A station opened in 1849, next door to Gare du Nord
Gare de l’Est stands in the 10th arrondissement, in the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul district, close to Gare du Nord. SNCF Gares & Connexions gives its address as place du 11 Novembre 1918. It opened in 1849 as the Strasbourg terminus for the Paris–Strasbourg railway company, and it is one of Paris’s great mainline stations.
Its architecture preserves signs of that history: an Art Deco glass roof, a sculpture of the city of Verdun on the east pediment, and a large painting, Le Départ des poilus, in the main-line hall. These make handy visual landmarks, though they do not replace a precise meeting point.
Where do trains from Gare de l’Est go?
Gare de l’Est serves Strasbourg and Nancy, Luxembourg, and several German cities including Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich. Wikipedia also mentions Reims. The high-speed lines to the east start here, while suburban trains run on Transilien line P. For the trains and timetables currently running, SNCF remains the reference.
A traveller bound for Germany or Luxembourg may have a full day to organise before or after the train: a meeting, lunch, a return to the hotel. A chauffeur for business travel lets you group these stops rather than book them one by one.
Journeys to the east often combine rail with road at either end, whether for a plant visit outside a city or a late arrival at a hotel. Those legs are organised from Paris on request.
Alsace and Saint-Martin halls: finding your way inside
According to the station’s official page, the Alsace hall holds the main-line ticket shop, and the Saint-Martin hall the assistance service for travellers with disabilities. The transverse platform concourse has most of the shops, the information point is between platforms 15 and 18, and left luggage is on level -1.
These details help set a clear meeting point: rather than “outside the station”, choose a hall and a platform. The chauffeur can then wait at the simplest spot, within the limits set by the station. This precision matters most for late arrivals and for travellers who do not know Paris well.
The same logic applies in reverse for a departure: the chauffeur drops the passenger as close to the relevant hall as the station and the authorities allow, and the passenger can reach the platform without rushing.
Access: the metro and the streets around the station
The station is served by metro lines 4, 5 and 7. According to Wikipedia, its entrances open onto rue d’Alsace and rue du Faubourg-Saint-Martin. Drop-off, parking and traffic rules around the station are decided by the station and the authorities; they may change, and we check them before each assignment.
The area is dense, and Gare du Nord is its neighbour. If a traveller has to change station during the day, for instance to Gare du Nord for a Eurostar, the connection should be planned ahead so that the schedule does not depend on the train’s exact time.
For a traveller unfamiliar with the area, one simple habit works well: send the chauffeur the platform number as soon as it is displayed, so the chauffeur can adjust where he waits as the train arrives.
For those organising: assistants and concierge teams
An assistant needs only a few items: the passenger’s name, the train, the arrival hall, the number of bags, the destination. With these, IKIGAI issues a firm quote before confirmation and gives the chauffeur a clear brief. The service for executive assistants describes this way of working.
Airport and station transfers can also be grouped: a guest who arrives by train one day and leaves by air the next deals with one contact and one invoice, adapted to companies, family offices and concierge services.
Booking a chauffeur for Gare de l’Est
To book, give the date, the train, the number of passengers and bags, and the pick-up or drop-off address. A name-board welcome is available, as is train tracking on request. IKIGAI offers round-the-clock availability on request; the booking is confirmed once the quote is accepted.
Contact us by WhatsApp, e-mail or form. Other stations and airports are covered in our Airports & travel section, and the Paris stations service explains the pick-up in detail.
