Beauvais Airport is what happens when a high school gym gets embarrassed and wants to fly. This is a disservice to my high school gym, which is actually bigger than Beauvais, and cleaner, and better-smelling.
Beauvais is Paris’s third airport, after Charles de Gaulle – Roissy and Orly. CDG is the JFK of Paris, and Orly is the Newark, which is why it is my favorite: smaller, manageable, and closer to home. Beauvais is the Trenton. And I say that with apologies to the Trenton airport, which is nicer than Beauvais. (Beauvais the town is quite nice. This is nothing to do with the town.)
Now here’s the thing: If you’re flying on a €20 fare between Paris and a few dozen destinations across Europe, you’re probably (though not definitely) flying out of Beauvais, beloved of cheap-shit airlines like (original gate-to-hell nickle-and-dimer) Ryanair and Wizzair. But is it worth it — cheap fares in exchange for the hassle of getting out there, and the poor experience once at the airport?
The math, as they say, will tell. The economics become an issue because unlike CDG and Orly, Beauvais is about 50 miles due north of Paris — well beyond the city limits and the reach of Paris’s RER inexpensive commuter trains. Both CDG and ORY offer access via RER, and Orly can now be reached by métro line 14 as well.
Instead of the RER, you have a couple choices for getting to Beauvais. The first is the bus. The first time I flew into Beauvais, I took the dedicated bus from the airport to Porte Maillot, on the western edge of Paris. This was hellacious — the nearest personal experience I can I remember is taking a minivan through Vietnam with a dozen other people and sacks of rice on my lap. I would rather stay home than take that bus again. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that the queueing experience for getting on the bus in the first place was … not exemplary. (Cost-savers, note: You don’t save much money taking the dedicated airport bus to or from Paris, which is an extortionate €17.90.)
The next time I was (supposed to) fly out of Beauvais, I intended to take the SNCF train from the Gare du Nord. I missed that train, and the next one wasn’t for another half-hour. Not wanting to spend €100+ on a taxi, I missed the flight. Even still, my first choice for getting to Beauvais is by train – its €14.50 for the 80-minute trip, then either €1 for a city bus to the airport or €4 for a shuttle. I’ve done both and especially if you have bags, the (empty) shuttle was worth the extra €3 over the (standing-room-only) city bus.
Total cost getting to Beauvais: €25.50 via SNCF (this figure is slightly inflated by an Uber to the Gare du Nord). Total travel time, from walking out my door to reaching the airport: 2:15. (this is 15 minutes shorter than the flight I was taking to Stockholm.)
By comparison, the trip to CDG is free as part of my monthly transport pass, and that trip usually takes about an hour, door-to-terminal — if you get an express RER from the Gare du Nord to CDG, I don’t think that’s much longer than just the bus ride from the Beauvais SNCF station to the airport.
Once you’re there, Beauvais continues to disappoint. There are two terminals — T1 and T2. For some reason, I often fly through T1. Services and refreshments are minimal. The last time I was there, I couldn’t even buy toothpaste. There’s a Paul and a Monop’ pre-security, but once you’re through, you are stuck. It’s often overcrowded. It’s insane to think that Beauvais is an airport the same way that CDG — with its beautiful new lounge in 2G, for all passengers — is an airport.
Bottom line for this Beauvais Airport review: Beauvais exemplifies the idea that you get what you pay for. Before you buy that €20 ticket, remember that it’ll be hard to get there from Paris for under €25 each way, and that trip may very well double your journey time, and that a taxi will be twice what one would be to ORY or CDG (the latter on a good day — I usually pay €60-€80 from the Right Bank, though sometimes I’ll get lucky.) There will be few services, fewer chairs, and it’s hugely unattractive.
If none of that matters, it will remain a safe way to begin (or end) your trip.
If you’re weighing the three airports, here’s my take on all three.
