London to Strasbourg

[Masbroughlad]

Couple of queries about travelling London to Strasbourg.

If you take the suggested route, with one change in Paris, you have to get between Paris Nord and Paris Est. What are the ways to do this please? I take it options are walk (?), metro, bus, a suburban train or taxi?

Any idea on costs and ease of the above please? How long a connection is reasonable? Two of us with a large bag/suitcase. 0800 hours - ish on a Monday.

Also, is there an alternative route with just one change (maybe 2) between London and Strasbourg, please? As long as not a silly route, a bit of a longer journey is fine. It doesn't have to be a recognised route as such, as we will have Eurrail passes.

Thank you.

 

[farci]

I suggest you consult the experts over at RailUKforums. If there's a work around they will know about it

 

[eastwestdivide]

Seat 61 has it covered here:

How to change stations in Paris by metro, bus or taxi

A guide to changing trains & stations in Paris by metro, RER, bus or taxi, from Paris Gare du Nord to Paris Gare de Lyon, Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l'Est and Gare de Bercy. How to walk between the Gare du Nord & Gare de l'Est.

www.seat61.com

 

[rvdborgt]

Paris Nord to Est is a 10-minute walk. Alternatively, you can look for a connection with a change in Lille, although there are only 2 direct trains Lille-Strasbourg, and only the 14:01 can reached (London dep. 11:01).
With Interrail (or Eurail if you don't live in Europe), London-Paris/Lille is €30 in 2nd class or €38 in 1st (limited availability). Lille/Paris-Strasbourg is €10 (limited availability) or else €20. Best place to book is raileurope.com.

 

[bspahh]

Seat 61 has it covered here:

How to change stations in Paris by metro, bus or taxi

A guide to changing trains & stations in Paris by metro, RER, bus or taxi, from Paris Gare du Nord to Paris Gare de Lyon, Gare d'Austerlitz, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l'Est and Gare de Bercy. How to walk between the Gare du Nord & Gare de l'Est.

www.seat61.com

Seat 61 also describes the route from London to Strasbourg where you change at Lille

London to France by train | Times, fares, how to buy tickets

Train times, fares & how to buy tickets for travel by Eurostar & TGV from London to Nice, Lyon, Marseille, Cannes, Bordeaux, Lourdes, Toulouse, Perpignan, Nimes, Montpellier, Narbonne, Biarritz, Nantes, Strasbourg, Reims, Clermont Ferrand the French Alps.

www.seat61.com

 

[Gloster]

Out of the Gare du Nord to the Rue de Dunkerque, which runs across the front of the station, turn left and continue straight on to the Rue d’Alsace at the end. Turn right into the Rue d’Alsace, which is alongside the Gare de’l’Est, and continue to the steps at the end and then in the side entrance on your left at the bottom. Although it is a long time since I have done it I used to do it regularly and the only thing to watch was the steepness (and unevenness) of the steps.

 

[P Binnersley]

There is now a lift & escalators just before the steps.

 

[30907]

If your bag is reasonably portable, walk it. Otherwise taxi.

(If the 11xx to Lille has passholder fares and is convenient, go for it.)

 

[rvdborgt]

If your bag is reasonably portable, walk it. Otherwise taxi.

IMO, if the 800 or so metres are too much because of the luggage, then you should reconsider what you're taking with you.

 

[Ian99]

Last time I walked it, it seemed longer to walk to our seats at the front of the train than it did to walk from station to station.

There's also a small park / landscaped seating area between the 2 stations just before the stairs down.

 

[D6130]

Last time I walked it, it seemed longer to walk to our seats at the front of the train than it did to walk from station to station.

There's also a small park / landscaped seating area between the 2 stations just before the stairs down.

There's also - on the corner one block before the stairs down - a very quirky railway-themed cafe/bar called 'Au Train de Vie' (The Train of Life), which is actually chock-full of French railway memeorabilia. The bar is a nose cone from an SNCF BB22200 class electric locomotive and the seats are both first and second class from various different types of stock from different eras. There are lots of uniform items, signals, loco numberplates, notices, handlamps, etc, etc. Well worth popping in for a coffee or a beer if you have the time.

 

[bspahh]

There's also - on the corner one block before the stairs down - a very quirky railway-themed cafe/bar called 'Au Train de Vie' (The Train of Life), which is actually chock-full of French railway memeorabilia. The bar is a nose cone from an SNCF BB22200 class electric locomotive and the seats are both first and second class from various different types of stock from different eras. There are lots of uniform items, signals, loco numberplates, notices, handlamps, etc, etc. Well worth popping in for a coffee or a beer if you have the time.

this is from a Tripadvisor review from 2022

I was keen to check this bar as it has a railway feel to it. It is located in Rue Des Deux Gares which is appropriate and as you step out of the station you can see Gare de L'Est below. The bar no longer has the railway memorabilia but is very busy which is a great sign for a good restaurant.

Its here on Google Maps which says its only open in the morning.

 

[D6130]

What a pity! it must have changed hands since I was last there.

 

[signed]

If your bag is reasonably portable, walk it. Otherwise taxi.

With the added escalator and lift now, it would be very wasteful

 

[rf_ioliver]

We did Est->Nord back in July - the walking route is sign posted and as one other poster her mentioned, seems shorter than the walk from the concourse to your seat on the train itself.

The walk takes about 10 minutes and is about 600-800m. If you go vie Rue d'Alsace you get a really nice view over Gare d'Est

HERE WeGo

HERE WeGo

wego.here.com

There's a couple of nice cafes along the way, but opposite the main entrance to Gare du Nord is "Terminus Nord" which do excellent breakfasts at reasonable prices too - can recommend.

 

[nwales58]

Bayat - french/lebanese baker/cafe - corner of Rues La Fayette and Dunkerque is my favourite.

 

[Richard Scott]

Know others have answered but definitely walk it, especially in that direction as down hill!! Could understand not wanting to walk it in the other direction. Also recommend going via Rue d'Alsace as mentioned above.

 

[Gordon]

If it is raining, you can in theory also do it via the covered/underground links that service the suburban through platforms on the RER.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Oct 2024 ==

The famous 'Rue d'Alsace' steps have appeared in various TV dramas and films over the years.

Years ago, I used to always go via the very slightly longer route along the Rue du Faubourg St Denis because there was an excellent model railway shop on that street.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Oct 2024 ==

I found this quite useful graphic: https://maligne-e-t4.transilien.com...15/04/carte-liaison-magenta-gare-nord-est.jpg

 

[WolvertonWorks]

Some years ago we spent Christmas in the Strasbourg area. It was a package organised by one of the "journeys by rail" companies, can't remember the name of the company.

We all had our own Eurostar tickets, which had been sent to us before setting off from home, and sat in our assigned seats and during the journey to Paris the rep came along and found each of us, dotted around the train, and told us where to walk to when we alighted in Paris for the transfer from Paris Nord and Paris Est.

We would have been quite happy to walk to Paris Est and meet the others there but no, we all had to wait ages until a coach arrived to drive us, very slowly because of the traffic, to Paris Est.

I seem to remember that we persuaded the rep to let us walk on the homeward journey rather than go by coach.