Paris: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Paris is the capital of France (Île-de-France), 42 m (138 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Paris-Orly Airport (ORY), 14 km (9 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Gare du Nord. Our booking partner lists 5,080+ places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Paris runs from about 8 h 19 min a day in late December to 16 h 15 min in late June (computed for 48.85° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Paris is served by 3 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Paris-Orly Airport (ORY), 14 km (9 mi) from the centre, whose 11,975-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG, 23 km), Beauvais-Tillé airport (BVA, 69 km).
Flights to Paris: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Gare du Nord, Gare de Paris-Est, Auber, Saint-Michel–Notre-Dame, Gare du Luxembourg, Champ de Mars–Tour Eiffel. Trains to Paris
Buses to Paris · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 5,080+ places to stay in Paris (statistics below are from the first 1,000). Of the 987 with a star rating, the largest group is 4-star (477), and 106 are five-star. Across 907 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.6 out of 10. Guests have left 1,500,797 reviews in total.
Hotels in Paris: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sacré-Cœur | 10,000,000 | 2017 |
| Eiffel Tower | 6,207,303 | 2017 |
| Père Lachaise Cemetery | 3,500,000 | — |
| Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal | 2,000,000 | 2017 |
| Buzenval | 1,914,564 | 2013 |
| Muséum national d'histoire naturelle | 1,900,000 | http |
| Jardin d'Acclimatation | 1,850,000 | 2018 |
| Arc de Triomphe | 1,754,750 | 2022 |
| Public Information Library | 1,430,000 | — |
| Musée de l'Armée | 1,252,095 | 2019 |
The busiest is Sacré-Cœur at 10,000,000 visitors in 2017. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
UNESCO World Heritage in the city: banks of the Seine.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Paris
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- London, 344 km (United Kingdom) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Brussels, 264 km (Belgium) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Rotterdam, 373 km (The Netherlands) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Antwerp, 301 km (Belgium) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Lyon, 393 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- The Hague, 384 km (The Netherlands) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Bonn, 400 km (Germany) — flights · buses · car rental
- Nantes, 342 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Islington, 346 km (United Kingdom) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Marne La Vallée, 22 km — tours
Twin towns and sister cities: Rome, Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin, Ramallah, Seoul, Cairo, Chicago, Torreón, San Francisco, Kyiv, Washington, D.C., Marrakech, Porto Alegre.
Common questions
Which airport serves Paris?
Paris-Orly Airport (ORY), 14 km (9 mi) from the centre, plus 2 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Paris?
About 2.1 million people live in Paris, across 105 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Paris in?
Europe/Paris, currently UTC+2.
What currency is used in Paris?
The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.
How many hotels are there in Paris?
Our booking partner lists 5,080 or more places to stay in Paris, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Paris?
London (344 km), Brussels (264 km), Rotterdam (373 km), Antwerp (301 km), Lyon (393 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.