London to Paris
 

My husband and I are planning a 30 year anniversary trip to London and Paris. He's been to London; I've never been. We've noticed that round trip flights between London and Paris are quite resonable. Would this be a better idea than taking a ferry or train? Our return flight to the States is out of London. We'll be spending a week in London and five days in Paris. Any other helpful hints would be appreciated.

Personally I think the best way from London to Paris is via Eurostar, the chunnel train 2.5 hours from midtown London (Waterloo) to mid town Paris (gare du nord)....I just booked for June a trip from Paris to London; I bought a same day return and will eat the return for £47 about $82...I suppose you can get that fare by booking now with a Saturday night stay over...remember no hassles of a trip from Heathrow to London and CDG to Paris....the train is so much more comfortable than the plane. In my humble opinion, by far the best way to do this trip is with Eurostar. (www.Eurostar.com)...when they ask what country you are in say the UK as sometimes you are directed to another location if you say the US that does not have all the lowest fares.

I second taking the Eurostar. You can book tickets up to four months in advance at www.eurostar.com. Currently booking as a US reident will be a bit cheaper than booking as a UK resident. When you visit the site you will see that there is a wide range of prices for standard class seats. The price depends on whether or not the discounted seats have been sold and on the time of day and the day of the week that you travel. Often, booking a return ticket and throwing away the unused portion is cheaper than booking a single ticket. The secret to getting the best price is to book as soon as you know your travel date(s), so long as they're within the four-month window.

If your return is out of London and you could fly from Paris directly back to the (London) airport on the day of departure I would do that. otherwise, I would agree with the city-center to city-center travel which rail affords; the non-necessity of traveling in from the airport, etc.

This isn't quite the no-brainer it looks.

Between central London and central Paris, the train wins just about every way you can think of.

For central Paris to Heathrow, the plane's a great deal easier, and there's no plane between Gatwick and Paris anyway. To add to the fun, most train and plane deals really offer the best value if youi get return tickets.

To add to the complications, you may well find that the practicalities of getting a train from Paris in time to get into London and on to your airport to meet your airline's checkin time, reliably, are horrible, involving getting trains at 0500 and still not being completetly sure you'll catch your connection.

You may well have no alternative to flying back to London, or spending a night in London on the way back you didn't plan.

Only you can do the sums about whether that makes sense.

The Eurostar is the only way to go. And if you can afford the first class ticket, the service is just as good if not better than first class on an airplane (which of course doesn't exist in first class between Paris and London).

Why anyone would take the train to London and then have to make their way to Heathrow(as an example) as opposed to flying directly there I do not understand.

Thanks for the great advice on Eurostar. We are planning one last night in London, so we won't have to worry about meeting specific flights, etc.