We will be arriving in Paris on July3rd and going directly to the Loire Valley to start our trip. I see that leg from Gare de Lyon to Tours is a required reservation on the TGV. I'm a bit nervous to book these tickets before arriving since I don't know how long it will take for us to go through customs, get ourselves organized, etc...to make the reserved time. Would I be running a big risk by waiting until we arrive at the Gare de Lyon to book the tickets? I don't want to get stuck waiting for hours to get on a train or end up on a city train that makes 4 stops and takes 4 hours to get there! Thanks for the advice!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I would not book tickets ahead, because of the flight arrival issues.
TGVs to Tours or St-Pierre-des-Corps depart from Paris Gare Montparnasse. If the TGV departure is not sold out, then there's no deadline to buy the reserved ticket, and I would not worry much about this route selling out.
You also have the option of direct InterCity trains departing from Paris Austerlitz station, which don't require reservations at all and take 2 hours.
From Charles de Gaulle Airport (is that the one?) Les Car Air France bus #4 runs to Gare de Lyon (walk 10 minutes across the bridge to Gare d'Austerlitz) and continues to Montparnasse Tower and station.
A smaller number of TGV trains also depart directly from CDG TGV station in Terminal 2 to St-Pierre-des-Corps, for instance at 10 a.m., avoiding downtown Paris. I assume these to be popular but don't know how often they sell out.
Posted by
Chicago
8552 posts
Tickets are much cheaper booked well early but you may be too late to get any sort of cheap ticket at this point. If you book ahead leave at least 4 hours between ETA at CDG and departure from Gare de Lyon. All TGVs have seat reservations, if they have room they will sell you a ticket on walk up.
Posted by
Atlanta
5196 posts
Totally agree with Laura's statement when she said "I would not book tickets ahead, because of the flight arrival issues". At least half of our flights to Europe have experienced flight arrival issues ranging from half an hour to four hours. Not knocking the airlines, but stuff happens. It's just a fact of life. Better to have extra time or a "plan b" and not need them, than the other way around.
Posted by
OP
18 posts
Thank you Laura - I do see that intercity train from Austerlitz to St Pierre des Corps.
Not sure if I'm clear on your comment
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From Charles de Gaulle Airport (is that the one?) Les Car Air France bus #4 runs to Gare de Lyon (walk 10 minutes across the bridge to Gare d'Austerlitz) and continues to Montparnasse Tower and station
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What is the easiest/quickest way to get from CDG to Austerlitz station? I'm traveling with my husband and two boys (11 & 13) so the easier the better!
Thanks!
.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I have done the bus from CDG airport to Gare de Lyon and found that easy at 17 euros per person. I have not done the walk across the river to Gare d'Austerlitz, but always thought it looked pretty good on Google Maps.
Another way to get from CDG to Gare d'Austerlitz would be to take the RER line B (blue) to St. Michel-Notre Dame station and connect there to RER line C (yellow) to Austerlitz, 10 euros per person.
However, for a family with luggage, a regular taxi door-to-door from the airport will be the easiest option and similar price -only about 65 euros.
Posted by
Green Bay
21153 posts
I've done the walk over the bridge from Gare de Lyon to Austerlitz with bags. With 2 young ones in tow and luggage, it would be a challenge. When all is said and done take a taxi from CDG, but only if you can be in the cab by 11 am, because that sweet IC train leaves at 12:59 pm and the next one is not until 5:37 pm.
Or just stay at CDG and for more money, wait for the next train to St Pierre des Corps. Trains are at 10:16 am, 2:09 pm, 4:21 pm. Its too late to get any significant advance purchase discounts.
Posted by
santa cruz, California, USA
135 posts
how much time do you have from your flight arrival to the departure of the train? nick from santa cruz
Posted by
OP
18 posts
Just got back from our trip and thought I'd give an update on the connecting from CDG to Gare de Lyon to Gare d'Austerlitz. We arrived on time (9:35) and zipped through customs. I did not buy/reserve any train tickets ahead of time so went directly to the train area to try and purchase the TGV tickets to Tours. The lines were amazingly long and after waiting almost an hour I was told that the TGV we wanted to take was full! So, we took the train to Gare de Lyon and made the walk across the bridge to Gare d'Austerlitz. My kids are 11 and 13 so it actually wasn't too much trouble to get across, however, given how much time we'd already lost in waiting in lines, taking the train, etc...we were running tight on time! The line to buy tickets at the station was crazy long again and we made it to the front at 12:45 for the 12:59 train! It was full but was an "open" train so they told us we could get on but we might have to stand. We were all so tired that we just jumped on and crossed our fingers. We did have to stand for the first hour but after some folks got off we sat for the last hour.
Of course, you never know when your flight might be delayed or other things happen but it was quite fiasco trying to get to Tours after an overnight flight and a very tired family in tow! In hindsight I would have risked reserving the tickets ahead of time - especially at peak season!!
Once we got to Tours the rest of our trip was fabulous!