Customs - with a layover, is it at point of entry or at destination?

It is very easy. Is it all one ticket or separate tickets? If you have one ticket with a layover in Stockholm that ends in Paris, you will go through immigration/passport control in Stockholm and customs in Paris. Customs never or should never take more than two minutes -- just walk through the Green Door -- Nothing to Declare. You don't have to add hours for customs anywhere. Not even Paris.

Thanks! That sounds perfect - we have one ticket with a layover. I probably meant passport/immigration and not customs. I just remember standing hours in line when entering another country to show our passports.

There are 2 checks: customs and passport control. This has been discussed in the thread https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/arriving-in-europe-immigration-customs

As for advice, if it was me I'd spend the arrival nite in Paris. I think of planes as generally getting you there on the day that is scheduled, but not necessarily at the time that is planned.Our rule of thumb is that if the train trip after arrival is a short-haul train and they are frequent enough, just get on the next one and purchase a walk-up ticket. For longer train trips the savings with advance purchase pay for much of a hotel room the night of arrival, and by planning to go out in the morning the next day we expect to make the train. We much prefer dropping our bags at the hotel and getting out to sitting in train stations for a few hours waiting for a train, or stressing out over missing the train if the flight is delayed and we don't have enough slack in the schedule.

Regardless of whether it’s one ticket or two tickets, passport control will take place in Stockholm because in either scenario you are entering the Schengen area in Stockholm.

When you land in Paris, it will be like a “domestic” flight — there is a small possibility France will conduct some identity checks (they have been doing some checks of even intra-Schengen passengers due to a stated state of emergency) but even in that unlikely scenario it will not be anything like a full blown passport check.

thanks for the link, John. I searched for a previous thread and couldn't find.

there is a small possibility France will conduct some identity checks (they have been doing some checks of even intra-Schengen passengers due to a stated state of emergency) but even in that unlikely scenario it will not be anything like a full blown passport check.

While that happened the prior year, I was surprised that it happened again this Spring; I thought the state of emergency had ended. But it was quick. I don't think the official even opened our passports.

Indeed, the state of emergency has not yet been lifted.

When we went to Italy we had a connection through Charles de Gaulle in Paris. We went through customs there. By the way, avoid connecting through Charles de Gaulle if you can. It was a nightmare. We had to trek all around the airport and go through security again. I didn't even have time to get a French pastry like I had wanted to.

I am sorry but for the sake of clarity we should not use customs as a generic term for immigration or passport control. Two completely separate functions. In the above she would have gone through immigration/passport control in Paris (first entry in the Schengen zone) and customs in Italy (first access to checked luggage) if she held a through ticket and were only changing planes in Paris.

Frank, thanks for that clarification about customs versus immigration/passport control.