Airport transfers · 2026-09-19 · 8-minute read
Paris-Orly (ORY) is the capital's second airport, fourteen kilometres south of the centre and the right airport for the Left Bank, Montparnasse and the southern and western suburbs. It handles the domestic and European traffic of Air France, Transavia, Vueling and easyJet, a growing long-haul schedule to the Americas, North Africa and the Indian Ocean, and it is smaller, simpler and closer than Charles de Gaulle; a transfer to Saint-Germain from Orly is half an hour shorter than from CDG in the peak. This guide explains the terminal's four zones, the meeting points, the drive times and the fares, and when to choose Orly over CDG, which has its own article.
Orly is a single connected terminal in four zones - Orly 1 (Transavia and others), Orly 2 (Air France domestic), Orly 3 (Air France, Vueling, the long-haul carriers) and Orly 4 (easyJet, the North African and Indian Ocean carriers) - with arrivals halls in each. A pre-booked VTC chauffeur meets you in the arrivals hall of your zone with a name board. Drive times: Montparnasse and the 14th 25-35 minutes, Saint-Germain and the 6th 30-40, the 8th 35-50, the Marais 35-50, La Defense 40-55, Versailles 30-40 - longer in the peak. The regulated taxi fare is a flat EUR 36 to the Left Bank and EUR 44 to the Right Bank; a private executive sedan is EUR 70-110, a luxury sedan EUR 100-160, a V-Class EUR 85-130. Book on the airport limo service page.
The terminal and its zones
Orly's old South and West terminals were joined in 2019 into a single building, renamed as Orly 1, 2, 3 and 4 from west to east and connected by a walkway; the zones are close enough to walk between in five to ten minutes, which makes a chauffeur at the wrong zone a small problem rather than a large one. Orly 1 handles Transavia and some others. Orly 2 is Air France's domestic zone. Orly 3 is Air France's international and the long-haul carriers to the Americas and the Indian Ocean, with the largest arrivals hall and the customs exit for non-Schengen flights. Orly 4 is easyJet, Vueling, the North African carriers and the rest, with its own customs exit. The airport operator's passenger site lists the zones by airline, and dispatch confirms from the flight number.
Arrivals from the Schengen area walk to baggage claim; arrivals from outside it clear passport control (shorter queues than CDG's, but the morning bank from the Antilles and Reunion and the afternoon bank from North Africa fill the lanes), collect bags and exit into the zone's arrivals hall. A pre-booked chauffeur stands at the exit with a name board; the morning text says which zone and door. The taxi rank is outside each zone; the Orlyval shuttle and the new Metro line 14 station are at Orly 4; the car park where chauffeurs leave their vehicles is a short walk.
Drive times
Orly is connected to the city by the A6 and A106 motorways to the Porte d'Orleans and the Porte d'Italie on the southern Peripherique.
| Destination | Normal | Peak (7:30-10 am, 5-8 pm) |
|---|---|---|
| Montparnasse / the 14th / the 13th | 25-35 min | 40-60 min |
| Saint-Germain / the 6th / the 5th | 30-40 min | 45-70 min |
| The 7th / the Eiffel Tower / Invalides | 30-45 min | 50-75 min |
| The 15th / Porte de Versailles (the exhibition centre) | 25-35 min | 40-60 min |
| The 8th / the Champs-Elysees | 35-50 min | 55-85 min |
| The 1st / the Louvre / the Opera | 35-50 min | 55-85 min |
| The Marais / the 3rd and 4th | 35-50 min | 55-85 min |
| The 16th / Trocadero | 35-50 min | 55-85 min |
| La Defense | 40-55 min | 60-95 min |
| Boulogne / Issy / Neuilly | 35-50 min | 55-85 min |
| Versailles | 30-40 min | 45-65 min |
| Disneyland Paris | 45-60 min | 65-95 min |
| Charles de Gaulle Airport | 50-65 min | 70-110 min |
| Fontainebleau | 45-60 min | 60-85 min |
The A6 into the Porte d'Orleans is slow in the morning peak, and the Peripherique is the constraint for the Right Bank; a chauffeur who works the airport knows when the A86 and the western approach beat the Peripherique for the 16th and La Defense.
The taxi, and the honest comparison
Orly's regulated flat taxi fare is EUR 36 to the Left Bank and EUR 44 to the Right Bank, for up to four passengers with luggage, at any hour - the best taxi deal of any major European airport, and worth insisting on. A private transfer at EUR 70-110 costs EUR 30-70 more and buys the name board, the chosen vehicle, the flight tracking, the fixed fare, and the drop at the door for addresses beyond the Peripherique, where the taxi is metered; the general comparison is in airport transfer vs taxi. For a solo traveller to a Left Bank hotel, the taxi at EUR 36 is an excellent choice; for a family, a business traveller, a late arrival or a suburban destination, the private transfer.
What a private transfer costs
Indicatively, in euros:
- Executive sedan (E-Class, 5 Series) to central Paris: EUR 70-110.
- Luxury sedan (S-Class) to central Paris: EUR 100-160.
- Executive van (V-Class, up to 6 with luggage): EUR 85-130.
- Sprinter (up to 14 with luggage): EUR 130-210.
- Sedan to La Defense or the western suburbs: EUR 80-125.
- Sedan to Versailles: EUR 75-120; to Fontainebleau EUR 100-150.
