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See larger map Red = high-speed line |
The station for London, Brussels, Amsterdam & Cologne
The Gare du Nord is the busiest station in Europe, in fact the busiest station in the world outside Japan - although they include all the RER suburban trains running underground to get that accolade. It handles trains heading north from Paris, to Lille, Calais, London, Brussels, Amsterdam & Cologne. First opened in 1846 by the Chemin de Fer du Nord, the original station building proved too small and was moved to Lille where you can still see it as the Gare de Lille Flandres. The current Gare du Nord was built between 1861 & 1864. See city map of Paris showing stations.
Which platform for your train?
Tips for using the Gare du Nord
Eurostar check-in procedure & departure lounge
How to walk to the nearby Gare de l'Est
How to take the metro/RER or taxi to other Paris stations
Overview: Station plan Location map
The Gare du Nord is a terminus with easy, flat & level access between the taxi rank, concourse & all mainline platforms, making it painless to navigate with wheeled luggage. See a station plan here, you can find more plans & information about the station and its facilities at www.garesetconnexions.sncf.
The station is marked up as 4 halls: Hall 1 is the main concourse served by platforms 1-19. Hall 2 is the balcony upstairs leading to the Eurostar check-in for trains to London. Hall 3 is the eastern side concourse served by platforms 20-21 & 30-36 used by TER & suburban trains. Hall 4 is downstairs on the eastern side of the station leading to the RER platforms. For trains to Lille, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne you want Hall 1. For London, Hall 2.
The beautiful facade of Paris Gare du Nord, dating from 1861-64. The statues represent the European cities served by the Chemin de Fer du Nord, the largest central figure representing Paris. The once traffic-heavy forecourt is now pedestrian-friendly. Taken from a 2nd floor room at the Hotel 25 Hours Terminus Nord. Larger photo.
Another view of the Gare du Nord, with the station on the right and the Hotel 25 Hours Terminus Nord on the left.
Eurostar platforms 3, 4 & 5. On arrival, the glass gates are opened and passengers walk off the platform onto the station concourse. Departing passengers for London must check in at the Eurostar terminal as explained here. That's the Eurostar departure lounge behind the row of first-floor windows, passengers access the trains from two footbridges, visible above the trains here. Platform 6 can also be secured for a Eurostar arrival or departure.
Main concourse showing platforms 3-10, taken from the long balcony leading to the Eurostar check-in. Steps down to the metro & RER are in the foreground. Eurostars to/from London use platforms 3-6 on the left, Eurostar (formerly Thalys) to/from Brussels, Amsterdam & Cologne use platforms 9-15. Larger photo.
When you walk off Eurostar and veer left, this is your view of the concourse. With my back towards the Eurostar platforms 3-6, you can see the escalators down to the metro/RER with the main exit from station to street behind it. Turn right for taxis & luggage lockers. At the rear of the concourse you can see the long first floor balcony leading to the Eurostar terminal for departing passengers to London, accessed up an escalator opposite platform 17. Metro & RER information. Larger photo
Walk off Eurostar & turn right for taxis & left luggage office. This is the west side exit from the concourse to the taxi rank, and the escalator down to the left luggage lockers. Taxi information.
Which platform for your train?
Platforms are numbered 1 to 36 from left to right, with platform 1 on the west side, See station plan. Platform numbers are usually posted on departure screens 20-30 minutes before departure.
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Platforms 1 & 2 are not in public use.
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Platforms 3-6 are sealed off for Eurostar trains to/from London. Passengers arriving from London walk straight off the end of the platform onto the concourse. Passengers departing for London must check in at the Eurostar terminal upstairs (marked as Hall 2) and access these platforms down travelators from the Eurostar terminal, see advice for Eurostar check-in.
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Platforms 7 & 8 are typically used by Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains to/from Brussels, Amsterdam & Cologne.
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Platforms 9-19 are used by TGVs & TERs bound for Lille and northern France.
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Platforms 20-21 & 30-36 are used by TER and suburban trains.
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Platforms 41-44 are RER (express metro) platforms located underground, including the RER D trains to the Gare de Lyon.
Tickets & reservations
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The main ticket office windows open onto the main concourse, opposite platforms 3-6.
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The Eurostar ticket office is upstairs on the balcony, accessed up an escalator opposite platform 17, with a smaller office downstairs on the concourse opposite platform 14.
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There's a separate ticket office for Haut de France regional tickets opposite platform 14.
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There are plenty of SNCF ticket machines, with a touch screen & English language facility. These also sell Interrail & Eurail reservations.
Luggage storage
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The left luggage facility is downstairs, down the escalators opposite platform 3 where Eurostar arrives. It's now a row of staffed desks rather than lockers. Bags are X-rayed before you deposit them. See the luggage lockers page for prices & opening times.
Taxis & metro
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Taxis: There's a well-organised taxi rank just outside the western side exit from the station, see the photo below. After walking off the Eurostar platforms, turn right and walk out of the station's west side exit near platform 3.
There are usually staff helping allocate people to taxis. Even if the queue looks long, it moves fast and doesn't usually take more than 10 minutes to get into a taxi. But always use an official taxi from the rank, don't accept offers from any touts. As anywhere, make sure they turn the meter on. More info on Paris taxis.
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Metro & RER: See the Crossing Paris by metro page for metro advice.
