Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Ile-de-France. Poissy neighbours it to the north-west.



Understand
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is in the Yvelines department, about 19 km west of Paris. Tracing its origins to an abbey dedicated to Saint Germain, the city's claim to fame today is its château, which was a favourite residence of the French monarchy throughout the Renaissance. Like the more famous Versailles one of the treaties between the victors of World War I and a defeated power was signed here, in this case the treaty with Austria. This might earn you historical trivia points because despite Austria losing more territory than Germany, the treaty of Saint Germain is today rarely talked about outside history-nerd circles. Today, it's a wealthy suburb of Paris, known throughout the region for being a pretty city with a lot of activities.

By rail
Saint-Germain-en-Laye can be reached from Paris on the RER A, direction Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It takes about 18 minutes from La Défense and about 30 from Châtelet. Poissy and Maisons-Laffitte (which is closer to the north-east part) are on RER A, direction Poissy, and Translien Paris-Saint-Lazare line J.

Get around
Saint-Germain-en-Laye's city centre is generally walkable, but if necessary there's a bus station next to the RER station.

Buy
The main shopping streets are Rue au Pain, Rue de Paris, Rue de Pologne, Rue des Louviers and Rue Collingon. You'll find many chic shops on these streets.

Eat
The main locations of restaurants are in the following locations:

-Place Charles de Gaulle and surrounding area: the square on which the Château, the parish church and the RER station are located. A well known restaurant on the square is Le Soubize.

-Place du Marché Neuf: the market square. There are several restaurants on this square, including le Café de l'Industrie (traditional French cuisine)

Drink
Bars/Brasseries can be found on Place Charles de Gaulle and Place André Malraux. You can get a drink at Le Soubize or l'Amnésia for example. Yet again, you can get a drink at the Café de l'Industrie on the Place du Marché Neuf.

Another location where you have bars is on Rue Saint-Pierre, which Café Jules (where you can also order a meal) and The Bitter End (an Irish styled pub).

One other pub is the O'Sullivans on Rue de Pontoise.

Sleep
There's the Pavillon Henri IV on the site of the Château Neuf.

There's also an Ibis on Rue des Joueries.

Go next

 * The garden city of Le Vésinet just over the river (or a couple of stops along the RER to Le Vésinet - Le Pecq and Le Vésinet - Centre), known for its mansions and lakes.


 * Maisons-Laffitte, a similar garden city to the north.


 * Pays des Impressionnistes, a number of suburbs along the Seine which provided inspiration to a large number of famous 19th-century impressionist paintings.


 * Poissy - a town just across the Forest of Saint-Germain. Can be easily accessed via Bus 24. It is well known for its 12th-century parish church where St. Louis was baptized and the Villa Savoye, a building designed by Le Corbusier.


 * La Défense