Is it best/cheapest to order my tickets ahead of time if I'm going to take the train from London to Paris ahead of time or get the tickets when I arrive in London? We will be taking the train 4 days after we arrive.
Posted by
Parkland, Florida, USA
44 posts
We picked up 4 one way tix from London to Paris for a little over 250 USD. I counted backward to the day they would sell tixets and just stayed up doing house work and watching TV till the 5 hour time difference opened up the UK slot. I would have found them cheaper if we took an earlier train. The costs do fluctuate depending on the time and availability/class when booking. It did not seem worth the price to eat onboard the train for the huge diference in price.
The basic rule I have found is that hotels, flights and trains are all cheaper when booked as soon as you have the dates fixed. If I were to book this trip till a month before going, I would not be able to go due to the cost.
You also get to select your seat which is neat as we wanted 4 seats facing each other and reserved them. Tickets are printed on your home printer and have designer style bar coding.
4 people , London to Paris in 2.5 or so hours for 62 bucks a person? I gotta do this more often
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
It used to be cheaper to book a return ticket on the Eurostar than to buy a single ticket, but that's no longer true.
Booked well in advance (up to 120 days allowed), you can get a single ticket for 43 EUR (39 GBP). If you wait until you get to London to buy your ticket, you could pay as much as 197 EUR. Prices go up as the allotted number of discount tickets are sold.
Posted by
Phoenix, AZ, USA
1035 posts
As others have said, buy them in advance and get one-way. The days of eating half a RT ticket are thankfully over.
The Man on Seat 61 gives a great rundown on everything you need to know. I especially appreciate his blow-by-blow description of what you will see on the trip.
A fun game I play with my daughter: on the French side, I challenge you to find more than 30 seconds when you are not in view of a distant church steeple. Amazing!