 Charing Cross railway station was built on the Strand in 1864 , providing a boat train service to Europe , which stimulated the growth of hotels in the area to cater for travellers . These included the Charing Cross Hotel , attached to the station itself . Today , there are several luggage outlets and tourist agents on the Strand , as well as old postage stamp dealers . The philatelist Stanley Gibbons opened a shop at No. 435 in 1891 . It moved to No. 391 in 1893 , and is now currently based at No. 399 . 
