From one paris train station to another

Hi Keith,

I found the metro to be a good option when changing stations in Paris, as long as you are capable carrying your bags.

You can take line 4 from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse-Bienvenue station, which is a short walk to the Montparnasse train station. According to the RATP website travel planner, it takes three minutes to walk to the Gare du Nord metro station, 18 minutes to travel on the metro, and three minutes to walk from the metro stop to Gare Montparnasse.

I trust the 18-minute travel time, not the walking time. Figure ten minutes at least on each end to find your way in/out of the metro system. The cost would be €1.60/person, for a total of €6.40.

A taxi varies in price depending on the time you would be taking it. You are looking around €14 - €20 and it would take about 23 minutes to drive that distance, according to Google maps.

Set aside at least 1 hour from Nord to any Paris station except Est (which is within walking distance). After a Eurostar arrives the queues to buy Metro tickets at Nord Metro station will be horrible.

I recently read that Paris Metro tickets are sold at St. Pancras in London, in the Eurostar departure hall. I learned of this too late for it to be of help to me, however.

I know you can get your EUROs from an ATM in the EUROSTAR departure area at St. Pancras but didn't know about getting Paris metro tickets there. Now THAT's handy. For a family of four a cab is not out of reason as long as you're not arriving at rush hour. Of course, on the other hand, waiting in line for a cab at Paris du Nord can take an hour in and of itself when the EUROSTAR arrives. (And for goodness sake, take an official taxi if you choose that route.)

Unfortunately I think the tickets sold at St Pancras are the tourist-oriented Paris Visite passes that are overpriced anyway and are certainly overkill for a station-to-station connection.