Hello,
We are planning a trip to France in April/May 2026.
We are considering taking the train from Lyon to the Paris-CDG airport for our flight home. It is recommended to arrive at the airport three hours before departure. Would that apply for the train as well? Perhaps it is too risky and we should just pay the extra cost and fly from Lyon.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
No need to arrive three hours prior to a train departure. Less than an hour is plenty of time. They won’t post the departure platform until 15-20 minutes or so before the train leaves. There are numerous hotels at CDG where you can stay the night before your flight. We like Novotel and it is very convenient to the RER train.
It is usually not recommended to take a long train ride to the airport day of departure. Things happen, like strikes, sudden stoppages on the line for various reasons. You might consider taking a late train the night before and spending the night in one of the hotels at CDG. Also, are you looking at flying WestJet? Their flight to Calgary looks like it departs at 12:55 pm.
You need to arrive at CDG 3 hrs before your flight regardless of your mode of transport in getting there. Which means getting a direct train from Lyon NO LATER than 5 hours before departure. Of course you only need to be at the Lyon train station 15-20 minutes before your train leaves, assuming you already have your tickets. And as noted in a previous post, that leaves no time for a plan B if anything should interfere with the train's arrival time at CDG.. I only took a quick look at Google flights, but it appears that almost all flights to Edmonton leave before mid-afternoon. Given all that, the least stressful approach might be to take that late evening train to CDG and sleep at an airport hotel that night. I think you will find that flights from CDG will be significantly cheaper than those from Lyon
Another voice saying to go the evening before and stay at an airport hotel. The only way you can fly is if both flights are on the same itinerary so you are guaranteed an overseas flight if your first flight is late and causes you to miss the second leg.
Trains are frequently late, or even canceled, for many, many reasons. I ride the Lyon to Paris line a few times a year and find it late 80% of the time. In August, my 9 am train to Lyon was canceled at 7 pm the evening before; I had to quickly buy a ticket for the 6 am train. So no, go to the airport the day before, late afternoon rather than the last train in case of a glitch, and be at the airport three hours before departure the next day.
Thanks all!
Decision made. We will either take the train the night before or fly from Lyon.
Take care, Mary Lou
The train from Lyon arrives at the Paris Gare de Lyon on the southeast side of Paris.
Some high-speed OUIGO trains from Lyon arrive at other train stations in Paris, such as Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy station.
From there you have to take the Metro and change to the RER.
There are several TGV trains from Lyon Part Dieu to CDG every day. I count 8 currently. They all make only one intermediate stop at Marne La Vallee-Chessy.
Instead of booking the return Paris - home, why don’t you book it Lyon - Paris - home?
Hi Marco,
Yes, if we fly from Lyon it all be on one ticket. Decision will be based primarily on cost/convenience.
Cheers, Mary Lou
