Advice re train from London to Paris

[karen sharpe]

We are going to take the Eurostar from London to Paris next April.

I would truly appreciate any advice on your experience.

What ticket class should we purchase. Did you have any difficulties getting on the train, should we pre purchase tickets on line and were the any issues on arrival in Paris. Thanks !

[Langoustine]

Pre-purchasing in advance will usually get you a much cheaper fare. Are you going one-way or round-trip? Are you Seniors (60+)? You really need to look at the Eurostar website (http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/_SvBoExpressBookingTerm?_TMS=1347071049577&_DLG=SvBoExpressBookingTerm&_LANG=UK&_AGENCY=ESTAR&choice=CA_UK&country=CA&lang=UK&VT=EB) or consult a travel agent. I have never had any difficulty getting on or off a train in Europe (even Paris); I just pretend to be a monolingual American--even though I speak bits and pieces of French, German, Italian and Spanish--and the conductors and my fellow passengers are more than happy to help me. I think second class is fine all through Europe these days; 40 years ago, it wasn't a lot of laughs when I rode third class in Italy with wooden slat seats and people with chickens in cages, but 3rd class and those days are gone forever.

[hubofhockey]

My advice is to book early as well. Raileurope.com will sell tickets earlier than Eurostar.com and the better prices go early. Standard coach seats are very comfortable. Get to Gare du Nord a bit early to go through customs and get near the beginning of the line to get your luggage on early. We got ours inside our car rather than between cars. Enjoy the ride.

[Cruise NH]

We are going to take the Eurostar from London to Paris next April.

I would truly appreciate any advice on your experience.

What ticket class should we purchase. Did you have any difficulties getting on the train, should we pre purchase tickets on line and were the any issues on arrival in Paris. Thanks !

 

Eurostar is great, we've been on a few times, the last being this past June.

 

We went from London to Paris, then onto Munich, Venice, Switzerland and then back to Paris and London...all by train.

 

Tickets on the eurostar can be purchased 120 days in advance from www.eurostar.com. I would not go through raileurope for any of my tickets. They do not show the full schedule of trains available and can hike up the prices.

 

Tickets bought early will be cheaper.

 

If you do know your schedule for sure then by all means buy in advance and go for the standard premier class. It's one step below their business premier but above 'standard'. Tickets bought in advance aren't too bad in price and you do get more space and less trouble finding room for your luggage.

 

We traveled 1st class throughout Europe, again if you have a set schedule you can purchase tickets in advance and get a good deal. It should be noted that for the most part these tickets are not refundable if you change your plans.

 

Arriving in Paris is very straightforward. Once you get off the train, just follow the crowd to the front of the platform (there's only one way to go). Taxi stand is to your right once you clear the platform, there's always a line but it moves fast.

 

If you are going back to London on Eurostar just know that you have to go upstairs (escalator) to get to the trains (wierd I know).

 

One other thing, if you find the standard class prices too low to resist (we paid $132 for two of us)...but then have a change of heart, you can always upgrade your tickets once you arrive at the train station. We did this (I just couldn't resist $132!). It costs 70 british pounds per ticket to do this in London, or 70 euros per ticket in Paris. This is two different amounts in USD or CAD, but this is how they do it. We had no trouble upgrading.

 

enjoy yourself!

[thinfool]

I would not go through raileurope for any of my tickets. They do not show the full schedule of trains available and can hike up the prices.

 

 

 

This is VERY true. I would never use them. Buying rail tickets in Europe is far and away more cost effective than doing so in the US.

[ell52]

Definitely buy tickets ahead of time. Prices go up and down like airline tickets and generally get more expensive the closer to travel date.

 

Check out the website of the Man in Seat 61. He has everything you need to know about train travel in Europe, including detailed information about Eurostar (how to buy tickets, best time, seat diagrams, etc.).

 

Here's a direct link to his --> Eurostar London to Paris page

 

p.s. I agree with the above about not buying through raileurope. Buy directly from Eurostar.

