Eurostar London to Paris questions

Hi,

 

We are planning a daytrip to London from Paris in Nov. Do you get the best rates booking direct with Eurostar? Is it better/cheaper to book in advance or by tickets the day of? Are there family passes or do we just book individual tickets?

Go to the Eurostar website and look at the options. Same day tickets are the most expensive.

It's a 2½ hour journey, plus the half hour at the start and your travel time from the hotel - that doesn't leave too much time to experience Paris. Can't you stay overnight? These will also be the more expensive times.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Bob++

It's a 2½ hour journey, plus the half hour at the start and your travel time from the hotel - that doesn't leave too much time to experience Paris. Can't you stay overnight? These will also be the more expensive times.

 

No unfortunately not. We have already paid for our hotel in London. Besides I spent 4 wks in Paris years ago. I saw a good chunk of it. I wanted to take my girls to the Eiffel tower. They've never been and we will be so close.

Edited September 27, 2014 by queenL

I don't think they do family passes but you can get discounts for under 25's I believe (you could when I last booked). I would book in advance as ticket prices tend to increase the more popular that train becomes.

Yes, book as early as you can to get the best prices. I have always booked direct with Eurostar.

I had a look at the Eurostar site and you do get a reduced rate for children. I suggest that you book now, as the more popular trains are selling out fast - even as far ahead as November, and you are restricted as to dates.

 

The website suggest that you need 45 mins to check in rather than the 30 I quoted and you will need passports for you and the girls.

As said, book it as early as you can for best price. 'On the day' tickets, if available, will be megabucks! Standard class is perfectly adequate. Don't forget when reading the timetables that Paris is one hour ahead of London. Its always about a 2hr 15min trip, but looks like its 3 1/4 hrs there and 1 1/4 hrs back! Not trying to teach you to suck eggs, but it still catches people out!

 

Simon

Also remember to leave enough time to get across London either by taxi or tube as I am guessing you will be going fairly early in the morning so rush hour will be in full effect if it's a week day

Where is your hotel?

Also, remember that the Eiffel Tower always has queues, so maybe won't leave a lot of time to see much else. If I was only there for such a short time I think I would probably do a HOHO bus and just look at the Eiffel Tower from outside rather than go up.

Rick Steves suggests this company for Eurostar day trips from London to Paris-

http://www.britainshrinkers.com/index.cfm?page=10.

 

It seems like an economical way to visit Paris if you've only a day and includes the Eiffel tower as part of the package. Less logistics for you as well!

Rick Steves suggests this company for Eurostar day trips from London to Paris-

http://www.britainshrinkers.com/index.cfm?page=10.

 

It seems like an economical way to visit Paris if you've only a day and includes the Eiffel tower as part of the package. Less logistics for you as well!

 

Looks pretty good - I don't know about economical though, it's a whopping £1176 ($1910) for two adults and two children. The ordinary Eurostar fare for the same family is £337 ($550). Of course you have to add the tube to St Pancras, Metro to the Eiffel Tower and entrance fees(about E30), and the Seine cruise.

 

NB - I tried a dummy booking on Nov 11 for access to the very top level and it says "Not enough places available - so before anything else, you need to check that.http://www.toureiffel.paris/en/preparing-your-visit/buying-your-tickets.html

Edited September 28, 2014 by Bob++

I wanted to take my girls to the Eiffel tower. They've never been and we will be so close.

Before you get committed to doing this, you might want to recalibrate your thinking. You will not be "so close" to the Eiffel Tower. You're almost half a day's travel away from it, and you don't even have the option of staying in Paris overnight.

 

To put it another way, if you were having a few days in New York City, would you really want to take your girls on a day trip to the Washington Monument just because it's "so close"?

 

The reality is that it isn't actually close at all.

I had a look at the Eurostar site and you do get a reduced rate for children. I suggest that you book now, as the more popular trains are selling out fast - even as far ahead as November, and you are restricted as to dates.

 

The website suggest that you need 45 mins to check in rather than the 30 I quoted and you will need passports for you and the girls.

 

Yes, restricted to dates.

But also, in order to get the best out of the time, restricted to times as well - the OP won't want to be faced with departing London at 11am because earlier trains are sold-out.

 

Bear in mind that France is one hour ahead of the UK.

Times quoted on Eurostar's website are local - ie take that into account - but it means you arrive in Paris 3.5 hours after you left London, not 2.5 hrs.

So aim for a train at daft o'clock in order to get to Paris around 9 to 9.30.

But as far as the clock is concerned, you'll be back in London just 90 minutes after you left Paris so no need to head back too early in order to get to bed at a decent hour..

 

Makes for a long day, but plenty of folk do it.

 

And yes, prices are "fluid".

For which read "go up the closer you get to the date".;)

 

JB :)

Also, remember that the Eiffel Tower always has queues, so maybe won't leave a lot of time to see much else. If I was only there for such a short time I think I would probably do a HOHO bus and just look at the Eiffel Tower from outside rather than go up.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. This was exactly our plan. Leave on the 6am-ish train. Get into Paris by 10, go to the tower not inside the tower. Then we will ride the HO HO in a complete circuit to give them a "crash course of Paris" :) Leave Paris around 5 or 6pm. I think 7-8hrs time in Paris is plenty to do those things.

