France: CDG to Beaune
 

Need some help figuring out timing of getting from CDG to Beaune. Lots of information out there, but I'm not sure I've seen this specific timing yet:

- Land CDG at 10:40am
- Transfer time from CDG to Gare de Lyon is +/- 3 hours from landing, taking either RER or AF bus. I am leaning towards the AF bus.
- Is this correct?
- This would put me in Gare de Lyon at 1:40 pm.

- Unfortunately, the train to Beaune departs at 12:58 pm and then not until 4:58 pm.

I am afraid that based on when we land, I will either miss one train, or have to wait 3 hours for the next. Would you drive instead?

Alternatively, I think I could just drive. If I clear CDG in one hour, and rent a car, the drive would be 3.5 hours, and this would put me in Beaune by 3:10pm? That doesn't sound too bad.

<< Unfortunately, the train to Beaune departs at 12:58 pm and then not until 4:58 pm. >>

Not true. If you're leaving from Gare de Lyon there a train at 11:58, 14:53, 15:58. From Bercy there are train leaving at 12:38, 13:38, and 15:38.

The trains from Gare de Lyon take less time than the trains from Bercy.

You need to make sure what station the train leaves from.

we chose to take the train from CDG direct to Dijon (without having to go into town to Gare de Lyon or Bercy)...and rented a car in Dijon right at the station for the short drive into Beaune. Painless.

If you don't feel like losing time and money to go to Gare de Lyon there are TGV from CDG to Beaune with a change in Lyon at 11:58 and 14:58. It takes 4 hours but at least you're not rushing to catch your train and can enjoy the view along the way. Unfortunately the direct train to Dijon from CDG mentioned by tower is only at 8pm (1h45 trip)... Bon voyage!

Agree with "tower". We recently took the 14:53 TGV from Gare de Lyon to Dijon and then picked up a rental car from EuropCar at the Dijon station. So much to see and do in and around Beaune and Burgundy, that a car makes a lot of sense.

By the way, we missed our 11:53 TGV train (we had PREMS) when our United flight from Dulles was almost 4 hours late (scheduled to arrive 6:55, actually arrived about 10:30). We took a chance on a taxi to Gare de Lyon to make our train, but that was a 30€ disaster as we sat in traffic much of the way on a Wednesday morning! RER tickets into town from CDG are 9.50€ per person, with a single connection at Châtelet.

Are you using the RailEurope website for train schedules and prices? Say if you are and you'll get advice about using the www.voyages-sncf.com website and how to make sure you don't get redirected to the RailEurope website.

Sounds like you're looking at RailEurope instead of www.voyages-sncf.com. Bad idea - higher prices and it doesn't show all the trains.

I would do what Coco recommended. Take the TGV from CDG to Lyon Pt Dieu, and then back to Beaune. However, the German site says there is a TGV leaving at 13:58 - not 14:58.

Lv CDG @ 13:58 arrive Lyon @ 16:00
Lv Lyon at 16:16 arrive in Beaune at 17:56

Perfect schedule, IMO.

I would certainly not try to go into Paris....

Stu Dudley

Thanks tower, coco, STU, rumsey, FMT, and StCirq!!!

I just booked our tickets. I tried CDG to Dijon, but as coco mentioned there's nothing available until 19:58. So then, I took FMT and StCirqs advice and made sure to stay on the voyages-sncf.com website.

Stu you were right. 2 tickets. Lv CDG @ 13:58 arrive Lyon @ 16:00. Since we'll be driving for 6 days, I think I'll just arrange to get the car in Lyon, rather than chance missing a rental pickup in Beaune.

We chose a face-to-face seat, in 1st class, because there wasn't a "sans de marche" option on the english language site, that I could find. At least we'll have one seat facing the right direction!

Thanks everyone for all the help!

Yep - better pick up the car in Lyon. When we were staying very close to Beaune for 2 weeks in a gite, we drove by one of the car rental offices about 15 times. It was not close to the train station. The Beaune train arrives at 17:56 and the rental office closes at 18:00.

Driving out of Lyon is not fun, however. You may hit some early commute traffic if you are arriving on a work day. You could pick up a car the day after arrival if you are staying in Beaune. I don't know if there are taxis at the Beaune train station. We walked to our hotel when we took a train to Beaune. We chose a hotel for a "one nighter" that was close to the train station.

Stu Dudley

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