Sleeping guide · CDG · Last reviewed 2 June 2026
Sleeping in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG): Spots, Pods, and Hotels
Charles de Gaulle never quite closes, but Terminal 2 locks its landside doors in the small hours and the free rest lounge everyone remembers is gone. Here is the honest overnight map.
- Sleep verdict
- Decent airside in Terminal 2E, rough everywhere else. Recliner zones survive in 2E and 2F, but Terminal 2 stops admitting people from the landside roughly between 22:30 and 4 am, nothing serves food all night, and the check in halls stay fully lit with a thin crowd of waiting passengers and rough sleepers.
- Best option
- YOTELAIR sells cabin rooms with private showers airside in Terminal 2E, above the L gates, with a reception that runs 24 hours. Landside, the Sheraton sits inside Terminal 2 above the rail station, and a cluster of cheaper beds stands at Roissypole, one stop away on the free CDGVAL train.
- The one thing to know
- Instant Paris, the free rest lounge in 2E hall L that made CDG famous among overnighters, closed in 2025. Older guides still route tired travelers to it. Plan around the recliners instead, or pay for a bed.
The overnight reality
What happens at Charles de Gaulle after the last flight
CDG is not a 24 hour airport in any useful sense. Flights pause in the small hours, almost every shop and restaurant closes during the evening, and Terminal 2 stops admitting people from the landside roughly between 22:30 and 4 am. The decision that shapes your whole night happens around 11 pm: if you want to sleep airside in 2E, the best overnight territory in the airport, you need to be through security before the checkpoints wind down. After that you are committed to whichever side of the glass you stand on until the early crews arrive.
Landside is the weak hand. The check in halls stay open in T1 and at the 2E and 2F entrances that remain accessible, but they are fully lit, the seating fights you, cleaning machines run all night, and the crowd is a mix of stranded passengers and rough sleepers. Police patrols may ask for a boarding pass, and travelers without one can be moved along. It is survivable with an eye mask, earplugs and your bags strapped to you, but treat it as a fallback, not a plan.
Three practical notes before the lights stay on. Buy food and water before 9 pm, because no outlet runs through the night. Heavy bags can go to Bagages du Monde, the left luggage counter in Terminal 2 by the rail station opposite the Sheraton, open 7 am to 9 pm daily with a 6 hour minimum charge. And there are no public showers anywhere at CDG: a shower means a lounge day pass or a YOTELAIR cabin, and the CDG lounge directory lists every door that sells one.
Sleep map
Terminal by terminal at CDG
Terminal 2E
The only terminal worth planning a night around
Everything good about sleeping at CDG lives airside in 2E. Reclining chairs sit near gate K30, hall L keeps a quiet carpeted corner with sofas near the YOTELAIR entrance, and YOTELAIR itself, above the L gates, sells compact cabins with real beds and monsoon showers in blocks of 4 hours and up, reception open around the clock. Access is the catch: the 2E satellites serve non Schengen departures, so this map only applies if your boarding pass gets you there. The loss is Instant Paris, the 4,500 square meter free rest area in hall L styled like a Haussmann apartment. It closed in 2025 and the space sat behind hoarding at our last check; whether anything replaces it is to be confirmed.
Terminal 2, halls 2A to 2F
Scattered corners along a kilometer of spine
The Schengen halls offer pockets rather than zones. 2A has the widest choice of seating, 2D hides a quiet corner near the coffee machines, and 2F has reclining chairs airside. The spine's real asset is in the middle: the Sheraton stands inside Terminal 2 above the rail station, the only landside hotel you can reach without going outdoors, and it sells day rooms from 8 am to 6 pm as well as full nights. For a 6 am departure from any 2 hall, that beats every recliner in the building.
Terminal 1
Fine by day, thin by night
The renovated drum is the most pleasant CDG terminal for a daytime layover, but it has no rest zone we can point to and empties hard overnight. The closest beds are a short CDGVAL hop away: the Innside by Melia stands by the PR car park near a CDGVAL station, and the Roissypole cluster is two stops along. If your morning flight leaves from T1, sleep at Roissypole and ride back; the train takes about 8 minutes end to end.