- Sedan to Disneyland Paris: EUR 100-160.
- Sedan to CDG: EUR 100-160.
- Hourly, sedan: EUR 70-120, three-hour minimum; full day EUR 550-950.
Tolls and airport fees are included; gratuity is not expected. The European context is in how much does a limo cost.
Orly or CDG, by district
For a visitor with a choice of flights, the airport should follow the hotel. Orly is right for the Left Bank - Saint-Germain, the Latin Quarter, Montparnasse, the 7th and the 15th - for Versailles, for the southern and western suburbs, and for Porte de Versailles' exhibitions. CDG is right for the Right Bank's north and east - the 8th, the Opera, the Marais, Montmartre - for Saint-Denis and the northern suburbs, for Villepinte's exhibitions and for Disneyland. For La Defense, Neuilly and the 16th the two are similar. In the peak, Orly's shorter distance saves twenty to thirty minutes for the Left Bank and costs the same for the north. Air France's domestic network and the Vueling, Transavia and easyJet flights from Spain, Italy and Portugal use Orly; the long-haul carriers mostly use CDG, with Orly's long-haul growing.
Business travel and Porte de Versailles
Orly is the airport for the Paris Expo at Porte de Versailles - the largest exhibition centre in France, twenty-five minutes away - and for the offices of the 15th, Issy, Boulogne and the southern technology parks; the corporate account handles the euro billing and the executive car service page sets out the product. The Paris Air Show, fashion weeks and the Salon de l'Agriculture fill the fleet, and the how early to book article sets out the notice.
The return transfer
Orly's departures are quicker than CDG's: the zones are compact, the security queues moderate, and the passport lanes for non-Schengen flights at Orly 3 and 4 slow only in the morning bank for the Antilles and North Africa. Allow two and a half hours for a long-haul flight and ninety minutes to two hours for a European one. From Saint-Germain that means a pickup three and a quarter hours before a long-haul departure in the peak; the chauffeur proposes it. The IATA baggage guidance applies.
Booking
Enter ORY, the flight number, the hotel's name and arrondissement, passengers and bags, and the vehicle in the booker. The fare is shown in euros and fixed. The chauffeur's name, photo, vehicle, zone and door arrive by text on the morning. CDG, Le Bourget and Beauvais are on the airports page, and Paris and its neighbours on the destinations page.
Arriving at Orly, step by step
Orly's compactness is its advantage. From an Orly 3 long-haul gate the walk to passport control is five minutes, the queue ten to forty depending on the bank, baggage claim is beside it, and the exit into the arrivals hall is a minute further; a passenger from a Schengen flight at Orly 2 is in the hall ten minutes after the aircraft's door opens. The chauffeur stands at the exit named in the morning text with a name board, and the vehicle is in the P0 car park or at the pickup lane a two- to four-minute walk away. The how airport transfers work article explains the meet-and-greet, and Orly is one of the airports where it is simplest.
The Left Bank, from a chauffeur's seat
Orly is the Left Bank's airport, and the Left Bank's districts are the ones a chauffeur from Orly knows best. Saint-Germain-des-Pres and the 6th are the cafes, the galleries and the boutique hotels - the Lutetia, the Relais Christine, the Hotel d'Aubusson - on streets a car can reach. The Latin Quarter and the 5th are the Sorbonne, the Pantheon and the small hotels in narrow streets. The 7th is the Eiffel Tower, the Invalides, the ministries and the grand residential streets. Montparnasse and the 14th are the station, the tower and the older hotels, the shortest transfer from Orly. The 13th is the Bibliotheque and the Asian quarter. The 15th is Porte de Versailles and the exhibition hotels. Each is a fixed-fare transfer of twenty-five to forty-five minutes, and the destinations page lists them.
Two transfers, priced
A family of four landing from Lisbon at Orly 4 for a week in the 6th: a V-Class with a child seat at about EUR 105 to a Saint-Germain hotel, met at the Orly 4 exit, thirty-five minutes on the A6 and through Montparnasse, against the taxi's flat EUR 36 and the question of whether it takes four with four cases. A delegate landing from Madrid at Orly 3 for the Salon at Porte de Versailles: an executive sedan at about EUR 80 to an exhibition hotel in the 15th, met in the hall, twenty-five minutes, on a corporate account. The how much does a limo cost article places Paris in the upper-middle of the Western European band; the Sprinter limo article covers the vehicle for a larger family.
Weather and the seasons
Orly's winter fog and the occasional snow close the airport for hours a few times a season, with diversions to CDG, Lyon or Brussels; a chauffeur tracking the flight is re-routed while the passenger is airborne and the fare does not change. The seasons matter for demand: fashion weeks, the Salon de l'Agriculture in February, the Paris Air Show in odd Junes, Roland-Garros in late May and the summer peak fill the fleet, and the how early to book article sets out the notice. August is the quietest month in the city and the bottom of the band, though Orly's charter traffic to the Mediterranean is at its peak.
The short version
One terminal in four zones a few minutes apart; the chauffeur meets you at your zone's exit with a name board; the taxi is a flat EUR 36 to the Left Bank and EUR 44 to the Right, the best regulated fare in Europe; the private transfer is EUR 70-110 and buys the name board, the vehicle and the door; Saint-Germain is thirty-five minutes off-peak. Give the flight number and the booker shows the exact fare.
