My daughter and I will be arriving on the Eurostar and need to pick up the keys for our apt from the agency%26#39;s office at 80 rue van Artevelde. Looking at the map, this is the kind of distance we could walk (we are good walkers and will have minimal luggage). However, numerous posts on this forum indicate that the area around Gare du Midi is unsafe.
What I am thinking is: if it is unsafe to walk, will we be any safer waiting for a taxi? Should we transfer to Gare Centrale instead? (the walk from there looks more complicated but we will have a good map)
Do %26#39;ordinary%26#39; people really not walk around Gare du Midi? Or will the fact that we have cases with us - even very small light ones - immediately mark us out as targets once we leave the station?
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Having cases marks you as targets as much within the station as around it, and in my opinion while the station itself is where you most need to be careful of the bags themselves, the immediate surroundings are sleazy and unpleasant, rather than dangerous (although I would not park a car in that area!); for example, the whole area alongside the elevated railway track is used as an informal %26quot;pissoir%26quot;, which isn%26#39;t awfully pleasant to walk next to....
I would not want to walk from Midi to rue Van Artevelde myself, and as you will apparently have smallish bags, it would be worth taking the underground tram (follow signs to metro) from Midi either 2 stops to Anneessens or 3 to Bourse (not quite sure which end of rue Van Artevelde no. 80 is). It would certainly be a more pleasant walk from Gare centrale although a bit out of your way compared with taking the tram (but transfer to Gare centrale is free with Eurostar ticket).
Of course ordinary people walk around Gare du Midi and its immediate environs, but probably not if they don%26#39;t have to, and anyone carrying luggage will usually arrive by public transport or taxi!
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