Anyone familiar with the UK train system - Southampton to Paris

[TrojanGal]

Our May 2023 cruise on Princess will arrive in Southampton and we plan to spend several days post cruise in Paris.  Hoping to take the train from Southampton Central and eventually get to Paris. Not sure where we would need to change trains.  Also looking for advice on taking the train from/near Heathrow Airport to Southampton, pre-cruise.  Any guidance is appreciated ! 

Edited October 11, 2022 by TrojanGal

[Bob++]

You will have to catch a train to London Waterloo and then get to St Pancras.

 

The change in London is the tricky part and how you do it may depend on your mobility and how much luggage you have. Cheapest would be to use the Underground, and the simplest route is to take the Jubilee line to Green Park and then the Victoria line to St Pancras. A Londoner might have an alternative but that's what looks best to me.

 

You could book a car to take you direct from Southampton to St Pancras, but that is likely to cost around £150.

[John Bull]

Pre-cruise, LHR to Southampton by train isn't practical - the railways in S E England are London-centric, so you  have to go into central London and back out.

Several options -

- Elizabeth Line tube or Heathrow Express to London Paddington, then train from there to Southampton via a change at Reading

- Elizbeth Line tube or Heathrow Express to London Paddington, then cross central London by tube or taxi to London Waterloo, then a direct frequent train to Southampton.

- pre-booked private transfer from LHR to London Waterloo, then direct frequent train to Southampton

- Railair bus from LHR to Woking station or Reading station, then direct train to Southampton.

https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk

https://www.firstbus.co.uk/railair/ (Woking is on the route of Railair 2 to Guildford)

All of those options are inconvenient, time-consuming and expensive, and because you have no control over your arrival time at the train station you can't pre-book cheap advance train tickets.

 

That  is why most folk pre-book either a National Express coach or a private transfer direct from LHR to Southampton .

National Express is inexpensive at under £20 per person, but frequency is poor - roughly every 2 hours..

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

A pre-booked private transfer should cost about £120 to £140 - check the sticky at the top of this forum for recommendations, but ignore references to Smiths for Airports who were sadly  a casualty of the pandemic.

 

Southampton to Paris.

- As Bob's answer, direct train from Southampton Central to London Waterloo (about 6 weeks ahead you can pre-book cheap train tickets). Then cross central London to St Pancras International station

- by taxi 2.5 miles, ? £15? 

- or by tube from Waterloo to Euston & either switch to a tube for St Pancras, or short taxi hop or 15 minute walk from Euston to St Pancras - it really needs a Londoner to advise which is best.

Eurostar train from St Pancras to Paris  Gare du Nord (right in the centre of Paris).

If you choose Eurostar, book months ahead - prices rise dramatically the later you leave it.

https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/train/france/london-to-paris

 

There are currently no direct flights from Southampton to Paris

 

There is also the option of National Express bus from Southampton to Portsmouth international port for a cross-channel ferry to Le Havre, then train to Paris.

https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk

 

Does your cruise have a port-of-call at Le Havre or Cherbourg before Southampton ?

If so, it's cheaper and easier to jump-ship there.

I know that -  if pre-arranged - Princess permit this at Le Havre, I'm guessing the same applies at Cherbourg

 

JB 🙂

 

[mskaufman]

Is there any way to get to the European continent directly from Southhampton.  We will be going to Amsterdam after the cruise.

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, John Bull said:

Southampton to Paris.

- As Bob's answer, direct train from Southampton Central to London Waterloo (about 6 weeks ahead you can pre-book cheap train tickets). Then cross central London to St Pancras International station

- by taxi 2.5 miles, ? £15? 

- or by tube from Waterloo to Euston & either switch to a tube for St Pancras, or short taxi hop or 15 minute walk from Euston to St Pancras - it really needs a Londoner to advise which is best.

 

Taxi from Waterloo to St Pancras.

 

With cruise luggage, I wouldn't try to get on the Northern Line at Waterloo, or to change at Euston. If you really want to do a Tube route from Waterloo to St Pancras with luggage, then I think that it would be better to take the Jubilee Line eastbound to London Bridge, and then Northern Line to Kings Cross St Pancras from there. There should now be step-free access at both ends and a step-free change in the middle.

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, mskaufman said:

Is there any way to get to the European continent directly from Southhampton.  We will be going to Amsterdam after the cruise.

 

I think that KLM is currently flying non-stop from Southampton (note spelling) to Amsterdam most days.

[John Bull]

9 hours ago, mskaufman said:

Is there any way to get to the European continent directly from Southhampton.  We will be going to Amsterdam after the cruise.

 

Used to be several flight a day from Southampton (nb spelling) to Schipol with FlyBe, now just one flight per day 12.45pm with KLM. Frequency might improve as aviation gets back in its feet post-Covid

From a small and easy-going single-terminal airport to one of Europe's biggest.

https://www.southamptonairport.com/

 

15 - 20 minutes by taxi from ship to airport £20 - £25, flight about 60 minutes, about 15 mins by frequent double-deck trains from Schipol to Amsterdam Centraal in the heart of the city

 

JB 🙂

 

[mskaufman]

Any way to take a boat across the Channel and pick up a train in Europe?

 

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, mskaufman said:

Any way to take a boat across the Channel and pick up a train in Europe?

 

 

A number of options, depending on your start point and final destination ..........

From London the alternative to Eurostar is train to Dover, ferry to Calais, train onward.

From Southampton the most convenient port is Portsmouth (one hour by train), https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk to Le Havre or Caen or Cherbourg (trains from any of them to Paris), or to St Malo for Brittany.  

 

 

 

JB 🙂