nona789

Hello! I'm in the final stages of booking our September 2009 Paris>Amsterdam>London trip and I'm hoping to get some advice on the Chunnel.

We are flying Virgin Atlantic in to Heathrow from the US, and want to travel on to Paris the same day. Unfortunately they don’t fly on to Charles de Gaulle in Paris, so we’ll have to allow at least 3 hours before the connecting flight and go through customs, collect luggage, etc just to turn around and check in to another flight. Staying in London our first night and travelling to Paris in the morning isn't an option - we'll have family waiting for us on the other side.

Now I am considering the Chunnel. A flight to Paris would arrive at 10:30pm and cost roughly $250, while the Eurostar would arrive at 10:15pm and cost $350. I understand I will also have to get to the Eurostar station - I've got plenty of time for that since our original flight lands at 3:30pm.

I am wondering if the extra effort to get to the train station and the extra $100 will be worth it? We wouldn't have to hassle with checking back in to another flight, and it might be fun to take the train to Paris. I'm happy to spend the extra money if it's an "experience" but I don't want to if it's better to just hang around at the airport all afternoon.

So, bottom line – will the Eurostar through the Chunnel be an adventure or just another means of travel?

Thank you!
Nona

janisj

If you were already in London - then the Eurostar makes most sense. But when you are at the airport -- traipsing across all of London to go through security (yep they have security and advance check in on the train too) makes it difficult.

But it is really 6 of 1 / half dozen of the other. You either have it easy at LHR and then the schlepp in from CDG - OR - You have the schlepp to St Pancras and it easy from Gare du Nord.

Due to the hour time change - to arrive at Gare du Nord at 10:15 - it would leave London around 7:00 and w/ the 45 minute check in you'd have to be at St Pancras by 6:15. That is cutting it awfully close w/ a 3:30 arrival.

In this situation/times, I'd definitely fly

StCirq

The Eurostar costs $350?? How is that? My son and I both took it last summer for a fraction of that cost.

janisj

I took that to be the total cost for both of them - not per ticket.

nona789

Yes, sorry! Those amounts are for 2 people.

janisj - I didn't realize there would be yet more security checks. Makes sense, but I didn't think of it. Thanks!

zeppole

I would be tempted to take the Eurostar, since it's hard to imagine a place I hate more than Heathrow. in fact, somebody would have to prove to me it's impossible, or that I was facing some dire consequence if I missed the train.

The Heathrow Xpress takes less than half an hour to get into the city, and from there it hardly takes an hour to get to St Pancras -- not to mention you could go for a transport straight from LHR to St Pancras.

I'd use the internet to price out the various ways to get from LHR to St Pancras.

zeppole

Sorry, that's Heathrow Express.

janisj

It isn't as stringent as airport security - but it does mean having to be there early. No dashing up to the train just as it departs like you could on a train from Paddington to Oxford say.

But I'd be more concerned w/ the time to make the transfer. You said what time the train arrives - what time does it depart -- <u>London time</u>?

If you land on time, the plane has a gate, your luggage is not delayed, and there is no queue at immigration -- you'd still want at least 3 hours from landing at LHR to checking in at St Pancras to be comfortable.

zeppole

Or take the next train. It's fantastic to arrive in Paris near midnight with everything is still lit up.

zeppole

(Another thing that would persuade me is that it would be a cinch to get from Gare du Nord to my Paris destination, and much faster than going from the airport.

nona789

zeppole - that's one of the reasons why I want to take the train; I really hate the airport. Not as much as you, but I really hate it! Thanks for the Heathrow Express info. I didn't realize it would be another hour yet before we reach the train station. If we choose the Eurostar, it looks like an easy way to get in to London.

janisj - the train departs 7pm London time, and our flight arrives 3:30pm London time. Allowing an hour for customs and baggage, another hour to get to the station, we'll have 1.5 hours check in to the Eurostar. That should be plenty of leeway, right? I'm beginning to understand your 6/half dozen comment!

StCirq - You didn't specify whether you enjoyed the ride? Would you say it was an interesting part of your trip?

zeppole

If you hate airports and you've never been to heathrow, you will hate heathrow as much as I do!

People could help you more if you said what day in September you are traveling, how much luggage you have and whether you are willing to spring for a car service (how many in your party).

But I would even take the later train -- because if a flight would land at 10:30, you'd still need to get from that airport into Paris, meaning you'd walk into your hotel around midnight. I'd just take the later train if I was nervous about the 7pm one.

janisj

you only have 3.5 hours. That is tight IMO. 3:30 is only when you land - not when you reach arrivals. By the time you park at a gate, deplane, walk to arrivals, go through immigration and get your bags - it could easily be 5PM.

