Train from Geneva to CDG!
 

Delta modified our flights and we now need to get from Geneva to CDG by ground (open jaw issue). We have a rental car but it looks like a long drive.

Which website should I go to to check on schedule and cost? Thanks.

I think the easiest one to use for schedules is the Swiss National Rail site.
www.sbb.ch

Look for "en" in lower case letters and click there for English captions.

The best travel time I saw was 4 hours, 13 minutes with 1 change in Lyon. This connection leaves Geneva at 7:08 and is scheduled to arrive at CDG at 11:21.

If you need to be there earlier, I suggest you get closer than Geneve because some of the other connections require a change to the RER in Gare de Lyon.

If you were in Lyon, for example, you could be there in 2 hours (about) with no changes of train.

You may not see prices on the Swiss site.

The French site, www.sncf.com, might yield prices.

The SNCF will indeed give you fares.
For Charles de Gaulle airport you will need to call it Roissy (95).

If your entry in the destination box is not accepted, which is common, use the drop down box and click on Roissy (95). Or try entering AEROPORT CDG 2 TGV

I have yet to figure out why the French site does not accept my identical typing of the same set of characters. Must be my English keyboard.

According to www.sncf.com, a regular 2nd class ticket costs around 76E and a PREM (discount) 2nd class ticket costs around 46E for the Geneva-Lyon-CDG route. Tickets cannot be bookd more than 60 days in advance and PREM tickets sell out fast so it's best to book as close to the 60-day window as possible. Enter Geneve SNCF as your departure station and Aeroport CDG 2 TGV as your arrival station. You should be given the choice of printing your own ticket.

Hey Philip,

Have you considered Easy Jet (www.easyjet.com), a budget airline?

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Flying on easyJet is a good idea, especially if you use your rental car to get to the Geneva airport. To get from Orly to CDG, take the Orlyval train to the Antony RER station and transfer there to the RER B which will take you directly to CDG. Or take the Air France coach from Orly to CDG (no changes). Visit www.adp.fr, the aeroports de Paris site, for more information. The site is viewable in English.

The easyjet looks very interesting ~ less than 50 CHF.

We will go from Geneva to Paris on a Monday. We will leave late Tuesday morning from CDG to Atlanta. We will stay at CDG Sheraton. Had we flown or taken a train directly into CDG, we would have checked into hotel and then gone into Paris for afternoon and dinner. Could we take Orlyval train to Anthony RER ~ STORE BAGS FOR FEW HOURS ~ go back to Anthony RER and then on to CDG (and check into hotel).

OR

if I understand the Air France coach ~ we could catch AF coach from Orly to CDG ~ check into hotel and then go into city. Appx. what does Air France charge for coach? Does the coach just take AF passengers between the different airports?

What do y'all think?

The Air France coach is available to everyone. Prices for it, for the Orlyval-RER, and directions for both are on the aeroports de Paris Web site I mentioned upstream.

If you want to drop off luggage and see a bit of the city before going to the airport, then definitely take the train: Orlyval to Antony and then the RER B to Gare du Nord (a major train station which has left luggage facilities). Store your luggage, see the city via metro and/or RER, pick up your luggage, and continue on the RER B to CDG. Visit www.ratp.fr to download and print maps of the metro/RER system. The site is viewable in English.

One more thing: If you fly into Orly or take the train to CDG, buy a one-day Paris Visite pass (E16.75) for zones 1-5 to get between the airports and the city. It will be cheaper than separate tickets for just those longer rides and will give you unlimited rides within the city also. You can read about it on the RATP site.