asdfghjkl

hi all, i'm planning to take the eurostar from paris to london, intending to book now to secure a good rate however, i am not sure which timing to choose.

my main concern is the peak hour traffic since we are leaving on a friday morning. our hotel is on rue cambon, we have not decided to take a train or taxi to the station - if we take a taxi, how much will it cost and how long will it take? will traffice be bad? and which will be a better option?

will 1 hour from our hotel to the station, collecting tickets and all be adequate? or should i leave earlier? if so, how much earlier?

the timings i am considering are:

09:13hrs (125.00€)
10:13hrs (147.00€)
11:13hrs (125.00€)

prices for the 2 of us are in brackets.. my first choice is the 10:13 train but that happens to be the most expensive so that's holding me back! the other timings are either too late or too early (we are not early birds...)

i dont want to reach london too late coz we will only have 4 days there and after taking into consideration travelling to the hotel, checking in, settling down, etc, i am afraid more than half the day will be gone!

any opinions?

thanks!

avalon

Rue Cambon is only about a mile and a half from Gare du Nord, so the taxi fare would not be terribly expensive. You have to check in 1/2 hour before departure at the station.I would not be concerned about traffic at 7:30 or even 8 :00

asdfghjkl

how long will the taxi from rue cambon to gare du nord take? i'm more worried about traffic at 9:00 or 10:00... not sure if i really want to take the earlier train.

tarquin

You obviously want to take the 10:13 train, so that decision is made. A taxi to the Gare du Nord won't take long - ask your hotel receptionist to book a taxi at the suitable time. Problem solved.

janisj

"<i>You have to check in 1/2 hour before departure at the station.</i>"

But you do have to be there earlier than 30 minutes for sure. You have to plan on a queue to collect your tickets. I'd want to be there 45-60 minutes early.

I'd personally take the earliest train - heck you can sleep for 2 hours on the train (The scenery isn't that grand)

But really - the taxi ride won't be bad whichever train you choose.

sassy_cat

Last time I took Eurostar in 2007 you had to arrive 45mins before your departure time and I'd get there an hour beforehand.

Pick the train time that you prefer and bear in mind that you'll gain an hour or two as Paris is ahead of GMT.

TimS

Rue Cambon is between the Concorde and Madeleine metro stations. Bus #42 runs directly from either of those stations to Gare du Nord. The RATP Journey Planner shows a travel time of 16 minutes from Concorde and 13 minutes from Madeleine. That should give you an idea of how long a taxi ride would take.

KTtravel

I don't know if this is possible, but you could try to pick up your tickets a day or so before your departure which would save you time on the day you leave. Just a thought...

TimS

A person certainly can pick up tickets in advance at the station. It's also possible to print tickets at home.

mohun

Arrival at Gare du Nord about an hour before train time seems about right. It took us pretty close to that this past June to get up to the Eurostar check-in, go through what now is at least as complex as airport security plus a bit of "why are you traveling to the UK..." passport/visitor entry processing, etc, and then go back down to platform level to find and board the correct rail car in a train that could be a dozen cars long.

asdfghjkl

thanks all, your replies have been very helpful!

tarquin, you are right, i just needed someone to push me towards that & justify paying extra, LOL!

i will plan to leave the hotel about 1.5hours before the train time... i think i will book the 9:13 train...

albinvega

Did the same trip in September on the early train and 1 hour should do the trick; although 1.5 will get you closer to the front of the lineup. Once you're past security (not too onerous) the directions are very clear even with the long train/car situation on the platform. They won't allow you on the actual platform until just before boarding anyhow.

I had time to check in, do security, find my car/seat, stow my luggage, and then have a quick puff on the platform. Don't worry about the smoke, I was in the minority.

All that said, my ticket was bought online, well in advance, and I just had to show the paperwork at the gate/control. I'd seen a colleague off on a later PM train a few days before at Gare de Nord, after a trip from Bayonne, and we'd taken a taxi from Gare Montparnasse at a cost of less than 20euros. Her lineup didn't look too long either and she was through security in minutes.

mohun

Albinvega, above, and I are pretty much in agreement. I'll add that we also purchased our tickets well in advance on-line.