As such an important and prominent transport hub,
the surroundings of Gare du Nord are a desirable place to stay in Paris and
hence contain many hotels. From here visitors have easy access to nearby Gare
de l’Est and to the popular district of Montmartre. For these reasons there are
many hotels in the near vicinity of Gare du Nord. The appropriately named New
Hotel Gare du Nord is an attractive hotel situated opposite the station. Chain
hotels, such as Mercure Terminus Nord Hotel, are also present in the station’s
surroundings, and a large number of budget hotels can be found near Gare du
Nord. The breadth of choice and the convenience of its location make Gare du Nord
an attractive place to book a hotel.
The area surrounding Gare du Nord is
one of the most popular places to look for hotels in Paris. Over 180 million
travellers pass through Gare du Nord train station every year, making it the
busiest railway centre in Europe, and the third busiest in the world. Gare du
Nord is a main passenger link to northern France, the United Kingdom (via the
Chunnel), the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. This terminal is one of six
large terminus stations in Paris. Gare du Nord acts as a useful connection
point for the RER train from Charles de Gaulle Airport and two metro lines that
connect the north of Paris to the south.
Gare du Nord is housed in a beautiful building,
designed by Jacques Ignace Hittorff, which was constructed in the 1860s. Besides
the platforms, this building also hosts cafes, a currency exchange, newspaper
stands, and a gift shop. For travellers’ convenience there are e-ticket
collection machines, as well as wireless internet access and a registered
baggage service. The washrooms have baby changing facilities. The station is
decorated with a series of sculptures that represent cities served by the
Chemin de Fer du Nord Railway Company. Among the cities represented are Paris,
London, Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Frankfurt, and Berlin. The
sculptures were created by artists including Jean Louis Nicolas Jaley, Francois
Jouffroy, Jean Joseph Perraud, and Pierre Jules Cavelier.