Going from Paris to London
 

Similar to lov2judge, but different! We are going from Paris to London in mid-June and after checking prices for the Chunnel, we'd rather take the train, hovercraft. I'll have a rental car, so I can drive to Calais, if necessary. Have 4 people traveling, 2 kids. From whom do I buy tickets for train and hovercraft and don't say rail europe...can't get through to them.

If concerned about cost, how about flying, instead of train plus hovercraft?

Two places to try:
http://www.easyjet.com
http://www.flybmi.com

Hovercraft ceased running across the Straits of Dover several years ago. There are fairly frequent ferries (www.seafrance.co.uk, www.poferries.com) from Calais to Dover. You buy a French train ticket to Calais Ville, take the special bus from the station to the ferry terminal, buy a ferry ticket, cross to Dover, get the special bus to Dover Priory station, then buy a train ticket to London.

Unfortunately, the hovercraft is gone (hoverspeed.com), only regular, slow ferries are left.

Problem with flying is getting to and from the airport (particularly in London, it's 15 pounds each from Stansted, only slightly less from Luton & Gatwick, plus it takes a lot of time). For your group, you can get the train for $256 (booking ahead, weekdays between 11 & 3), it'll be hard to beat that flying, and I'm not sure how much the ferry costs, but it takes forever, and, for most people, their time on vacation is too valuable to waste.

BMI goes to Heathrow, and then you can take the tube.

The train from Luton (First Capital Connect) had "kid-for-a-quid" specials when it was called Thameslink, that really reduced costs. So check on that. You can also get a cheaper bus from Luton Airport (if the cheaper train doesn't work out).

Gatwick also has the First Capital Connect trains, and has a cheaper bus.

You can also get a bus from Stansted to central London that is cheaper than the train (but I think this is moot, because no Paris-London flights land at Stansted).

Maybe ehg can get a cheap train fare, but it's not always possible. That said, it might be too late for a cheap flight too.

One last option is taking the bus from Paris to London - about 8 hours - and very cheap.
http://www.nationalexpress.com

Unless you have a lot of time, lots of patience and little luggage I would not recommend the planes. Although cheap, they often fly from out of the way airports at odd hours. If you don't do the ferry (and I know nothing about that), keep checking the eurostar site for best prices. I actually bought a one day RT and just used half as it was cheaper than one way.

WillTravel: I'll admit I didn't check which London airport (or Paris, for that matter) the flights go from. Though I'd avoid a bus as much as possible (from Heathrow it might be ok, but the tube is there, so no point, from Gatwick & Luton, it'd take forever), and the trains, even the non-expresses, add up for 4 people, at 33.60 GBP, assuming both kids under 15, from Luton, 27 GBP from Gatwick, & even 4 tube tickets from zone 6 ain't cheap (not trying to say you were wrong or anything, just clarifying). Plus whatever it takes to get to the Paris airport, not really sure about that, my one time in de Gaulle making me swear never to go back if I can possibly help it.

If you're not adverse to a long bus ride, the cheapest way to get from Paris to London would be by Eurolines coach (www.eurolines.com).