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Caen to Paris to London by train: Question about Paris stations

Posted by (Massachusetts USA) on

Hello, this summer I and the family be visiting Paris, Caen, and London, in that order. To get from Caen to London, we'll be taking the train back to Paris and then Eurostar to London.

I know the Eurostar runs from Gare Du Nord, and had thought, apparently mistakenly, that the trains to/from Caen ran from the same station, making for an easy connection to the Eurostar. It now appears we'll be arriving in Paris at St Lazare and will need to transfer over to Gare du Nord.

So my questions are:
1. Am I correct that there's no train from Caen to Gare du Nord? Assuming yes:
2. What's the best way to travel between St Lazare and Gare du Nord? Taxi? Looks like it's about 2.5km which we could walk, but will have luggage.
3. How much time should I allow for this transfer? I know they recommend arriving at Gare du Nord 90 minutes in advance of the scheduled departure, so if I book a train that arrives St Lazare 2 hours before that departure, is that enough?

Posted by
1111 posts

Taxi for sure.

Your timing could be tight, but I would choose a later Eurostar to allow additional transfer time to eat a leisurely lunch since I assume you will be in Paris during that time of the day...we paid for the upgraded seats on Eurostar on our last trip that, in addition to a nicer seating plan, provides a lunch at your seat, and it was quite good, but otherwise the food on trains is not so great, generally (I have a hard time remembering exactly what was available when we took the train from Paris to Caen and back to Paris years ago, pretty sure it was minimal / snacks - not a good "meal").

Posted by
2817 posts

Book Caen - London on www.sncf-connect.com. You will automatically get enough time to change stations planned in.

To get from st. Lazare to Nord the easiest is to use the RER E. This is a fast, direct trip, and the RER being modern you have escalators and elevators etc... Just save a couple of metro tickets when you are in Paris earlier.

Alternatively you can also take the ferry from Caen to Porstmouth, and the train to London from there...

Posted by
16920 posts

I've done the transfer a few times.

The absolute easiest is to take a taxi. No walking to the metro. No up and down stairs.

Figure 10-15 Euros max for door to door. If you can all fit in one taxi, it will be cheaper than individual fares on the Metro.

Paris traffic can be bad. While the drive between stations shouldn't be bad, you can sometimes hit traffic or lines at the taxi rank at St Lazare.

Only take cabs from the official taxi rank. If someone comes up to you and asks if you need a taxi, ignore them. They are con artists.

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