I am planning to take a train from CDG to Nîmes and am wondering how much time to allow for getting through immigration at CDG. I have no idea because I haven't flown into CDG in years. There will be 4 of us, but my kids are teens so no small children delays.
Thanks!
Typical advice is to book your train approx 2.5-3 hours after scheduled landing time.
Under normal circumstances this is generous and you should make it within 1.5 hours, but planes can be delayed, immigration lines fluctuate a lot, and luggage delivery can be slow at CDG.
I have come Chicago Paris twice this year. IN the spring it took us 2 hours to get through immigration; this fall it was probably 40 minutes, maybe a bit less. It is very unpredictable and if you are buying tickets ahead, leave at least 3 hours for the train and plan to get snacks or read a book when of course, your plane will be early. (While it only took us 40 minutes to get through the formalities this spring, the plane itself was two hours late -- so we would have been lucky to get a train 3 hours after ETA.
How long it takes most likely depends on the time of day (morning can be the busiest) and whether you and your party hold passports entitling use of the egates. If you have checked luggage it will take some time to retrieve it.
Also, see https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/cdg-arrival-lines
Luggage is VERY slow at CDG. So if you have a train to catch and are tight on time, flying carry on is a good idea.
The Egates in our limited experience didn't make things faster, they made them slower.
Same for me. Even after the gates have been in operation for months, the contract staff seems incapable of directing people to the correct line. So people get sent from one line to another when they are about halfway up the line ....ugh it is so annoying
the people next to us on the plane this October were sent to a line and waited in that line for half an hour, only to be told when they got to the head, that it was not for people with US passports. They felt the airport employee had done it to screw over an American tourists -- I tend to assume incompetence -- but yes, you need to take responsibility for getting in the right line =- they are reasonably well signed -- although if an employee had directed me against the signs, I'd probably have gone that way too.
I think some of it willl depend on the airline and terminal; even with multiple full planes arriving in Terminal 2E on AF, it took me under 30 minutes with the E gates in April, and my bag was at the carousel when I got there. I haven't flown other airlines (first experience was during Covid on AF, so that doesn't count), but I am flying AA this spring, so will potentially be a very different experience.
I think what day and time you land at CDG matters materially. I arrived at CDG 7:00 a.m. Sunday and was in a cab by 7:30! Might be the only time and day that happens.
I assume you have reasons for not flying into Nice or other airport nearer to Nimes. If this was our trip I'd decouple the plane from the train and spend the arrival nite in Paris, then go the next day from Gare de Lyon. The time thru immigration can vary, planes can be late, and there are more trains from Gare de Lyon to Nimes than from CDG. From CDG you'll need a few hours padding and might still miss the train, also sitting in train stations isn't a fun way to spend time. By staying in Paris you go to the hotel and drop your bags or go to your room if it's ready, then start walking around a delightful city. In the morning you take a train you're certain to get.
We did what Bill suggests because we are now old and the idea of landing at noon and then making our way to Montpellier the same day seemed like it might be a bit much. Lucky thing, since our plane ended up two hours late. We got a hotel near Gare de Lyon and got a good night's sleep and took an 11 AM train to Montpellier and didn't have much trouble with jet lag.