Then you have to walk to the tube and ride to St Pancras (an hour+), a car service, certainly an hour+ at that time of day, or walk to the HEX, then 20 mins+ (15 mins for the train plus waiting time), then a cab or the tube on to St Pancras - totaling about and hour all in.

So if everything works w/o a hitch you would have time. But a delay on anyone of those many segments and you would be SOL. Heck, this last May we had to sit on the tarmac 20 mins because there was a plane parked at our gate.

WillTravel

Your flight might be scheduled to arrive at 3:30 PM London time, but that doesn't mean it will (have had that happen - flight departure delayed). Nor does it mean that if even if it lands at 3:30 PM, you will actually get off the plane then (had that happen - waited 85 minutes on the tarmac). When you do get off the plane, there could easily be long lines at immigration (once I got off a plane the same time as one landed from Iran), and it could take a while for your bags to arrive (I think I've been okay at Heathrow in this regard, but not everyone is).

Once all that happens, and you head over to the tube station, it will take about an hour from the time you get on to the tube to get to St. Pancras if all goes well and there are no delays. Although I'm not familiar with the layout of the station since its renovation, I am sure it is still a huge station that will take some time to navigate to get to the Eurostar portion.

Eurostar has a very strict check-in limit - I think 30 minutes before.

In short, if all goes well, you will have plenty of time at St. Pancras, but with Heathrow and the tube and just the standard operations of airlines and airports, I would personally be too nervous to try such an itinerary. With 3 out of 4 trips to Heathrow in the past few years, I would have succeeded with such an itinerary, but the knowledge that I wouldn't have made it with the 4th would keep me from trying it.

zeppole

I think it matters what day this poster is traveling, plus other details.

And like I said, there's another Eurostar train that leaves an hour later.

I don't think Heathrow is so awful one should risk making a connection. But you can even get an underground straight to St Pancras in 45 minutes, right?

Anything can happen. Storms could ground all the flights.

Only the original poster knows what consequences ensue from not making it to Paris by midnight. Short of something life-threatening, I might roll with the train.

nona789

Thanks everyone for this overwhelming amount of information! The date is Tuesday, September 1st. 2 of us are travelling.

Of course, there can always be travel delays, and I am certainly trying to take that into account.

There are later flights and trains that I could take - I was using 3-4 hours as a rule since that was the time allowance recommendation from Virgin. Whatever we do, I am strongly considering giving us 4-5 hours between landing and moving on.

Money is an object, of course, but we don't have a tight budget. Spending some extra money on a taxi or shuttle is not a big deal.

Is there a train that will take us directly from Heathrow to St. Pancras station? I have been to London before, and I know that I can navigate the tube/train, but I strongly doubt that 2 tired people will be able to correctly and perfectly navigate 4 different train lines after a 12 hour flight. Everything I've read online requires multiple changes. That Heathrow Express isn’t bad since we’d get off at Paddington and take the tube to St. Pancras, but a direct line would be better.

Still have one question - is the Chunnel any fun?

janisj

"<i>But you can even get an underground straight to St Pancras in 45 minutes, right?</i>"

45 mins? nope. According to the TFL journey planner, the tube + walk is 1 hr 18 mins, (you will be in T-3). I'd add about 5 mins to account for dragging luggage.

When folks say "the tube only takes 45 mins" to get to central London -- that doesn't mean all the way across to Kings Cross/St Pancras. (45 mins is to Earls Court which is a long way from where most folks want to go.)

The train/tube/walk option is about 60 mins but involves changes and more schlepping.

janisj

there is no train that connects the two -- only the tube - 1 hr 18 mins as mentioned above.

The HEX to Paddington and taxi or tube to St Pancras will cost a lot more and save approx 15 mins.

If you fly, you can probably get both boarding passes and have your bags checked through and have time for dinner at LHR instead of dashing across all of London.

the Eurostar is a fine way to travel between the two cities, IF you are starting from the center of either city (or Brussels). Starting from LHR - not so much. It is basically just a fast train ride. You won't see the Channel or white cliffs or even much scenery. You go underground several miles inland and come back to the surface a few miles inside France.

zeppole

nona,

yes, there is a direct train. You take the Picadilly line. According to janis, you should alot 90 minutes.

I'd probably go for the HEX and take a cab, but it's definitely a more expensive option.

And I would at least ask a service like justairports to tell me how fast they could get me to St Pancras.

Fun is so subjective! I find trains romantic.

http://www0.epinions.com/content_1181065348

http://www.helium.com/items/1143331-chunnel-travel

http://www.bargaintraveleurope.com/0...ndon_Paris.htm

zeppole

right -- no train. a tube. New York habits die hard.