Transportation availability and safety at Gare de l'Est late at night

Metro and most buses run until well after midnight. There should be taxis outside the main entrance, or call a G7 taxi. 11 pm isn't really late night in Paris. There will likely be lots of people around.

Taxis will be at the official rank. I would not worry about the metro at the hour -- I do it later than this. But if you have much luggage it might be an issue with stairs and it would depend on how many transfers you would need. YOu could take the 4 to les Halles, but if that is far from your metro stop and requires transfers it is less fun and more stairs. When I do side trips I use a back pack (e.g. this spring I went to Chartres for a night and to Lille for 3 nights). And with the backpack I could easily manage metro stairs and such. but if luggage and stairs are an issue just grab a cab.

CJean and Janet thank you for the advice. I think I’ll spring for a cab since they’re readily available at the station. I’d forgotten that in Paris and other European cities like Rome folks are out and about later at night in the summer.

When is your day trip ? I was thinking about this too -- that in the summer, it is light very late, but then realized that maybe your trip is in October or something.

Depending on your Marais destination, bus #38 still runs at 11 PM and stops across the street from Gare de l'Est and right outside Centre Pompidou. Or metro line 5 goes to Bastille, which is close to Place des Vosges.

Kim, I’ll be making the day trip in mid-July so the days will be longer. Thanks.

Balso, thank you for the info on the transportation lines to the Marais. My stop is at St Paul’s.

If your metro stop is Saint Paul and depending on the exact location that you are going to, either of two stops (Pont Marie or Sully-Morland) on Line 7 may work well for you. I mention this in case you decide to take mass transit. You could make the trip without having to make any transfers because Line 7 stops at Gare de l'Est. The trip would take around 20 minutes.

JHK, thank you for your suggestions. It looks like I have some good options. I tend to get lost in big train stations so I'll probably end up taking the first metro or bus line or taxi that I spy. Appreciate everyone's help.

It's really hard to get lost at Gare de L'Est. If you walk straight out, you find the cabs. If you take stairs down, you find the metro lines 4 5 7. It's not a huge place.

Thank you, Balso. It's reassuring to know that Gare de l'Est is manageable. Once when we returned late at night at Gare de Nord after a day trip to Normandy, everyone else on the train seemed to have suddenly disappeared and we found ourselves walking alone in a long, cavernous space. We eventually managed to find an exit and a taxi stand but it was a disorienting experience so I'm glad to hear that Gare de l'Est is small.