Eurostar to Paris - Luggage question

Unless there has been a drastic change in luggage rules, you carry on all of your luggage and store the large bags at the end of the car and put the smaller bags in the overhead. Your bags goes through security like at an airport. Your luggage arrives with you. As you might suspect, we have gone to Africa and Europe for a 4 week trip including a hunting safari, and managed with one carry-on suitcase. Wear one pair of pants or jeans, pack one, wear one shirt and pack two, wear one pair of socks and underwear, pack four, wear a jacket, take an umbrella apiece, take a sweater for cool nights along the Seine or the Thamesthe wind is always chilly and wear one pair of comfy, well broken in shoes, running shoes are great and I always wear dark ones. Leave all the rest of your stuff at home. You won't need it or miss it. Take a tie (scarf for your wife)if you'll feel under dressed at the opera or the theater. Casual dress if the rule and black jeans, black running shoes and a tie and sweater will get you into the poshest restaurants. You can wear lime green trousers and have orange hair and you won't merit more than a glance on the streets of either London or Paris unless your hair is on fire..... :-)

It does if you are carrying a lot of large luggage which you apparently are. Bags larger than 33" are huge especially if you are only spending 9 nights in Europe. You also have to go through a airport style of security for the train. And some of these measures are related to security for the train. And you will find it easier to handle one backpack style carryon bag and one rolling bag per person than one large suitcase per person if you really believe you need that much luggage. I an not telling you to take less because we took more than that on our first trip but every trip since then we gone with one carryon size bag. It is a learning curve.

We will be right behind you in September. But it doesn't look like anybody answered your specific questions about Eurostar luggage handling. Could somebody help us out?

hi, i agree with lightening your load. you have to realize youre only gone for 9 days! be realistic in your clothing needs. look at smaller travel cases. by the way, if you dont lighten your load, you will find out real fast what you dont need and if you choose to travel again, hopefully you would have learned something. on my first trip over there for work, i packed 2 of those Samsonite luggage's, you know those big ones you dont see anymore? i learned real fast to pack light the next time! get RS Europe through the back door book, it will give you some hints. also, with regards to souvenirs, you can always send them back. it wont be cheap, but in the UK and France they have their own version of the USPS Priority Mail boxes. Since youre flying out of Paris, you could just pack a duffle, fill it up and then check it in on your return flight. as far as how they checkin and move your luggage, i dont know. happy trails and have fun.

Since the situation of moving large luggage pieces via Eurostar is already concerning you I would suggest that you take nothing larger than 33". You can handle smaller luggage yourselves. There are racks for luggage at the ends of cars and overhead.

Since the situation of moving large luggage pieces via Eurostar is already concerning you I would suggest that you take nothing larger than 33". You can handle smaller luggage yourselves. There are racks for luggage at the ends of cars and overhead. as long as the cars arent SRO.

After much searching and reading...it sounds like the (MY words) cargo-type services are now contracted out to someone other than EuroStar, so they make no promises. (lots of rumbling about EuroStar not having the keys to the cargo compartments because 'it's not their job, man') Bags larger than 33" are pretty flippin' big (and excruciatingly heavy), so you might want to reconsider your plan. I saw this somewhere: "Registered baggage is not guaranteed to be carried on the same train but will arrive within 24 hours. Can be registered up to 10 days before travel or on the day of travel. Items are available for collection at destination station within 24 hours from registration." From 'The Eurail Pass': "You can even send your baggage ahead of you before you travel, so you can pick it up when you arrive at your destination. You can even register your baggage on the day you travel – just remember to leave 30 minutes to check in before your train leaves." So if you're concerned, it might be worth it to you to get it there a day or so before your departure from London. That would be a pain in the rear, though...

Dave, I have a question - are you flying a commercial airline? If so, who? I just caught your statement: "Most of our luggage (family of 4) will be larger than 33", as we are limited on the flight to/from Europe to 1 bag per person!" (emphasis mine)

When they say 33", they mean 33" in length. They don't mean length + height + width. Here is what the Eurostar site states If you've got an adult ticket, you can take a maximum of 2 bags with you on the train. That's as long as each item is no bigger than 85cm at its longest length. You can also take one small item of hand luggage. I don't think I've ever seen a suitcase that was larger than 30" in length. Are you sure that your suitcase is larger than 33"? If your bag is larger than 33" in length, you will likely also have a problem with your airline as many airlines limit baggage size to 62 linear inches (length + height + width) Anyway, if you are taking a typical suitcase with wheels and can carry it yourself, then it is likely within the size limit. If you are bringing steamer trunks then you will have an issue.

I think Laura has made an important point. I'm not sure you're measuring your luggage correctly. Once you get a handle on that, you can figure out if you have a problem.. In re to Ray's statement, the Eurostar trains are never Standing Room Only. They only sell tickets for actual seats, there isn't the possibility to go without your own seat.

@ kim, youre right. i forgot it was a french train that was SRO. happy trails.

First of all - Thanks for the many replies! I will say that I did not check a "standard" suitcase before I posted this originally, and all of our luggage is less than 33" - so that won't be an issue. As far are packing light - sounds easy except we are traveling with 2 kids !!

You can definitely find spinners at 33" and over (sigh). And there's an entire workd of rolling duffles (many posters here use them) waaaaay over 33" (double sigh & ugh). Dave, I'm glad yours are apparently less than :-D Now...traveling with children isn't a problem; they're smaller, and their stuff is smaller. Unless yours are taller than you ;-) Do you have any specific concerns with their luggage?