Hello - My boyfriend is joining me for a portion of my trip to France. I'll be at my last day/night in Beaune the morning he arrives April 14. April 15 we'll take the TGV to Avignon for 4 nights. We figure he'd fly direct Boston to Paris (like I am the previous weekend) and we'd get the same flight back.
The problem is there doesn't appear to be a nice direct TGV from Paris CDG to Beaune (via Dijon). In fact, there appears to be no less than 2-3 stops/changes (and some of it appears to be walking). I looked into him flying into Geneva (not direct but appears to be next best option) and returning via Paris (not direct, not same flight as me) and although there seems to be less stops (and he is familiar with Switzerland transit, never been to France). So, I guess the question is should he go with the direct flight, more complex trains (never been to France, so more about unfamiliarity) OR not direct flight, "easier" trains? I'd love to hear thoughts. Even with stops/changes the trains appear to take about the same amount of time. He's better at navigating than me (I plan, he gets us from A to B usually...) I should note. I know what my vote is (Paris) but I would love to hear your thoughts or maybe someone on here is good with explaining the Paris metro? Thanks in advance...please let me know if I haven't been clear.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
I am not familiar with the connections from Geneva, but Paris to Beaune is not difficult. To be extra easy, the Air France bus will take your friend directly to Gare Lyon. The transfer in Dijon is easy. I took that route, with the bus, a few years back and was in Beaune in plenty of time for lunch.
Posted by
Ojai, CA
591 posts
Check the Paris Gare Lyon TGV schedules to Dijon....quite a few of them nonstop all during the day. If you search for trains from CDG to Dijon, some of the websites will include the 2 regional trains to take from the airport to Gare Lyon. Another option is to take the Air France bus from the airport to the station.
Posted by
OP
Newton, MA, USA
289 posts
Thanks...just a couple responses helps. The concern I had was really around the airport to downtown which seems to be solved utilizing the shuttle. And...the prices for the direct flights to Paris on his dates came down a lot overnight (big diff compared to Geneva flight). Thanks!!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I'd go with coming in through Paris. I'm not a trainer, but know just about how and where they run in France. I have no idea about the route from Geneva. I know the Paris system fairly well. He can catch the RER B at CDG and stick with it to Paris Nord then switch to the RER D to scoot over to Paris Lyon. Fairly simple and well-signed the whole way. (The temptation might be to stick with the RER B past Nord, but the change then would have to be at the damndest metro station in the world.) Lyon is bound to have a TGV to Dijon. The station is not that complex, so the switch to the regional train over to Beaune should be easy. Signs are real good there as well. I'd guess it's about a four-hour project, start to finish. I can't imagine where there'd be any walking except to change platforms within a station. Maybe you had the idea you had to hike across Paris from Nord to Lyon? EDIT: Hadn't though about the bus, it might be ten or fifteen minutes faster and is certainly more simple. The factor might be how often it runs - - the RER route takes about fourty-five minutes and trains leave every fifteen minutes or so.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Air France bus #4 runs every 30 minutes from CDG to Gare de Lyon. The fare is €16.50. The RER B runs about every 8 minutes. As Ed suggests, take the RER B to Gare du Nord and transfer there to the RER D and take it to Gare de Lyon. The fare is €8.70. Even with the connection time at Gare du Nord, the RER B + RER D route should be faster than the bus.
Posted by
OP
Newton, MA, USA
289 posts
I went and checked on the TGV website and it gave me an option that wasn't available on Bahn. There is TGV direct from the airport to Lyon, changing to a RER then back North to Beaune. What's interesting is that it's 4 hrs for all the times listed and only 1 change rather than all the changes listed on Bahn (and depending on when you actually start the journey could take quite a bit longer). Yeah!
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Ali, your Lyon route (via PARIS?) sounds like the worst option so far. Your friend would be better off just taking the regular train to Beaune from Lyon, less than 2 hours.
Posted by
OP
Newton, MA, USA
289 posts
Sorry, should have been clear. The route that comes up via the TGV Europe website is CDG TGV (airport, not Paris) to Lyon Part Dieu to Beaune. It's a solid 4 hours but 1 stop and easy from the airport. Based on his arrival and what I find on Bahn the options are all (from the airport, even with that but shuttle which could take an hour) around 3.5-4.5 hours total so this seemed like a good option.