How do I get from Paris/CDG to a train station?

I think the easiest way, if you're hauling luggage, to get from CDG to Gare de Lyon is to take the Les Cars Air France Line 4 airport shuttle bus. It drops you right in front of the Gare de Lyon. Go up a few steps, walk a tiny bit and right into the station where you would board your train. The bus is not the quickest way in, but I think it's the most stress-free way, especially for needing to get to Gare de Lyon. http://www.lescarsairfrance.com/en.html

G. Lyon is probably best. Take the Rer B into the city to Chatelet /Les Halles. Then switch to the Rer A to G. Lyon. That last leg is just a couple minutes, so don't settle in. The bad part might be the ten-minute hike from the rer to the SNCF side at G. Lyon. You can also take a door-to-door bus. The time is about the same for both. The rer will stiff you about twelve bucks and the bus close to twice as much. If you pick Bercy, the rer/metro will cost the same but take a tad longer. There is no direct bus.

Thank you, Rose. I appreciate the link for the bus and which bus! If I am right, the map indicates that I pick up the bus at "T1 Gate 32"-but I don't know what that means. What is T1? I have never been to CDG or on a French train. I am older and traveling alone so I think the bus is the way to go. Thanks, again. Jeanette

Thank you, Ed. I sent a private reply as well, but your comment about the 10 minute hike to the train station, makes me sure to take the bus since I am older and traveling alone. Many thanks for sharing your knowledge! Jeanette

Jeanette, below is a link to more information about the logistics involved in using the Les Cars Air France bus. 'T1' means Terminal 1, but you'll see that the new link I've provided below says: You can catch the Air France Coach at the following airport locations: CDG Aérogare/Terminal 1: exit door #32 on the arrivals level. CDG Aérogare/Terminal 2: exit doors #B1, C2, E8, F9 on the arrivals level. So after you land, go through Passport Control, and collect your baggage (if you checked it). Look for signs or ask someone. It is a bit of a walk, so take care you're headed the right way. I came into Terminal 2 last time I used the Les Cars bus and there was a ticket window where I purchased my ticket, but if you order a ticket online, simply print the voucher and bring it with you to present to the driver. It will be one less thing you'll need to worry about on arrival. http://paris-airport-shuttle.discoverfrance.net/af/ If you do wish to buy the ticket online, call your credit card company to say you will be making an international purchase online, to avoid their fraud protection software from possibly blocking your card due to international activity outside your normal spending pattern.

Thank you, again, Rose. This is very helpful but I should have figured that T1 is Terminal One! Ahhh, I belie my age. Anyway, I'll take your advice and buy the ticket ahead of time. Do you recommend that I buy the train ticket ahead of time also? I looked at the connections in Dijon but the train I would probably take has only a 12 minute window. Perhaps after negotiating the Gare Du Lyon I will be able to transfer more easily in Dijon. Jeanette

Booking the train ticket ahead of time is tricky because you could be delayed if your flight arrives late, if it takes a long time to go through Passport Control at CDG and pick up your baggage, and if there's heavy traffic that delays your ride to Gare de Lyon. It looks like there are reasonably frequent trains to Beaune, so unless there's a significant cost advantage to booking the train ticket in advance, it might be less stressful to simply purchase a ticket at Gare de Lyon. Let's see if someone else has an opinion about that. I always travel in the off-season, so I don't experience the crowds and fully booked trains that can occur during peak season, if that's when you're traveling. I think the connection time between trains will be adequate.

Hi Rose, You make a number of really good points, including the important point that the trains may be booked, which I hadn't considered! I am traveling on Monday, July 22nd. Probably a busy day. If there is anyone else that could help with this, I'd really appreciate it. And, again, thanks, Rose. Jeanette

Jeannette, what time does your flight arrive? I'm a bit nervous for you because when I query https://en.voyages-sncf.com/ it appears there is only one available train on July 22 from Gare de Lyon to Beaune, departing 16:53 (4:53 PM), arriving Beaune 19:06 (7:06 PM). Second-class fare €79,00. If that is indeed the only train from Gare de Lyon, then it's very important to know that you can get there to be on it, and you would want to book it immediately. Use FRANCE as your ticket collection country, so you will be given the opportunity to print at home. I'm doing this from my iPhone, so please double check. If there are more frequent trains from the other station, everything changes. Gah!! Planning travel is so much fun!!

My flight arrives at 6:00 am on Monday, July 22nd at CDG. I guess I don't know how to look for the trains from Paris to Beaune because I didn't anticipate there only being one or two trains. I know I will need to change trains in Dijon to go to Beaune. I really don't want to be at the Gar de Lyon all day waiting. Can you direct me to the website I need to use to find and book the train?