Tips for using the Gare du Nord
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Take a moment to wander onto the forecourt and see the beautiful station facade.
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Time on your hands before your train?
The Gare du Nord is a very busy place, if you have significant time before your train I'd get away from all the bustle and have a coffee, beer or even a meal in quieter surroundings at one of the brasseries suggested below.
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First class lounges.
The Eurostar business lounge is inside the Eurostar departures terminal, upstairs after check-in, only for passengers with the most expensive Premier tickets or a Eurostar Carte Blanche loyalty card.
The SNCF Grand Voyageur lounge is opposite platform 14 next to the Haut de France regional ticket office, but this is only for holders of SNCF's (or other Railteam members) frequent traveller loyalty card or most expensive business tickets, not for all first class ticket holders.
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Eurostar terminal. The Eurostar terminal for departures to London is on the first floor. Although in fact located above & alongside platform 3, you have to go up the escalator opposite platform 17, then walk along the first floor balcony across half the width of the station to reach the terminal entrance. See the Eurostar page for more details & photo.
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For more detailed information on the station & its facilities see the official SNCF site www.gares-sncf.com.
Supermarkets
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There are plenty of kiosks around the station selling drinks, snacks and baguettes.
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There's a small Monop minimarket next to the station exit opposite platform 8.
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There's a larger Carrefour City minimarket at the bottom of the down escalator opposite platform 7, see the photo below. It's just before you get to the M4 metro ticket office, probably the best place to stock up for a journey.
Places to eat
If your kids insist, across the road from the station there's a Burger King to the right, a MacDonald's further to the right, and a KFC to the left. But you can do better than that, here are two great places that make lunch before or after your train an experience in itself.
Brasserie Terminus Nord
The Brasserie Terminus Nord (www.terminusnord.com) is directly across the road from the Gare du Nord's main exit, a traditional French brasserie where train travellers have dined in Art Deco and Art Nouveau splendour since 1925. The Brasserie Terminus Nord is a favourite of mine when I'm passing through Paris, and so handy for the station. Oysters and seafood are a speciality, escargots (snails) are also on the menu. Their oyster tasting platter is superb.
The Brasserie Terminus Nord across the road from the station, after its refurbishment in September 2021.
Cafe du Nord
The Cafe du Nord (cafedunord-paris.fr), opposite the station to the left of the Terminus Nord has also been recommended, a slightly cheaper alternative to the Brasserie Terminus Nord with less emphasis on seafood, though I have yet to try it myself.
Chez Casimir
My favourite restaurant, l'Ardoise Gourmande - where Master 61 discovered he loved escargot - sadly closed down in 2019 when the owner moved back to Brittany, but I can recommend Chez Casimir (www.casimir.paris), a 4 minute 270m walk from the Gare du Nord at 6, rue de Belzunce. It has outdoor and indoor tables in a quiet street away from the hustle and bustle of the station. A simple menu and excellent food, although I preferred their house white to their red.
Hotels near the Gare du Nord
Hotels near the station with good or great reviews include the Libertel Gare du Nord Suede (a 3-minute 250m walk from Gare du Nord, 2-star), Art Hotel (3-star), Avalon Hotel (2-star) & Hotel Cambrai (5 minutes walk from Gare du Nord, 1-star).
For somewhere relatively cheap, try the Hotel Altona, a 9-minute 650m walk from the station or Grand Hotel Magenta, a 4-minute 230m walk from the station - although in this popular area the review score suffers when you reduce the price.
But if it's within your budget, I'd go for the 25 Hours Hotel Terminus Nord.
25 Hours Terminus Nord
The 4-star 25 Hours Hotel Terminus Nord is a personal favourite, built in 1870 and perfectly located directly across the road from Gare du Nord's main exit. It was refurbished in 2019 in a decidedly quirky style to become part of the avant-garde 25 Hours hotel brand. The funky decor and weird lighting grew on me, staff were friendly, breakfast excellent, and our large double room with balcony (the two second-floor windows to the left of the '2' in '25 Hours' sign) was well soundproofed with effective air-conditioning in spite of a heatwave. A top choice that gets great reports from other seat61 travellers, too!
The 25 Hours Hotel Terminus Nord. Below left, a large double room with balcony. Below right, a single room.
Marshal Pétain & the Hotel Terminus Nord
Marshal Philippe Pétain was of course the head of France's Vichy government during World War 2. Sentenced to death in 1945, he was allowed to live the rest of his life in prison after intervention by General de Gaulle. But he wasn't always a pariah. In World War 1 he was the hero who lead the French army at Verdun.
In February 1916, French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre decided that Pétain was the man to pull together the potentially disastrous situation at Verdun as German forces attacked. There was one small problem: He couldn't be found. Fortunately, Pétain's aide-de-camp Staff Captain Bernard Serrigny knew his superior's habits only too well, and found the 60-year-old general in bed with his 39-year-old mistress, Eugenie Hardon, at the Hotel Terminus Nord.
According to one account, the hotel at first denied he was there, but when Serrigny declared that the "Fate of France was at stake", showed him to the room. Pétain came to the door in his underwear. En route to Verdun next day, Pétain allegedly told Serrigny that when he revealed to his mistress the nature of what awaited him at Verdun, she burst into tears before lavishing 'such marks of tenderness and passion upon him that he would forever cherish the memory of that night'. It must have made an impression, as he finally married her in 1920. Source.