Train passes

Railpasses must be purchased in advance; they can not be purchased in once your arrive in Europe. Check out Rick's rail pass guide for more info:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains

We have used BritRail passes for many years now. You can choose from a variety of dates- ext. travel any 8 days out of 15, etc. We love the flexibility! They are perfect if you want to stay based in London and do day trips OR if you want to travel around. I don't think EuroStar is included.

There is no Eurostar pass. If you have a pass for a country served by Eurostar (Great Britain, France, Belgium), then you can get a special passholder fare on the Eurostar.

You can purchase Eurail passes at selected locations in Europe, but you will pay more. For more information and locations, go to www.eurail.com > Where to buy > Buying in Europe. There are a number of locations in Paris: Lyon, Nord, and St. Lazare rail staions and CDG airport. However, if you want to get the Eurail Pass discount on Eurostar, you would have to have a pass before Paris.

We used the Britrail Pass and loved it, found it much cheaper than point to point tickets when you planned your travel days and if your travel involved longer distances. Buy before you go. Tickets for the "chunnel" can be purchased here or there, if you are only going to Paris, no need for a multi-country pass, just the Britrail Pass and the Eurostar ticket. Buying ahead may get you one of the discount seats (Leisure 3), another trick is to buy the Leisure Round Trip Same Day, and toss the return ticket, still cheaper than Leisure 1 or 2 or a full fare.

Thanks to everyone for replying....it is very confusing with all the different rail passes..and not as cheap as people have told me. For 2 people a Brit pass will cost 600.00 CA for 8 days...and then another 300 for a Eurostar pass to go to Paris. Any thoughts on car rentals instead of the train?

I wouldn't even bother with a Britrail pass unless you'll be travelling a lot. That pass works out to be about $40/day/person. Even at this late stage, you can find second-class specials London-Edinburgh, for example, for as low as 25 pounds, about $60 Cdn....and I'm sure you won't be travelling the length and breadth of the UK on each of those eight travel days. If you know your general itinerary, try pricing it out at www.nationalrail.co.uk. Round trip Eurostar tickets can still be had for as low as $87 Cdn, if you have a firm travel date in mind. If you're only going one-day, purchase a round-trip ticket and throw away the return portion, since it's cheaper than purchasing just one way.

We were thinking of renting a car now...but not for our entire stay. It seems to be more resonable than the train passes. Still looking at the best options for getting to Paris as well.

Check out easyjet.oom, which still has some April flights to Paris CDG from 19 pounds. Count on about 10 pounds to take the train to the airport (luton) and another 4 pounds to take the RER to central Paris when considering the overall price....as well as the extra time over EuroStar. Say 35 pounds, or about $80 Cdn each way...about as cheap as you're going to get for one-way.

Before you decide to rent a car, consider the cost of fuel (petrol over there). It is VERY expensive!!!! We still find the rail pass to be the cheapest and most convient way to travel in the UK.

Much of your decision lies in how much you will be travelling around the UK. What I have done in the past is figured where I wanted to go point-to-point, then priced a rail pass that covered what I needed. At least in my case (for the UK), the rail pass has usually been cheaper, especially when you figure in the price of gas.
For Paris, the Eurostar is the way to go. Fast, and city center to city center. While there is no Eurostar Pass, other pass-holders get discounts on Eurostar fares.