Paris Airports Compared: CDG vs ORY vs BVA
Paris splits three ways: CDG is the long-haul mega-hub 25 km northeast — 235 recorded destinations across roughly 96 carriers in our snapshot — Orly (ORY) is the closer, smoother field south of the city with 113 recorded destinations on about 26 carriers, and Beauvais (BVA) is a low-cost field 85 km north that markets itself to Paris with 59 recorded destinations on about 4 carriers. The flat €14 airport ticket and the RER B versus Métro 14 split decide your first hour.
Paris Airports Compared: CDG vs ORY vs BVA: questions people actually ask
How many airports does Paris have?
Three commercial airports: Charles de Gaulle (CDG) northeast, Orly (ORY) south, and Beauvais (BVA) 85 km north — the last one marketed as “Paris” by low-cost carriers.
How much is the train from CDG to Paris?
The RER B runs to Gare du Nord in about 35 minutes and Châtelet in 40–50, on the flat €14 airport ticket that also covers onward connections. Taxis are flat-rated: about €56 Right Bank, €65 Left Bank.
Which Paris airport is cheapest to fly into?
Beauvais usually, on low-cost fares — but the 80–90 minute coach transfer is the price. Orly often wins the true door-to-door comparison for European trips.
Is Beauvais airport in Paris?
No — it is 85 km north in a different department. The official coach takes 80–90 minutes to Porte Maillot, which is the transfer cost its low fares must beat.
CDG — Charles de Gaulle: the mega-hub
CDG is one of Europe’s two or three great connecting hubs: our route database records around 235 destinations served by roughly 96 carriers — Air France’s entire long-haul operation plus every major world carrier. It sits 25 km northeast of the city, spread across three terminal clusters, and its size is the hidden first-day cost: allow time inside the airport itself.
The transfer is the RER B: from the T2 station (T1/T3 by free shuttle) to Gare du Nord in about 35 minutes, Châtelet in 40–50 — on the flat €14 airport ticket that covers the airport leg and onward connections within Île-de-France. Taxis charge flat rates under the official scheme: about €56 to the Right Bank, €65 to the Left Bank. The structural bonus: a full TGV station at T2 means Lyon, Bordeaux, Brussels or Amsterdam without entering Paris at all.
Choose CDG when: flying long-haul or full-service, continuing by TGV from the in-terminal station, or comparing the widest set of fares.
ORY — Orly: the smooth southern field
Orly handles the European and Mediterranean waves — our snapshot records 113 destinations on about 26 carriers, from Air France’s domestic shuttles to easyJet’s base — and since Métro 14 reached the airport it has become the easiest arrival in the region: one automatic metro line, about 20–25 minutes to the centre-east (Bercy, Gare de Lyon side) on the same €14 airport ticket.
The airport is smaller, immigration is quicker on average, and the taxi flat rates run €36–44 to the Left or Right Bank. For a European city break staying on the Rive Gauche, ORY often beats CDG on total door-to-door time even when the airfare is a touch higher.
Choose ORY when: flying European or Mediterranean routes, staying south of the river, or when the smoother smaller airport is worth a few euros.
BVA — Beauvais: the “Paris” airport that is not in Paris
Beauvais-Tillé is 85 km north of Paris — closer to Rouen than to the capital — and our snapshot records 59 destinations on about 4 carriers: a Ryanair and Wizz Air field whose fares are the lowest and whose transfer is the longest. The official coach meets every flight and takes 80–90 minutes to Porte Maillot; book online ahead for the better fare, and treat the round trip as about three hours of your day.
The honest arithmetic: a €30 saving on a Beauvais fare survives only for travellers with light bags, flexible schedules and destinations in western Paris. Everyone else pays the saving back in coach fares and lost hours — the same calculus as Luton in London, but with a longer bus.
Choose BVA when: the specific fare genuinely pays for the coach, and never for a tight connection at CDG or ORY.
CDG, ORY or BVA: how to decide
The three airports are 60–90 road-minutes apart at the extremes, and Beauvais is in a different department entirely — a self-connect between them is not a connection, it is a road trip. The arithmetic that matters: CDG for reach and long-haul (and the RER B’s 40–50 minutes), ORY for European trips and the Métro 14’s smoothness, BVA only when the saving survives the coach. Our recorded counts (CDG 235, ORY 113, BVA 59) settle the network question; your dates' fares come from the search form.
Related pages
Book the trip
Flights, transfers and cars for Paris.