How long to get to an Air France Flight at CDG from the CDG train station?

For an international flight I always arrive 3 hours early no matter the mode of arrival or the airport.

We are a little nervous having only two hours to make it to our flight after arriving by train. The other choice is to leave much earlier and spend 5 hours at the airport.

I would be nervous too! On our France RS tour the guide was asked at the end how early to get to the airport and he said something I've always remembered. "You have two choices: you can be stressed or you can be bored". When you're counting down the time from the train station to the gate to see if the plan works you're cutting it too close IMO.

Personally I wouldn't want to be 350 miles away from the airport the day I'm catching a flight back to the States and would be in Paris the nite before, but that's a whole `nother discussion.

edit: there is another train option I'll mention for completeness. You can go to Paris (Gare De Lyon) and then take the RER to CDG. You'll probably find more choice of times for trains to Paris but the downside is you'll need to switch to the RER and change RER lines on the way to CDG. So a much higher hassle factor in front of a big trip. wouldn't recommend this.

Totally agree with Bob..CDG is huge just so you know. Am not sure where you get off train but we just went thru there in October and the walk from our check to the gate in was extremely long.

Be in the city of departure the night before a high stakes flight. What do you do if the train is late? We were on a Thalys that came in 5 hours late from Amsterdam to Paris. And if you do decide to take the train the day of the flight, plan to be there at least 3.5 hours before departure so you are at check in 3 hours ahead. You might whip through in an hour -- or it might take every minute. We have literally had it happen both ways. If things are longer than you expect, you will get no mercy if you show up late.

There are very few no brainer decisions in life but it is an absolute no brainer that you should take the train that is scheduled to arrive five hours before departure time as opposed to the one scheduled to arrive two hours before departure time. Frankly, I agree that you should head to Paris the day before but if you really do not want to do that, then take the earlier arriving train on the day that you take the flight to the US.

On our last trip from CDG we stayed the night before at the Sheraton at CDG. We have taken a taxi, the train and the Air France Bus (now Rossy Bus I think) and we will only stay at the airport from now on. The walk from the hotel to the Delta gate was easy, can't speak for the Air France gates. If your budget allows for it I recommend coming in the day or evening before.

The last 2 times I’ve been at CDG immigration lines were long and slow. And no people were not being moved up because it was close to their flight time. As a matter of fact airport employees were actively making the “beggars” stop and stay where they were. I’d allow more than 2 hours.

I'm bilingual French, live south of your kids, and have taken that Rhone Valley TGV line many times. I experience frequent delays, up to two hours a few times. Remember that a delay on a previous train will slow the subsequent trains. I've experienced delays due to a death on the tracks, electricity outages (copper and mineral theft during the night), left packages that needed to be exploded by bomb squads, slowed traffic due to freight trains and stopping the train so police could arrive and remove rowdies.

Everyone is right about the 3-hour minimum. And they are also correct, about being in place the night before. I've stayed everywhere from the relatively expensive Sheraton to the budget-friendly Holiday Inn Express. The only time I don't stay at CDG or Paris is if I'm flying solo to the US. In that case, I start in my local French airport with a connecting AF flight at CDG. You could fly from Marseille and avoid the hotel, CDG check-in, and have passport control on the secure side of the airport.. My offspring are flying to the US on the 20th, as well, and are taking a late train to CDG the night before.

To answer your question: getting off the train and into the train station can take from 5-10 minutes depending on which car you are in. I've been in car #1 but found myself at the end of the train a couple of times. Allow time to take escalators or elevators up to the airport level from the station. From there it's at least 10-15 minutes walk to your terminal. Sometimes you have to walk through one terminal to reach the next one. Once you get to check-in, allow the full three hours. If you are flying Business, Class Affaire, you'll still have a check-in wait, priority at passport control, probably a shuttle train to a sub-terminal, and security check. You should have a small amount of time in the Business Lounge with 3 hours.

Thanks so much for all your responses. I will ask my daughter to change our train tickets. She always buys our tickets and they are much cheaper than buying them through anyplace including Rick Steves. In fact often 40 percent cheaper.

That is wise. And now that you have earlier tickets everything will go smooth as glass and you will be sitting and reading in the lounge LOL. As someone noted, it is often a choice between anxiety and boredom and we always choose boredom.

Kathy, your daughter should share how she gets such cheap train tickets! Many folks get them cheap ahead of time direct from SNCF (Rick Steves doesn't sell train tickets I don't think?), but if she has tricks......

This guide should help you navigate the airport:
https://s2i7d9d6.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Paris-CDG-Airport-Map-1726x1024.png

Note that the three terminal areas are lined up 1-3-2 for no obvious logical reason.

I join those who advise staying overnight at the airport, or near it. I can recommend INNsIDE by Melia for pleasant service and a superior restaurant. It is located on the edge of the airport near the Terminal 3 Parking stop on the CDGval free shuttle train (and next door to the Holiday Inn.)

To answer the question about ticket prices:
The least expensive tickets for the general public are bought directly from SNCFCONNECT on line, and with a further reduction if you have a Carte de réduction. The Senior carte gives 20% off.
The sooner tickets are bought upon release, the less expensive.

Some government agencies have benefits for their employees, or at least they did when my family member was a government employee.
The worst place to even look at tickets, much less buy, is Rail Europe, the one in the RS book. Wish they'd dump it because it's misleading.

Interesting, Bets, that the government employees get a reduction, very handy! Alas, I know no one in the French government :)

I would think though that the Senior carte could be bought by anyone with the age? Unless it is only for French citizens and her daughter is the workaround for buying.....I still wonder how she gets 40% off :)

To answer about reductions:
Anyone can buy a reduction card. Normal price is 50 euro, but every fall there’s a sale for 25 euro, good for one year.
I don’t know if the reductions are still negotiated as a benefit for certain employees, but they were forty years ago.

No one knows how long it will take because AF isn't just Terminal 2E - there are sub terminals, too, K, L, M, which have security and a train ride from 2E to those sub terminals before that..........