Train from Paris CDG to Bayonne

[EFDoucette]

Hello, I am planning to walk Camino Frances in Sept and in the midst of planning & training. There has been mention of an overnight train from Paris CDG to Bayonne but when I search the RailEurope site it only shows 7:40, 10:01, 1:37, 4:36. Am I not in the right site?

Thanks for all the info in this site, it makes preparing easier.

[joe]

Hey, I was also looking at that website and thinking the same thing, I guess I will just have to get the 7.40am train and get to Bayonne around 1pm, then get a bus to SJPP at about 3.00pm so I can do a little sight seeing and take photographs of Bayonne. I was also thinking about the train to Biarritz? But I'm not decided yet.
I was surprised to see that I could book my train ticket in advance and it only came to 49 euros! I was expecting to pay 80-100 euros.

I'm leaving on the 18th May and i'll be staying in Paris for 2-3 nights before I leave for the Camino, I've never been to Paris and would like to at least have a little look around, I'd spend more time there but I've planned my flight home from Santiago 42 days after I land in Paris... and I'd like to walk to Finisterre afterwards, which will take a few days there and back, so I'm on a tight-ish schedule, hopefully I'll make it.

Anyway, Buen Camino

[Sparkly]

There's a better selection of trains going from central Paris Montparnasse station, rather than CDG Airport and they are often cheaper. The overnight train is somewhat elusive on the RailEuope site as it only shows trains/times with availability bookable online, and the overnight gets booked up a lot faster than others. You can also try the TGV-Europe site, but I'd expect the same availability. You'll only be able to see approx up to 3 months ahead. The overnight train is called Lunea. A few websites mention that the Lunea leaves from a different station - Austerlitz but as ever, check and double check before and after booking. How to travel by train from London to France | By Eurostar & TGV | London to Nice by train from £62 has lots of info about French rail.

[joe]

I just did a bit of research on it all for myself and the 49 euro train ticket from Paris is from the Gare Montparnasse train station to Bayonne (taking 5hrs 20mins).

You can then get the train or bus to St. Jean Pied de Port (although I have yet to check the times/prices for that, but it should be fairly cheap and easy to find out).

I just booked my train ticket, and my hostel! My hostel is a 10 minute walk from the Gare Montparnasse station so I'm extremely happy about that... I get to sleep for longer

[HuskyNerd]

Hi EFD ~
I hope I didn't mislead you in my post from a couple of days ago:

You might want to consider the overnight train to Bayonne from Paris. It's not cheap but it does save you the cost of a Paris overnight. Note that there are also trains directly from CDG to Bayonne, allowing you to avoid the hassle of getting into Paris proper.

I didn't mean to imply that there are overnight trains from CDG to Bayonne. The train I was thinking of is the N4053 that leaves at 23:11 from Paris-Austerlitz and arrives in Bayonne at 06:39 the next day. It takes a tiny bit of skill with Français, but the SNCF : Voyage, Transports et Logistique website seems to work best for me for trains in France. Alternatively, the www.raileurope.com site usually does fine, too.

[EFDoucette]

Thanks Joe, Sparkly & HuskyNerd. I now have a clearer picture of the connections.
Joe, looks like I may be following your route except 4 months later. I can get a pretty good flight into Paris arriving at 6:40 am and will try to connect to the 7:40 train to Bayonne. Hope the 1 hour is enough, any thoughts? If I miss that there is another departing at 10:01 if I can exchange tickets.

[joe]

There are buses from CDG airport that take you close to Gare Montparnasse station, they leave the airport every 15-20 minutes and I would guess it would take about 15-20 minutes to get to Gare Montparnasse (providing there isn't heavy traffic!).

Worst case scenario you will just miss the bus and have to wait 20 minutes for the next one, then take a 20-30 minute bus ride to Gare Montparnasse if the traffic is busy, and then catch the train... this will take 40-50 minutes. But you need to consider things like walking out of the airport to the bus stop (5 minutes max), and then going to the correct platform for your train (5-10 minutes max). And you would also need to worry about your flight being delayed or being late.

If you feel optimistic then you could take the risk, theoretically you should make it to the station 10-20 minutes before the train arrives, but in reality things don't always go as planned. I would go for the 10.01 train and just do an hour or two sight-seeing Paris... the Eiffel Tower is about a 20-30 minute walk (40 minute casual walk) from Gare Montparnasse station, so you would have enough time to walk there and take photos for 10-20 minutes and then walk back to the station - just remember to get a map of the area or write down the names of roads you walk along so you can get back. They are 3km apart (roughly 2 miles), so getting a taxi there and/or back wouldn't cost too much. But I think the walking will be easy compared to the 800km you'll be walking!