London-Paris Train
Jul 13th, 2003, 06:18 PM
#1
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London-Paris Train
With a friend, this coming September I am planning to fly to London. My friend is there for a conference and had an extra ticket, unfortunately we are only there for 6 days. We have talked about trying to squeeze a day-trip to paris & have found once time schedule with us leaving London arriving in Paris 4 hours later. Any suggestions on other trains? suggestions on what to do in London/Paris?
Jul 13th, 2003, 06:27 PM
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Don't forget there is a time change between the UK and Continental Europe...you lose/gain an hour depending on direction.
As to other trains..there really aren't any that would be any faster. You might consider flying although it will not put you into the city center as the train would. Am sure others will comment on these specifics.
As to other trains..there really aren't any that would be any faster. You might consider flying although it will not put you into the city center as the train would. Am sure others will comment on these specifics.
Jul 14th, 2003, 02:22 AM
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hi fuchchi,
Intrepid is right! Eurostar is the fastest way to get to paris from london.
If you decide, take the early bird and of course the latest one in return. The trip is actually only about 3 hours long, but you lose/gain 1 hour to and/from. (ie traveling to paris is seems like 4/ when it is 3 hours).
I have to say, if this is going to be your only trip to europe for a long while that I would go for it. Everyone should see paris, even if for just a day.
But if you have plans to return in the next year or two, I would forgo the paris day trip and spend more time in London or do a english day trip. For you money and time, the paris trip would only be worth it if you had no plans to return anytime soon. There is so much to do in paris that you will either be just glancing at everything or shopping.
As for the train vs air, intrepid is right again. I found out that flying to paris does not really save time. by the time you get to the airport for check in, fly there, check out of paris airport and then transfer to central paris, you have spent more than 4 hours.
Eurostar takes you from central london to central paris in 3 hours.
Intrepid is right! Eurostar is the fastest way to get to paris from london.
If you decide, take the early bird and of course the latest one in return. The trip is actually only about 3 hours long, but you lose/gain 1 hour to and/from. (ie traveling to paris is seems like 4/ when it is 3 hours).
I have to say, if this is going to be your only trip to europe for a long while that I would go for it. Everyone should see paris, even if for just a day.
But if you have plans to return in the next year or two, I would forgo the paris day trip and spend more time in London or do a english day trip. For you money and time, the paris trip would only be worth it if you had no plans to return anytime soon. There is so much to do in paris that you will either be just glancing at everything or shopping.
As for the train vs air, intrepid is right again. I found out that flying to paris does not really save time. by the time you get to the airport for check in, fly there, check out of paris airport and then transfer to central paris, you have spent more than 4 hours.
Eurostar takes you from central london to central paris in 3 hours.
Jul 14th, 2003, 11:58 AM
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My friend and I talked about always wanting to see the effiel tower.(typical, I know, I know) Would it be possible in our day trip to Paris? This is a first trip to Europe so I welcome suggestions on ANYTHING!
Jul 14th, 2003, 12:28 PM
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I took my niece on a one-day visit to Paris (about 10-hrs total in the center) last summer and it was great. Upon arrival we hopped the metro to Eiffel Tower and were there before the rush, after going to the top we caught the hop-on/off opentop bus tour in the front of Eiffel Tower that circuits all the major sights. (http://www.paris-opentour.com/index_eng.htm)
We went up the Arc de Triomphe, short stroll down Champs-Elysees, went into Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle (plenty of time), walked around Tuilieres and the Louvre (did not go inside though) and had hot chocolate at Angelina's, walked around latin quarter, left bank and Jardin du Luxembourg. In hindsight we could have gone into the Louvre for a quick look around but were overly cautious about time. It was a good introduction for my niece (I have visited several times). The key is to really study the metro maps and plan on ending up near the train station at the end of the day.
We went up the Arc de Triomphe, short stroll down Champs-Elysees, went into Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle (plenty of time), walked around Tuilieres and the Louvre (did not go inside though) and had hot chocolate at Angelina's, walked around latin quarter, left bank and Jardin du Luxembourg. In hindsight we could have gone into the Louvre for a quick look around but were overly cautious about time. It was a good introduction for my niece (I have visited several times). The key is to really study the metro maps and plan on ending up near the train station at the end of the day.
Jul 14th, 2003, 12:36 PM
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I forgot to include the great site for Paris transport (including the handy route finder feature-tour eiffel is about 40 min. from Gare Nord on the RER B, with change to RER C). http://www.ratp.fr/ParisVisite/Eng/index.htm
I also recommend you buy a one-day Paris Visite for convenience in using public transport IF you do use the l'opentour (consdering this also gives you a discount for the bus tour which pays for itself against buying single tickets)
I also recommend you buy a one-day Paris Visite for convenience in using public transport IF you do use the l'opentour (consdering this also gives you a discount for the bus tour which pays for itself against buying single tickets)
