Paris CDG to gare de est

The rule of thumb is 4 hours from ETA to a train from Paris if you are buying your ticket in advance. If you are coming to Paris from outside Schengen then you would be lucky to get through immigration in an hour (from plane to lines to immigration clerk). Sometimes it goes faster -- it did for us this spring; sometimes it can take 2 hours if the lines are unusually long and the staffing poor. It takes an hour to get from immigration to Paris by train; maybe a little less by cab -- you do have to get to the official cab queue or the train station, get your ticket etc. There may be a long line at Est to get your ticket for Dijon. But since you don't have the ticket you could just buy a ticket for the next train you can catch. 2 hours is really nowhere near enough though; if you buy the ticket ahead, you will probably miss that train and certainly miss it if anything goes slightly wrong. Planes come in half an hour late all the time or more.

Are you sure you need to get to Gare de l'Est? Generally, trains to Dijon depart from Gare de Lyon. The four-hour guideline mentioned in the first response still applies but the route to the stations are totally different and I would hate for you to end up at Gare de l'Est when you should be at Gare de Lyon.

I was going to say, trains to Dijon go from Gare de Lyon. Trains from Gare de l'Est go...east, meaning it would be a very long end around to get to Dijon. Dijon is on the way south to Lyon, so trains go...you guessed it, from Gare de Lyon.

I concur, Gare de Lyon for Dijon. You can get to Gare de Lyon by taxi or RER train.

Gare de Lyon is even farther away from CDG than Est, so two hours is even more problematic.

Thank you for all of your replies. I see I do need to go to Gare de Lyon. I was hoping to get on a early train but it seems I will not be able to. I will need to plan accordingly.

A cab to gare de Lyon takes 30-40 minutes.

I would agree if the trip is on a Sunday morning. Otherwise, my experience that a taxi from CDG to Gare de Lyon would take 45 minutes to 1 hour (more if it is raining).

Some SNCF routes offer flexible tickets, at a substantially higher price. If it is TGV you will need to stand in line to change your seat reservation. Line-up time should be built into your schedule if you don't have an advance ticket and reservation; at Gare de Lyon they can be lengthy, or quick, depending on how the stars align that day and whether your credit card will operate in ticket machines or you need an agent..
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