quigs43

Hi! I am traveling with my family (me, my husband a 13 year old and a 9 year old). I am trying to figure out the cheapest way to get from London to Paris (we don't need to return to london). Should we fly, take the chunnel or ferry/train?

ira

Hi g,

Check air fare at www.whichbudget.com.

The cheapest ticket on the Eurostar to Paris is about 30GBP.

See www.eurostar.com

Intrepid1

If flying factor in the cost of getting to and from ther airports and the probable necessity of meeting baggage weight restrictions.

WillTravel

I found BMI the best in my case for a one-way trip considering all factors. http://www.flybmi.com
EasyJet was cheaper, but the times weren't as good, and Luton was more inconvenient than Heathrow. Eurostar was more expensive by a significant amount, and I used all the tricks to get the lowest price.

rkkwan

Cheapest? By bus.

When you fly, you need to get to the airport from city center, and same thing after you get there.

www.nationalexpress.com shows bus fares from <20GBP, though some more expensive. It will take all day to get there though - about 10 hours, including ferry ride.

isabel

But since you have 2 children you have to consider that the train has reduced fares for youths and the airline don't. So factor that in also, even though the train is more expensive for adults, since you have to buy two kid and two adult tickets the train might work out cheaper.

ucsun

taken eurostar a few times and it's quite easy and enjoyable. and it avoids the pain of making it out to luton/gatwick.

quigs43

Thanks for the help. I am now leaning toward the eurostar. Can you purchase one way tickets online?

Robespierre

Believe it or not, the cheapest round-trip tickets cost less than the cheapest one-ways.

So the thing to do is to buy a cheap day return and keep the second coupon as a nice souvenir.

ewt

I feel like I'm missing something with the train vs. air debate. The plane ticket from London to Paris on BMI is about $57 US including the tax. The cost to get to Heathrow airport on the Airbus is about $22 US. The RER from CDG to most hotels is about $10 US, I think.

So how is it cheaper to book a roundtrip ticket on the Eurostar when its $94+ $15 booking fee on Rail Europe? Is there a cheaper site out there? I really do want to know because I'm confused and I feel like I'm missing something. I want to make sure I get the best deal since I don't have a ton of money to burn.

One more question. When I tried to look into a train fare on Rail Europe, I noticed that for the Leisure Fare, it did not make me book a return trip. In other words, it seemed as though I could book the one way fare I would like to for $47. Does that mean the system is broken? Or can you get this one way fare now?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

ktyson

Hi,
I am also very interested in this information because U will be traveling from Paris to London and back again. I haven't booked the eurostar or made a plane reservation yet. The question I have is how late do the metro/Paris tube/London operate from the airport?

Thanks

rkkwan

ewt - Don't book at RailEurope. Go to eurostar.com, as ira suggested. Depending on the type of ticket and time of travel, there are trains that cost as little as like 59GBP roundtrip.

flanneruk

Eurostar is currently £29.50 each way if all the following apply:
- you book three weeks in advance, and
- you use off-peak services, and
- you buy a return ticket (also £29.50), making a single ticket in practice £59.

If you only want to travel one way, it's just possible that the very cheapest flight available might conceivably work out cheaper, centre to centre, that the £59 a single train ticket will cost, after you've added in all the hokey service charges Easyjet chuck in and the cost of surface transport to Gatwick and from Beauvais.

But it's unlikely, it'll take you longer and it's a messier, more uncomfortable journey.

This isn't restricted to day returns, and the ifs and buts change all the time. But just go to the Eurostar site, start playing with options now and buy the ticket before they change their minds.

ewt

Thanks for the tip, rkkwan. Turns out, with the dollar being what it is now, Rail Europe and eurostar.com is exactly the same at about $112.

I'm really at a standstill on deciding between the plane and the train. The plane would cost $117 including costs to get to and from the airports. The train costs $112, but I haven't even calculated the cost of getting to and from the stations. I'm staying with a friend in Streatham, so I think my costs will be more than most people's who are staying in London proper. Its kind of a tossup at this point.

Is the RER a pain in the you-know-what to get from the airport to hotel? I'm staying at Les Degres de Notre Dame, so I believe I'm near the Saint Michel RER station. Hopefully walking distance...I'll have a small rollaway and a shoulder bag.

Also, does a cheap way from Streatham to Heathrow? It seems like it should be cheaper when I look on the map. After all, you don't have to go through city center to get there. The cheapest I've found is the just airports shuttle. Swiss Cottage Cars was almost double their price.

Thanks and sorry for the long post!

Robespierre

I don't know how well this works, but Eurostar offers a $58 fare called "Night Trip," having the following restrictions:

Availbable from 4pm until 10.30am the following day. Maximum stay - 1 night. Available Saturday and Sunday only.

My guess is it's intended for couriers and such.

ewt

I don't know why I can't find that fare. I see 59GBP on the eurostar website and $94 on the rail europe site. Is this from a different website?

Thanks so much.

barbara33

For what it's worth, last month I followed advice on this forum and called Budget Europe at 800-441-2387 or 800-441-9413 for Eurostar tickets from London to Paris. They were very helpful. I purchased four oneway, non-peak hours tickets (2 adult and 2 youth traveling midday on a Tuesday) for a total of US $270 plus, I think, one $15 service charge.

Robespierre

Delete your eurostar.com cookies, then sign on as a "US" customer.