SandyP

My sister and I will be travelling to London in September. I have a friend in Paris who has offered to let us stay with her for a couple of days. We're planning to fly into London, immediately take the Eurostar to Paris, then come back to London a couple of days later. My only concern is will it be too difficult to travel to/from Eurostar on the tube and/or metro with luggage? We will probably only have 1 large rolling bag each, and one small bag we can carry purse-like.

Flying into Paris really isn't an option, and we really want the experience of the train. Any thoughts on this will be most welcome.
Thank you,
Sandra

Indymajic

Is this a "joke" post?
If it is I don't get it.

SandyP

No this isn't a joke. I'm sorry if you don't understand what I'm asking. I've read that certain metro and tube stations can be difficult to traverse with luggage and was wondering if anyone has experienced that or not.

If my question seems obtuse I apologize.

janis

Is flying to Paris really not an option? The reason I ask -- it is very easy to fly on to Paris after you have landed at LHR w/o having to get into central London to catch the Eurostar.

Then after your visit in Paris you could catch the Eurostar train back to London. The logistics would be easier this way.

If you must take the train both directions (I personally would fly over and take the train back) then you will have a pretty big hassle especially with large pieces of luggage. You would have to take the tube to Green Park, switch to the Jubilee Line to Waterloo and then walk to the International station to check in for the train. The journey would involve a LOT of walking and stairs/escalators.

An easier option would be to book a car service to drive you directly from LHR to Waterloo International. More expensive but a LOT easier.

Indymajic

I have been reading the "talented postings" and I thought maybe you were taking off on another one. Sorry I was not trying to be rude.

What about flying into Nice, and then taking a train to Paris? You could still take the Eurostar to London, after you were there for a couple of days. That way you could see Nice, and some of the French countryside.

Indymajic

You are right about the luggage, but if you pack as light as possible, it will certainly help

beau

We took the Eurostar from London to Paris about two weeks ago, but we took a cab to the train station in London. I travelled with my wife and two daughters (12 and 14) and 6 suitcases. When we arrived in Paris, we had a very easy (so we thought) Metro ride about two stops to our hotel. Unfortunately, we had to go up and down about 10 flights of stairs in sweltering heat to get to the correct Metro train, which was very crowded. We had to be careful not to hurt the other passengers by rolling our luggage onto their feet (wearing sandals). It was worse than miserable.

We took a cab from the hotel to Orly when it was time to leave - about 30 minutes and 55 Euros.

Good luck and have fun!!!

beau

Sorry, it was CDG, not Orly.

AAFrequentFlyer

Sandy,
Another option would be to fly directly to Paris, visit with your friend, take the Eurostar to London, do your thing in London, and fly home from London. If you did not buy a ticket yet, look into an open-jaw option. It may cost few dollars more, but you would save a great deal more by not doing the train both ways. It will also give you more time in Paris. It would basically add one extra day to your vacation.
Have a great trip!

SB_Travlr

Maybe I can answer your actual question, instead for recommending alternatives -- you sound as if your plans are pretty set.

We regularly fly to London, tube to Waterloo, and train from there (sadly, not often to Paris...) The Heathrow tube (Piccadilly line) is easy access from the terminal (for us, Terminal 4 because we fly BA) as long as you can manage an escalator. The Tube trains have luggage space either side of the doors (just space to set them, no rack).

It's best to avoid the rush-hour if you can, just so the Tube is less crowded (not always easy with US/UK flight times.) Our solution for that is to enjoy a nice breakfast at the Caffe d'Italia in the terminal, while we leisurely read The Times to get updated with local news. Then, freshly caffeinated, we're ready for the trip to London.

From experience, Green Park is the least-hassle transfer, to the Jubilee line -- at GP it's one flight of stairs up, longish walkway, one flight down. At Waterloo, no stairs to the mainline station, just escalators. The Eurostar section is at the far right of the main station as you come up from the Tube.

Eurostar is fun, we would love to do it again. It just amazes me that you can get on the train at Waterloo, and get of at Gare du Nord! How you transition once you get to Paris might be another concern: depends where you're headed.

Or you could pay your money and use car service to Waterloo. No adventure, which may or may not be what you're after. Like the Hobbits.