Post cruise London to Paris travel question?

[Worktoplay]

I'm doing the August 15th crossing on the QM2, I found a good price on a flight back to the US out of Paris so I thought I would take the Chunnel accross. Cunard offers transportation from South Hampton to Waterloo but I'm wondering if I could hire a private car and book an earlier Chunnel ticket so I don't spend my whole day waiting around. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Morgans]

Trains from Waterloo to Paris (Eurostar) leave very frequently (at least one per hour) so I can't see how you would be waiting around for very long.

 

Marge M

[Kindlychap]

I'm doing the August 15th crossing on the QM2, I found a good price on a flight back to the US out of Paris so I thought I would take the Chunnel accross. Cunard offers transportation from South Hampton to Waterloo but I'm wondering if I could hire a private car and book an earlier Chunnel ticket so I don't spend my whole day waiting around. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Why not take a car from Southampton (note the spelling;) ) to Ashford in Kent.

 

The Eurostar trains stop there and you'll be able to miss London completely.

[Worktoplay]

If I buy a ticket to go on the Chunnel for say 1:40 but I'm at the train station at 11:00 am, will I have to wait for over two hours or is it likely that an earlier train will have availability and would they accept a ticket for a later train?

[Worktoplay]

Thank you for the information about Ashford in Kent, avoiding London would probably be best if I'm not going to get to enjoy the city.

[pnhmrk]

Cunard offers transportation from Southampton to Waterloo but I'm wondering if I could hire a private car and book an earlier Chunnel ticket so I don't spend my whole day waiting around. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

We've found that you often get off quicker if you're on a private transfer than you do if you've organised you own journey, so you might find that going via Waterloo might be quicker. Given the choice though I'd opt for a private car though:)

 

I don't know if you can use a ticket on any train but I would expect that you could (it may be a more expensive ticket)/ Their site is www.eurostar.com look there to see what they say.

[Worktoplay]

Thanks for the advice. It appears you have to pay a hefty premium to have an exchangeable fare. Maybe I should spend a day in London and then take an early Chunnel to Paris. That will give me two days in Paris. I just don't want to waste an entire day waiting for buses and trains.

 

Marie

[Morgans]

Worktoplay - I still don't think there would be excessive waiting around. If you do have some time to spare, the departure lounge at Waterloo is very comfortable and there are some pleasant shops to browse and cafes etc. They like you to check in early (rather like an airport) rather than arrive in a rush. Also I believe that there will be fewer trains stopping at Ashford next year so you would have even less choice of trains from here. This is before the big move across the city to St.Pancras next winter when Eurostar trains will depart from St. Pancras Station instead of Waterloo. I'm sure your current timings wouldn't be too bad - certainly it would save any rushing for trains and risk of missing.

 

Marge M

[pnhmrk]

Maybe I should spend a day in London and then take an early Chunnel to Paris.

 

Marie - why nor spend the night in Southampton and visit the IOW once you're off the ship or spend the night in Portsmouth and visit the historic dockyards? You could then get a taxi straight to Ashford to catch your train the next day so that you arrived in Paris as early as you wanted.

[Worktoplay]

Malcolm,

 

I never considered staying at Southampton. What is IOW? Are there nice hotels in the area. That might make the most sense of all.

 

Marie

[pnhmrk]

What is IOW?

 

The Isle of Wight

 

Are there nice hotels in the area.

 

The IOW is considered to be fairly picturesque. Their tourism site says "The Isle of Wight is one of the most idyllic yet exciting parts of Britain". I think that is a bit of an overstatement.

 

Visit http://www.islandbreaks.co.uk/ and http://www.iwight.com/just_visiting/default.asp for an idea of what you could expect there.

[Worktoplay]

Malcolm,

 

The Isle of Wight looks like a great place to spend some time. Thank you so much for the information!

 

Marie

[Maharlika]

I made the mistake of flying from London to Paris after I disembarked to Southampton. Not only did I have to pay excess weight, but the airport security was almost unbearable. I would advise you to take the Eurostar.