day trip to paris

Hi Jill, if I were you I would get on Eurostar.com today and book your ticket, register as a UK resident. You can get a roundtrip £69.00. The price will go up each day as it gets closer to the date you want to travel. You could leave London around 7am London time getting you to Paris around 10:15 Paris time(remember Paris is an hour ahead of London. Then you could return leaving Paris early evening 7 or 8pm. It would make a great day trip.

Actually, Robin, Paris is an hour AHEAD of London, so if you take a 7:00 am train, say, it would be 10:15 am Paris time on arrival (9:15 London time). The really early departures are sometimes a bit cheaper so the earliest one of the day would be a good bet and the latest one back.

I did a daytrip to Paris from London last year. I probably wouldn't do it again. I didn't have enough energy to take full advantage of the trip, so ended up waiting at Gare du Nord for a few hours before my return trip. If you go, do your homework first so you know where you want to go and what you want to do. You will need to buy Metro/bus tix; this can be done at the Eurostar station at St Pancras before you leave London. The best part of a daytrip is that you don't have to deal with luggage. If you go very early, and it is Sunday, you may need to take a taxi to St Pancras in order to be there on time.

You will need Euros to spend in Paris. You may be able to get Euros in St Pancras station before leaving, or find an ATM as soon as you get to Paris. I recommend getting some in advance. Depending on how you spend your day, 100-200 EU should cover your day's expenses.

While it certainly is possible to do this as a day trip, I highly recommend spending one night in Paris, even if it means having to pay for an empty hotel room in London. On the day you arrive you will have time for a leisurely dinner and have the chance to see a bit of the City of Lights after dark. Beautiful!

Follow Robin's booking advice to get the cheapest fare. You can book up to 120 days in advance at eurostar.com.

If you do decide to limit yourself to a day trip, take the earliest train to Paris and the last train back to London. It's worth losing some sleep to have as much time as possible in Paris.

Check out BritainShrinkers. They have day trips via Eurostar to Paris and Brussels. They also offer an overnight stay in Paris. It is a very reliabel company and the prices are much better.

We did the day trip. Caught the first train from London and the last one from Paris. A wonderful day. We booked the whole trip with Golden Tours, which included Eurostar fare, open bus tour of Paris, Seine boat cruise, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and whirlwind tour of the Louvre. By spending a bit extra, at least we saw some major attractions and didn't waste valuable time wandering around with our head in a map. Going back this September and spending 6 days in Paris at a more leisurely pace!!

We considered doing the opposite last year - a day trip to London from Paris. Although my husband and I had been to London, our daughter had not. When I added up all the costs for 3 people it was just too much for a one day trip.

If you do this you should definitely take the 1st train over and the last train back. Know what you want to do and how you will get to each place. I am not ordinarily a tour person, but you may want to think about it doing one in order to do as much as possible.

Jill, Adding to Tim's reply ...

All selecting UK resident on the Eurostar website does is direct you to the UK site where prices are in GBP. When you actually go to make the purchase, you can enter your U.S. address. They give you a couple of options for collecting the tickets. I picked mine up at the station from the machine, but I believe you can also print at home. When I purchased in October, there was a 3 GBP for using a credit card but no fee for using a debit card. Buy your Eurostart tickets as soon as possible.

Have a great trip!

My parents did the day trip and loved it, but it proved to be extremely expensive. Not the day trip itself, but after that brief taste of Paris, they booked another trip within the year. Cost them thousands. Just like Judy from Adelaide.

Ok, we decided not to do the day trip. We are going to take the eurostar one way to Paris and spend two nights there instead. I am super excited, and now we will have atleast a couple of days to see as much as we can. Thanks for all the help! If anyone has some Paris hotels they would like to recommend, i could use some help. :)

Jill,

Depending on your Hotel budget, you might have a look at Hotel Duquesne Eiffel, Hotel Grand Leveque or Hotel Muguet. Two of them are in the Rue Cler neighborhood (close to the Eiffel Tower) which is the area that many of Rick's readers stay in.

Depending on what you're planning to see, you might consider getting the two day Paris Museum Pass, as I find it a good value if visiting lots of places that it covers. If you're only going to be there for two days, don't try to see all of the Louvre, as it's huge. Many people focus on the Denon Wing, which is where Mona Lisa is located. The Musee d'Orsay is another fantastic spot, but I believe part of it is being renovated at the moment (with some of the art work out on display at other Museums).

Getting around on the Metro is VERY easy. You may find it useful to have a look at the Paris 2010 or France 2010 Guidebooks to work out which places you want to see. With only two days, careful planning will prevent wasting any time!

Happy travels!

I don't understand what people mean when they say to purchase the eurostar ticket as a UK resident? Won't i get caught? Does that save money?

Jill,

You won't be doing anything illegal if you register as a resident of the UK when booking Eurostar tickets. Eurostar doesn't care where you live. There are two reasons to choose one country over another: 1. To make the currency exchange rate work in your favor. 2. To take advantage of any special fares that might be available.

At today's exchange rate, booking on the US site would actually be your cheapest option--by about the equivalent of a dollar or two.