Is arriving by train in CDG 2 hrs before flight doable/crazy?

Trains -- generally -- are on time. Most international flight like to see a three hour check-in and often cut-off check in 45 minutes prior to departure. So if you plane is leaving at 1pm you need to be checked in by 12.15pm. I, personally, would not do it. The smallest delay and your are probably buying a new ticket for the next day or week.

Do you have a Plan B ?

They even arrive late in Switzerland. It is myth to think you can set your clock by any of the train companies. Most are on time and some are not. It just depends.

Too close for me. Have a strong back up plan.

No way would I risk it - you have to go through security and that can take quite a while sometimes !

Not doable, yes, crazy.

Thanks for all the quick responses. The consensus is --> Just Say No!

My Plan-B as someone asked is to take a train to Gare MontParnassee in Paris and then Metro-it from there to CDG.

The TGV (from St Pierre des Corps) arrives in Gare MontParnassee arrives at 8:05.

It appears to be a 1-hr metro from Gare MontParnassee to CDG.

From what I am hearing this really should be my Plan-A, huh?

Sri

Sri:

Yes.

Speaking as a fan of the early-direct-train-to-deGaulle gambit generally, I would not try this one, specifically.

This is nuts. You need to be in the check in line at CDG for a US flight 3 hours ahead of the flight. I have had it take every bit of that time for check in, passport control and security. You run a very good risk of missing a high stakes flight and having to buy a walk up ticket. Travel insurance does not cover this sort of fail.

While trains usually run on time, I once had a Thalys come in 5 hours late to Paris. But even if the train is on time, the 1.5 hours or so ahead of the flight you would have at check in is way too little. I would never plan a high stakes flight like this without planning to come in the evening before. You could come in mid day and get a place in Paris for a nice last evening and get the RER train in the morning at 9 am the next morning. Or you could come in to CDG very late and spend the night at an airport hotel. With the 1 pm departure I would opt for the city.

Just following up for all that have taken the time to respond and given unvarnished advice (yeah, I asked for it)...I have gotten the tickets for the arriving-at-8 train to Gare Montparnesse. Gives a lot more breathing room. :-)

FWIW. When I have tight time to get across town I'd never take a cab, but would take the train. I have been stuck in traffic far too many times in a cab.

Just following up for all that have taken the time to respond and given unvarnished advice (yeah, I asked for it)...I have gotten the tickets for the arriving-at-8 train to Gare Montparnesse. Gives a lot more breathing room. :-)

I think you did the right thing. On a RS tour people were asking the guide when they should leave for the airport and he said "You have two choices. You can be stressed or you can be bored."

Me, I'd rather be bored than risk having to buy a thousand-plus-per-person walk-up ticket after missing a flight to the US from Europe

When are you travelling? There's a direct TGV that usually leave Saint Pierre des Corps at 8.03 that arrives CdG at 9.42. It's teh train I catch when I have a midday flight.

(or are you not trvalling from Saint Pierre des Corps? I don't see a Saint Pierre des Corps train arriving at the airprot at 11.12)

@Simon:

When are you travelling? There's a direct TGV that usually leave Saint
Pierre des Corps at 8.03 that arrives CdG at 9.42.

For my date of travel (June 7), the earliest arrival into CDG is at 11:12 (and it isn't a direct).

@andrew.reis, @Janettravels44:
Now that I am booked to Montparnesse I am debating between Metro and cab. As Andrew Reis pointed out the train-based commute seems to require a connection (the direct one is not until later in the day). I'll wait and see as we get closer. Maybe train schedules are seasonal and subject to change.

On the other hand, traffic woes that affect cab rides are worth noting too.

Thanks

Sri

Janet and Andrew are both right...however, if it’s a weekday, you’ll have tremendous traffic at that hour. You’ll also have crowded metro and RER cars. Furthermore, Montparnasse, a station the size of a small city, is very inconveniently placed for getting to CDG. The taxi has to go south to the peripherique and then go east around the city, or north up through the city on one-way taxi lanes, but it will clog towards the north. Or around Bercy— no straight shots anywhere.

