Help! Calais to Paris
 

When arriving in Calais from Dover, I've read there is a shuttle service to take you into town (Calais) where you can get a train into Paris. Does my Eurail youth pass cover the cost of this ticket or is Eurostar something completely different? Thanks.

There are two train stations in Calais. You can take a combination of regional trains and TGVs from either of them to Paris and your youth pass (so long as it includes France) should be good on them. However, reservations on TGVs are compulsory so you'll have to pay a reservation fee. Visit www.eurostar.co.uk to see if they still offer a discount ticket for pass holders. If so, you could buy a Eurostar ticket from Calais to Paris, but it certainly would cost more than a simple reservation fee on the TGV.

I forgot to tell you how to find the schedules for the other trains. Go to www.bahn.de for timetables for all of Western Europe. The site is viewable in English.

It's not clear to me if you are asking whether your Eurail pass covers a shuttle between stations and/or hovercraft/ferry dock; OR the Eurostar London to Paris ticket. I believe you get 50% off the Eurostar ticket, but go to Raileurope.com to check the specifics of your youth pass.

If you are taking a ferry or hovercraft across I believe your ticket (not your Eurail pass, which may give you a discount on that ticket) will include any shuttle needed to get into town.

The bus from the ferry terminal at Calais goes to Calais Ville station. From there, there are various connections to Paris, either by direct TGV or by a local train which connects with a TGV at Lille or somewhere. The connections will be shown on www.bahn.de. If you have a rail pass, you should only have to pay a reservation fee for the TGV. Eurostar trains go from Calais Fretun station which is outside the town.

According to this, the last hovercraft trip was 1st October, 2000:

<b>http://www.dover-kent.co.uk/transport/hovercraft.htm</b>

To recap:
Regional Express: included in passes
TGV: Seat reservation mandatory
Eurostar: Passholder fare

Wow, thanks everyone for your feedback. It has helped me understand all this alot more clearly. Can now pass this all on to my travel partner! Thanks again.

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