[LondonTowner]

As already mentioned, buy your tickets direct on the Eurostar website. The tickets are released 120 days in advance. You can also choose your seats.

 

I don't think that in April the train is likely to be full, plenty of seats as it is a quarter of a mile long.

 

It is very easy to get on/off Eurostar, but if you need any help you can ask for assistance.

 

We live only 10 minutes from St Pancras station in London where Eurostar departs and last summer we took it direct to Avignon in the south of France. No changing of trains and no having to get to an airport. It was really easy and much nicer than flying.

[Giantfan13]

We are going to take the Eurostar from London to Paris next April.

I would truly appreciate any advice on your experience.

What ticket class should we purchase. Did you have any difficulties getting on the train, should we pre purchase tickets on line and were the any issues on arrival in Paris. Thanks !

 

Karen

 

We did a post cruise stay in London and wanted to see Paris for a day. It would be our only chance, so we did the Eurostar from St Pancras to Gard de Nord in Paris. It is about a 2 1/2 hour ride each way.

At the time we went, I am a senior but my wife wasn't. We bought tickets as soon as we were able, like 120 days in advance, me at the senior rate and my wife at the regular rate. We bought the least expensive tickets we were able to, which assured us of a seat. The trains is roomy, with plenty of room to stretch out.

You didn't say if you are traveling for the day, with luggage??. If you have luggage you have to store it in the bins at the front of each car which can be a problem if your luggage is heavy. Otherwise, we enjoyed our trip, seeing Paris, even for a short day, was wonderful, and the ride back to London was fine.

 

Hope this helps some

 

Cheers

 

Len

[hubofhockey]

As already mentioned, buy your tickets direct on the Eurostar website. The tickets are released 120 days in advance. You can also choose your seats.

 

I don't think that in April the train is likely to be full, plenty of seats as it is a quarter of a mile long.

 

It is very easy to get on/off Eurostar, but if you need any help you can ask for assistance.

 

We live only 10 minutes from St Pancras station in London where Eurostar departs and last summer we took it direct to Avignon in the south of France. No changing of trains and no having to get to an airport. It was really easy and much nicer than flying.

 

If you live in the US, you certainly don't have to wait for tickets to become available on eurostar.com. Tickets are available on raileurope.com six months in advance. You have a two month window before the lower priced tickets are purchased by those using eurostar.com to get in at a low price for all trains on the schedule. Prices are in US $ and they charge no fees or foreign transaction charges. I think it's a better way to go if you have your vacation plans set. Waiting for the 120 day period on eurostar.com could be a mistake.

[Cruise NH]

If you live in the US, you certainly don't have to wait for tickets to become available on eurostar.com. Tickets are available on raileurope.com six months in advance. You have a two month window before the lower priced tickets are purchased by those using eurostar.com to get in at a low price for all trains on the schedule. Prices are in US $ and they charge no fees or foreign transaction charges. I think it's a better way to go if you have your vacation plans set. Waiting for the 120 day period on eurostar.com could be a mistake.

 

I'm sorry but who ever told you this is wrong wrong wrong.

 

You can buy from eurostar.com six months in advance, US citizens too. Also, the ticket prices are quoted in dollars. Really, check out the site yourself before giving advice on these forums.

 

In addition, you can print out your tickets at home.

[hubofhockey]

I'm sorry but who ever told you this is wrong wrong wrong.

 

You can buy from eurostar.com six months in advance, US citizens too. Also, the ticket prices are quoted in dollars. Really, check out the site yourself before giving advice on these forums.

 

In addition, you can print out your tickets at home.

 

No need to apologize. I did it myself this year. You can go on raileurope.com site for yourself and see. Check out Eurostar.com yourself. Maybe whoever posted about 120 days was wrong. But I remember tickets being available sooner on raileurope.com.

