Time from CDG to TGV Train at Airport

See my advice on this similar question from earlier today: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/st-petersburg-helsinki-tallinn.

Most French train tickets go on sale about 90 days in advance of travel, but often earlier for summer travel, since they release summer dates in big batches. They also sell earlier for their "no frills" OUIGO version of the TGV and your date is already available at www.ouigo.com.

OK, thank you. I did see that there were a couple of trains available, but the times did not work (only an hour after landing or mid-afternoon). I'll keep my eyes peeled and plan to look for trains that depart closer to 10 than 9.

to get more convenient times you'll likely have to go into Paris rather than taking the train from the CDG airport. That said, nobody can predict whether your plane will be delayed due to a mechanical issue, weather, etc. and cause you to miss the trian connection. You get a great price by buying the TGV ticket well in advance, but you're unlikely to be able to change it so you'll have to buy a replacement ticket at the walkup fare.

Everyone's tolerance for risk differs. For us I'd rather take the train into Paris, spend a day exploring, then catch a train out the following morning.

I would look at the schedule now and sign up for email notification for when the tickets go on sale. You might be surprised at how early tickets for June travel to Avignon might go on sale. As Laura mentioned, SNCF runs sales for certain destinations more than 90 days before travel date, usually in April. A few years ago, I bought tickets for late July travel about 110 days before the travel date because I received an email notice when the tickets went on sale. By the time friends started looking 90 days before travel when they decided to join us, all of the cheapest tickets were gone.

I would suggest at least 2-3 hours from landing to boarding train.. it can take an hour or two to get through immigration depending on the day. Even though the TGV to Avignon is right there, CDG is a big airport. I would rather be early than miss the train.

I did exactly the same thing a year ago (flight to CDG and TGV to Avignon).

I had to go through customs and get my checked bags, then find the train terminal (my first time in CDG). All of that took about 30 minutes (there were two people ahead of me in the customs line. My flight landed around 10am). That was my only time in CDG: I don't know if that customs experience is typical or atypical.

Regarding the advance train bookings: they're just like that. You can also check OUIGO (ouigo.com) for the cheap TGV. They have an almost-direct from CDG to Avignon (two stops).

the rule of thumb is 3 hours at CDG from ETA to train departure and 4 from Paris. Someone else posted here or on another forum that his plane was 2 hours late and he still made the train as the result of advice to allow this kind of time. 3 and 4 doesn't guarantee you make the train but your odds are good. Stuff can happen; we once had a plane come in 5 hours late. Travel Insurance generally doesn't cover this sort of fail as it is viewed as the responsibility of the person who planned badly.

Thanks all! I've signed up for notification when more times go on sale. We won't be taking the time to go into Paris in order to catch the train, so I hope to grab one of the late morning departures from CDG when they open up for purchase.

https://easycdg.com/

www.parisbytrain.com

As you will read, the bus from CdG to Gare de Lyon is the easiest route, if a little more costly than local trains.
No way to know if it is the fastest, since that depends on the unpredictable road traffic.

In my experience, you could be off the plane, through immigration, pick up luggage and walk through the customs gate in an hour or a little more. The only time it took me significantly longer was some years ago, when terrorists blew a hole in a terminal roof that clogged traffic.

It turns out that even though I signed up to receive an alert when the CGD to Avignon tickets went on sale, I never got one. Thankfully I was obsessively checking every day. So I missed the very inexpensive tickets, but ended up getting first class tickets for the time we needed for around $75 per person at the time we needed. So, not great, but happy to not feel rushed when we land. (We land at 7:00 and our train is at 9:50.) We did get a great deal on the Avignon TGV to Gare de Lyon tickets, though! Thanks for all the guidance!