My friend and I are taking a train from Paris to Rome leaving from Bercy train station. I have been searching the internet for information on it but NOTHING. Is it really safe? We are staying at the Hotel St Germain in the Latin Quarter in Paris. How far is this station from the hotel? Any info or links that anyone can provide about the train station would be great!

Check out time at our hotel is at 12 and our train dont leave til 7...anything interesting we can see in the 12th dist thats not to far from the train station?

We took the same train--assume you are on the overnight Artesia to Rome. The train station is pretty terrible--no restaurants, no shopping, no amenities of any kind. Terrible sandwiches at a kiosk, slathered with mayo. We got to the station much too early, about 5:15 pm for 7:00 pm, but I was afraid of traffic. If you have a whole day, or at least 5 hours, you do not need to restrict yourself to the area around the train station.

We took the same train--assume you are on the overnight Artesia to Rome. The train station is pretty terrible--no restaurants, no shopping, no amenities of any kind. Terrible sandwiches (slathered with mayo) at a kiosk. We got to the station much too early, about 5:15 pm for 7:00 pm, but I was afraid of traffic. If you have a whole day, or at least 5 hours, you do not need to restrict yourself to the area around the train station.

sorry for the double post. just trying out someone's posted method for editing an already posted message . . . guess I didn't read it carefully enough.

So its really seedy? Others have suggested to leave our luggage at Gare de Lyon? Any suggestions?

oh btw..we are taking the overnight train. Did u take artesia too? If so how was the ride?

I would say it is tacky, as opposed to seedy. I did not feel unsafe there, and I was a woman traveling with my 13-year-old son. If your hotel is near the train station, why not just leave your luggage there? You can swing by and get it, hail a taxi (if you need it) and go right to the station.

Yes, we took the overnight train. It was fun! Cramped, yes--a bit. But, we love train travel, and the gentle swaying motion put me right to sleep. Our trip was in November, and the temperature was very comfortable. I don't know what the Artesia's air conditioning is like, but I would be prepared for it to be warm, just in case.

According to ratp.fr, Bercy is 24 minutes from the Rue du Bac Métro station at the end of your street.

Take Ligne 12 (Direction Porte de la Chapelle) to Madeleine. Transfer to the spiffy new Ligne 14 (Direction Bibliothèque François Mitterand) to Bercy.

A map of the Bercy neighborhood is at

<b>http://www.ratp.info/orienter/plan_telech_quartiers.php</b>

Pull down the first list, select <i>Bercy</i> and hit OK.

Bercy is close to the Gare de Lyon and until the advent of the night passenger services was little-used other than for car-train services. This is one reason there aren't as many &quot;amenities&quot; (a term used above).

You'll avoid the &quot;less than fabulous&quot; experiences of the other travelers exactly because you've done what they probably weren't able to do..your research.

BTW, if you are in First Class accommodations which allow you to individually control the A/C you'll find it works well.

Enjoy your trip.

Bercy station gets busy in the evening when people are boarding the overnight trains to Italy. There is no left luggage, so it's easier and cheaper to leave it at your hotel then take it directly to Bercy, rather than take it to the left luggage at the Gare de Lyon. Upstairs at Bercy station (there is a lift/elevator), is a lounge reserved for sleeper (not couchette) passengers. There are comfortable seats, free newspapers and coffee, but not much else. There is a kiosk in the station selling canned and bottled drinks, sandwiches, etc. The train to Bologna, Firenze and Roma has a restaurant car and a bar.
Both sleeper and couchette compartments have controls for the air conditioning, but it doesn't work very well. This is partly because the carriages will have been standing in a siding all day so are likely to be hot and stuffy before the air conditioning starts to work. When the train goes through the Alps in the night, it will get much cooler.