Are there lockers at Gare du Nord? If so, how big are they??
We are wanting to take the train from Paris to Munich and didn't realize how long it is so we are thinking of doing a night train. But that means that when we leave our hotel in Paris we will have our backpacks to deal with until that night. Would you advise the use of lockers or is there another trick that I don't know about?
Much appreciated!!
It'd be real odd if your hotel didn't let you leave them there until you were ready to go. People do it all the time.
Really? Even if we have to check out at 11:00 am?
Has anyone taken this route on a night train?
It might be nice to save time, but is it worth going in the day to see the country side?
Hi,
I took the ride from Paris Est-Vienna on 21 May 2010, not exactly like yours from Paris-Munich, which is direct on a CNL. Depending where your hotel is located in Paris...if your hotel is in the Gare du Nord area, where I always stay, I would be very surprised indeed if the hotel didn't allow to keep your luggage there after you've checked out at 11 AM. That's the advantage of staying at Gare du Nord instead of on Rue Cler, the Marais or Montmarte so you don't have to store the luggage in a checked in locker or waste time on the Metro going back to the hotel. Staying at Gard du Nord means within 2-10 mins. max you are at Gare du Nord or Gare de l'Est with your retrieved luggage.
To answer your question, you have to check in your luggage at Gare du Nord and at Gare de l'Est, no more coin lockers as was the case 30 years ago at Gare de l'Est, before it was remodeled and refurbished.
The trick is to stay in the Gare du Nord area if you're taking a night train to Germany.
My family took the night train from Paris to Munich last summer. We reserved a 4 person couchette. The trip went well for us. Since I haven't made the same trip during the day I can't comment on what one misses seeing in between, but it was a nice way to travel a long distance. As for luggage storage, I agree your hotel should be able to store it for you, but sometimes its more convenient to have it stored at your departure point rather than having to go back to a hotel. As I recall, we ended up storing our luggage in lockers at Gare de l'Est, because it was less expensive than the left luggage at Gare du Nord (left luggage has a per bag charge, which can add up). The two stations are very close together. We were a family of four each with a carry-on size suitcase and one additional small bag/backpack, and we typically needed two lockers. Most places with lockers had different size locker choices.
We are going the opposite route, we are checking out of our Hotel in Munich in the morning. We have already asked and there is no problem leaving our bags their until the evening. We catch our train at 10:45 that evening heading for Paris, arrives in Paris 9:20 the next morning. Almost an 11 hour overnight train, but you can definitely leave your bags at your hotel for the day.
