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-   -   London to Paris (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/london-to-paris-408772/)

AngieMW Mar 9th, 2004 08:50 AM

London to Paris
 
How long is the train ride from London to Paris and can a round trip be done in one day?

janis Mar 9th, 2004 09:03 AM

about 3 hours give or take, and yes. But you really could have discovered this info on your own with even a teensy bit of research. If you do a search for "Eurostar" you will find literally hundreds of posts about the London/Paris rail connection . . . .

pipsil Mar 9th, 2004 09:03 AM

It's three hours and it can be done in one day but I certainly wouldn't do it. Of course you don't say if you only need to visit a specific location or are planning the trip to Paris to see the city. If it's the latter I'd say "forget it"

flanneruk Mar 9th, 2004 01:19 PM

Hundreds of thousands of us do it every year. It's a great day out.

If you're based reasonably centrally, get the 6-ish, which gets you in around 10 (they're an hour ahead of us).

Come back on a train round 7, getting in around 9.

Lots of time to have a decent lunch, stroll round a bit, catch up on the current blockbuster exhibition at the Grand Palais, and see a French film that's never going to get shown in the real world.

A bit more time spent travelling than, say, a day out in Stratford or Stonehenge.

But the food's infinitely better than you'd find on a day trip to Edinburgh. And the language they speak is a lot easier to understand than the one you'd encounter on a day trip to Durham or Glasgow.

Remember: there is no law that says every visitor to Paris must see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. A few hours sitting in a decent restaurant will teach you far more about the French than the same time spent exhaustedly traipsing round some "must see" museum.

Holidays are meant for enjoyment. A day in Paris always guarantees that.

rex Mar 9th, 2004 01:29 PM

<<If you do a search for "Eurostar" you will find literally hundreds of posts about the London/Paris rail connection>>

And if she didn't know that name, she was supposed to divine it how?

Do you know the molecular weight of that small 5-atom molecule that combines carbon and hydrogen, Janis? Will it rise to the ceiling, or sink to the floor in a room filled wth neon?

Oh yes silly me... a simple search on _______ has the answer; of course, it is _____er.

It is true, Angie, a lot of people do this as a round trip in one day; personally, I would rather alter the itinerary.

Best wishes,

Rex

Patrick Mar 9th, 2004 01:40 PM

flanneruk, well said. Sure a week in Paris is wonderful, but one day is better than none!! I have a friend living in St. Albans who takes his two grandsons to lunch anywhere they want to go on each of their birthdays. They both pick out places in Paris. Well-bred, those teenagers!

m_kingdom Mar 9th, 2004 02:19 PM

"Well-bred" or brats?

Madison Mar 9th, 2004 02:24 PM

m-kingdom - They're well bred....you're the brat.

Grow up

Patrick Mar 9th, 2004 03:33 PM

Unbelievable, m_kingdom, calling a teenager who appreciates a great meal in Paris a brat. Simply unbelievable!!!

Margie Mar 9th, 2004 06:33 PM

Patrick it's not unbelievable when you consider the uneducated source of the comment!

Angie, check out www.eurostar.com for more information. I think a day trip from London to Paris would be wonderful - enjoy it!

huebie Mar 10th, 2004 11:17 AM

We did a one-day on Eurostar to Paris several years ago. It was a great day, and it was even more fun because my husband surprised me with it. We took the 6 am train as an earlier poster suggested, and a 8pm return train. This gave us enough time to take the hop on/hop off bus tour, visit the Musee d'Orsay and have a great lunch. Sure more time would have been better, but it sure beat not going at all! It wasn't really a very rushed day, and we slept on the train both going and coming. I'd heartily recommend it.

JonJon Mar 10th, 2004 11:28 AM

Why not do it? If yu have the time and money and as long as you aren't going over there to wear yourself out running around trying to "see" everything...or even if you do decide to do that. As was stated earlier, people do it all the time for all sorts of reasons and I am convinced those "reasons" are all completely valid. So, go for it!

Madison Mar 10th, 2004 11:34 AM

The Eurostar is now faster than ever. I am going in May and it now takes only 2 hrs and 35 minutes to get from London to Paris.


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