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Southhampton to Paris


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We would like to take the Eurostar from the port of Southhampton to Paris. I've searched the Boards for info on the best place to catch the train and where to get off in Paris to no avail. This is for May 2019. Any idea on when the tickets will go on sale? I've read they need to be purchased as soon as they do -

TIA

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You cannot take the Eurostar train from Southampton - you can only take it from St Pancras Station in London or Ashford in Kent so you will need a transfer to London first, to connect. There are many trains each day to Paris and it takes about 2 hrs 10 mins. When you search you will need to select St Pancras/Paris and return. It's a very easy journey and will take you to and from the centre of each city - much closer than any air travel.

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We did this trip in reverse several years ago. Eurostar from Paris to St. Pancras station in London, then we used a private car service (Smiths for Airports) to drive us to Southampton. In Paris, the Eurostar leaves from/arrives at Gare du Nord. (As noted in the post above, you'll need to get to St. Pancras station from Southampton. A car service is one means of doing so.)

 

There is an incredibly helpful web site, the Man in Seat 61, that has all the info you need on how to buy your Eurostar tickets, and also seat maps so you can decide which seats to pick. While you don't "have to" buy your tickets when they are first released (which for us was about 6 months out, iirc), they are cheapest on first release, so it's a good idea. You can do some dummy bookings to get a sense of when the tickets for your dates will be released.

 

home page: https://www.seat61.com/

start here for Eurostar:

https://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm

 

We really enjoyed taking the Eurostar. Don't forget that you will "lose" an hour going from London to Paris.

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As the Morgans' post, Eurostar goes from London's St Pancras station. The station in Paris is Gare du Nord, in the centre of Paris.

 

So you need to get from Southampton to St Pancras, about 87 miles.

Travel from Southampton to London is easy enough - train to London Waterloo or slower train to London Victoria, or National Express coach to London Victoria coach station.

But then you have to cross central London - with luggage that's best done by taxi, about 20 minutes.

You can buy Eurostar tickets from about 5 - 6 months out. Currently fares for next week are around £190, whereas for December they're from £44. So yes, book soonest for best prices.

https://www.eurostar.com/

 

Another option is to fly from Southampton to Paris CDG with

https://www.flybe.com/

Southampton airport is about 7 miles (£20 taxi) from the port.

From CDG airport it's a (20 minute?) train ride to Gare du Nord.

Pricing on Flybe is similar to Eurostar, it's flexible & prices tend to rise steeply closer to the date.

From Southampton port to central Paris , flying will be quicker.

When comparing costs do check out Flybe's luggage charges.

 

JB :)

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It is in theory possible to book tickets from UK regional stations to Paris via the Eurostar booking process and this gives rise to some confusion that you are going to be travelling on Eurostar from (e.g.) Southampton - in practice, of course, these fares cover the ‘normal’ train to London and the Eurostar from St Pancras.

 

I say in theory, because these tickets are limited in number on the domestic leg. Unfortunately, the Eurostar booking engine then says”no tickets available”, when there may be good availability on the Eurostar itself. In that case, simply book travel to London as described above.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Another option is to fly from Southampton to Paris CDG with

https://www.flybe.com/

Southampton airport is about 7 miles (£20 taxi) from the port.

From CDG airport it's a (20 minute?) train ride to Gare du Nord.

Pricing on Flybe is similar to Eurostar, it's flexible & prices tend to rise steeply closer to the date.

From Southampton port to central Paris , flying will be quicker.

When comparing costs do check out Flybe's luggage charges.

 

JB :)

 

There is a direct RER (regional train, similar to the underground) service between CDG and the Gare du Nord.

 

http://www.ratp.fr has further details and information about other forms of public transport in and around Paris.

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We did this trip in reverse several years ago. Eurostar from Paris to St. Pancras station in London, then we used a private car service (Smiths for Airports) to drive us to Southampton. In Paris, the Eurostar leaves from/arrives at Gare du Nord. (As noted in the post above, you'll need to get to St. Pancras station from Southampton. A car service is one means of doing so.)

 

There is an incredibly helpful web site, the Man in Seat 61, that has all the info you need on how to buy your Eurostar tickets, and also seat maps so you can decide which seats to pick. While you don't "have to" buy your tickets when they are first released (which for us was about 6 months out, iirc), they are cheapest on first release, so it's a good idea. You can do some dummy bookings to get a sense of when the tickets for your dates will be released.

 

home page: https://www.seat61.com/

start here for Eurostar:

https://www.seat61.com/London-to-Paris-by-train.htm

 

We really enjoyed taking the Eurostar. Don't forget that you will "lose" an hour going from London to Paris.