This is a little maddening because I get different results when I query the French version of the site than when I query the English-language version of the same site. If you can manage the French version, go to: http://www.voyages-sncf.com/

Jeanette, you have lots of choices on train runs to get from CDG to Beaune. All require a train change. All train runs that I see from CDG change trains at Lyon Part Dieu on July 22. Here's a link to what I see on www.voyages-sncf.com and these are just the morning trains. I expected to see train changes at Dijon which we have done but I don't see any. http://gyazo.com/2d9919484a35ced6b328e8c48e5a115d Of course, if you can get to the Paris-Bercy train station, there are several regional train runs during the day that require no train changes. For backup, I've also looked at www.bahn.de. The runs are completely different. They all head into Paris first by RER train.

Larry, thanks for validating that I'm not crazy or being tricked by attempting to do this on my iPhone. Each time I ran the same query I got different results. Jeanette, if you need to take the train out of Gare de Bercy instead, you could still take the Les Cars bus to Gare de Lyon, then catch a taxi from the taxi rank right in front of the station to Gare de Bercy. It's close and shouldn't cost much. All my suggestions take into account that you are a mature traveler (grin), will be alone, are unfamiliar with Paris, and will have luggage to contend with, so thinking of the easiest way for you.

Thanks all. I think I have several trainswith connectionsthat I could take from CDG on July 22nd. Is it best for me to book the ticket nowsay 4 hours from the time I land in CDG at 6 amthan to wait until I get to Gare de Lyon? Will all the tickets be gone? I don't know what the "Part Dieu" means after "Lyon"? Is that the name of the train station in Lyon? I don't change in Dijon, then, but in Lyon? When I look at booking a ticket from CDG I have several optionsand again I don't know which one to chose. They all begin with "CDG"; I know I need to get to Gare de Lyon (by bus) and none of the options says "Gar de Lyon." Airport Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG 2) - local train (FR) Airport Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG 1) - local train (FR)
Paris Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG 2) - TGV station (FR) Taking the train is much more complicated than I imagined. Thank you for helping me. I have three grandchildren in Meursault that I am anxious to see.

Rose, I won't have any difficulty taking a taxi to the Gare Bercy if that is the best way for me to go. At some point in my research I did see a direct train from Bercy to Beaune but there was only one train and I don't remember when it left. I guess I'd like to have some options in case I end up spending more time getting out of CDG. And, after not sleeping all night on the flight, I'd rather leave for Beaune in the morning some time. I'm afraid I'll be so tired from the flight that I'll mess up the train connections! I'm going to look at the http://en.voyages-sncf.com website again. On the train schedule, what does "TER" mean under "TGV" (which I do know what it means).

Jeanette, I sent you a Direct Message.

Goodness, this sounds more complicated than it is! Of course there are many ways to go, but the bus to Gare Lyon to the train is going to be the most direct. You will almost certainly have to change trains in Dijon, but it is a piece of cake in a small station. With luck you will be in Beaune for lunch.

Jeanette, the CDG train station is exactly that - a train station. The RER is part of the Paris expanded metro system. Oddly, it's also a train but its more like a subway. You catch that at the RER station at CDG which is different from the main train station there. My choices above were train runs directly from the CDG train station to Beaune via a train change at Lyon Part Dieu. You don't have to go into Paris. No RER train either. Part Dieu is the name of one of the train stations in Lyon. The formal name is Lyon Part Dieu. TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) is the French high-speed train. TER (Transport Express Regional) is the slower regional train. If you want to depart from Paris-Bercy, it's your choice. You can take the airport bus to Gare-de-Lyon and the taxi to Paris-Bercy. Here's a link to see what your train choices look like on July 22. http://gyazo.com/089885881b640394f4611d6015db87a7 Note that these are TER trains for the first four runs. You can easily buy these tickets when you arrive at the Paris-Bercy train station. Also, as with regional trains, you have to validate this ticket at the little machine before boarding.

Adam,
I was beginning think it was far more complicated than I originally thoughtand I have already purchased my flight for the 22 (21st from here). With everyone's help, I will be in Beaune for lunch. Thank you. Jeanette

Larry, Thank you for all the clarifications of the terms. I certainly will sound as if I know what I am doing.
I have decided to go by bus from CDG to Gare de Lyon and there take the train to Dijon, and then transfer to the Beaune train. I now understand the Bercy connection through Lyon. Thank you very much for helping me sort this out. Jeanette

Jeanette, I think you have made a very good decision, all things considered. The trains out of CDG would have taken you all the way south to Lyon then back north to Beaune - an extra distance of about 300km. The Gare de Lyon > Dijon > Beaune route is more direct. And the AF Les Cars coach will be quite comfortable for you because the driver will load/unload your luggage into the coach's hold for you, which is far superior to struggling with it on the RER. Have a wonderful trip! I'm sure it will be thrilling to see your grandchildren.