Hi, I will be visiting France/Germany in early September - in planning an itinerary, how much time is advised between connections - for example, the first day we arrive at CDG at 7:35, and the TGV to Amboise is 9:12 am. Seems tight to me, but what is reasonable (for this and for other connections).
Thanks.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
First, your title, "Timing Train Cconnections" seems to refer to going from one train to another at a station, but here you are asking about arriving at an airport with, presumably, passport control and customs, getting to the transit station, and then getting to the train. The Paris metro website, www.ratp.fr, shows the time from CDG to Paris Austerlitz to be over 50 minutes. If you want to arrive a few minutes early at Austerlitz, at say 9 am, you would have to leave CDG around 8 am, giving you only 25 min or so to deplane, get through passport control and customs, and find the RER station. I think that's too tight. Perhaps there is other transportation, like a taxi, that would be faster. I don't know about that. It would be rush hour.
The biggest problem you have here is arrival time. Trans-Atlantic flights rarely arrive precisely on time. A half hour late, and the change could be impossible.
As far as the normal time to change trains, in Germany, if you are prepared (at the end of the car, ready to get off, when the train stops; know the platform number of the other train; etc), 5 or 10 min should be sufficient. I've seen connections in Germany with 5 min to make a 1 or 2 platform change, and that wouldn't worry me (much). The Bahn usually gives schedules with connections they expect you to make.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you arrive on time at CDG, you will be able to catch the 09:12 TGV from CDG to St-Pierre-des-Corps and connect there to Amboise. If your plane is late, you will need to go into Paris and depart from Gare d'Austerlitz. You will have your choice of many departure times from there.