Five of us older ladies are going to be flying into CDG, arrival time 6:55 a.m. in late June. We are scheduled to catch the train from CDG to Avignon at 8:31 a.m. and we must pick up our train tickets at the station. NONE of us will have 'checked baggage', only carry on. Although I have flown into CDG twice before, for the life of me, I cannot remember how long it took me to get through customs. I realize that an hour and a half is not much time, however, I am hoping that perhaps someone here has done the same trip, if not one similar. What do y'all think? Will we make our train IF our flight is on time? The two times I have flown into CDG, we always arrived a little earlier than expected. Anyway, I know this question is similar to, "Is it going to rain in Paris on May 27?" So, please feel free to hammer me if you feel the need.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
This is only enough time if everything goes perfectly. Last time that I connected flights at CDG, the passport control line took 45 minutes, making me and several others miss a connection to Prague. The time before, my Delta flight left Seattle an hour late and consequently arrived at CDG an hour late. Getting between the terminals also takes time; CDG feels huge.
At the very least, I would have choosen the 9:58 train over the 8:31. If you bought an advance-discount ticket on the TGV, it will not be refundable or exchangeable. Check the rules on your ticket confirmation. If you have a railpass and miss your reserved TGV, you cannot make a new passholder-priced seat reservation on the day of travel.
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
3984 posts
The TGV station is in Terminal 2. Is that the terminal where you will be arriving?
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon...Formerly Ventura, CA
2262 posts
Judi-just to ask the obvious question,for benefit of those reading this, is it not possible to take a later train? It appears that there is another at 9:58, as you probably know. Have you purchased and are you locked in to 8:31 train?
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Obviously the conditions at CDG will be different depending on the season, day of week, etc. But here's my recent experience: our flight arrived at CDG early, at 8:45 (instead of 9:10). I mean, we got to the gate at 8:45. By 8:52, I was past immigration (there was literally no one in front of me) and past baggage claim. Yes, it took me all of seven minutes to walk from my plane to immigration and get through to baggage claim. I was trying to catch a train at TGV at 10:26 and had originally worried I wouldn't make it, but I wound up having almost 90 minutes to kill before my train.
My experience at CDG last year was similar: very quick through immigration getting off the plane. Again, it might have been worse had I arrived at a different time.
I also saved time on this trip because I had printed out my TGV ticket (an option when purchasing it on their website), so I didn't need the extra time to collect my at the station. I suppose you've already purchased your tickets so it's too late to purchase your tickets that way(?). I also bought it as a "LOISIR" fare, which would have let me change to another train (had I arrived late) for only 10 euros. Had I bought the cheapest "PREM" fare and missed my train, I would have had to throw it away and buy an entirely new ticket.