 

Just checked. Raileurope goes out to march and Eurostar.com goes out to December. As you say, check out the sites yourself before posting wrong information. Oh, no need to be nasty either and I mentioned nothing about printing tickets.

[hubofhockey]

Oh, for what it's worth, even though the days are blacked out for later than 120 days out on eurostar.com, you can manually enter a day five months away (same as raileurope). So, you may be right and pretty mean at the same time.

[Cruise NH]

Oh, for what it's worth, even though the days are blacked out for later than 120 days out on eurostar.com, you can manually enter a day five months away (same as raileurope). So, you may be right and pretty mean at the same time.

 

didn't mean to be mean...

 

and the 'printed tickets' comment was just something I meant to say in my original post but forgot, it didn't have to do with your post.I should have just gone back and edited my original information, it's a very handy feature.

[hubofhockey]

didn't mean to be mean...

 

and the 'printed tickets' comment was just something I meant to say in my original post but forgot, it didn't have to do with your post.I should have just gone back and edited my original information, it's a very handy feature.

 

Sorry for overreacting. Eurostar.com website is confusing because they don't show dates available over three months out. All dates after three months have a slash through them and users can't buy seats by clicking on the day. But if you do a search by date, without using the calendar function, it will allow you to purchase tickets. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned 120 days. It is the exact same for raileurope.com . Both sites offer the same pricing and availability.

[Jetdriver787]

We are going to take the Eurostar from London to Paris next April.

I would truly appreciate any advice on your experience.

What ticket class should we purchase. Did you have any difficulties getting on the train, should we pre purchase tickets on line and were the any issues on arrival in Paris. Thanks !

 

This service has 3 classes of travel: Business Premier; Standard Premier; Standard.

 

Business Premier is targetted at Business travellers on a corporate budget. It has more spacious seats, meals and drinks on board, Business lounges at the stations, and typical "business" enhancements with regards to latest check-in times and ticket flexibility etc.

 

Standard premier loses some of the ticket flexibility (unless you pay extra for it,) but keeps the same seat width and pitch as the business class, albeit in different carriages. You also get a light meal service and selected drinks served to your seat (think full service airline of old). No lounges but a pleasant experience at the right price.

 

Standard is perfectly Ok. Snacks and drinks can be bought at a buffet counter on board. Seating is 4 abreast in pairs, instead of three abreast (2+1) in the premier carriages.

 

If you have a search through the website you can find some good deals in Standard premier where you can get the extra comfort and the other enhancements, for little more than the price of the standard ticket. Sometimes it can actually be cheaper!

 

The construction of the ticket is by sector, so you can travel out in one class and back in another if you find a good price on one or both of the days you want to travel. Booking in advance is the best option for the best pricing.

 

It is a fast comfortable service. Most trains are around 2 hours and 40 minutes London to Paris.

 

You will have no trouble getting on the train. Having passed through security (usually very efficient) and passport control (French) you enter the general waiting area (cafes, newsagents available). Once boarding commences there is an escalator (moveable walkway) to take you up to the platform for your train. You find your carriage number, drop your bags in the baggage racks, and take your seat. There are staff on hand at each carriage to assist.

 

Smooth and very fast journey to Paris. Some trains stop en-route once or twice( for no more than 5 minutes) at Ashford (UK), Calais or Lille (France) which adds around 10 minutes to the overall journey time, but is of little consequence.

 

On arrival in Paris, you are off the train and on your way without any further formalities. You arrive at Gare du Nord station where you can utilize the metro, taxis, buses, or regional train lines.

 

Buy and print your tickets online. You can select your seat (usually) for both sectors of your journey. There are electrical sockets at each seat row for computers, ipad chargers etc. The sockets (outlets) alternate between seat rows from UK style (3 flat pin) to European (2 round pin). They are all 220V so beware using anything with North American 110V input, unless it is already dual voltage.

 

I used to commute between London and Paris a couple of years back and used this service in preference to the airlines whenever possible. It was quicker and much more relaxing.