Terminal 3 and Roissypole
Basic benches, but the best beds on the property
Terminal 3 is a budget shed with benches you can stretch out on and little else, so do not plan a long night inside it. The compensation is location. Roissypole, a short walk away, holds the densest hotel cluster at the airport: the ibis Styles directly opposite the terminal with breakfast included, citizenM about 3 minutes on foot, and the Hilton about a minute from the CDGVAL stop. For anyone on a budget, sleeping here and riding the free train to T1 or T2 in the morning is the move.
Hotels
Every walk to your gate hotel at CDG
| Hotel | Terminal | Connection | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| YOTELAIR Paris CDG | T2E, airside | Inside the transit zone, above the L gates | The only bed without leaving airside; non Schengen 2E passengers only |
| Sheraton Paris CDG | T2, landside | Inside the terminal, above the rail station | The midspine classic, day rooms 8 am to 6 pm, priced like a monopoly |
| citizenM Paris CDG | T3 / Roissypole | About 3 minutes on foot from T3 | The best sleep per euro within walking distance of a terminal |
| ibis Styles Paris CDG Airport | T3 / Roissypole | Directly opposite Terminal 3 | Usually the cheapest bed on the property, breakfast included |
| Hilton Paris CDG Airport | Roissypole | About 1 minute from the CDGVAL stop | The full service pick between Terminals 1 and 2 |
| Innside by Melia Paris CDG | Near T1 | Short walk from a CDGVAL station by the PR car park | The newest rooms at CDG and the closest bed for Terminal 1 departures |
The connective tissue is the CDGVAL, the free driverless train linking T1, Roissypole and the Terminal 2 station about every 4 minutes from 4 am to 1 am, roughly 8 minutes end to end. Between 1 am and 4 am a replacement bus covers the same stops about every 25 minutes, so an overnight at a Roissypole hotel before an early T1 or T2 flight works at any hour, just budget extra time for the bus window.
Booking logic for a dawn departure: flying non Schengen from 2E, YOTELAIR wins because you wake up airside. Flying from any other Terminal 2 hall, the Sheraton's walk to check in is unbeatable but priced accordingly, and the Roissypole pair of ibis Styles and citizenM does the same job for half the rate plus a train ride. If you only need a shower and a flat surface rather than a full room, several lounges sell day access; the CDG lounge directory covers which ones and what they cost.
FAQ
Sleeping at Charles de Gaulle questions
Can you sleep overnight inside CDG Airport?
Airside in Terminal 2E, yes, on the recliners near gate K30 or the sofas by the L gates, provided you clear security before the checkpoints close around 11 pm. Landside is rougher: Terminal 2 stops admitting people from roughly 22:30 to 4 am, the halls stay fully lit, and nothing serves food overnight.
Does CDG have sleeping pods?
The closest thing is YOTELAIR, a cabin hotel airside in Terminal 2E above the L gates, selling compact rooms with private showers in blocks of 4 hours and up. The free Instant Paris rest area in hall L closed in 2025, so YOTELAIR is now the only in terminal sleep product at CDG.
Which hotels are inside CDG terminals?
Two. YOTELAIR sits airside in Terminal 2E and serves only passengers on non Schengen flights through halls K, L and M. The Sheraton sits inside Terminal 2 above the rail station, landside, and sells day rooms from 8 am to 6 pm as well as full nights.
Is Charles de Gaulle Airport open 24 hours?
Parts of it. The airport never fully shuts and the CDGVAL route is covered around the clock, with a replacement bus from 1 am to 4 am, but Terminal 2 closes its landside entrances from roughly 22:30 to 4 am and the food outlets shut during the evening.
What is the cheapest place to sleep near CDG?
The ibis Styles directly opposite Terminal 3 is usually the cheapest bed on airport property and includes breakfast. citizenM, about 3 minutes on foot from Terminal 3, costs a little more and sleeps better. Both stand at Roissypole, one free CDGVAL stop from Terminals 1 and 2.
Book your CDG airport bed early
YOTELAIR's overnight cabins sell out around the long haul banks and the Roissypole budget rooms follow. If a bed is not in budget, a lounge day pass with a shower is the next best reset between flights.
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