Metro gives a lot of choices: you can change to the RER B at Denfert Rochereau, St. Michel, Les Halles or Gare du Nord. Going to Denfert seems counter-intuitive, but that’s what I’d do— easiest station to change trains and will move you through Paris the fastest. Staying on the 4 metro north involves a lot of stops.

Finally, At street level, you aren’t that far from the Porte Royal station of the RER B. I would have rolled in the night before, walked to the Mercure or other hotel at Blvd Raspail for the night and just walked on to the Porte Royal station in the morning. Depending on where your train arrives and how savvy you are situating yourself in busy cities, the walk to Porte Royal is 15- 20 minutes, or there’s a bus between the two but you’d have to find the stop outside that monstously large station.

@Bets:
Thanks for the details. While I have never been to Paris I am usually pretty good at orienting myself in a busy place. However I will keep your tips handy :-P Better yet I will study it on a map before I go!

Sri

I have traveled from Montparnasse, where just finding the cab stand is not as easy as most places, across the city by cab and sat in traffic not moving for a long time. The train while not always easy is rarely delayed.

@Sri,

please understand that Bets is understating the complex that is the Montparnasse stations. Bear in mind when you look at the graphic that Gare Montparnasse is actually one main station with a gaggle of sub-stations which are not all together and which are spread out over a large area. Plan on enough time there.

I also echo the others; don't do it. Like Janet said, I have gone early and used every bit of time going through security and I am one who usually arrives very early for a flight.

The easiest time I ever had going to the airport was from Porte d'Orleans to the airport via taxi on le 14 juillet. Got to the airport in record time !

I would have done it. I never check a bag and check in online. I go straight to security and still have plenty of time. But that’s me.

Getting off at Denfert-Rochereau or Chatelet and switching to the RER
B is not so easy for a newcomer

I was essentially a newbie in Paris last November and changed from the métro to the RER B a few times at Chatelet. All you have to do is read the signs and follow them for the RER B. It's lightyears better than sitting in standstill bumper-to-bumper traffic en route to CDG.

I agree with Continental. The metro and RER stations are all very well signed and it is easy to find your exit if you know what your exit is (Chatelet has 20+ exits and they pop up all over this area quite aways apart from each other). and it is easy if you know the line you are transferring to. There are clear signs -- usually a colored circle with the metro line in it or a big colored letter for the RER line -- you just keep following them till you arrive at your platform. The entrance to a platform lists all the stops so you can double check to be sure you are entering the train going in your direction. The final stop will be listed next to the circle with the 2 or 4 or whatever in it so you can head towards the correct platform -- and then there is the double check I mentioned. It doesn't require a knowledge of French and is very clear.

When we were leaving on an 8 a.m. flight out of CDG, we chose to stay at the airport and took RER the afternoon before -- and were glad we did when the system had problems and it took us 3 hours to make the trip. Haven't seen anything like that in subsequent visits, but we just plan for the Ibis at the airport for lower stress levels.

If you have to go via Montparnasse I also recommend catching line 6 to Denfert-Rochereau and changing to the RER.

The change at Denfert-Rochereau isn't exactly straightforward, but it's much easier than getting to Line 4 at Montparnasse and then changing again at Gare du Nord, which at that time of day could unfeasibly busy. The trick is to make sure you get on an express RER to Charles de Gaulle, which reduces the number of stations you have to worry about moving your luggage out of the train's aisles

Thank you all for the continued guidance and presenting options.

I am getting acquainted with the names of stations and plotting possible routes. I am leaning towards

Gare Montparnasse → (Metro) → Denfert-Rochereau → (RER) → CDG

Based on what I have read in this thread so far, it seems like switching from Metro to RER would be easier at Denfert-Rochereau than Chatelet.

Thanks Simon, yes, definitely line 6 direction Nation to switch at Denfert. Furthermore, the RER B is at street-level at Denfert, making the switch easy-peasy. Meanwhile, back at Montparnasse, Line 4 is a 15-minute walk up and down stairs all around Montparnasse station, so 6 is easier between the two stations.

All these details are why a cab is the better choice if you are in a
hurry.

When you are sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic at a stand still, you will be stressed out of your mind if you are in a hurry.