 

Enjoy.

[seasidegal]

Eurostar is great, we've been on a few times, the last being this past June.

 

We went from London to Paris, then onto Munich, Venice, Switzerland and then back to Paris and London...all by train.

 

Can you tell me exactly what train(s) you took to do this route. We are going in April/13 and want to do the Paris/ Venice/Switzerland and return as you did.

 

Any information you can share about your trip would be very much appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[Cruise NH]

Can you tell me exactly what train(s) you took to do this route. We are going in April/13 and want to do the Paris/ Venice/Switzerland and return as you did.

 

Any information you can share about your trip would be very much appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

Well it was a great trip...

 

 

We used www.bahn.de (just choose your country for language) extensively to plan out the trains used and schedule. You can only make reservations on german trains on this site, but it does have the schedule for all of Europe so it serves as a good way to use one site to start your itinerary planning.

 

 

From Paris to Munich we took the TGV via Stuttgart. In Stuttgart you change trains to Munich. TGV is French, but I found the TGV site not very user friendly for me but I was able to make this whole reservation on the bahn.de (because it went through and ended in Germany) site. It made it easier. The tickets are printable at home.

 

 

There is also a City NIght Line train (overnight) that goes from Paris to Munich that might be worth looking into. www.citynightline.de

 

From Munich we took a direct german ICE train to Venice St Lucia station. I think there is only one direct train during the daylight hours and it leaves at 11:30 AM. It was a long ride that didn't seem long at all, if you know what I mean.

 

Amazing scenery in both Austria and northern Italy. The best I've ever seen.

 

From Venice we took a train to Lausanne Switzerland (our destination) via Milan. Resrvations for this leg was made on www.trenitalia.com . Again you could print your tickets at home. We had to switch trains in Milan. Easy to do. There is one direct train a day from Venice to Switzerland, I believe it leaves about 4 in the afternoon.

 

From Lausanne we took the TGV to Paris. We made the reservations for that on www.sbb.ch the swiss train site.

 

We sat in 1st class on all legs and found it was worth it for us, but you have to look at your budget. If you know for sure what your itinerary will be then you can reserve far in advance and get low 1st class rates. That's what we did. As long as you know you're locked in, it's worth it.

 

The european train schedules change twice a year, in December and in June. They don't change much, but just be aware that the times you see now on these sites might fluctuate a little. We didn't find it a problem.

 

I would advise doing some 'test reservations' on these sites. Try it out, see where you have issues so you can look for help.

 

Hope that helps. If there is anything else, let me know.

[seasidegal]

Well it was a great trip...

 

 

We used www.bahn.de (just choose your country for language) extensively to plan out the trains used and schedule. You can only make reservations on german trains on this site, but it does have the schedule for all of Europe so it serves as a good way to use one site to start your itinerary planning.

 

 

From Paris to Munich we took the TGV via Stuttgart. In Stuttgart you change trains to Munich. TGV is French, but I found the TGV site not very user friendly for me but I was able to make this whole reservation on the bahn.de (because it went through and ended in Germany) site. It made it easier. The tickets are printable at home.

 

 

There is also a City NIght Line train (overnight) that goes from Paris to Munich that might be worth looking into. www.citynightline.de

 

From Munich we took a direct german ICE train to Venice St Lucia station. I think there is only one direct train during the daylight hours and it leaves at 11:30 AM. It was a long ride that didn't seem long at all, if you know what I mean.

 

Amazing scenery in both Austria and northern Italy. The best I've ever seen.

 

From Venice we took a train to Lausanne Switzerland (our destination) via Milan. Resrvations for this leg was made on www.trenitalia.com . Again you could print your tickets at home. We had to switch trains in Milan. Easy to do. There is one direct train a day from Venice to Switzerland, I believe it leaves about 4 in the afternoon.

 

From Lausanne we took the TGV to Paris. We made the reservations for that on www.sbb.ch the swiss train site.

