I'm trying to arrange our travel plans for a trip to France & England in October. We have not been to those countries since 1984, so we are relying on Rick's guidebooks and experienced travelers for help. We plan to turn our rental car in at the Caen train station, then take the train to Paris, then the Eurostar to London. My questions are:
How much time should we allow to get from the Paris Gare ST. Lazare to Gare du Nord where we catch the Euroster to London, and what mode of transportation should we use?
Posted by
Green Bay
21274 posts
The RER "E" line will get you there in minutes. Walking between the stations and the RER platforms will be the longest part of the journey.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
I'll add a few details to Sam's answer. Walk from Gare Saint-Lazare to the Haussmann - Saint-Lazare RER station. Take the RER E one stop to the Magenta RER station which is attached by tunnels to Gare du Nord. The ride takes 4 minutes and a single ticket costs €1.70. Walk to Gare du Nord. For a zoomable map of the Metro and RER system, go here: http://tinyurl.com/6xmvms4. For less walking, take bus #26 directly from Gare Saint-Lazare to Gare du Nord. Under normal traffic conditions the ride takes 12 minutes. A single ticket costs €1.70.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34243 posts
and to add to the two very good answers above, be aware that officially you MUST check in at Eurostar a very minimum of 30 minutes prior to departure time. It has been my recent experience at Gare du Nord station in Paris that there can easily be 30 to 45 minute queues just to get to the check in area, and if you miss checking in at least 30 minutes prior to departure - - - you will not travel and your ticket is likely to be worthless. I now suggest that anybody traveling from Gare du Nord to London (and the same in reverse) be in the queue no later than one hour prior to departure.
Posted by
Kansas
1175 posts
As one who has a phobia about missing trains and planes, I would add one more hour to Nigel's advicearrive two hours prior to departure. If you are burdened with more than one suitcase each, I would take a taxi to Gare du Nord rather than struggle with luggage on the RER. Arriving in plenty of time to grab a bite at the station or a sandwich and a bottle of wine to enjoy on the Eurostar is far more relaxing for us than sweating out unforseen delays along the route. Don't forget to validate your tickets prior to boarding the train at Caen. We like the proximity of the rental car agencies right across the street from the Caen RR station and have done just what you are planning, including the Eurostar to London.
Posted by
OP
Mustang, OK, United States
2 posts
Thanks so much for your help! There are 4 of us traveling together, so a taxi is out. We pack for 2 weeks in 1 carry-on size wheeled suitcase each, so the walk between stations will be easy.
I have another question-should we buy tickets for the Caan train to Paris before we leave the US, or once we travel to the farmhouse apartment in Normandy that we are renting? We are spending 5 nights there and will be going to Caen and the area of D-Day sights, so we could buy the tickets then.
Posted by
Kansas
1175 posts
If I recall we purchased the tickets and printed them out at home prior to leaving. It's just as easy to purchase them at the station after returning your rental car. It's about 2 hours to Paris from Caen. I think the rental agencies open at 0800, on Saturday as well, so you could catch a 9-ish train to Paris. Be sure and check on the Bayeux or Caen forum on Tripadvisor.com to see if there is any track maintenance that might cause you any delays getting to Paris. If you plan on a trip to Mont St. Michel, about 2.5 hours from Bayeux, afterwards you can drive 20 miles or so around the bay to Cancale for a world-class seafood lunch on the quay with MSM visible across the bay. Normandy was one of our all-time favorite trips.