I have to go from England to Paris and then back to England.
The first leg can be leisurely so I was thinking a Ferry?
The second leg is for a noon flight so I was thinking a Train that can get me in England in 2.5 hrs.
Question?
What is the difference between the EuroStar and EuroRail? I see there is a price diff? Are there other methods besides flights that can get me between the 2 countries. Would a flight be better esp. on the second leg???
Eurostar is the concession that operates the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel). Eurorail (or Eurail) is the organization that creates railpasses for most of Europe, basically offering railpasses for select or consecutive days. All traffic through the Channel Tunnel is on a Eurostar ticket. If you are seeing a price difference, I am assuming that the Eurorail ticket is "cheaper", but only because it assumes you are using a Eurorail pass that you already paid for in addition to a supplement (the cost you are seeing) to get a ticket. If you are only going between London and Paris, you do not need a railpass, so just book a Eurostar ticket.
As for your options, on the way over, if you do not have the time to spend a night or two between England and Paris, then why take a leisurely route? If you do, then it would be a good thing.
As for flying, I assume your flight is out of Heathrow for an international flight? If so, given needing to be at Heathrow at 9:00 AM to check in, I would think twice about leaving Paris that morning to catch a flight at noon. Why? Figure 9:00 AM check-in, conservatively 1 hour to get from St. Pancras station to Heathrow (putting you at 8:00, first Eurostar train arrives at 8:12), your 2.5 hour travel time - 1 hour time adjust, meaning a 6:30 AM departure from Paris Est station, which means a 6:00 AM checkin, which gets you leaving your hotel catching the first Metro train that comes by. Not impossible, but cutting it very close. Flying is no better, most cheap flights will go into Stanstead, Luton, or Gatwick, not Heathrow...figure a good 1.5 hours to transfer between airports, roughly an hour flight, meaning you need a 6:30 flight with a 5:00 AM check-in, leaving your hotel at leasdt by 4:00 AM, well before the Metro runs...meaning a very expensive taxi ride, if you can get a flight that early. Consider spending the night in London, taking the train the day before your flight.
adel,
First of all, are your flights to England already booked? My suggestion would be to use open-jaw flights and fly home from Paris.
Cheers!
Ken's right...open jaw would be the best.
If you've already booked, what airport in London are you using for the return flight and what airline?
Will you have checked luggage or just carry-on?
If you can fly from paris to the airport your flight leaves from in London, you will save a lot of time because you can use airside transfer and not have to go through immigration & customs. This will save lots of time.
An remember, London is an hour earlier than Paris so you really get an extra hour according to the timetables.
I have used the Eurostar site and got cheaper tickets on them then the Eurorail site.
I liked the Eurostar as it is city center to city center, no wasting time getting to and from airports.
I booked well in advance and picked up tickets in London. It was a great way to get between two countries.. fast, easy , cheap.
Wow!!! I am alittle concerned now. I tried the open jaW thing but it would have cost me 200 dollars more. I used the travelocity (sp) flexi-travel and was able to get the trip for roughly 650 USD. I thought it was a good deal at the time. Now? I did not know there was a 9am check in for international flights. Usually, I just thought one has to be there two hours ahead of time. So 10am. I was thinking of leaving the hotel at 6am, taking the 7am Eurostar to England. Taking I believe the Piccadilly to LHR. I still don't know how to get to places yet. I need to reread that section of his book.I figured all in all that would be 3.5 hrs of traveling...with an hour advantage ...I would be at LHR at 9:30am at the latest 10am ....which would give me my 2 hr. window. Now, I have to rethink this.
adel,
Regarding the open jaw flights, you have to factor in your costs to get from Paris to London. The EuroStar is not cheap! What's the difference in price if you deduct the EuroStar fare from the $200 it was going to cost for the open jaw flights?
You also have to consider the time aspect. If you're flying out of Paris CDG, you should have no trouble meeting the check-in times.
Good luck!
You can take a BA flight from CDG Airport in Paris to Heathrow for a little over $100. The flight is about an hour.
For a leisurely and inexpensive--but not especially comfortable--way to get from London to Paris you could take a Eurolines coach (highway bus). It's about an eight-hour ride. You can travel during the day or overnight. The night run would save you the cost of a night in a hotel.
However, the Eurostar is far and away the best choice for London-Paris. Book well in advance at eurostar.com to get the best fare.
I agree with Paul when he says that it is too risky to take the Eurostar from Paris to London in the morning to connect with a noon flight home. If the train is delayed for any reason, you could easily miss your flight. Either spend your last night in London or book an open jaw plane ticket and fly home from Paris.
Or take Frank's suggestion and fly British Airways from CDG to LHR. You can depart at 07:50 and arrive at 08:15.
Yep..either take the Eurostar the night before back to London...or fly open jaw out of Paris back home.
Flights get delayed/cancelled, trains get delayed. For you to make your connection for a flight home out of London, that morning--there are too many things that can go wrong.
