Eurostar - Urgent question
 

Leaving Paris Gare Du Nord, can anyone tell me if it is possible to get off the Eurostar at Dover instead of London?

The train doesn't go to Dover. Some trains stop at Ashford which is about 20+ miles from Dover. Definitely make sure your train is one that stops there.

Many thanks Janis - I needed to know as there is a possibility of picking up our motohome in Dover.
I guess the motorhome company can either meet us at Ashford or we could take a taxi from there to Dover.
Thanks again, now I can plan the next leg.

Only about three trains a day, though, stop at Ashford (which, though a distrance from Dover, has reasonable rail connections to a number of places and is almost handy for Canterbury) any more. Most stop at Ebbsfleet, which is handy for nowhere, unless you want to pick up a car and drive to Cambridge.

With a ticket to London from Paris, you can get off the train at any intermediate stop. But you can't get back on again. Once you've left the secure area at Ashford or Ebbsfleet, you have to buy a separate domestic ticket to London, and travel on a (much slower) domestic train.

The Ebbsfleet station is basically a huge parking lot in the middle of nowhere - i took trains to sittinbourne a few times recently and you can see the new Ebsfleet International station just about a half-mile from a station on the old line but seems no walkway or any way practically to get between the two - kind of a valley down below - i thought there could have been an interchange there but apparently it's all park and drive oriented - perhaps there are buses to some nearby old station on way to Dover line.

This isn't really relevant to tod, but for anyone thinking of getting off at Ebbsfleet:

- you'll have to wait till 2009 for any domestic trains. Till then, you need to go to Ramsgate or Sandwich to get a train anywhere else, though apparently there are buses from Ebbsfleet station to some domestic stations.

- it's not altogether true there's nothing near Ebbsfleet. It's close to Sandwich, which isn't just the town that's had more food named after it than anywhere in the world (Eat your hearts out, Peking, Bombay, Hamburg and Frankfurt. And don't even think you're in the same league, Dijon, Brie or Meaux. As for Philadelphia...). But it's also got a very posh golf club. Better yet, it's jolly handy for some of the Roman Forts of the Saxon Shore, like Richborough, as well as Henry VIII's Walmer Castle - also designed to keep foreigners out, and a great deal more successful than Richborough (if, as is unfashionable these days, you believe the Saxon Shore castles really were designed to repel foreigners).

As far as I can see, though, Ebbsfleet is designed (successfully) to repel anyone.

flanneur i think you have (uncharacteristically) mixed up Ebbsfleet's location - nowhere near Sandwich but quite near Sittingbourne. At least the Ebbsleet International i saw from my train before it got to Sittingbourne i believe (or maybe Chatham) was there and no in Sandwich or Deal or Walmer Castle, etc.

am i missing something?

Ebbsfleet is near Dartford and nowhere near Sandwich. It's nearer to London than it is to Dover. There are supposed to be buses from Ebbsfleet station to nearby stations.
Ashford is a major rail junction with lines to Dover, Canterbury, Hastings, London and many other places.

In quick retrospect you cannot be wrong i think - i'll have to recheck a map.

May I thank both PalenQ & Flanneruk for all the info but we have decided to take a train from Paris to Calais or Dunkeque (haven't researched that part indepth yet) and take the 1hr30min ferry directly to Dover.

I would like any advice on pursuing this route.

Calais has the bulk of boats i believe - take TGV-Nord trains to Calais-ville station about a mile or so if i remember right from old days when this was the land route to the docks

maybe some kind of boat shuttle bus

i think the view of the Cliffs of Dover, vieweable from Calais as you approach the island of Great Britain is an indelible memory and puts the insular nation of Britain, both figuratively and literally into context.

A great way to go once IMO

You can just buy tickets at Calais dock i think but could get better fares online perhaps. Sea France i believe is one company. Ferry boats that are mainly for cars are slower but could be cheaper and on a nice day sitting up top could be fine.

Boat are subject to disruptions in extraordinary weather i think

You need to take a train from Paris to Calais. Ferries from Dunkerque do not take foot passengers.
From Calais Ville station, turn left outside the station to get to the bus stop for the bus to the ferry terminal. You have to pay for the bus; it only runs in the daytime, and the ferries don't take foot passengers at night.
At the ferry terminal, just buy a ticket from Seafrance (www.seafrance.com) or P&O (www.poferries.com). There is no reason to book in advance for a foot passenger.
Incidentally, details of Ebbsfleet station are on Eurostar's website, but it is of no use if you're heading for Dover. Buses apparently link Ebbsfleet station with stations at Dartford, Greenhithe, Gravesend and Swanscombe.

My gratitude to you both - What fab info!

I have been to Dover only once on a conducted bus tour of Leeds Castle, Canterbury & a short look in at Dover.
I am really looking forward to the view of the cliffs as the ferry approaches so heres hoping it's bright sunny 'white cliffs' weather!

Dover Castle looms just above the docks. It's one of the finest castles in Europe IMO

Just a point for anyone getting on/off at Ebbsfleet

There are frequent buses to Greenhithe station about 5 minutes drive away.

that much have been the station my train was standing at for a minute or so and i could see the Ebbsfleet parking lot and small train shed just across a valley of sorts. Wonder why they didn't make the stations actually connect somehow.

No, you can't see Ebsfleet from Greenhithe. They are about 3 miles apart.

uuumm - maybe my train was standing out of a station but right across from the Ebbsfleet International parking lots - which were about a half-mile at most. I thought it was a station but doesn't really matter with buses from new Eurostar station to other stations on the classic old line.

Must have been then. Ebsfleet is seriously in the back of beyond but there are plans to build a new town surrounding it.