We have a rental car reserved with Avis at Gare du Nord & will be returning it in the evening at around 10:00. After reading another thread, I'm wondering if Gare du Nord is safe at that time of evening or if we should aim to return the car earlier. We plan to pick up the car in the morning, drive up to the peripherique, and return it the same way that night. Thanks

ttt

Author: The question is, what are plans after you drop the car off? I don't think the Gare du Nord is a terribly unsafe place, but I have a friend who lives close by and I've had occasion to be walking in and around the station at night a few times and I just didn't feel the usual level of comfort I feel in Paris at night. If you're going to be with someone else and are just taking the métro to another location, I think you'll be fine. Or, you can always hop in a taxi.

Thanks for the reply. We will be going from there to Holiday Inn Republique, but I'm now wondering where the drop-off location is & how far we might need to walk to get to the metro. It seems like Gare du Nord is a good location as far as getting out of Paris goes, but Gare de L'est might feel safer at night. I've heard that traffic isn't as heavy in August, so maybe shouldn't worry so much about driving in Paris.

Gare du Nord and Gare du Est are in the same neighborhood. They are only a few blocks apart.

Relatively, it IS unsafe as Gare du Nord happens to have the highest crime rate of ANY metro station in Paris.<BR><BR>however, train stations in the 10th arr. aren't going to be that different, so I don't think it matters whether it's Nord or Est too much. I think the car rental returns are not too far from the front of the building, just around the corner to the left somewhat, so it's not like you have to walk real far down a dark street. I think, can't swear to it. <BR><BR>I can't say for sure, if it is important to you to return a car at 10 pm at night, I probably would go ahead, just being alert and not doing anything foolish, going quickly to the front cab rank and not going off down dark streets. I think the metro station is not far from where you need to drop off the car if you do want to take metro. However, I should warn you a resident of Paris told me that the Republique area is not that great at night, either, and a woman alone would not want to be wandering around there or in that metro stop. In short, I think it would be a false economy to take the metro at those locations at night when the cab ride will be very cheap, especially since there are apparently more than one of you. That would be another reason to just leave it at Gare du Nord: it's a bit farther away from Republique and makes a taxi ride more sensible--Gare de l'Est is several blocks closer to Republique so a taxi might not be thrilled with that short a fare.

Thanks for the insights. We'll be careful!