Eurostar from London to Paris (day trip)

We did the Eurostar as a day trip in May from London to Paris. It was worth it! You're right your time is very limited, but we still got to see the city for the first time. We knew our time was limited and just picked our top things to see. Sure there was much more to see, but the city is beautiful. We want to go back and spend more time there on our next trip, but I'm so glad we did what we did in May because it was better than nothing. Book ahead. The tickets on the Eurostar are like plane tickets. The longer you wait to buy them, the more expensive they are. Walk up's are full fare and very expensive.

If you travel on a weekday and take the first train in the morning and the last train in the evening, you'll have twelve hours between your arrival and departure, giving you about ten hours of true sightseeing time. While it would be better if you stayed overnight, a taste of Paris, however brief, is far better than none at all!

Buy a one-day, zone 1-2 Mobilis Pass (€5.80) at any staffed Metro or RER station. It will give you unlimited rides on the Metro and RER, city buses, and the Montmartre funiculaire. For a cheap above ground introduction to Paris, ride bus #69 for its entire route. See this zoomable map. With a pass you can jump on and off whenever you wish.

Paris is like chocolate. A taste is better than none of all. But once you've tasted it, you'll definitely want more.

I say go.

Go if you can! My wife and I are staying overnight after initially planning a day trip from London. It will be nice to see Paris at night as well, so I'd say stay overnight if you can at all. We actually regret not scheduling two nights in Paris to get a full day there from morning to night. As it is, we're arriving just before noon the first day and returning to London the next day at 3pm, so it's a good amount of time.

Harmony. We did the day trip to Paris from London on the Eurostar a few months ago. We did the trip with Golden Tours which included return Eurostar tickets and a day tour of the sights of Paris. Left London at 6.30am. On arrival in Paris we were met by a tour guide and taken by bus to the Eiffel Tower, boat on the Seine, Notre Dame and the Louvre. Were dropped back to the Gallerie Lafayette. Had about an hour and a quarter to shop or do whatever before being taken back to the Gare du Nord for return trip to London at approx. 8.00pm.

I can highly recommend this tour. Very busy and full day - one of the highlights of our trip. What a wonderful city.

My parents did this several years ago. It turned out to be very expensive. Why? Because after the brief taste of Paris, they came home and booked a full trip to Paris within a year! A taste may be better than nothing, but it sure makes you hungry.

Harmony, we did this in Feb. If you preplan with the RS Paris book it will be amzing what you can cram into 8-9 hours. We saw (in order)Notre Dame, strolled across the island, bus to the Arc de Triomphe, walked the Champs-Elysees, saw the highlights in the Louvre, ended watching the light show at the Eiffel tower. We used a combination of busses and metro. It was an unforgettable experience, albeit a bit touristy. Although I have to add, we went back this summer for 5 days and really savored our time there.

We did this several years ago in reverse (went from Paris to London). If you have the chance to go to Paris, even for one day, I'd go for it. Paris is awesome - you'll have time to go up the Eiffel Tower, eat in a cafe and maybe do a quick Louve trip or the D'Orsey Museum. It is a LONG day but its totally worth it, even going in the chunnel is cool

I wish I had take the Eurostar for a day trip the last time I was in London. One of my friends did an overnighter from London and then back to Heathrow. Go Go Go!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and feedback. I just booked the Eurostar for my day trip to Paris!! I am surprised at how reasonably priced it is.

My family and I took the Eurostar during our young son's spring break. We have two pictures that perfectly sumerize the whole day. The first is as we are arriving to our platform for the train, the boy's expression is of a deer in the head lamp. The second is at a cafe near Notre Dame, and he has the expression of seasoned world travelor. Total elapsed time, 10 hours from one picture to the next.
We had time to enjoy Gard du Nord, Notre Dame an out door cafe, lots of shopping and the Eifel tower. We would have had plenty of time to also do the Louvre, however, the boy had a marvolous 3 hours playing with the locals and even other children at the playground behind Notre Dame. That to our family was worth more than any museum experience.

I've never personally done it, but my brother recently completed such a trip with his family. They didn't see too much (according to him, his wife is a bit of a Gallophobe), but a few hours of Paris was still better than none at all. They went to one museum and enjoyed some time strolling. A long day all in all, but worth it.

While I don't have any experience day tripping from London, I did take the Eurostar to Paris. I enjoyed the ride a great deal.
If I may offer some advice- chew gum. I found there to be a great deal of ear-pressure on the ride and the gum helped somewhat.