Beauvais Airport Transportation

ABOVE: Ryanair passengers board a bus for Beauvais Airport at Porte Maillot in Paris.

Beauvais Airport (BVA) is the Parisian gateway for several budget airlines--among them, Ryanair, Sterling, Blue Air, Norwegian Air Shuttle, and Wizzair. The airport is located in Tille, just outside the town of Beauvais, about 80 km or 50 miles northwest of Paris.

There are several ways to reach Paris from Beauvais:

Airport bus

This is by far the most convenient mode of transport, because buses run directly between the airport and the Porte Maillot in Paris. Buses leave for Paris 20 minutes after each flight's arrival, and buses from Paris to BVA depart three hours before the scheduled flight time. The fare is €14, and travel time is about 80 minutes.

To Paris: Buy your ticket at the kiosk outside the airport. (Cash only--no credit cards.) The bus will take you to the coach parking lot just north of the Hotel Concorde-La Fayette at Porte Maillot. From the parking lot, turn right and walk to the Paris Congress Center, where you'll find a Métro station inside and an RER station across the street.

From Paris: Exit the RER or the Métro at Porte Maillot and walk along the north side of the Paris Congress Center and the Hotel Concorde La Fayette (inset photo). Across the street, you'll see a coach parking lot. Walk to the corner and cross at the light. Buy your ticket from the driver (cash only) as you board the bus. Try to arrive at least 3 hours 15 minutes before your flight time--or even earlier, to be certain of getting on a bus.

Tips:

• To save time and hassle, purchase your bus tickets with a credit card before leaving home. See the ticketing link at aeroportbeauvais.com.

• If you have questions, you can try the Beauvais Airport office at 1 Boulevard Pershing (inset photo), although its opening hours are iffy. (Don't bother going to the office of the coach parking lot, which doesn't sell tickets or give information about airport buses.)

Train

Trains of the French national railroads, SNCF, run between the town of Beauvais and the Gare du Nord in Paris. However, the train takes about an hour and it's a 15-minute taxi ride to the Beauvais SNCF station, so you're better off taking the bus to Porte Maillot.

Shuttle van

Beauvais Airport Shuttle runs seven-passenger vans between Beauvais and Paris hotels. It also offers service to Charles de Gaulle Airport and Disneyland Paris. Rates are several times what you'd pay for the airport bus.

Taxi

You can hire a cab from Beauvais into Paris for €120-160, depending on your hotel's location and whether you're traveling in the daytime or after dark. (But then, if you could afford a €120-160 cab ride, you probably wouldn't be flying on a budget airline.)

For more information on BVA and ground transportation, visit the airport's official Web site at aeroportbeauvais.com.

Copyright © 1996-2010 Durant and Cheryl Imboden and their licensors.