After flying from Athens to Paris, will we need to go through customs, and if so, does anyone have an idea of how long it takes to get through CDG?. We are trying to get a clue of how long it will take to arrive in Paris at 3:10 PM, take the RER to Gare du Nord, then the Metro to Gare St. Lazare to meet people whose train comes in about 5:00 PM. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Allow up to an hour (it could be less) to collect your luggage and go through immigration/passport control. Your best route from CDG to Gare St Lazare is to take the RER B to Gard du Nord, walk through the connecting tunnel to the Magenta RER station, and take the RER E to Haussmann-St Lazare. Then walk to Gare St Lazare. Depending upon how long you'll have to wait for the next RER E train, your total travel time will be 45-60 minutes.
Posted by
Portland, OR, USA
805 posts
You will not need to go through customs but allows 30 minutes or so to get your bags (as you would on a domestic flight in the US and then maybe 45-60 to get to the Gare San Lazare...
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7575 posts
Sorry, can't resist technical correctness. As mentioned, both Greece and France are Schengen countries, and as long as this is a "point to point" flight (you were not just flying through Athens from a non-schengen country) then it is no different than flying within the US, you get off the plane, go to baggage claim, and walk out...no checks (well, actually, France retains the right to do an immigration check). If it were from a non-Schengen country, you would go through Immigration (check and register/stamp your passport), but customs in Europe is usually just a fork in the road, if you have nothing to declare, you just walk out, if you do, you go to a customs office to handle the paperwork.
Posted by
Paris, France
506 posts
Terry -
To travel to Saint Lazare - very very easy. Your longest part of the day will be waiting for your luggage.
Take the RER B to Chatelet and change to the number 14 metro line (save your ticket it will get you all the way to Saint Lazare). The 14 is fast and easy. Once on the RER - travel into Paris will be about 30 minutes with 5 minutes change (depending upon your luggage coordination) Chatelet to Saint Lazare will be no more than 10 minutes.
Posted by
OP
Bend, OR
576 posts
We're hoping to not have to check our 21" carryons, but not sure what AirFrance flies from Athens to Paris. On our last European trip, from Amsterdam to Rome our plane was so small that our carryons were taken from us (and we never saw one bag for 8 days).
Posted by
OP
Bend, OR
576 posts
Frank, the two flights I'm worried about losing my 21" carryons are Air France 1732 on September 5 and Air France 1233 on September 14. Also, do you know if we go through customs in Athens or Paris when we fly from Seattle through CDG to Athens? Thanks!
Posted by
OP
Bend, OR
576 posts
Extremely helpful information, Frank. Now I won't worry so much about cramming so much extra clothing into my purse in anticipation of losing my carryon (and all of my clothes for my Greek island cruise!) You brought me some peace of mind.
Posted by
dallas, tx, usa
1358 posts
You will find getting through CDG to be much like terminals here. You cant predict how long it will take. it varies.
Depends on the day of the week, time of day and number of arriving flights. Expect the worst so you can rejoice when it takes less time that expected.
Be sure to agree on the place to meet at St Lazare. Be careful to choose a point that is not duplicated on another floor such as rest rooms or information desks.
When meeting people in foreign terminals we always take a plan B in case plan A fails. We choose a secondary meeting place.
After a period of waiting, I wait at the first place and my wife moves to the second place.