 

I know it's a long day but we are up for the task. We once went to Rome, Venice, Milan, Pisa, and Florence in a 5 day stay in Italy. :) Now those were long days and a ton of time spent on the train. I get that Paris isn't technically "so close" to London. However, if you put that in context and compare it to where we live 12-14hrs away by plane. London is close to Paris. It all comes down to the price though. If we can do it for about $550 it's worth it to us. If it's goes close to the 1K mark. We'll stay in London. One of my DD's is 2yr so she is free.

 

We are staying near the London Eye. If we need to be at St. Pancras around 5am. Will we even be able to take the train? What time do the trains start running?

First tube trains of the day arrive St Pancras/Kings Cross sometime after 5am. Five lines converge on that station, so a good chance of a direct service from near your hotel, but that depends on its location.

Here are London Transport's first-and-last timetables, but best treat them as a guide rather than a bible.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/tube/first-and-last-tube

 

Word is that some will be offering a 24-hour service, but not until next Fall.

 

Or, since there'll be little traffic, get your hotel to book a taxi for you.

Book, because that's cheaper than hailing a black cab.

Get the hotel to book, because that puts the onus on them to sort it if the taxi doesn't arrive on-time.

 

JB :)

Edited September 28, 2014 by John Bull

OK - we are getting sorted now. You need to plan carefully for the logistics of managing a 2yo on a day like that but you know your own child.

 

Yes - book a car to St Pancras to arrive about 45 mins before departure. Make sure you have water and snacks for the trip to save paying the high prices on the train. If you are not going up the tower then no need to get off the bus, and I would also give the Louvre a miss. Two places to get off the bus for would, for my money at least, be Notre Dame and Sacré-Coeur. The older DD at least will remember them and you can get some great photographs.

 

Note that the cheaper Eurostar fares are for fixed times - miss that train and you lose your money altogether. Note that seats on the early trains are selling out fast.

The sooner you book the train the better as the prices will go up. Make sure you book through the Eurostar official site for the best rates.

Thanks I did book! Paris here we come. :)

JB for info

 

The '24 hour' Tube service is supposed to start on 12 September 2015 on Friday and Saturday nights only. (RMT permitting...:rolleyes:)

 

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2014/september/-historic-new-night-tube-service

We just completed a 12 night British Isles Cruise and wanted to go to Paris on Eurostar. We hired a driver to meet us at the cruise terminal and he took us to the station and it was wonderful. It was a private car, Mercedes sedan, and it took about 2 1/2 hours with traffic in the morning. But he got us to the station in plenty of time and parked at a location very close to the front doors of the station. It was perfect. Here is who we used:

http://www.woodfordchauffeurcars.co.uk/

I failed to mention the trip was from Southampton to London to get to Eurostar.

QueenL

 

We did this trip when we were in London a couple of years ago. In fact, we opted for the next train out, instead of that very early one and we took the next to the last train back (in case we missed it or something).

 

Yes, it was a very long day, but we do not regret it for one minute. Many people here said you can't see Paris in one day. That is correct, but we did our darndest to do so. Sure we didn't see everything, and we didn't have time to stand in line to go to the top of the Eiffel tower, but that's OK. If there is anything I can help you with, please ask away.

 

I know when we got to Paris, we took the Paris Metro to Sacre` Coeur (we just wanted to see it, walked to Pigalle, took the metro to the Arc De Triumph, back on the metro to the Eiffel Tower. From here we boarded the Bat-O-Bus the HoHo cruise boat that sails along the Seine to most of the main stops. We took it to the Louvre, then walked to Notre Dame, and then took the boat on a full trip back to Notre Dame. Took the metro back to Paris Nord Train Station to catch the Eurostar and back to London.

Again, we don't regret one minute of this very long and hectic day. but it was our one chance to see Paris and we jumped at it.

 

Cheers

 

Len

If like trawleroh (but not the OP) one is starting from Southampton then don't exclude the possibility of flying from Southampton.

 

Flybe have a flight which departs around 7am and arrives at Orly around 9.30 local with a return departing Orly at 9pm arriving back in Southampton around 21.30.

 

Fares vary considerably and you will need to either pick your day or monitor the website for prices, but I just tried a dummy booking for 15th October and it was around £150 return.

 

You can't use the tramway to get the central Paris, as Flybe use Orly Oeust and the tramway station is at Orly Sud, but most people use Orlybus which takes around 30mins to get to Denfert-Rochereau (near to Gare Montparnasse)and costs €7.50.

 

The best metro station for the Tour Eiffel is Bir-Hakeim and there is a direct service from Denfert-Rochereau on line 6 of the metro and I would estimate that you could easily be at the base of the tower by 11am (all of course subject to the plane being on time!!)