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I will fly via Frankfurt to Paris CDG, from where I will take the TGV to Poitiers.

  • The scheduled arrival of my Lufthansa flight is 17h00 at Terminal 1 of CDG.
  • The TGV departs at 18h09 from Terminal 2's TGV station.

Under the assumption that the flight is not delayed, do you think I can get the TGV train?

Constraints:

  • I need to pick up my luggage at the baggage claim before.
  • I'm EU citizen and travelling within Schengen (thus I don't need to get Visa etc.).
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    You have absolutely no chance. I am really sorry to offer bad news. You should go ahead and book a night at the wonderful Sheraton, or the wonderfully economical Ibis. All I can say is every single time I have tried to make a ~1 hour link to TGV at CDG it has not worked :O
    – Fattie
    Jun 14, 2016 at 13:48
  • This might sound weird, but is there somewhere else you can fly to? For example, we just never fly to Paris but fly to Zurich instead. {I mean if one was going to cafe de flore ... it's easier to fly to Zurich and take the train :/ } For you perhaps Bourdeax, Barcelona or something? Anything, anything, to avoid CDG. Consider the expense of Paris / overnighting at the airport etc also. I'm unfamiliar with smaller airports which serve Poitiers.
    – Fattie
    Jun 14, 2016 at 13:54
  • There are two stations at Poitiers: the TGV station at the Futuroscope, 11km away from the city and the former station in the city center. TGVs to Bordeaux still stop at Poitiers centre for a few months: have you tried to find a train starting later and going to the other station ? The website voyage-sncf.com can help you .
    – francis
    Jun 14, 2016 at 20:08
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    @JoeBlow Thanks for the clear voice ;) Thus, my only option is to instruct my travel department to book an earlier flight to CDG. Because I can't find any viable alternative from where to board the TGV to Poitiers. Other airports than CDG are hard and expensive to reach.
    – Christian
    Jun 15, 2016 at 8:13
  • "Thus, my only option is to instruct my travel department to book an earlier flight to CDG." I'm pretty sure that's the case @Christian. I'd say it's slightly disappointing any travel department in Western Europe would suggest a 1 hr CDG TGV link. :) "Other airports than CDG are hard and expensive to reach." that's bad luck.
    – Fattie
    Jun 15, 2016 at 12:44

3 Answers 3

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You can potentially make it if you walk fast enough and if your luggage doesn't take ages to be delivered...

Your flight will probably be on time as you are flying with Lufthansa. But since this is the end of the day, there might be a bit of traffic jam to get to the parking for the plane. Then, let's pick 10 minutes for this.

Then 20 minutes to get to the baggage claim and pick up your luggage (this is a bit conservative, it could be only 15 minutes).

So we are now at 30 minutes and you still have 39 minutes to get to Terminal 2 TGV station via CDGVAL. This shouldn't be an issue assuming it just takes 10-15 minutes usually.

You won't need to go through a Passport control as you are flying within Schengen area...

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    and one thing to make it faster would be to only have a carry-on, not sure if that's a possible effort.
    – Vince
    Jun 14, 2016 at 9:47
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    CDGVAL takes 15 minutes minimum and it's infamous for having problems. I maintain this is very tight because you need to get from CDGVAL to TGV still.
    – user4188
    Jun 14, 2016 at 9:51
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    When you're flying from one congested airport (FRA) to another (CDG), delays are always a possibility, regardless of the airline. For example, Lufthansa flight 1040 (FRA-CDG arriving 1720; I didn't see one arriving at 1700) is only on-time 63% of the time, though the average delay is only 16 minutes.
    – David Richerby
    Jun 14, 2016 at 9:51
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    @audionuma There are later connections available, but no direct connections. The connections are RER to Paris-St Michel/Metro 4 to Montparnasse/TGV to Poitiers, departing 18:23 and 19:17 from CDG.
    – Alexander
    Jun 14, 2016 at 12:12
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    @audionuma - every single train which leaves CDG ............. is the last one for the day. SNCF employ a team of physicists who alter the very fabric of spacetime, so that, it's impossible to get another train. :/
    – Fattie
    Jun 14, 2016 at 13:51
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I think it's pretty tight, and you likely won't make it. Consider this time plan:

  • 20 minutes from arrival to gate to getting your luggage (this is the minimum ever FWIW).
  • 5 minutes walking to a TAXI stand.
  • 5 minutes explaining the TAXI driver that you really want to go "around the corner" -- tell him/have written: Allez à la gare TGV de l'aeroport, s'il vous plaît. Or: Allez au terminal 2C, s'il vous plaît. (The second option is probably safer/better.) Be ready for some raised eyebrows as such a request is quite unusual.
  • 10 minutes driving time. Have change ready. Expect price in the range EUR 10--17 approximately.
  • 5 minutes running from the ground to the railway station. You get in at any of the terminals 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, find the signs "GARE TGV" or "PARIS BY TRAIN", run, take 2 floors down by moving stairs, then find the entrance to the TGV station (check platform number), it's another floor down.
  • 2 minutes -- that's how long in advance you have to be at the train. Note that you can enter into any coach within the same part of the train (the parts are coaches 1--8 and coaches 11--18, but very likely your train will be 1--8 only so you can enter anywhere).

Altogether: 47 minutes, and I'm being very optimistic.

I doubt any other option is faster. There's the underground train shuttle inside the airport (free of charge), but it takes 4 stops to go from T1 to T2, and at T2 you have to get up 2 floors and down 3 floors again, which also takes some time.

Note that the train starts in Lille, which means it could be slightly delayed, but (unfortunately for you), it's usually not the case.

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I hate answers which say "Instead of what you're asking about, what about this?" but instead of what you're asking about, what about this?

enter image description here

I was extremely surprised to see there is indeed a train FranfortAM -> Poitiers.

(NOTE HOWEVER that, tragically, you have to shuffle stations in Paris: it appears that 53 minutes IS PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH TIME REALISTICALLY to make that connection across town.)

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  • 53 min is short but doable, with public transportation. If you take the subway or RER, time of day does not matter that much (besides rush hour making the journey less pleasant) as train are not sensitive to traffic. Strike, accidents and technical problem can however disrupt it.
    – Relaxed
    Jun 15, 2016 at 13:08
  • hey thanks for that. It's asking a lot but could you hazard a guess of how many minutes, from stepping off the ICE, walking to the local train, and then walking to your TGV door ?! Would you say Taxi is "useless" and/or "hopeless" that time of day at 53 mins?
    – Fattie
    Jun 15, 2016 at 13:12
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    There's a direct metro line from Gare de l'Est to Gare Montparnasse. The ratp site gives a less than 30 minutes time from train station to train station. You will nevertheless need to walk the tunnel from Line 4 arrival to Gare Montparnasse train station. A taxi would be in my opinion (of a parisian for more than 40 years) a risk more than a benefit.
    – audionuma
    Jun 15, 2016 at 17:54
  • ratp.fr/itineraires/fr/ratp/…
    – audionuma
    Jun 15, 2016 at 17:57
  • ahh, thank you for that info! (I had no idea the subway took that long.) I guess, a taxi at 0955 -> we would say, the traffic is not "too" bad, you think?
    – Fattie
    Jun 15, 2016 at 19:53

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