as boyfriend refuses to stay in them!).
Any other information would be of great help too

Thanks

JohnMearsheimer

Try Skyscanner for flights but I'd say you won't really get them much cheaper than you've already found.

Try Priceline or Hotwire for a hotel. I recently booked a 4 star hotel in Amsterdam (in the city centre) on Priceline for €240 that would have been €640 had I booked it on hotels.com or booking.com.

clumsyklutz

JohnMearsheimer wrote: »

Try Skyscanner for flights but I'd say you won't really get them much cheaper than you've already found.

Try Priceline or Hotwire for a hotel. I recently booked a 4 star hotel in Amsterdam (in the city centre) on Priceline for €240 that would have been €640 had I booked it on hotels.com or booking.com.

Wow! That's quite a saving! I'll take a look this evening and see what I can find. Thanks for the tip

Lapin

clumsyklutz wrote: »

I really don't fancy getting off a plane and onto a bus for an hour and a half!

It doesn't take an hour and a half. The timetable has it as that to allow for delays and more often than not it takes less than an hour.

When you consider the long walks in CDG and the time it takes to get from there into Paris, there really isn't much difference in the journey times from airport to town.

At least in Beauvais when you step off the plane you can be sitting on the bus in less than two minutes.

I'd snap up the Ryanair flights at that price right away. You'll only be in the air for just over an hour and probably get to the arrivals stand in Beauvais before your scheduled arrival time.

At the crowded CDG incoming flights are often stacked in a holding pattern prior to landing and then have to wait on the ground for a slot at the arrivals stand to become vacant.

munchkin_utd

another problem with CDG can be that you are there queuing for a train ticket for an age so even that part of the journey can take a while even if the train is a litter quicker once you are (eventually) on it.

Regarding accomodation, check out accorhotels.com as they have some budget chains that are very reasonable and sometimes the nicer hotels can also be on discount. The only important criteria is that its near a metro station and once it is then you can get anywhere about town on a single metro ticket.

clumsyklutz

Lapin wrote: »

It doesn't take an hour and a half. The timetable has it as that to allow for delays and more often than not it takes less than an hour.

When you consider the long walks in CDG and the time it takes to get from there into Paris, there really isn't much difference in the journey times from airport to town.

At least in Beauvais when you step off the plane you can be sitting on the bus in less than two minutes.

I'd snap up the Ryanair flights at that price right away. You'll only be in the air for just over an hour and probably get to the arrivals stand in Beauvais before your scheduled arrival time.

At the crowded CDG incoming flights are often stacked in a holding pattern prior to landing and then have to wait on the ground for a slot at the arrivals stand to become vacant.

Grand I was thinking that Ryanair always over estimate their flight time so they can blare that stupid music at the end of the flight!! I've often landed over a half hour early!

That's good to know about the bus though. Where would you buy the tickets for that? Seems like you've been to Paris before, any recomendations?

clumsyklutz

munchkin_utd wrote: »

another problem with CDG can be that you are there queuing for a train ticket for an age so even that part of the journey can take a while even if the train is a litter quicker once you are (eventually) on it.

Regarding accomodation, check out accorhotels.com as they have some budget chains that are very reasonable and sometimes the nicer hotels can also be on discount. The only important criteria is that its near a metro station and once it is then you can get anywhere about town on a single metro ticket.

Grand thanks , I'll check them out asap

keithclancy

CDG is probably the worst Airport in Europe.

clumsyklutz

keithclancy wrote: »

CDG is probably the worst Airport in Europe.

That bad eh?

enda1

CDG is grand I've always found :S

The bus from Beauvais however is €16/person/direction, not €3. So add €12 to your total.
It goes to Porte Maillot which more than likely will not be where you're staying. Try find somewhere to stay on the metro lines which connect to Porte Maillot perhaps to save some journey time. (RER C, RER A, and Ligne 1) RER is like the DART, a commuter train but with common ticketing with the rest of the metropolitan network.

clumsyklutz

enda1 wrote: »

CDG is grand I've always found :S

The bus from Beauvais however is €16/person/direction, not €3. So add €12 to your total.
It goes to Porte Maillot which more than likely will not be where you're staying. Try find somewhere to stay on the metro lines which connect to Porte Maillot perhaps to save some journey time. (RER C, RER A, and Ligne 1) RER is like the DART, a commuter train but with common ticketing with the rest of the metropolitan network.

Ah the last thread I read on it said it was €13.00, typical Ryanair putting up the prices! Still works out ten times cheaper than any nearest competitor (Aer Lingus - why so dear :P). We'll be flying out at 19:40 our time on a Friday evening and arriving at what they say is 22:15 (but with Ryanair, probably before 22:00!) will the RER still be running by the time we get out there?

