Paris
Charles de Gaulle is, structurally, an airport built by engineers who hated travellers. Terminal 1 is a brutalist concrete donut that takes thirty minutes to walk across. Terminal 2 is split into seven sub-terminals connected by trains that don't run on schedule. Customs queues regularly take ninety minutes. Against this backdrop, the airport's wine programme is the one thing CDG does properly — Hall L of Terminal 2E has Le Bar Long, an actual glass-pour wine bar that stocks a dozen Burgundies and Champagnes by the glass; 2F has La Plage Parisienne with a similar list. Both are post-security and deserve the early arrival.
City centre · $$
Bonhomie is the casual neighbourhood natural wine bar that the 10th needed. The room is small and unfussy — bare wood, exposed brick, a long bar — and the wine
11e · $$
BapBap Brewery draws a steady local crowd in 11e. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
City centre · $$
Calvados, fresh lemon, egg white, and a touch of honey. The house signature that reveals the bar's respect for French spirits and classic technique.
City centre · $$
Candelaria opened in 2011 in a small Marais storefront. The front operates as a working taqueria — fresh tortillas, four taco options, mezcal flights. Walk thro
The cheat code at CDG is the Sheraton Charles de Gaulle, which is connected directly to Terminal 2 via covered walkway. Les Étoiles, the hotel's bar, runs a small but honest cocktail programme and is empty most of the time. You can also grab the CDGVAL automated train to the Sofitel CDG Terminal 1 — its Echo Bar is similar in quality. If you have 60 minutes pre-airport, the bar at the Hôtel de Crillon is twenty minutes from Gare du Nord by RER B and sets the right tone for leaving Paris.
Plays for Charles de Gaulle: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 176 cities. Friday mornings, no filler.
Looking beyond Paris? See our guide to the best airport bars worldwide, or compare airport bars city by city.