Deno111

Hi,
We arrive in Paris at CDG at 6.20 am on a Sunday from Malaysia. The connecting train leaves Gare de Lyon at 10.20am.

My thoughts are allow 1 hour for the flight being late. 1 hour to get through customs and baggage. 1 hour to get from CDG to Gare de Lyon, which means we would still have 50 mins to spare.

Do you think I have allowed enough time for our transfer?

Thanks

Seamus

That's probably OK if you are planning to go by taxi.

justineparis

Well it will probably work, but I too suggest taxi, ( sunday morning traffic will not be bad) but don't count on having alot of extra time. I do suggest you use whatever spare time you have to pick up some food , the trains have horrible food choices, and of course over priced.. even a sandwich from a kiosk in the station will be better then train food.

Dukey1

Four hours on a Sunday?

Traffic shouldn't be a problem and who knows, perhaps your flight will arrive ON TIME> It does happen.

Getting luggage and through Immigration. A lot depends on how many other flights arrive when yours does and how many people will be going through the same Immigration line(s) you are going through and how many Immigration agents are working.

Taxi vs. Air France Bus vs. RER...taxi and bus depend on traffic conditions; rail does not.

Honestly, in my own repeated experience FOUR hours is plenty of time on a Sunday..I wouldn't start sweating until I GOT there...if time is short, hop into a taxi, etc. If not, consider the alternatives if they might be money-saving and you want to save money.

StCirq

Just out of curiosity, where are you taking the train to from the Gare de Lyon? The TGV station right at the airport has trains going to many of the same destinations as the trains from the Gare de Lyon, which could save you precious time.

Gretchen

That was going to be my question also.

Christina

I think you have allowed enough time, your allowances seem generous to me. I also would take the AF bus as it goes right to Gare de Lyon.

Dukey1

Why do I think this person may have already purchased rail tickets?

kerouac

Plenty of time, no problem if you already have your tickets and itinerary plotted out.

You can take the direct Air France bus from CDG to Gare de Lyon or the RER B and RER D, via Gare du Nord.

Deno111

Hi All,
Thanks for the replies. We are catching the TCV Lyria to Lucerne, Switzerland, which does not go via CDG. While money is always an issue, there will be 4 travellers, so a taxi will be ok, as we can split the cost.

Dukey1. We have not bought our tickets yet, the 90 day window for buying tickets is today. I will check what is the refund policy if we miss our train.

Thanks for all the responses.

Christina

I think you are right, if there are 4 of you, the taxi is about the same cost as the AF bus, and will be a bit easier. Both are on the highway, so traffic is the same issue and at least in the taxi you won't have to wait for them to unload your luggage.

kerouac

Yes, a taxi is almost always better for 4 people. However, in terminal 2 there is a transit map showing the road conditions with red and green lights (just over the elevators going down to the car park). If all of the lights are red going into Paris, the RER might be the safer deal.

Deno111

Thanks for the responses, it is very helpful info.

Rumseydog

I can speak to the risks of taking a taxi. On a tight schedule ourselves this past May, me and my wife opted for a taxi. Waiting in the taxi line at Terminal 1 took about 20 minutes, then we sat in traffic leaving CDG due to an accident for another 30 minutes, and finally crawled through heavy traffic entering the city. We traveled on a Wednesday, so I agree Sunday should be a safer bet. All told, our ride took 1h30m and cost us 60Euros - and we missed our train (our flight was 3-1/2 hours late). RER would have likely been quicker and, at about 9.50Euro per person, less expensive to boot.

Deno111

One of my fellow travellers has suggested we could buy the tickets on the day, removing the pressure of the transfer.

We will be travelling on Sunday 10th November, so it is not peak season and Sunday should be not as busy.

I just did a search for tickets for today's travel, and there was availability.

Worst case scenario, is there are no tickets, and we have to spend the night in Paris. Not a bad place to spend a night.

Thoughts?

Christina

Sunday is often one of the busiest days for long distance trains, I'm not sure I follow you on that one. I'm sure it depends on the destination (eg, trains back to Paris on Sunday afternoon and evening are busy), but I don't know about yours.

You do realize that is a holiday weekend, don't you, at least in France? So maybe Sunday wouldn't be so busy compared to Monday (the holiday is Monday, 11 november, Armistice Day). It's not a major holiday in Switzerland, though. That probably doesn't affect people in France going to Lucerne.

I think you are safe in waiting until you are there to get tickets, though. And a 60 euro cab fare for a 90 minute drive sounds pretty darn good to me (that someone experienced). Sure, the time may be an issue, but that isn't a bad fare. Even at that rate, it's cheaper than the the AF bus, which is 17 euro per person, although you can get a deal for groups of 4+ actually.

There are enough trains that do that run, but from what I see, but most are not very desirable, taking several transfers and a lot of time. They don't seem equally preferable to me at all. And you have to transfer in Switzerland, so it is possible some of those trains could get booked up on Sunday afternoon, I don't know (such as Bale to Lucerne). The train at noon takes 1:15 more time than the one at 10:23, and then you are stuck until 2:23.

And it looks to me like you are saving over 50 euro a ticket by buying in advance (Piccolo fare vs. regular). I checked this Sunday, which I think is a better comparison than today, and there were tickets on the 10:23 and I think this may even be a holiday, not sure.

I think you would be okay waiting to buy the tickets on site, but you'd spend about 50 euro more each and have to spend your time buying them, also. Some of those lines are long. I don't see the transfer as a big problem myself.

Deno111

Thanks Christine. We were unaware of the holiday weekend. More discussion required. Thanks.