LooksLikeRain

I regularly visit paris for work and to visit relations. Overall, I prefer the Beauvais option as it is more relaxing once you get off the plane. You land in a field and collect your bags in a tent and hop on the waiting bus to paris centre.
In CDG there is always queuing and waiting and hoping your bag arrives. Then getting train tickets to Gard du nord and then changing to metro. For a long weekend CDG can be exhausting and time consuming,especailly if you do not know the routine.

Most hotel rooms in paris are small or very small or very very very small. There will be a trade off in hotel price with location and facilites. Hotels with gym, swimming pools are pricey and trend to be further out from the center.

Below is the hotel where I noramlly stay. It is clean and does a reasonabale breakfast, by french standards, not German.
It located near the Champs elysee and most toursist sights are only a metro trip away.

please dont tell to many about this place
http://www.hotel-atala.com/fr/index.html

If you book with hotel directly they will include breakfast if you ask (normally € 20)
You can walk from port maillot to hotel or get the metro or taxi (about €7)
Main tip would be to use the metro and plan your trips around the metro.

Rainer

Lapin

clumsyklutz wrote: »

That's good to know about the bus though. Where would you buy the tickets for that? Seems like you've been to Paris before, any recomendations?

Yep, I lived in Paris for a while and go back there about 4 times a year.
I always stay with friends so can't really offer advice on hotels.

The bus from Beauvais into town is now €16 each way. Bit pricey but still good value for the convienence it offers.

There is a kiosk outside the terminal where the busses depart selling tickets.

Its worth noting that your bus ticket is valid on any bus.

This is particularly handy to know for your return bus from Paris back to the airport.

Busses depart 3 hours and 15 minutes before your flight departure time, but you don't have to take that particular bus.

If there is another one leaving an hour later to connect with a flight to Rome, Bucharest etc, you can jump on that.

Just make sure you are back in Beauvais at least an hour before your flight if you don't have bags to ckeck in.

Here is a reply I sent to someone on Boards about a year ago on the same subject.

Shuttle busses to Beauvais leave from a Gare Routiere opposite the Hotel Concorde L Fayette at Porte Maillot.

They depart 3 hours 15 minutes before your scheduled flight time.
You don't have to take the bus connecting with the Dublin flight.

If you are checking in online and if there is a Ryanair flight leaving Beauvais at 10.30, (for example), there will be a bus leaving paris to connect with it at 07.15, You could jump on this one instead if you want an extra hour in bed and an hour less hanging around the airport.
Worth looking into.

Porte Maillot is handy enough to get to from Chatelet. Straight run on Line 1 towards La Defence, (9 stops).


As I said, I don't know much about hotels in Paris, but if you want suggestions about pubs and restaurants let me know !

clumsyklutz

LooksLikeRain wrote: »

I regularly visit paris for work and to visit relations. Overall, I prefer the Beauvais option as it is more relaxing once you get off the plane. You land in a field and collect your bags in a tent and hop on the waiting bus to paris centre.

Is it really that small? :O, and I thought Biarritz airport was bad!

clumsyklutz

Lapin wrote: »

Yep, I lived in Paris for a while and go back there about 4 times a year.
I always stay with friends so can't really offer advice on hotels.

The bus from Beauvais into town is now €16 each way. Bit pricey but still good value for the convienence it offers.

There is a kiosk outside the terminal where the busses depart selling tickets.

Its worth noting that your bus ticket is valid on any bus.

This is particularly handy to know for your return bus from Paris back to the airport.

Busses depart 3 hours and 15 minutes before your flight departure time, but you don't have to take that particular bus.

If there is another one leaving an hour later to connect with a flight to Rome, Bucharest etc, you can jump on that.

Just make sure you are back in Beauvais at least an hour before your flight if you don't have bags to ckeck in.

Here is a reply I sent to someone on Boards about a year ago on the same subject.

Shuttle busses to Beauvais leave from a Gare Routiere opposite the Hotel Concorde L Fayette at Porte Maillot.

They depart 3 hours 15 minutes before your scheduled flight time.
You don't have to take the bus connecting with the Dublin flight.

If you are checking in online and if there is a Ryanair flight leaving Beauvais at 10.30, (for example), there will be a bus leaving paris to connect with it at 07.15, You could jump on this one instead if you want an extra hour in bed and an hour less hanging around the airport.
Worth looking into.

Porte Maillot is handy enough to get to from Chatelet. Straight run on Line 1 towards La Defence, (9 stops).


As I said, I don't know much about hotels in Paris, but if you want suggestions about pubs and restaurants let me know !

Thanks so much for all this information! It'd be great if you could recommend a nice restaurant , big foodies here!

OkayWhatever

Would you consider Air B'n'B?

I used it to get accom for Paris a few months back and found it great. I could PM you a link to where I stayed if you're interested?