London - Paris by Eurostar
 

What are the tips for travelling this route?
also Paris to Milan?

I've taken the train from London to Paris on Eurostart twice, and the best advice I can give is to buy your tickets WAY in advance from the States and you'll save more than 50%. We've traveled one way by buying a $98 round trip Leisure Fare ticket and just not returning. A 1-way ticket is $148, and a normal round trip is $200 or more. Like the airlines, the cheap seats sell out though, so you'll want to buy in advance.

I've also taken the train from Paris to Venice, and I think it stopped in Milan...it was a night train that left Paris at 8:30 p.m. and arrived in Venice around 8:30 a.m., and made a few stops in Italy but I was asleep so I don't remember if it stopped in Milan. We also reserved that in advance, since it was a night train and we needed to reserve a cabin. Try checking www.raileurope.com for starters. I think there are some better rail web sites out there that others will share.

Happy travels,

Jules

Hi Pt,

As noted, the cheapest London/Paris tickets are the single-day RT.

You can buy them at www.eurostar.com or www.raileurope.com. The prces aren't the same, so check both.

For Paris to Milan see www.sncf.com

((I))

I took this route 2 weeks ago. My tip is to arrive early for check-in. You have to go through security, similar to airport security. There is a separate waiting area once you go through security. Although I don't recall long lines when going from London to Paris, on the return trip from Paris the lines to check in were very long. Maybe it was just a busier time, as the train from London was 1/2 full and the train from Paris seemed completely full.

The trip was very nice. I purchased from www.eurorailways.com. The $150 (round trip) leisure fare was sold out. So, they asked me if I would accept a 'Eurostar passholder fare plus BritRail London plus pass' for a total of $220 (including a $10 service fee), and if I'd be able to take the train 1 hour later. No problem. Not sure what the BritRail London pass was exactly - something like 2 days travel outside of London - but I just didn't use it.

One problem I had was upon arrival in Paris. I changed money and received large bills. No one seemed able to change the large bills for me, so I gave up on finding 50 cents to use the bathroom in the Paris train station. I guess my second tip would be to use the bathroom on the train! (I assume there was one, although I obviously didn't use it.)

travelgirl2 can you comment on your experience with www.eurorailways.com? Are you in the US and did you have your tickets sent to you via fed-ex? How long did it take to receive them? Any glitches when checking in? If I've looked at things correctly they seem to have better fares than eurostar.com and I would like to use them. Thank you in advance for answering my questions.

... did this 2 weeks ago. I booked on the internet using the eurostar sight. I bought a one day return and through away the return..$90. I retrieved the ticket the day before (just because I am neurotic) but it easily could have been done on the am of the trip (took 1 min at the machine). The card which IDs you is your credit card and it must be the one you used to pay for the ticket. I arrrived 1 hr before the train and had more than enough time to drink my coffee and stroll to the gate. re Gare du Nord...quite a long line at the taxi stand but it moved quickly. The trip is IMO the only way to travel downtown to downtown between London and Paris.

..whoops threw.

Grantop - www.eurorailways.com was fine to deal with. I thought they were cheaper than the other sites too. I requested the $150 round trip fare. I received an email back saying it wasn't available, but offering an alternate fare and asking if it was acceptable.

I'm sorry, I don't remember how long it took the tickets to arrive. It was either overnight or a couple of days later. (I am in the US.)

I didn't really understand that they were sending me the Eurostar tickets plus another type of ticket. So, when I saw on the tickets that the Eurostar price was not the $210 I had paid, I emailed asking why. They were prompt in emailing back to explain that I also had the 2-day BritRail London Pass which I could just not use. It was a promotional rate, where purchasing the 2 tickets together was cheaper than the available Eurostar rate.

I did notice at check-in that most people had a cardboard-type ticket which could be fed through the check-in machines, whereas I had a paper ticket. I just went to the desk with a person and she stamped my paper ticket.

travelgirl2, thanks for your response. We can save some money by using that site and I just wanted to make sure that there were no glitches, hidden fees, that the tickets were actually delivered to your home, etc. I'm booking for myself and 4 others so I feel responsible for things going smoothly. Thanks again!