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#1
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So Eurostar is better for Paris-London?
That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city
to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) Price-wise, checking on the Eurostar.com site, I notice that they go up to $450. And it's not clear if this is a round-trip fare or one-way. The other irritation about that site is that any search more than a couple of months out returns, " There are no trains running close to your desired outward and return departure dates and times. You may wish to amend your journey details and search again. If you need help with train times please refer to our timetables located in our services section of this website." April/May returns results but June/July and July/August doesn't. Is it that all those times are booked or it won't return results that far out? Raileurope.com site shows results for those dates but of course, they stack on ridiculous handling fees of all kinds. |
#2
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poldy wrote in newsoldy-3CB056.10441426022005
@comcast.dca.giganews.com: Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) Paris Gare du Nord Price-wise, checking on the Eurostar.com site, I notice that they go up to $450. And it's not clear if this is a round-trip fare or one-way. The train schedules don't change much and the fares are similar, look for the best prices on advance purchase round trip _often cheaper than a one way. You should know the drill. and yes stay away from Rail Europe. |
#3
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The Paris-London Eurostar service operates between the Gare du Nord
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...t.x=8&out.y=12 and London Waterloo http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...&multimap.y=69 .. The fastest journey time is currently 2 hours 35 minutes platform to platform. You should also factor in several minutes for security checks at the departing station (IIRC the minimum check-in time is 30 minutes) and also on arrival. The queues for passport control in London can add 15-20 minutes to your journey; Paris only has sporadic checks. I find the Eurostar website a right pain and usually book via the SNCF site. They have a very easy-to-use English version at http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/...ravel?_LANG=UK . You will definitly get the best price on this official site and also can pay with VISA or Mastercard and collect your ticket from any SNCF ticket window in the whole of France. If you're planning to travel in July or August, watch out for a couple of things: 1) virtually the whole of France, and this is not an exaggeration, goes on vacation in August. If you choose to travel late July / early August you will struggle to buy a ticket and the price will be astronomical 2) if you can be a bit flexible, adjusting dates and departure times on the SNCF site can bring the Eurostar ticket cost right down (as low as EUR 70 round-trip). For further information, please see my detailed post http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=...gle.com&rnum=1 .. Nick poldy wrote: That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) Price-wise, checking on the Eurostar.com site, I notice that they go up to $450. And it's not clear if this is a round-trip fare or one-way. The other irritation about that site is that any search more than a couple of months out returns, " There are no trains running close to your desired outward and return departure dates and times. You may wish to amend your journey details and search again. If you need help with train times please refer to our timetables located in our services section of this website." April/May returns results but June/July and July/August doesn't. Is it that all those times are booked or it won't return results that far out? Raileurope.com site shows results for those dates but of course, they stack on ridiculous handling fees of all kinds. |
#4
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poldy wrote:
That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) Price-wise, checking on the Eurostar.com site, I notice that they go up to $450. And it's not clear if this is a round-trip fare or one-way. The other irritation about that site is that any search more than a couple of months out returns, I'm not sure how far in advance you can purchase tickets, but buying at a month's notice, I've always managed to get the cheapest tickets- recently, I've paid around Ł60-70 for a return to either Paris or Brussles. From London, it is certainly the best way to go IMO. Admittedly, in the unlikely event you are staying very close to London or Paris airports, it just _might_ be quicker to fly- but I doubt it. While I've no problem flying, for such a short distance, it just doesn't seem worth it, and you'll usually find that the costs are around the same at the lowest end. -- David Horne- www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk |
#5
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Thanx for the helpful post.
