CDG to Gare Montparnasse in Paris

Generally, the suggestion is to allow 4 hours between your flight's ETA and your train's departure time if you are leaving from central Paris. The suggestion is 3 hours if you are leaving from CDG. You are cutting it very close but you might make it. Where will you be on the plane? In front in business class, maybe? That would be a great help for getting off the plane quiclky and getting through passport control quickly. Is there any way for you to travel without checked luggage? Did you check to see if there are trains from CDG to Bordeaux that work with your schedule?

Hey, thanks for the reply. I'm sitting in premium economy, just behind first and business and in front of the normal economy section in Row 9. Carrying on isn't an option for my luggage due to some of the contents in my luggage. There are trains with later departures I could take, that leave Gare Montparnasse at 2 and 4 pm, but that doesn't get me into my destination until evening. However, you seem to be suggesting that would be wiser, correct?

To answer your question literally, the answer is "no". You do not have
enough time to "safely" make it to your train.

This does not mean you won't make it, but it is tight as already noted, and
when you take on that level of risk, any one thing that goes awry can be the
difference between you making the train @ Montparnasse and missing it.

What day of the week are you arriving? A weekend day will be a bit better
for traffic if you plan to take a cab. Weekday traffic is always a crapshoot.

If you plan to take the RER, you will have to change to the Metro to get to
Gare Montparnasse. With substantial luggage (I'm inferring that from the fact
that you're checking bags), making the transfer could be cumbersome. Perhaps
someone else can recommend the best station to change at. I'm guessing
Denfort-Rochereau as opposed to Les Halles, but my experience is long ago.

If you have no experience at Gare Montparnasse or with reading a European/
French train board, you will need to be alert as well. Going to the wrong track
could cost you precious time.

And be aware of your surroundings, with regard to pickpockets and the like.

Thanks for the feedback. Only checking one piece of luggage, and arriving on a Monday. Was planning to take a cab. And I do have quite a bit of experience taking trains in Spain, just not in France. I'll probably look to book a later train based on this feedback.

In April we arrived at CDG having seats on Delta closer to the front than you mention on American. Because we had Premium Select seats we had a shorter separate line through immigration. The other immigration line was quite long. We then retrieved our luggage; got in the official taxi line which moved quickly and got into our taxi and arrived at our hotel which was approx 7 minutes away for Gare Montparnasse. It was a Saturday early afternoon and it took exactly 2 hours. (We left Paris from Gare Montparnasse a few days later which is why I know how far it was; and know it's quite a large train station.) There were friendly English speaking employees who helped us navigate to the correct platform area. It all took time.

So, the idea of trying to catch a train at 2 1/2 hours might be possible, (if you had luck on your side) but seems a big risk and there's no way I would chance it. Consider downloading the SNCF app and book the 2pm train and then if you happen to get there in time for the 12:04 pm train, change your ticket if it's possible.

Excellent feedback. Thank you very much!

Have you looked at tickets from CDG to Bordeaux? There are a few trains that bypass Paris altogether.

There is one departing CDG at 11:19 to Massy, where you change to a Ouigo to Bordeaux, arriving at 3:08 pm.

There is one departing CDG at 11:19

If the OP wants a reasonable chance of making a follow-on train, he should allow at least 3 hours for a CDG connection, and 4 horus for a Paris connection. No one knows when his aircraft will actually land and when the disembarkation will actually start. The biggest unknown is passport control which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 90 minutes.

Booking a 11h19 train would be planning for the absolute best case scenario.

Similar TGV at 12:18, again change in Massy, arriving Bordeaux at 4:14 pm. The connection is the same train that departs Montparnasse at 2:05 pm. Its an option.

Spring a year ago it took us nearly 2 hours to get through immigration to the cab line. Last fall it only took 15 minutes as there were not flights ahead of us; we were seated in PE and thus got off fairly quickly. The plane however was two hours late. Luggage is also slow at CDG; last trip our bag and those of about a dozen others got caught in some equipment malfunction and they kept telling us 'oh the bag was put on the conveyor (they have computer coding) so if you don't have it someone stole it -- but we knew that wasn't true as we were standing right there as the bags came out. Finally after enough irate people convinced them the bags really didn't appear they investigated and found them jammed up underground in a malfunctioning conveyor and they unjammed them and we got them -- but over half an hour after everyone else got their bags, ours finally appeared. So an hour overall for just the luggage.

You only make this train if you are very lucky. often flights from the US are a half hour early. One option is to change the ticket on line once you land if your ticket allows that -- some tickets allow that with a small change fee. Of course there then have to be available tickets to change to. We have found trains sold out when making last minute bookings. I personally would just book a later train because I don't like that anxiety of 'will we make it' --

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I did obtain a changeable fare ticket, so I will likely switch to a later departure or switch to a train that leaves CDG. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know TGV trains were available at CDG and I began my search with the train stations in Paris itself, which is how I ended up at Montparnasse. Thanks again.

No reason to be embarrassed. That is why we come here - to learn something that we didn't know before, that could be helpful for our trip !

We often take the train from CDG to Bordeaux. It is, logistically, easier than getting from CDG to Montparnasse especially after a long flight. Usually we catch the 12:18pm train via Massey (our flights land between 8-9am typically.) If you are able, I'd suggest changing your train ticket from Montparnasse to CDG.

What Kim said.