Hi 3 of us arriving on Eurostar at 5 pm on Friday . Was told to take taxi from gare du Nord to st lazare to catch train to Vernon. How much buffer time should I set aside ? Unsure what time to book for train to Vernon. And would Uber be faster than taxi ? Cos worried that there will be a long queue at taxi stand . Tks for your reply and advice !
1 answer
I'm not a frequent taxi user at Gare du Nord, but the times I've talked past the taxi rank on the west side of the station, there's been little to no queue with many taxis waiting for customers. Of course when weather is terrible (rain) then I'd expect the taxis are much more popular. But, so would Uber and they have surge pricing.
I don't personally have much preference between taxis and Uber in Paris, but to be prepared I'd say keep the Uber app handy just in case. Overall, I don't think the taxi stand will be an issue.
The ride itself between Gare du Nord and Saint Lazare should take about 15 minutes with busy traffic. 20 with terrible traffic. Give yourself some extra time to get yourself oriented at Saint Lazare, finding the ticket office or machines, retrieving your tickets, finding your way to the train platform. Keep in mind that train stations are jam packed with people commuting home at 5pm on a Friday. To make it less stressful I'd personally give myself at least an hour or even 90 minutes.