We are traveling in September and will take the Eurostar from London to Paris, with a transfer needed from Gare du Nord to Gare Sainte Lazare; our later leg will be from Sainte Lazare to Gare Lyon. Both connections have an hour or just under to make the train we need.
Does anyone suggest a taxi or Metro or RER as the best/quickest way to make our connection?
Thanks!
Louise
I've never travelled that route, but I'd probably walk to Magenta station which is connected to Gare du Nord, and use the RER "E" direct to Hausmann Saint-Lazare. I believe the trains you'll use will be on tracks 52 / 54 and travel time should be about 15 minutes.
When you arrive at Saint-Lazare, you'll have to go upstairs to the station where the Normandy trains depart from.
Gare du Nord to Gare St Lazare is an easy one stop on the RER-E from Magenta, to the end of the line at Haussmann St Lazare.
A long walk from from St Lazare to Auber can put you on the RER-A and 2 stops to Gare de Lyon.
or the Métro (EDIT - I missed the route out - Ligne 14 is the one) starts at St Lazare and in 4 stops you are at Gare de Lyon.
Not all trains run to time, and these days there is a lot of disturbance in and around Calais and some trains are affected.
All that is a long way of saying that an hour, or "just under" is tighter than I would be comfortable with.
I expect that your stress tolerance is higher than mine.
Ken and Nigel are helpful as usual. To see their advice on your smartphone or other personal device, consult the route function on http://www.ratp.fr/en/ratp/c_21879/visiting-paris/ which is handy for planning any movement in and around Paris.
Taxi, hands down! No stairs at Gare du Nord, and not very expensive for two people. Follow the Taxi signs out the side of the train station and queue up for a taxi.
Definitely a taxi. Only an hour to make the connection is cutting it real close and operating on a not-always-safe assumption that you will arrive on time at Gare Nord. Good luck and safe travels
If you are physically able to carry your luggage and walk fast, I would absolutely not take a taxi for either, particularly in September when traffic can jam. I once had to get out of a taxi just after Bastille and walk the rest of the way to Gare de Lyon; it was the driver's suggestion because he saw the traffic was going nowhere. Furthermore, several times I've queued for a taxi twenty minutes or more at Gare du Nord; I've never caught a taxi at Gare St. Lazare. You have a good one-stop RER connection for the first and a good four-stop Metro connection for the second. You better just hope that your trains arrive in station on time because one hour is very short for Paris. If you can change your tickets, you should. Then you could take the time to take a taxi and avoid the escalators and long corridors.
St-Lazare to Lyon in particular should be fine by Metro, as Line 14 was built relatively recently and has elevators for wheelchair-accessibility.
