Help with train from Le Harve to Paris!

[Pirates Wife]

Has anyone ever actually taken the train from Le Harvre to Paris?:confused:

[RHefley228]

Yes. It takes a little over two hours, arrives at Gare St. Lazare.

[grogers11]

We can take a bus thru the ship tours, but would a train be better?

[RHefley228]

Le Havre's train station is about a mile from the port though, in most cases, passengers will have to take the shuttle from the ship to the center of Le Havre and then a taxi to the station (or take a taxi directly from the port to the station). Trains run to Gare St-Lazare (Paris) roughly every hour. RT fare is 28.10 EUR, 21.10 if you're 60 or over.

[grogers11]

Do you know if the stop in Paris is near the Batobus? That's what we are thinking of using to get around. We will have about 5 hours there, not alot of time to see things.

[RHefley228]

Do you know if the stop in Paris is near the Batobus?

 

Your closest Batobus stop will be at the Pont Alexandre III bridge south of the Petit Palais. You can take the Metro from St. Lazare (direction Mairie d'Issy) to the Place de la Concorde, then walk west along the Seine. When you reach the bridge, go down the stairs on the left.

[grogers11]

It also looks like St Lazare is not too far from the river. About how long is the walk if we choose to walk it? You always see interesting things walking....

[RHefley228]

It's a very pleasant walk, a little over a mile; how long that will take depends on you. It will take you by the Madeleine church, the Tuilleries Garden, the obelisk from the Temple of Luxor, and you'll have a view of the Arc de Triomphe when you cross the Champs-Elysees.

[gaileeh]

We can take a bus thru the ship tours, but would a train be better?

IMO the further you travel from the port, the better you are taking the ships shore excursion. If there is a problem getting back to the port the ship will either wait for you or get you to the next port. If you are on your own, you will have to get to the next port on your own. Rail strikes can occur at any time, then you would be up a creek... (so to speak)

[rsquare]

IMO the further you travel from the port, the better you are taking the ships shore excursion. If there is a problem getting back to the port the ship will either wait for you or get you to the next port. If you are on your own, you will have to get to the next port on your own. Rail strikes can occur at any time, then you would be up a creek... (so to speak)

Let me endorse that. We took a train from Monte Carlo to Villefranche in June only to discover that the French railways were on strike and were only running trains every few hours with skeleton crews. Point is, we didn't find this out until we were on the train and wondering about paying our fare (the vending machine at the station was broken). "Not to worry," said someone, "they're on strike today and won't be checking tickets." There is a bus that goes the same route, but the busses were jammed, with long lines at the stops, so we wound up taking a cab, rather expensively. And that's just an 8-mile trip. Moral is, have a Plan B and even a Plan C in terms of what you'll do if there's a strike.

[pcur]

Let me endorse that. We took a train from Monte Carlo to Villefranche in June only to discover that the French railways were on strike and were only running trains every few hours with skeleton crews. Point is, we didn't find this out until we were on the train and wondering about paying our fare (the vending machine at the station was broken). "Not to worry," said someone, "they're on strike today and won't be checking tickets." There is a bus that goes the same route, but the busses were jammed, with long lines at the stops, so we wound up taking a cab, rather expensively. And that's just an 8-mile trip. Moral is, have a Plan B and even a Plan C in terms of what you'll do if there's a strike.

 

I thirid this suggestion! :D :D

 

The further we go, the more we go on a ship's "on your own" bus.

[Kite Wizard]

Here's a link to our Roll Call (Connie T/A 4/11/2008) where I recently posted the train schedule for a few ports of call in northern France. Scan down to "ter/SNCF TRAIN SCHEDULE FOR LE HAVRE". Strikes are not as frequent as most people make out. Ask when you buy your tickets. Trains in France are very reliable. Yes, have an alternate plan ready no matter where you travel. In Paris, skip the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre unless you want to spend all your time in this beautiful city standing in line for hours. My suggestion is Montmatre.

 

Post #618.

 

Florida Rich...