I need a one-way on a Sunday morning in Sept. and there appears to be no discounts for that. $150 US (2nd class) for 2:35hrs ain't cheap (but mandatory for this train buff). But as I'll be staying at the Travel Inn Waterloo, I'm hoping I can get the person I'm traveling with to walk the 2 blocks and save ME the cab fare :-) jay Sat Feb 26, 2005 In article .com, wrote: The Paris-London Eurostar service operates between the Gare du Nord http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...6222500&width= 700&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=merca tor&db=FR&addr1=&addr2=&addr 3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&t able=&ovtype=&zm=0&scale=500 0&out.x=8&out.y=12 and London Waterloo http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...179000&width=7 00&height=400&gride=&gridn=&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db= pc&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=S E1&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table =&ovtype=&zm=0&scale=25000&m ultimap.x=58&multimap.y=69 . The fastest journey time is currently 2 hours 35 minutes platform to platform. You should also factor in several minutes for security checks at the departing station (IIRC the minimum check-in time is 30 minutes) and also on arrival. The queues for passport control in London can add 15-20 minutes to your journey; Paris only has sporadic checks. I find the Eurostar website a right pain and usually book via the SNCF site. They have a very easy-to-use English version at http://www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/...ravel?_LANG=UK . You will definitly get the best price on this official site and also can pay with VISA or Mastercard and collect your ticket from any SNCF ticket window in the whole of France. If you're planning to travel in July or August, watch out for a couple of things: 1) virtually the whole of France, and this is not an exaggeration, goes on vacation in August. If you choose to travel late July / early August you will struggle to buy a ticket and the price will be astronomical 2) if you can be a bit flexible, adjusting dates and departure times on the SNCF site can bring the Eurostar ticket cost right down (as low as EUR 70 round-trip). For further information, please see my detailed post http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=...40hotmail.c o m&hl=en&lr=&selm=ada9429b.0402200742.555dfb8b%40po sting.google.com&rnum=1 . Nick poldy wrote: That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) Price-wise, checking on the Eurostar.com site, I notice that they go up to $450. And it's not clear if this is a round-trip fare or one-way. The other irritation about that site is that any search more than a couple of months out returns, " There are no trains running close to your desired outward and return departure dates and times. You may wish to amend your journey details and search again. If you need help with train times please refer to our timetables located in our services section of this website." April/May returns results but June/July and July/August doesn't. Is it that all those times are booked or it won't return results that far out? Raileurope.com site shows results for those dates but of course, they stack on ridiculous handling fees of all kinds. |
#6
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Hatunen wrote:
On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 10:44:15 -0800, poldy wrote: That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) The paris station is Gare du Nord, which is a central city station. But it occurs to me that I haven't taken Eurostar for about seven years now, back when the London terminus was Waterloo Station; is CTRL complete to St Pancras now and is that now the terminus? No, not for at least a couple of years I think. St. Pancras is a real mess at the moment. -- David Horne- www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk |
#7
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I took the Eurostar London to Paris in October, and it departed from
Waterloo Station. Great trip, probably the same amount of time end-to-end and much more relaxing than flying. No delay for passport control in London, I was through in 2 minutes so ended up sitting in the lounge for extra time, but that was pleasant enough. "Hatunen" wrote in message ... On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 10:44:15 -0800, poldy wrote: That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) The paris station is Gare du Nord, which is a central city station. But it occurs to me that I haven't taken Eurostar for about seven years now, back when the London terminus was Waterloo Station; is CTRL complete to St Pancras now and is that now the terminus? ************* DAVE HATUNEN ) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * |
#8
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"poldy" wrote in message news That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) In the city centres with excellent metro/underground links. Gare Du Nord and Waterloo International to be precise Price-wise, checking on the Eurostar.com site, I notice that they go up to $450. And it's not clear if this is a round-trip fare or one-way. It was clear enough when I booked my last trip in January. I paid around $360 round trip The other irritation about that site is that any search more than a couple of months out returns, " There are no trains running close to your desired outward and return departure dates and times. You may wish to amend your journey details and search again. If you need help with train times please refer to our timetables located in our services section of this website." April/May returns results but June/July and July/August doesn't. Is it that all those times are booked or it won't return results that far out? The latter Raileurope.com site shows results for those dates but of course, they stack on ridiculous handling fees of all kinds. Then dont use em. Keith |
#9
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Go Fig wrote:
Thanx for the helpful post. I need a one-way on a Sunday morning in Sept. and there appears to be no discounts for that. $150 US (2nd class) for 2:35hrs ain't cheap (but mandatory for this train buff). I didn't know you could book that far ahead. Just buy a return, and if you book in advance you can get one for around $110. It's one of those cases where flying might work out cheaper, as rail travel often favours return trips, but you say you want to take the train, so the return is the best option. -- David Horne- www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk |
#10
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On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 10:44:15 -0800, poldy wrote:
That's the rumor, that when you factor in the time to go from each city to the airport, you end up in town at approximately the same time as a 1-hour flight. Of course, you have to factor in the time to go to the train stations, if you're not going to be near the stations in each city. (where are the stations?) The paris station is Gare du Nord, which is a central city station. But it occurs to me that I haven't taken Eurostar for about seven years now, back when the London terminus was Waterloo Station; is CTRL complete to St Pancras now and is that now the terminus? ************* DAVE HATUNEN ) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * |
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