CDG to London? Best option in your opinion.

Maybe a bit late for your needs, but the ideal would be to book an open jaw ticket, fly into London, spend a couple nights, train to Paris, fly home from Paris. It would save you quite a bit of time and tiresome travel. Any of the options you list will work, one small concern would be that you will need to get tickets well ahead of time, for a specific departure (fly or rail) so any delays in getting to Paris may put your plans in jeopardy.

You might consider doing London for two days in the middle, that might reduce that risk.

Hi,

You take the RER "B" from CDG to Gare du Nord. It cost 10 Euro riding the RER "B"

Thank you for the quick replies. I've watched a few videos on youtube but was curious what to expect for scenery on the trip from London to Paris via the Eurostar?

Use d bahn to research the rail options, and skyscanner to research the flight options. Keep in mind that England is an hour behind the continent so you'll "gain" an hour on the way and "lose" it returning.

Option 1 takes about 3 1/2 hours from CDG to St. Pancras, using RER to Nord and allowing for the 30-minute advance check-in for the Eurostar. You might want to book on a later Eurostar to build in a cushion for flight delays, airport delays, RER and Nord delays.

Option 2 works if you get the TGV at 10:06 from CDG to Lille, then a half-hour connection to Eurostar, arriving St. Pancras 11:30, total about 2 1/2 hours. The 10:06 departure allows you about 3 1/2 hours after landing, which ought to be enough for baggage, border control, etc. as long as the flight isn't very late.

I didn't research Option 3 but there must be very frequent flights between CDG and Heathrow or Gatwick. Build in enough time for bags, border control, possibly changing terminals at CDG, and of course transfer from the London airport to the city itself. I doubt if this all could be done faster than Option 2.

I didn't try to calculate costs for you, surely you can do this yourself. Note that these advance purchases are non-refundable and may be non-changeable too. So build in some time for contingencies. Scenery is significant with either rail option and zero with the flight.

Thank you so very much for your generous response. I appreciate the details.

I can't think of the scenery being terribly interesting on the Paris-London rail route. . . and I must have made that journey 20 times or more, RT. I wouldn't base my decision on that.

Flying is possibly more scenic if you get an aerial view of London, although that can't be guaranteed. You haven't said where you are staying in London, which may have relevance to convenience.

There's very little of scenic interest on the route. I would fly from CDG to London.

Your plan is bewildering. Open-jaw flights seldom cost extra, and your time has value, especially on an 8-day trip. The rail trip is of little scenic value. Are you familiar with the short-haul bargain-airline fee and baggage annoyances?

Bewildering? :)

It's actually quite simple. We fly into CDG and before embarking on Paris we want to explore London for 2 nights. All our reservations (Air and Hotel to/in Paris) have already been confirmed, paid for and cannot be changed without fees/penalties) so we are trying to figure out the best possible way to go to London at the beginning of our trip - without too much irritation with transport. It's not an ideal plan but one we hoped would be possible. We have the first two nights open (no confirmed hotel) so we thought we would book transport first and then hotel based on where we arrive in London.

*Great replies on here Thank you so much.

By train you will see the approaches to London and Paris suburbs, with a little countryside at each end of the tunnel. For 20 minutes or so you will see nothing but darkness (i.e. tunnel.) The main attraction is the novelty more than the scenery, especially seeing it twice. Not bewildering, no, but the route itself is, uh, inefficient when compared to multi-destination itineraries. But what's done is done and the practical advice now is to buy the train tickets as far ahead as possible. Prices rise even more steeply than the slopes of the tunnel as the day of travel approaches.

except for, if you're already AT the airport, you should really consider flying. Check Sky Scanner for what budget airlines fly between CDG and London.

My thoughts exactly - about already being at the airport. It is tough traveling with someone and taking into consideration where and what they want to do - I'm usually a solo traveler. :) Thanks again for the replies.