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Bayeux to Brussels Train Questions

Posted by (San Francisco, ca) on

We have taken trains in Europe, but never in Paris. We have zero French. We are travelling on Friday May 17th, leaving Bayeux between 7 and 9 am and arriving in Paris between 10 and 12:00 I have worked out the train options from Bayeux to Paris Gare Lazare. From prior posts, it seems the safest time way to get to Gare du Nord is by the RER train. Here are my questions:

  1. How difficult is it to figure out how to find the correct RER train to Gare du Nord where we will get a Eurostar?
  2. Would we be better off in a taxi?
  3. Should we allow 57 minutes between the trains or 2 hours?
  4. A related question is how early should we arrive for the Eurostar from Paris to Brussels
Posted by
3725 posts
  1. It is not difficult but it is a decent amount of walking and following signs. Follow the signs that say RER E direction Tournan & Chelles Gournay. The RER train is Line E and the stop on line E is Haussman Saint Lazare and for Gare du Nord, the stop is Magenta. It takes approximately 8 minutes to get from the arrival spot of the train from Bayeux to Haussman Saint Lazare and then when you get to Magenta, it is about a 5 minute walk to Gare du Nord. The train trip itself is about 3 minutes. Will you have your metro tickets already?
  2. I'd take a taxi but there could be traffic. It could take 15 minutes and it could take 45 minutes.
  3. 57 minutes should be fine, especially if you go by train, but I would choose 2 hours because I loathe rushing when traveling and I would probably take a taxi and want to allow for traffic between the stations.
  4. See https://www.eurostar.com/us-en/travel-info/your-trip/check-in. Eurostar says 20 minutes. I usually arrive 30 minutes before scheduled departure time.
Posted by
8 posts

Thank you so very much! I am very much on the low stress end of travel. We will opt for the 2 hour gap. We won't have metro tickets, but we are returing to Paris for a couple days before heading home. It will be good practice to figure out the ticket process :)

Thank you again!
Ted

Posted by
2373 posts

We did this back in September and we speak no French and were always able to find someone who speaks English. We opted for a taxi and it was so easy and took about 15 to 20 minutes. Be sure absolutely certain to get a true taxi. The line outside the station was not too long but the non regulated cabs were all over everyone trying to get business, one even kept pulling on my elbow to get us to use them just be firm and loudly say no!! Fyi bathrooms in train stations cost a euro.

Posted by
5 posts

JHK: Watch the YouTubes about buying tickets for the local trains. We will be doing that in May...because the Taxi scene was so dodgy in Paris. My suggestion if you really want to take a taxi, is to get a licensed taxi. Walk out of the Gare Saint-Lazare Station and look for the Hilton Paris Opera Hotel, it's just around the corner in a building in front of Gare St Lazare. The Hotel Doorman got us into a licensed cab that has a set fee to CDG. The other random taxi drivers were very predetory and aggressive. Because we won't have our 'new to train travel' friends along on this trip, we will skip the taxi and try the RER experience.

Posted by
4053 posts

Paris by Train is a long-standing vlog/blog that can help orient you to the train and subway options. Its survey of the various stations sometimes adds photos which help with orientation when you are standing at the terminus door. Many travellers would commute by Metro rather than RER to Gare du Nord but the connection does require some walking at street level. Carrying print-out maps of the station interiors, especially the complications of Gare du Nord, might boost your confidence.

https://parisbytrain.com/

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