 

Turtles, when did you do this? I’m trying to get a ballpark cost, but Smith’s is not being cooperative since our trip is more than 6 months from now. Not helpful for advance planning 😡

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Turtles, when did you do this? I’m trying to get a ballpark cost, but Smith’s is not being cooperative since our trip is more than 6 months from now. Not helpful for advance planning 😡

 

Several years ago. Now, it's running about 120 GBP plus the London congestion fee of 11.50 GBP. (You can also try Blackberry Cars. I haven't used them, but others on here highly recommend them, enough that I've booked them for a transfer later this year.)

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Several years ago. Now, it's running about 120 GBP plus the London congestion fee of 11.50 GBP. (You can also try Blackberry Cars. I haven't used them, but others on here highly recommend them, enough that I've booked them for a transfer later this year.)

This is all making the Southampton to Paris flight look better and better.

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Several years ago. Now, it's running about 120 GBP plus the London congestion fee of 11.50 GBP. (You can also try Blackberry Cars. I haven't used them, but others on here highly recommend them, enough that I've booked them for a transfer later this year.)

 

 

Is that per person? Thanks

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Is that per person? Thanks

 

No, that'll be the cost for the car.

For that journey you could also get quotes from www.smithsforairports.com or www.westquaycars.com or www.aquacars.co.uk (all based at the Southampton end & all used by CC members) but around £130 incl London congestion charge is about the going rate.

 

JB :)

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We just went to Paris after our cruise ended in Southampton on June 18. We used Blackberry Cars to go from Southampton to St. Pancras (the price was 115 pounds for a sedan). We then took the Eurostar train from St. Pancras to Paris. We purchased our tickets on the Eurostar website at the end of December - we paid about 45 pounds per ticket. Try to get your tickets as soon as they are available- the prices are much cheaper if you buy early.

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We just went to Paris after our cruise ended in Southampton on June 18. We used Blackberry Cars to go from Southampton to St. Pancras (the price was 115 pounds for a sedan). We then took the Eurostar train from St. Pancras to Paris. We purchased our tickets on the Eurostar website at the end of December - we paid about 45 pounds per ticket. Try to get your tickets as soon as they are available- the prices are much cheaper if you buy early.

 

 

Thanks - what is a safe time to book the Eurostar? In other words, how much time did you allow to disembark and get to the train station? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

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Thanks - what is a safe time to book the Eurostar? In other words, how much time did you allow to disembark and get to the train station? Any help is greatly appreciated!!

 

Hi- We were off the ship by about 8:40 am (disembarkation was very fast- our meeting time to disembark was at 8:15 am- and it took less than 1/2 hour). We had arranged for our car to pick us up at 9 am, but he was a few minutes late, so we were out of there by about 9:15 am. It took about 2 hours to get to St. Pancras at that time of day. Our train was not until 1:31 pm, so we had plenty of time. You have to go through security at the Eurostar station, but it doesn't open up until a certain amount of time prior to your train. We were allowed to enter security at noon, and it took about 1/2 hour to go through security.

 

You could probably book the train earlier than we did, but we wanted to allow enough time for traffic or any delays. If I had to do it again, I would still book the 1:31 pm train. Hope this helps!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you for this info, it is very helpful for a Southampton cruise that doesn't go to France as a way to see Paris after.

We are on a TA next year that ends up in Southampton but we are getting off the ship a day early in LeHavre and taking a train from there to Paris.

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  • 2 months later...
We are on a TA next year that ends up in Southampton but we are getting off the ship a day early in LeHavre and taking a train from there to Paris.

 

We are on the cruise next April too. The day before we disembark in Southampton we will be in lehavre. I asked NCL if it would be possible to leave the ship early and the answer was absolutely not. How are you getting off early?

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We are on the cruise next April too. The day before we disembark in Southampton we will be in lehavre. I asked NCL if it would be possible to leave the ship early and the answer was absolutely not. How are you getting off early?

 

There are no logistical / immigration / customs reasons why you can't disembark in Le Havre instead of disembarking next day in Southampton & making the much more tortuous journey to Paris from there - it's done by plenty of folk, and cruise lines like RCI & Princess have a system in place to deal with it. There's sometimes a comparatively minor administration charge.

 

But I'm pretty certain that the cruise line has the right to decline that request, and that may well be NCL's policy.

Or - cruise line head office staff can't be expected to know everything, and sadly it's not uncommon to get incorrect information from them - often because it's easier to say "no" than to say "I'll check it out".

If the refusal was from a junior member of staff it's well worth asking to speak to someone further up the food-chain.

(if that's successful, get that positive reply in writing).

It might also be worth posting on the NCL forum - you might get replies from those who've asked the same and been given (or refused) permission from NCL.

 

Good luck

 

JB :)

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