Hello all,
Hoping for some advice on trains in France. We will be traveling from London to Paris on the Eurostar on a Friday. Get into Gare du Nord at 11:15 am. I'd like to take a 12:10 train to Caen from St. Lazare. Is this doable? What is the quickest way from Gare du Nord to St. Lazare (2 people, 2 wheeley bags, 2 carryon bags, no experience with Paris metro) ? If I can't make the 12:10, I'll have to wait until 1:45, which would work if need be. On that vein, if I purchase full-price flexible tickets for the 12:10 train and miss it, can I use the tickets for 1:45 train? Would I have to go to the ticket window to exchange, or can I just board the later train?
Getting excited, only a few weeks until the trip!
Paris to Caen - time needed to change train stations?
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Okay, I read the fine print on how to exchange tickets prior to or after the train leaves. Looks like it would be a small fee to take a later train.
RER line E provides a pretty direct connection, boarding at the Magenta station adjacent to Gare du Nord and terminating one stop later at Haussmann St-Lazare. Trains is likely frequent and quick, but there would be some walking with luggage to contend with to and from each station, and time queueing at a ticket booth or figuring out a ticket machine for the RER.
Here is the route via RER, the regional train system, as sketched out of the Paris commuter site http://www.ratp.fr/itineraires/en/ratp/resultat-detaille/start/Gare+Du+Nord+%28RER%29%2C+Paris/end/Gare+St-Lazare+%28SNCF%29%2C+Paris/is_date_start/1/date/2013-02-01/time/12%3A40%3A00/mode/ferretram/route_type/plus_rapide
It estimates 17 minutes from the RER terminal in Gare du Nord to the St-Lazare station. The RATP site is worth keeping on hand for many aspects of your travel planning around Paris, including advice on tourism activities.
The RATP mobile App on my Iphone shows a 13 minute timeframe to get from the tracks at Nord, walk to Magenta, train to Hausmann-Saint Lazare, walk to tracks at Saint-Lazare. As long as you have your tickets up-front, and only need to purchase the ticket from Magenta to Hausmann, I'd say total trip would take less than 20 minutes. We did it in about 25 minutes in 2011, but our time at the ticket stand at Magenta was extended as we bought four Navigo Decouverte Passes, loaded them, separate tickets for the particular trip to Lazare, and had a ticket malfunction entering the station at Magenta that required the agent to get out of the office, manually open the ticket taker and find my ticket.
You should be able to take the earlier train with no problem. I'd recommend going on line and looking at the station maps to get an idea of where you need to go once you arrive at Nord to get to Magenta. The signs are abundant, and accurate. The abundancy does make it a little more time consuming to find the right sign. Look for the pink colored E for RER E, and MAGENTA, which is the RER E station name. Once you arrive at Lazare, the departures board is huge, and easy to read. Just find your train and time, then identify which track number you'll be on. Wait for the announcement to begin boarding and then you're off.
As discussed on your other thread, the car rental at Caen is easy - walk out the front door and look across the street for your agency. I'd suggest you have one of you stay with the luggage near the curb of the station, the other go to the rental agency, then walk around the corner to the car location and drive it to the curb to load the luggage.
Have fun and enjoy!
You can also take a taxi. It's not far and the taxi ride is not that expensive.
Thank you all for your detailed replies! What would we do without the Fodor forums!
I went ahead and bought the ticket for the earlier train. I guess I was thinking taxi, as it won't require any brain power on my part. I guess I was wondering if there is usually a long line for taxis after the Eurostar arrives. Once upstairs, if there is a big line, it would be a waste of time to go back and try to catch the train, I think. I will download that app apersuader65, thanks!