Help - time needed to get TGV
 

Could someone please let me know approx. how much time to allow to get TGV from CDG to Nice. We arrive at CDG 6.10am on a Qantas flight and I see there is a train leaving at 6.56am.How long does it normally take to clear customs there - I think the next direct train doesn't leave until around 11am - not sure of the distance between terminals etc.
Thanks

The time frame is definitely too short.
Your flight may be late at the arrival.
Customs/immigration check and luggage collection may take 15 minutes all together, just like it could take two hours for any reason!

On top of that Qantas arrives at Terminal 1, so you have to take a bus to get you to the train station which is next to Terminal 2.

I'm afraid you better book on the 11 am train to Nice.

One remark: your travel agency should be able to organize for a you an add-on to your plane ticket, i.e. Paris to Nice and back for a very cheap price. And this would save you a lot of time.

Hope this helps.
Joelle

Joelle - thanks very much, I wasn't sure which terminal the TGV left from or how long to get from terminal to terminal. I know flying is much quicker but we thought it would be nice to do the train.

Skylark - Someone else was talking about getting to Nice from Paris. They thought they would fly one way and train it the other way. We are going to Avignon from Paris, so I also looked into Easyjet. The flight was like 13.50 Euro and took about 1 hour. So maybe flying to Nice, rather than waiting for the 11am TGV, would work and then you could take the TGV back to CDG.

Skylark: it does not take very long to go from one terminal to the other, but 45 mn for everything is definitely too short.

Will you be arriving from Australia? In that case the train will be a very long journey for you.

And don't forget that there are currently many strikes going on (change every day...)...

I agree with the other posters. The time inbetween connections is way too short. Sometimes, with traffic, it can take an hour just to get into Paris from CDG. I would suggest looking into flying directly from CDG to Nice. Somebody here on the forum recently wrote about getting a rate of 27 EURO one way on Easyjet. Not sure whether that was out of CDG or Orly. Maybe you can check into that?

Good luck, and have fun!

skylark,

you definitely want to fly onwards to Nice!

EasyJet has service from CDG, but you should also check Air France, as I assume they've lowered their prices given the competition. The added bonus with Air France is that you can most probably check your luggage through from Australia to Nice. This is not possible with EasyJet.

One last thought: it might be even cheaper and more convenient to fly into London Heathrow and continue to Nice on British Airways, as you would be sticking to OneWorld carriers - Qantas might even codeshare on the flights. Worth checking out IMO.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Thank you all for your comments, will have to rethink itinerary I guess.

Skylark: Another way of going - there are TGV's every 90 mins or so from Gare de Lyon in paris. You may cab or RER to Gare de Lyon and catch any one of a number of trains to Nice.