 

We sat in 1st class on all legs and found it was worth it for us, but you have to look at your budget. If you know for sure what your itinerary will be then you can reserve far in advance and get low 1st class rates. That's what we did. As long as you know you're locked in, it's worth it.

 

The european train schedules change twice a year, in December and in June. They don't change much, but just be aware that the times you see now on these sites might fluctuate a little. We didn't find it a problem.

 

I would advise doing some 'test reservations' on these sites. Try it out, see where you have issues so you can look for help.

 

Hope that helps. If there is anything else, let me know.

 

Thank you so very much for taking your time to lay out your journey in such detail. It is much appreciated and a great help!

 

How many days did it take you to do this trip? Thanks.

 

I'm sure I'll be back shortly with more questions :-)

[Cruise NH]

Thank you so very much for taking your time to lay out your journey in such detail. It is much appreciated and a great help!

 

How many days did it take you to do this trip? Thanks.

 

I'm sure I'll be back shortly with more questions :-)

 

19 full days. We spent, 5 nights in Munich (went to Fussen and Salzburg for day trips), 3 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Lausanne, 2 nights in Paris, 2 in London then 2 in Bath England (which was great).

 

We came over on the QM2 arriving in Southampton and started our train journeys by taking the Eurostar to Paris...reversed that trip to come home via QM2. As you may have guessed..I don't like to fly!

 

I'm glad to help. So many people helped me with advice before we went.

 

A really good resource is the man in seat 61's site www.seat61.com. Lots of good information.

 

Also, www.tripadvisor.com click on the 'forums' button on the top line then select either a country or subject you're interested in. The 'train travel' forum is really good.

 

Next May we're spending two weeks in Europe, going to Brugge, Amsterdam then back to Switzerland for a few days. Just love it.

[seasidegal]

19 full days. We spent, 5 nights in Munich (went to Fussen and Salzburg for day trips), 3 nights in Venice, 4 nights in Lausanne, 2 nights in Paris, 2 in London then 2 in Bath England (which was great).

 

We came over on the QM2 arriving in Southampton and started our train journeys by taking the Eurostar to Paris...reversed that trip to come home via QM2. As you may have guessed..I don't like to fly!

 

I'm glad to help. So many people helped me with advice before we went.

 

A really good resource is the man in seat 61's site www.seat61.com. Lots of good information.

 

Also, www.tripadvisor.com click on the 'forums' button on the top line then select either a country or subject you're interested in. The 'train travel' forum is really good.

 

Next May we're spending two weeks in Europe, going to Brugge, Amsterdam then back to Switzerland for a few days. Just love it.

 

I don't fly either! For our 40th anniversary in 2008 we took RCCL Brillance over to Southampton and spent 10 days in Scotland (my husband's birth place and he hadn't been back since he was 8) we returned on the Queen Mary 2. This April for our 45th anniversary we are going over on the Queen Elizabeth and spending 23 days and doing it right this time :-) and returning on NCCL's new ship The Breakaway.

 

At this point in the planning stage, we are doing approx. 10 days in Scotland and dividing the rest of the time between Britain, Paris, etc. Your post was just perfect for what we are thinking of doing.

 

I have been reading the Man in Seat 61 for some time and it is the most helpful site.

 

There is so much to plan (as you would know) and at times I get :eek: but because so many people (like you) are so willing to help it makes it so much less :eek:!

 

I truly hope you have a most enjoyable May trip.

 

Thanks again!

[Globaliser]

Eurostar.com website is confusing because they don't show dates available over three months out. All dates after three months have a slash through them and users can't buy seats by clicking on the day.

eurostar.com is showing me clickable dates into mid-January 2013.

[hubofhockey]

eurostar.com is showing me clickable dates into mid-January 2013.

 

yes, I am pretty confused. raileurope.com allows paris to london for february 9 right now and eurostar.com does not.