Gare du Nord at night?
 

I am going to Paris in late April. Is Gare du Nord safe enough at night? My train from London gets in at 9:17 pm. Should I take a taxi to my hotel?

Yes

yes

My train leaves Paris at 915 pm for London will the station be safe at that time as long as I am inside waiting for the train?

Another 'yes' to your second question. As usual, however, just be aware of your surroundings and watch your belongings. Gare du Nord is a huge train station, it's busy, and there are places to eat.

Thanks francophile03 what about waterloo station in london it will be almost 11pm London time when I get back are there still people around that area at that hour will I be able to get a taxi to take me back to my hotel?
Thanks again.

You're welcome but I'm sorry I can't help you with Waterloo station as I've never traveled through there. Others here have though and will be able to answer your question.

There are plenty of people at Gare du Nord at that hour and it is generally safe. Additionally, for the Eurostar, you have to go past check-in, which is permitted only for passengers, so there is no risk at all if you are waiting for a Eurostar to London.

You should take a taxi to the hotel if you have luggage and it isn't across the street. This is true at any time of day. If you have no luggage you can take the Métro if you're familiar with it, otherwise take a taxi. The area around the station is a bit seedy late at night, but the station itself is busy and well supervised.

I've been to waterloo station in the daytime, very large, restaurants, blegh! felt safe though,. I believe our train got in about the same time as yours to gard de nord, I wouldn't "hang around", get a taxi, (there will be a line, but that in of itself affords you safety) keep in mind, while it is not the "best" neighborhood, it also certainly is not
going to bring back memories of a godfather movie or something. Just the place to keep your wits about you, as if you were in NYC, SF, Chicago, just pick your fav big city.

I am assuming you will take a cab from both stations to your hotels in Paris and London which could be expensive in London. Gare du Nord to the Marais or the Latin Quarter should be about 15 Euros unless you are unlucky with traffic but I find London cabs expensive (staying near Notting Hill - so you might be much closer). Both stations are huge and well lit and patrolled and the directions to the taxi stands (which are also safe) from the Eurostar terminus are easy to see at both stations.

Last year, we took the Eurostar roundtrip between Paris and London. At both departure stations, once you pass through Eurostar security (metal detector, x-ray of baggage, and passport control), the waiting areas seemed very safe.

Upon arrival and exiting Eurostar's secure area, I suggest being very cautious while in the other areas of the station. If you use common sense (guard your valuables, be alert for pickpockets, refuse unsolicited assistance, and avoid unlicensed taxis) you should be fine.

Woody

I was thinking of taking the metro from Gare du Nord to my hotel near the Louvre, a direct line, after our Eurostar trip into Paris. There will be nine of us so I didn't want to take 3 taxis. It will be around 1 in the afternoon. We only have carryons, do you think this is ok?

Will it be "OK?" In terms of ease of travel, with carryons only? Yes. I have traveled through the Metro from Gare du Nord with big bags before (I don't recommend it) but with carry-ons, no problem, especially at 1PM. Just be patient, use common sense to figure out the signs, etc. and you should be fine.

Andrew

lynny - Pickpockets operate at any time of the day or night. Just keep an eye on your luggage in crowded areas and keep your valuables in a secure place. (IMHO, a person taking the same precautions at night at either Gare du Nord or Waterloo will also do just fine.) I have walked and taken the metro/tube from both stations and have felt perfectly safe, even when I chased some young thieves away who were sneaking up behind some older women on an escalator at Gare du Nord at 11:00 a.m.

How did you know they were thieves? Were they carrying official Thief IDs?

[Or were they dressed as <i>you-know-whats?</i>]

Even dressed like <i>that,</i> unless they are doing something illegal, trying to chase them away is not an appropriate behavior and may itself be illegal in some contexts. You can take care not to let someone stick his hand in your pocket, but you can't yell &quot;Stop, thief!&quot; at him just because you think he <i>might</i> try to do so.

yes

Oh.My.God. Robespierre, thanks for the laugh. LOL

LoveyParis, Waterloo is quite safe, Gare du Nord I found to be more hustle-and-bustle, so just watch your stuff, and you'll be fine. Personally, I'm a fan of cabs after dark, particularly when I'm tired and trying to get to my hotel, but it's your call.

Happy travels.

Jules

At face value, my comment about &quot;young thieves&quot; could be seen as biased, sterotypical, ill-informed, or worse. I try hard not to pre-judge anyone and by nature I'm not a suspicious person. However, I didn't tell you the whole story. They did more than sneak up on the women. They were trying to open the zippers of the women's luggage when I chased them away. Still, if anyone asked me if it is safe to be in train stations and to use subway systems at night in either Paris or London, I would most emphatically affirm that it is. When I've been in those cities I haven't given any thought whatsoever to my personal safety. But it would have been irresponsible of me to ignore what was happening right in front of me.

To lynny

If you wish to avoid the metro, you can take the 48 city bus [direction Palais Royale Musee du Louvre]. The stop is at the north east end of the station.

I've come into the Gare du Nord a couple of times at about that time of night and definitely felt like I had to keep my guard up, but not been scared as a woman alone. I'd definitely go right to the taxi stand, make sure you get into a Taxi Parisien taxi (look at the sign on the top of the car), and get going. Don't dally, don't look confused or silly, just act assured and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the reassurance. I think we'll take the metro in since we're packing light, still we'll obviously be targets for thieves with our bags. We have security pouches and will try to keep our wits about us--untless we get completely lost!

&lt;&lt; Don't dally, don't look confused or silly, just act assured and you'll be fine. &gt;&gt;

StCirq offers sound advice, for all modes of public transportation.

If you are taking a bus or metro, I suggest that you know in advance which line and stop you want, and avoid standing around reading a map.

Woody

I confirm that Gare du Nord is perfectly safe for vigilant people. And it is true that spending a long time looking at the metro map targets you as &quot;lost and possibly vulnerable&quot; -- so feel free to look at the metro map if you need to, but be wary.

Security pouches scream &quot;unsecure and vulnerable tourists&quot;. Millions of Parisians travel in the m&eacute;tro everyday and maybe 0.0001 % get pickpocketed. And they don't carry any security pouches.

I think my suitcase will scream &quot;vulnerable tourist&quot; louder than my map or my security pouch! Thanks for the advice, though, I will try to seem like I come there all the time!

Er, native Parisians have been known to carry suitcases.

Get your route (line, direction, and stop) firmly in mind before you start out, don't stop and consult a map in the middle of stations, and don't stand and study signage in an obvious way. This will help to create the impression of familiarity you suggest.

I use a program called M&eacute;tro on my iPAQ to calculate and display my stops. It also runs on Palm Pilots and SmartPhones.

http://nanika.net/metro

Thank you, Robespierre, you are of course correct. I'll do my best to seem like I know what I'm doing, I appreciate the link!

Question: I have to meet someone at Gare du Nord. Can anyone suggest a good meeting place, such as a restaurant or such? Merci!

I have found that the easiest place to meet someone at the Gare du Nord is upstairs on the Eurostar level, before the check-in area, obviously.

Regarding Waterloo, there will still be some people around at 11 pm, and it won't be hard to get a cab (the tube is still running at that time, too, if you'd rather take that, and there are a ton of buses that stop in the vicinity of Waterloo as well).

If any of the travellers on this thread would like some good mussels, go across the street from the Gare and have a tureen at Maison Blanche--just to the left down the wide street.